Please. John chapter eleven. The eleventh chapter of John's Gospel and verse one. Thou certain man was sick named Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair whose brother Lazarus was sick. Therefore his sister sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, the Son of God might be glorified thereby. Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. When he had heard, therefore, that he, that his Lazarus was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was. Then after that, saith he to his disciples, Let us go into Judea again. His disciples say unto him, Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee, and goeth thou thither again? Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he see of the light of this world. But if any man walk in the night, he stumbleth because there is no light in him. These things said he, and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth, but I go that I may awake him other sleep. Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. howbeit Jesus spake of his death, but they thought he had spoken of taking a rest in the sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead, and I am glad for your sake that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe, nevertheless let us go unto him. Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellow disciples, let us also go that we may die with him. Then when Jesus came, he found that he had been laid in the grave four days already. Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem about fifteen furlongs off. Many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother. Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him. But Mary sat still in the house. Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. But I know that even now whatsoever thou wouldst ask of God, God will give it thee. Jesus says unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. Martha said unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection of the last day. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the light, he that believeth in me. Though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believers thou this, she saith unto him, yea, Lord, I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which shall come into the world. When she had so said, she went her way. and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The master is come and calleth with thee. As soon as she heard that, she rose quickly and came unto him. Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met him. The two then which were with her in the house and comforted her when they saw Mary that she rose up hastily and went out followed her, saying she goes under the grave to weep there. Then, when Mary was come where Jesus was and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. When Jesus, therefore, saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping, which came with her, he groaned in the spirit down those troubles, and said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept. Then said the Jews, Behold, how he loved him. This morning I want to speak on this subject. We'll be speaking on the latter part of the chapter of Lord Willing next week and two weeks someday on the subject of the resurrection. This morning we want to notice in these verses the people. and the place. The place is Bethany and the people of that place mentioned in our chapter. Then the presence of his love and the promise of his love and the price that must be paid in order for him to share that love. But if you notice carefully in reading through this chapter, the people that were gathered in this place in Bethany, undoubtedly Bethany was one of the most popular towns in the first century. The Lord Jesus often went there. And only John is the one who reports this unusual episode. It's not found in Matthew, Mark, or Luke. And it's the home of Simon the leper. That's strange. You find that in two or three texts in Mark, verse three. Also over in Matthew, you'll find the same, twenty-six. It's the home of Simon the leper, so he must have been the father of Martha and Mary and Lazarus. How strange. There you have the Holy Simon, you have Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, and then you have the friends that came from Jerusalem on this occasion to comfort these two sisters. Then you have another character mentioned in verse sixteen. Thomas called Didymus. He was a pessimist. Nevertheless, he was fearless, and he was loyal to the end when he knew Christ was going into Galilee. Why, they have said, the Jews sought to scold me when you were there. And you're going back into Galilee? Yes, I'm going. And he was the only one that spoke up and said, Let us go, that we may die with him. He was willing to die. for his Lord, even though he was a pessimist. Then you have the disciples mentioned in verse eight, and the chapter ends with some spies. People who came from Jerusalem to watch what was going on and go back and report what they saw to the council that they may apprehend Christ. but the greatest character and personality of the whole chapter is the Lord Jesus Christ. Had he not been there, nothing would have happened of consequence in the little town of Bethany. How wonderful then is the people of that place, but the place itself, Bethany, it begins with D-E-T-H. I think one time we gave a series of message on the seven references to A word beginning with B-E-T-H, death. Death means God, the house of God. The same word, God, is the opening verse of your Bible. In the beginning, God. Elohim. For he is the Al-Shadiah, the strong one. The house of the strong one, death. And here you have This little town, Bethlehem. But you have another town before you get to Bethlehem, and that Bethlehem. Bethlehem. Those four words are there. Here is the house of bread, for that's what Bethlehem means. The Son of God came down to Bethlehem. Yes, the very bread of God came down in the person of Christ, for it that I am the living bread, which came down from heaven. Bethlehem. the house of bread. Then Bethesda, and Bethesda in chapter five and two. This is the house of mercy. You remember the man at the pool and how the Lord healed him in his mercy and in his grief. Then you have Bethesda. This is the house of obedience. For there's where John had baptized. And that's what baptism is, a step of obedience. Two ordinances left for God's people after their days. Baptism and the Lord's Supper. So this speaks, this place of Beth Barra speaks of service or obedience to the Word of the Lord. Then you have another one, and it's Bethesda speaking of service. This is where Philip found Bethaniel and brought him to Jesus, what service bringing souls to Christ. The last three times you have Bethany mentioned and that wonderful little place called Bethany. And the first time you read concerning Bethany is where you have the affliction, and that is Lazarus is sick. And also it's the place of worship in chapter twelve, we'll be noticing when we get to that chapter. Then it's the place of hope, Bethany. He led his disciples out to Bethany. And there, as they were watching, he was taken up into heaven, and a cloud received them out of their sight. And you remember, according to Acts one, two angels appeared, and said, this same Jesus, which has taken from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as you have seen them go. What a wonderful place. Destiny was the place of affliction, the place of worship and the place of hope, the coming again of the Lord Jesus Christ. When you think in this little place of Bethany and in the home of Bethany, the Lord presents His love. What does it say? It says He loved Lazarus. He loved Lazarus. He whom thou lovest is sick. And those disciples, they said, If this man, for the Lord Jesus, my, how he loved them, how he loved Lazarus. And he did. It's the place where the Lord Jesus presents his love. And not only his love for Lazarus, but also he loved Mary, Martha and Lazarus. He loved all three, and there is that you have a diverse number of characters. Mary was different from Martha, and both were different from Lazarus. But it says, the Lord Jesus loved Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. You have the extent of his love. The Lord doesn't only love those of his people who are nice, who have good dispositions, fine personalities. They're very gentle. But the Lord has some pretty ordinary children too. He has some that are not too easy to get along with. They're a little hard to get along with. But isn't it wonderful the Lord in the extent of His love they love them all. To be in heaven with those we love That will be glory. But to be on earth with some we hope to love, that's a different story. In other words, we can get along, we will get along with all God's people in heaven because we'll have His love. But on earth, sometimes even as Christians, we find it difficult to love certain personalities. Yes, he's my brother in Christ. He's my sister in Christ. But somehow we just don't get along well. That's not so with the Lord. He loved Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. And they were quite different. So you have the extent of his love. But also you have the permissiveness of his love. Why did Lazarus die? He didn't plan it. Here you find his delays on this occasion. He delayed four days before he went. Yes, there are delays, and that he loved. The one who loved sometimes delays to hurry to the assistance of his people. He could have prevented Lazarus from getting sick, and he could have prevented him as death. He could have done that, but he didn't. He permitted it. He didn't plan it. He permitted it. The permissiveness of the love of God, the permissiveness of the Lord Jesus. Why does he permit things to come into our lives? Don't question His love. Don't question His love. He has a wise purpose. in what he permits in the life of a Christian. We don't understand it. He allows nature to take its course. I read something last night. I read it down in Mexico City. The authorities have put fifty radio stations off the air. simply because it says they were bleeding the people with their pills for bodily healing. They were pharmacy people healing for their body if they had sent in donations and the government stepped in and said they're just faking the people, bleeding. And because of that, bleeding the people of their money to say they can heal their body. That means that fifty stations that were preaching the gospel of the grace of God were put off the air. In other words, I believe they're going overboard. Now I say this. If God healed everyone, but wants them to heal more he or she, there may be no Christian sick. The Lord has a purpose when Christian sick, there's no Things happen to unto a Christian that are not common among men. The Lord permits a lot of his children to get sick. He permits a lot of his children to go through some difficult experiences. If the Christians had it, well, all the time, the sun always shining, no valleys, always molten top, people say, well, I'm going to become a Christian. You have a wonderful time. You never have any sickness or sorrow. Don't you believe it? Christians have sickness and sorrow and they go through all kinds of trying circumstances. There's nothing happened to you, he says, but such as is common to man, but God will with that trial make a way of escape if he may be able to bear it. The Christian does have the consciousness of the Lord's presence, and the wise thing for Christians to do is to say, Lord, I don't understand this, and none of us do with an open Bible in our hands understand a lot that happens to God's people. We've got to accept it, not to challenge or question the mind and wisdom and love of God. People say, well, the Lord really loves me. Everything's going fine. I don't have to worry about the needs are all met. He really loves me. Would he not also love you if everything went wrong? He sure would. He loves us all the time. And here is Thor demonstrating that fact, the permissiveness of his love. Why did he let Lazarus die? He saw two weeping sisters, and he loved them all three. Why, first of all, when he got the news about Lazarus condition he abode two place two days in the place where he walked and then Lazarus referred to again that he is dead and he went into Judea again he crossed over Jordan and went further away from where destiny walked strange and now he's frozen ever and more time passes. Then he comes back, and he doesn't go right into the town of Bethany. He stays outside the town for another two days. And all the time he knows that our two broken-hearted sisters, they're in a lot of friends. Lord, you said that you loved Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Why the delay? And he didn't get there until he had been in the tomb four days, and by this time he stinked at it. The permits of his life. As I read that, I thought I'd wonder what would happen to Lester Wilson if I did that. If you phoned up and said, I lost my brother and my sister, they died this morning. Well, that's too bad. And I didn't go around to see you for four days. Or you'd cross me off your list. As a pastor. So the Lord did it. And it didn't mean he didn't love them. He still loved them. He had a purpose in it. A real purpose in that he didn't go immediately to the rescue of these brokenhearted sisters. For one thing, it demonstrated his power in a way it wouldn't have been demonstrated otherwise. Here is a corpse rotting. He had been dead all day. We can understand him raising a little girl of twelve to twelve who had just died. Her body was still warm, and he raised her from the dead. And it's a little more hard to believe that he met that young man, the son of the widow of Maine, on the way to the cemetery. They buried them pretty quickly sometimes over there. And he met that funeral procession and stopped it, and he raised that young man. Maybe he'd been there a few hours and gave him back to his mother. But here you have a man dead four days in a state of decay. His body rotting, stinging. Didn't it take more power to raise him from the dead than the young man and the little girl? There would have been wonderful to have seen the young girl raised, also the young man, not to see man, a man who had been dead poorly. Raised by the Son of God had demonstrated his mighty power more than the other two cases did. He had a purpose. The promise of his love, not only do you have the presence of his love, but the promise of it. Yes, he said concerning this man Lazarus, thy brother shall rise again. That was his promise. Love is promised. Oh, Lord, I know he'll rise again in the resurrection of the last day. But the Lord made it plain to us. I am the resurrection in the life. The power of resurrection is here today. I am the resurrection. I am the last." I believe she took that in. That's when Martha said, Lord, I believe of God, the Christ, the Son of the Living God. She realized what Christ could do, who He wants. And then you remember what happened, how she ran and told Mary, Mary was sitting in the house. Martha ran and told Mary that the Lord had sent for her. The master has come, and he called it to thee. And the Lord Jesus was still at the outside of the town. He hadn't come into the town. Martha went to see him and tell him, Mary sat on her house. Why did she sit? Was she bitter? Was she questioning the love of the Lord Jesus? And there she sat. And when Martha came back to secretly, Mary, the master, is come. And he calls for peace. She up and away she went. And when she saw him, and there are a number of things you'll notice, if you want to read verse twenty-nine. Mary heard. Mary arose quickly. Mary came to him, verse thirty-two and thirty-three. She saw him. She fell at his feet. She said, Lord, and she wept. Seven little things in verse twenty-nine and thirty-two, thirty-three. She choked up. Had she had some bitter thoughts, had she had some hard feelings, about why the Lord hadn't come. He delayed. But now she saw, ah, all that's gone. She choked up as she burst into tears. She fell at his feet weeping. Then it was the tears appeared on the cheek of the Son of God, who was God manifest in the flesh. Here you have God in tears. Jesus wept. Three times you find Mary at the feet of the Lord Jesus. She's seen at his feet. They're over in, I think, at Luke chapter ten, or maybe Luke ten and forty. Where do you find her? She is sipping at his feet, hearing his word. The second time you find her And she fell at his feet, weeping. And the third time, over in chapter eleven or chapter twelve, here you find her anointing his feet. So Mary was at the feet on Creel Cain. She finds herself at his feet all the time. You can't be at a better place. You're not going to stumble and fall when you're at a man's feet. You're in a pretty safe place. One time when I first came, some of the three preachers came up after a meeting we had, and they said, what Bible college did you go to? I said, St. Mary's College. Where's that? I said, at Jesus' feet. And that's the best college in the world. That's where Mary heard his word. Yes, that's where she wept, and that's where she worshipped at his feet, as you have in chapter twelve. When you think of this remarkable instance, Jesus wept. Why did he weep? He wept because sin had hurt the world, because it tells you in these verses, thirty-three, thirty-five, and thirty-eight, he was troubled. He groaned and he wept. He was thinking of how sin had troubled this poor world. He wept also in sympathy for his friends, Martha and Mary. He wept because he was about to bring Lazarus back into this sinful world, only to die again. I've seen some of my loved ones die, and I wouldn't want God to bring them back. The Lord wept. Why would he bring Lazarus back? He knew what Lazarus was enjoying with no long suffering. Did he weep because he was going to have to bring Lazarus back into this sinful world, only to die again? He wept. because of the irreparable loss and condition of man because of sin. The Lord knows and realizes what sin has brought into this world, and he weeps because of it. Likely around where Lazarus was, there were other tombs, and the Lord thought, my, there's a sad story behind each sepulcher. That is. When I go through the countryside and see your cemeteries and all their tombstones, there's a tale of woe behind each one. I started listening to Billy Graham the other night on one of his broadcast. I think it was out in the Philippians when he was in the cemetery. Speaking of the soldier boys that died out in the Far East in the Pacific operations. It was a sickening sight to see, acres upon acres, upon acres, fields upon fields of white crosses. And behind each cross and tombstone there was a broken heart, a tale of woe. The Lord Jesus realizes what sin has done. Jesus wept. It's enough to make anybody we Later on, he wept because sin was about to hurt his people. When he came to the city, he listened to the Hosanna's. As they cried, "'A blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord.' They cut down palm trees and threw them in the way. Then he reminded them, "'They know your city is going to be destroyed, and plenty of you standing here are going to be destroyed.' Oh, Jerusalem, he wept. Over Jerusalem, he saw the city. How often would I gather thee together if a hen must gather her brood under her wings, but he would not. He would not. He saw that city. He knew the people in it, most of them zealous Jews. A lot of them scribes and parishes aren't all so hypocrites. But although they had just been crying, Hosanna, to the king of David, he knew only a few hours, hence they'd be mailing him on the cross. He knew the fickleness of human hearts, and he wept to think of what was coming upon Jerusalem and his earthly people in seventy years AD. Under Titus, Jerusalem was razed, and the people who raped and children had all died. He wept as he thought of what was coming. that might rarely weep the day of what's coming upon the Middle East. For Jerusalem will yet be roused, and his people punished in the dark days of lie ahead for that city and that people before they're restored to their possession in the millennium. He wept. Also he wept because sin was beginning to hurt him. Is that right? Yes. What do you read in your Bible about sin hurting him? Listen to what you have over in Luke twenty two and forty four. And being in an agony, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat, as it were, as it were, great drops of blood falling down to the ground. And Hebrews five, seven, referring to that same Gethsemane, who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplication with strong crying and tears, unto him that was able to save him from death and was hurt in that evening. The Lord Jesus wept in Yosemite. Such was the pressure of the cross that loomed up before him. Tiny blood vessels burst and mingled with his blood, his sweat, and it was blood-like sweat. He wept. How often the Lord Jesus has found weeping three times to our knowledge in the gardens He began to feel the weight of a world's sin. He was beginning to realize the awful load of sin and iniquity he was going to bear upon the cross. And he took that bitter cup of sorrow and extracted to his last dark grave. He shall never know how much our sin hurt him. until we see them face to face. You have the tears of sympathy in verse thirty-five, the tears of sorrow relative to Gethsemane and the tears of suffering relative to the cross. Think of the price that must be paid in order for us to be saved. Is there a price? You've noticed the place, the person. In relative to this place is presence of his love, the price that must be paid in order for him to share that love with you and with me. You know, when you stop to think of the price of love, it's an expensive thing. You pay for it. The Lord Jesus Christ loved, but it cost him a lot. to really demonstrate and to prove to the world that he's done it. It cost him the cross. Because in his life, greater love has no man than this, and a man lay down his life for his friends. When you start to think of death, it's a terrible thing, dear. The nastiest word in the world is death. There are three interpretations of death in your Bible, the physical death, the termination of your life here when you're spirit and solely your body. There is spiritual death. You're dead in trespasses and in sins if you're not saved. simply meaning there is no relationship with God, no link with God, no fellowship with God, you're dead. Confess rather than in sins, if you're not dead. But then there's another death, the lake of fire. And if referring to those who are going to die in their sins physically, brought to judgment and cast into the lake of fire, which is the second Yes. Born once, you die twice, physically, and the lake afar. If you're born twice, born physically, and born again spiritually, you may die once, you may not die at all. Usually when the Lord comes. Oh, the nastiness of the taste of death. You start to think of what we've had illustrated about death and the nasty taste of death. Physically, you know what happened to all those followers of this man, Jones, some one thousand people died, committed suicide. And all the men that were sent there, men gifted, qualified, told in clothes and equipment to take on that horrible job of burying those decomposed bodies. As they picked up one body rotting, they found another under, and this went on for days. The bitterness, the awfulness of death, and the Lord speaks of the taste of death. Those men said over the news, in spite of their equipment, the masks and repellents, They tasted death for days. They couldn't get it off their pelt. Oh, think of death. Well, the Lord has the remedy for death, the taste of death. And what is that remedy? Well, if you want to find over in John chapter eight, John chapter eight and fifty-two, then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast the devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophet, and thou sayest of a man, Keep my faith. He shall never taste of death. The Lord says you won't taste death if you get saved. And here's another lovely verse from Hebrews two nine. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that he, by the grace of God, might taste death for every man. Christ tastes death. Can you conceive of it? There have been some awful death since the human race began. Indescribable death. Agag even said, surely the bitterness of death is past. Did you ever stop to think of all the sins of the human race, the vilest sins, sins of man to commit? It would turn your sick. You'd vomit if you heard of some of the sins that men and women commit. All the sins of all the human race, Christ tasted. He tasted death for every man. Why did he weep in the garden as he thought of that cup? And in that cup was God's estimate and judgment of man's sin. And Jesus Christ tasted death for every man. And only when you accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior will you be delivered from tasting the awfulness, the bitterness of death. Death, the nastiest taste in the world. But there's a way out there. And that way out is through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The atonement in this verse, he tasted death for every man. The atonement is sufficient for all men. He tasted death for every man. But it's only efficient, effective to those who believe. Christ died for everyone in heaven or they wouldn't be there. But he died also for all who will be in hell because they wouldn't accept his sacrifice. He saved the death for every man. But it's only effective to those who believe. I don't know what kind of a death you're going to die. It may be a bitter one. It may be an awful one. A horrible one. But I want to say this. If you die without Christ, you'll taste death forever. The second death, which is related to fire. This is the story that God presents in this chapter. Is there any wonder he wept? He wept at the grave of Lazarus. He wept over a city. And he wept in the garden when he saw of what he was going to have to do, come in contact with that awful, ugly thing called sin. The sinless one made sense for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Either he's going to taste your death for you, or you'll taste it yourself, and the flavor of it will last forever. What are you going to do with the Lord Jesus Christ this morning? I wish that God some tears would run down your cheeks because of your sins. Tears ran down his cheeks, not for his sin, but for others. Ah, yes, he, the Son of God, tasted death for every man. Here is love, unbounded, love to me, that thou shouldst give thy Son to me. Friend, you're a sinner this morning. You're decomposed spiritually as far as God's concerned. If you're not a Christian, and that body you now sit in, I don't care how handsome, how lovely it is, is going to rot until you'll say like Jacob, bury my dead out of my sight. You can only take death so far for all to have Christ. I am the resurrection and the life. He that believes. He that receives me shall have life and shall have it more abundantly. He'll have it forever. The choice is yours. Life forevermore. or death forever, man. More. Which will you taste forever? Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. His mercy endure forever. Or refuse Christ, and you know what your taste will be, forever, and forever. The second death, the lake of fire. Shall we pray? Our Father in heaven, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, who came into thy presence, we ask thy blessing, upon thy word, how sweet and yet how searching this incident is. The Lord Jesus weeping in sympathy with these dear sisters, yet knowing back in his mind he had the answer, for he would raise them from the dead. Nevertheless, he was overcome with a temporary sorrow. and he saw the ravages of sin in one he loved. We ask thee to bless thy word, comfort thy people, and speak to the lost. Those who are not saved may be realized. The plight they're in, and the lawful future that awaits them, that they miss the ones who says, I am the resurrection and the life. May they accept Christ this morning. He ask it in his name, and for his sake, amen. you