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“Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, 'Lazarus, come forth!' And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, 'Loose him, and let him go.'” (John 11.43-44; emphasis mine, jb).

Loose Him and Let Him Go

Jesus could have done several things that He commanded others to do. He could have rolled the stone away, but some might have accused Him of trickery as a result of His being in contact with the tomb. He could certainly have miraculously stripped away the graveclothes…  ( Click for more )

“Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man [Lazarus] was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, 'Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.'” (John 11.41-42; emphasis mine, jb).

You Always Hear Me

Jesus left no wiggle room in the circumstances that led up to the raising of Lazarus from the dead. Jesus' disciples knew what He had promised to do. He had declared the same intentions to Mary and Martha,…  ( Click for more )

Just what is the difference between wisdom and knowledge? Practically for the entirety of my life I have heard this question debated. As someone who writes and speaks to the public, I have tried to distill this difference down to where it could be grasped easily. I think I found an answer last week in a pizzeria. I’ll share that answer with you and you can decide.

It was one of those “all you care to eat” buffets with a salad bar. They also offer the option to order from a menu, or pizza by the slice. Boiling it all down, almost anyone who likes pizza and salad…  ( Click for more )

“Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, 'Lord, if You had been here, my brother [Lazarus] would not have died.' Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. And He said, 'Where have you laid him?' They said to Him, 'Lord, come and see.'” (John 11.32-34; emphasis mine, jb).

Where have you laid him?

There are times when it is too late for words and a time for action. This was the case when Jesus asked, “Where have you laid him [Lazarus]?”…  ( Click for more )

“So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away. And many of the Jews had joined the women around 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 was sitting in the house. Then Martha said to Jesus, 'Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” (John 11.17-22; emphasis mine, jb). This series of 4x4's will include:…  ( Click for more )

“Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, 'Let us also go, that we may die with Him [Jesus].'” (John 11.16; emphasis mine, jb). This remark by Thomas prompted A. T. Robertson in his New Testament Word Pictures to refer to it as...

Pessimistic Courage

However, pessimistic courage was not what Jesus wanted from His disciples. He not only wanted them to go with Him to death, He wanted them to be faithful so that He could go with them through death! The faith of Jesus Christ (i.e. the Gospel) is not a religion that ends at the grave; its objectives…  ( Click for more )

A call came to Jesus to help Lazarus, but He did not respond immediately. Soon He told His disciples, “Lazarus is dead.” Then He uttered a somewhat shocking statement; He said, “I am glad for your [the disciples'] sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him.” (John 11.15; emphasis mine, jb). This verse and two others contain this exact phrase, “...that you may believe.” Today's message will examine each of the biblical occurrences of the phrase...

That You May Believe

Jesus was not glad that Lazarus died;…  ( Click for more )

A person putting a rocking chair to use is working, but he is getting no where. Energy is being expended, but the result (other than relaxing the mind of the one occupying the chair) is always the same; you are right back where you started from. Much of my working career, I have heard the following advice: “We have to work smarter, not harder!” Given the context of the saying, I generally agree with the sentiment in most cases.

Times are difficult (compared to what we have known in our culture) and they may get down-right hard! Unless we, our community, our church,…  ( Click for more )

"He [Jesus] said to them, ‘Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.’ Then His disciples said, ‘Lord, if he sleeps he will get well.’ However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus said to them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him.’” (John 11.11-15). From this story we learn that death is…

Real but Not Final

If Jesus was using sleep as a metaphor…  ( Click for more )

“Then Jesus said to them plainly, 'Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your [the disciples'] sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him.' Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, 'Let us also go, that we may die with Him.' So when Jesus came, He found that he [Lazarus] had already been in the tomb four days.” (John 11.14-17; emphasis mine, jb). This series of 4x4's will include: 1) Plain Talk, 2) Real but Not Final, 3) That You May Believe, and 4) Pessimistic Courage.

Plain Talk

“Then Jesus said…  ( Click for more )

“And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, 'He told me all that I ever did.' So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. And many more believed because of His own word. Then they said to the woman, 'Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.'” (John 4.39-42; emphasis mine, jb). The final installment of this Biblical 4x4 is entitled...

Many More…  ( Click for more )

“Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. Do you not say, “There are still four months and then comes the harvest”? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this the saying is true: “One sows and another reaps.”’” (John 4.34-37) Today’s message will address the topic…

The…  ( Click for more )

I’ve heard lot’s about religion. I’ve heard about organized religion, unorganized religion, disorganized religion. I’ve heard some people talk who are dead set against some religions. I’ve heard a few people say that any religion is bad. I just thought it might be good to clear the air a bit about religion, what the Bible says about it, and some sage advice about religion.

Many years ago when I was a relatively young man, I was speaking to an older family member of one of my friends. He and I had engaged in religious discussions before but this particular…  ( Click for more )

Jesus said to His disciples, “Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!” Today’s message will address the topic…

The Fields Are Already White for Harvest

The metaphors that Jesus used were striking! Grain was a staple and the nuances of how to grow it were known in every corner of Israel. It was easy for the seasoned farmer to merely look over his crop and estimate accurately the length of time that would…  ( Click for more )

The fourth Gospel (John), the fourth chapter, the fourth in this series of 4X4’s, and Four Months; what else could be more fitting? “Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. Do you not say, “There are still four months and then comes the harvest”? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this the saying is…  ( Click for more )

“Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Matthew 24.30-31; emphasis mine, jb). The coming of Son of Man in this text is His coming in His Kingdom; today’s message will address this fact.

The Kingdom of Jesus Christ

Chapters and verses can be a…  ( Click for more )

“And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Matthew 24.31; emphasis mine, jb). Our focus today will be on the word elect and how it is used in the quoted text, in other passages, and also to consider some implications for us today.

The Elect of Jesus

I really don’t know its origin, but a wise Bible student explained the meaning of election like this: “The elect of God become the elect by a simple process; God votes yes for everyone,…  ( Click for more )

I recall as a youth seeing older men in our worship assemblies get down on their knees when there was public prayer being led. I guess that dates me, especially since it has been years and years since I witnessed this. I admit I don't know the motives of the men who made such a display, but in retrospect, I think I like what they did. Today's message will deal with similar wisdom I saw recently.

Something that I saw, in fact, something that I experienced recently reminded me of those days when men knelt in prayer. Much like most groups of worshipers, the church where I assemble…  ( Click for more )

“Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Matthew 24.30-31). Although the word authority dies not appear in the quoted passage, it is obvious that the Son of Man is a figure of great authority and power. Our focus today will be to explore that authority and its…  ( Click for more )

“And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Matthew 24.31; emphasis mine, jb). Mark reported this same saying as follows, “And then He will send His angels, and gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest part of earth to the farthest part of heaven.” (Mark 13.27; emphasis mine, jb). Our focus will be to note: 1) The Son of Man, 2) The Authority of Jesus, 3) His Elect, and 4) His Kingdom.

The Son of Man

The phrase,…  ( Click for more )

“And they reasoned among themselves, saying, 'It is because we have taken no bread.' But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, 'O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread?’” (Matthew 16.7-8; emphasis mine, jb). Sometimes little faith describes the amount of trust one has; at other times it describes the lack of understanding one has. In today’s text and the final installment of this 4X4, Jesus uses the expression “little faith” in reference to little understanding.

O You of Little Faith

The…  ( Click for more )

“Now when His disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. Then Jesus said to them, 'Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees' And they reasoned among themselves, saying, 'It is because we have taken no bread.' But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, 'O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread? Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up? Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets…  ( Click for more )

No man living has an absolutely empty head! In spite of this fact, many of us act as though we wish to dispute this reality. Our speech sometimes argues mightily against it! The Proverbs writer stated the obvious when he wrote, “Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace; When he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive.” (Proverbs 17.28).

Why is it that there are times when we feel we just have to say something? You know those times; you have experienced them! At a moment when silence would have been golden, we insist on filling the void with fool's gold!…  ( Click for more )

“Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus’ feet, and He healed them. So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel. Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, 'I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.'” (Matthew…  ( Click for more )