No Matter What - Jesus is Faithful - Pastor Ethlyn Rhymer

Welcome to Life Series, a podcast from King of the Baby Baptist, where we gather together to experience God's love, grow in God's love, and give that love back to each other.

We're gonna turn to St.

John chapter 11 verses 1 through 7.

John 11:1–7

We know the theme for the month is rock.

We know where the scripture comes from, Joshua.

But for now, let's go to John chapter 11, verses 1 through 7.

John 11:1–7

And the title of my message is No Matter What, God is faithful.

Say that's me.

No matter what, God is faithful.

Lord, we thank you that you are always faithful.

And as I stand here as your servant this morning, I can't do this without you.

So I lean heavily on your Holy Spirit today.

Bless me.

Bless the words of my mouth.

And Lord, let me be a blessing to anyone listening.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

The scripture comes to you again, John 11, 1 through 7.

A man named Lazarus was sick.

He lived in Bethany with his sisters, Mary and Martha.

This is the Mary who later poured the expensive perfume on the Lord's feet and wiped them with her hair.

Her brother Lazarus was sick.

So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, Lord, your dear friend is very sick.

But when Jesus heard about it, he said, Lazarus, sickness will not end in death.

No, it happened for the glory of God, so that the Son of God will receive glory from this.

So although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, he stayed where he was for the next two days.

Finally, he said to his disciples, let's go back to Judia.

And you may be asking, what has this got to do with the theme for the month rock?

But you listen and you find out.

So take your seats.

Thank you for standing.

In the passage, we see my number one point is a cry for help.

And as I was studying this passage of scripture, I began to think and let my mind wander.

And I said, what if Jesus and his disciples had cell phones back in that day when Mary and Martha were in crisis?

How would it sung?

What would it be like?

And I took my mind way back to the blackberry phones.

If you don't know what that is, you're too young.

So Jesus and his disciples had blackberry phones that day.

And they received some calls that day from two sisters who were in turmoil that day.

First began Mary on the line.

Mary calling.

Hey, Jesus, is that you, Jesus?

This is me, Jesus.

How can I help you?

Well, Jesus, you know, my brother Lazarus has been sick for a couple days now, and I don't know what to do.

You need to rush the hold on, hold on, hold on.

I got another call coming in here.

Let me put you on wait.

This is Jesus speaking.

How can I help you?

This is Mary.

Jesus or Brother Lazarus is, hey, hey Mary, I got Martha on waiting.

What's the matter?

Lazarus is sick, so sick, he's not getting well.

Okay, I understand.

I'm going, Martha.

Martha, you're still on the line?

That was your sister Mary saying that Lazarus is sick and he's not getting well.

I'll get there.

I'll get there.

This continues for day two, three, and whatever other days, and they're calling again.

Martha called.

Hey, Jesus of Nazareth?

How come you ain't here yet?

I called you.

I said Lazarus is sick and you ain't come here yet.

Martha, there's another person on the line.

This is Jesus speaking.

How can I help you?

This is Mary, Jesus.

Oh, every time Mary called Martha, you got to be calling too.

Every time she called me, you on the line.

Yes, because Lazarus look at he's gonna die.

Come over here quick, Jesus.

I'll get there.

I'll get there.

And if we are going to suppose, as a lashing dog said, you know the sound, just supposing?

You know it?

We just supposing, right?

So we supposing now that Peter gets into this conversation.

You know, he always got to be in thing.

Peter will show up to Jesus and says, Hey Jesus, I think you have some trouble here, you know, with that set that cell phone of yours distracting you.

Every minute you with it in your hand, talking, talking, pass it to me.

Let me help you with it.

And when an important call comes, I'll pass it back to you.

You know, Jesus looked at Peter and he said, Okay, Pete, where's your blackberry?

Pass it over.

When your wife calls, I'll pass it back to you.

Peter looked at Jesus and said, Okay, Jesus, that's fine.

So there was no passing, no cell phone that day.

Everybody kept their phones.

So we were only supposing, right?

I don't want you right up tomorrow online and say, Pastor Reimer had another copy of the Bible where Jesus had a blackberry phone.

Okay, we were only what?

Supposing.

Yes.

Good.

So now we have our first point.

The weight.

And how many times you and I have felt like Martha and Mary if you're truthful, forsaken by God and ignored.

Even when we keep calling, going on our knees, praying, and he hasn't come yet.

How many times?

How many times, like Martha and Mary, we are left frustrated and bewildered, wondering why Jesus would allow us to go through all this, our darkest moments.

Why would he do that?

And sometimes, like Mary and Martha, and I'm sure they were thinking, it makes absolutely no sense that Jesus would get a call, said he'd be there, and he's not here.

How many times you and I said the same things?

But remember the scripture?

Pay attention to verses five and six.

It says, So although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, he what?

He stayed where he was for the next two days.

Although he loved them, although he heard their call for help, although he said he'd be there, he decided to stay there two whole days without going to see what they wanted.

As you sit in your seats this morning, put yourself in this verse.

So although Jesus loved whoever you are, Etlin, Brother Lasille, Sister Sisi, whoever you are, he stayed where he was for the next two days until that thing that you're dealing with got worse and worse and worse with each passing day.

All Mary and Martha wanted was for Jesus to come running to heal their brother Lazarus.

But you see, God has a bigger plan.

He always does.

God's purpose was not to heal a sick man, his purpose was to bring a dead man back to life.

But you see, Mary and Martha didn't know this.

They did not have the information like me and you have today.

In Jesus' day, people had seen him heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, heal the blind, but not many had seen him raise the dead to life.

And so because this information was missing, doubt and unbelief set in with Mary and Martha.

And many times in our own lives, we don't understand why God doesn't come running when we call.

Whether he tarry, where does he make us wait?

We ask.

And because we don't understand, doubt and unbelief sets in.

Frustration sets in.

Doubt sets in.

Unbelief sets in.

But you know what?

All the while, our God is walking, busy walking behind the scenes to deliver us.

But we can't see that.

Mary and Martha couldn't have understood a silence from someone they counted as their best friend.

Because in their darkest hour, Jesus was silent.

He was noticeably absent.

And the question for us is my fourth point, what do we do in these situations when heaven is silent?

What do we do when the answer doesn't come as quick as we would want it to come?

What do we do?

I give you the answer now.

Because you know, if you haven't had those moments yet, continue to live, they'll come.

Well, you're either going through them now or they're going to come in the future.

But all of us have been there when circumstances were beyond our control and we thought God would come running.

But he remained silent.

What to do in heaven?

Remain silent.

The answer is found in Joshua chapter 4, verses 1 through 9.

Joshua 4:1–9

And if you were here last Sunday morning, Dr.

Mike went through this passage so ably, I don't need to go through it again.

But the answer is found right here in Joshua chapter 4, verses 1 through 9.

Joshua 4:1–9

Just as Joshua laid the 12 stones in the river Jordan and at Gilgal as memorials, we also ought to lay stones of remembrance where we can look back and be reminded of all the miracles God performed in our lives.

When to us it appears he is delaying that heaven is silent.

We too are to be planting stones, just like Joshua.

Because the Israelites were people who had amnesia.

God will come forward for them today, and tomorrow they forget.

We too are like that.

So we ought to be laying stones of remembrance of all the miracles in our lives that God has delivered us from all the things, all the troubles, and keep our fingers pointed right at those things.

I remember Dr.

Mike preaching Sunday and he said, write down those things.

Keep a record of God's faithfulness.

Keep a record of his deliverance says of all the times when you couldn't pay your bills and he came through.

All the times when you were sick and he delivered you, keep a record.

All the times when hell and the forces of hell came against you and he saved you.

Keep a record.

I can testify to you today that I have had struggles in my life.

I have privilege to have God answer prayer speedily.

And I love those times when you come through speedily.

But you know what?

I've also experienced those lean seasons when it seemed heaven kept quiet too long.

Well, I can point to his faithfulness in my life.

Those stones of remembrance says keep me going.

When hell says give up.

There were many times when hell said give up.

Don't you see God is paying no attention?

Don't you see God is not listening?

When I point, the memorials in my life, the stones are planted in the sand of time.

You see, when I was a pretty teenager, I was out in the ocean.

I couldn't swim.

I was on a desk, a school desk, cleaning the school desk for school, at the end of school, and having fun with my friends.

Didn't realize that the desk had gone too far from where I couldn't stand.

And I began to drown.

God saved me from that watery grave that day.

As a teenager, I gave my life to Christ at a very young age.

And I realized that God not only saved my soul, but he saved my life from destruction, all the many things I could have gotten into, had it not been for God saving me young.

In 2018, my dear husband was sitting in the audience, when he got his cancer diagnosis, cancer was then a word that brought fear, apprehension.

You thought the end was near.

But I can look back and say thanks be to God for deliverance.

My husband is sitting here well, healthy, works harder, or too hard sometimes.

But I can thank God he's not a lazy man.

He has the strength of an ox.

That's one of the stones I've also planted.

He was there in that season, and he has delivered and come through.

That's the stone I look back on.

In 2023, I got a breast cancer diagnosis.

And I've watched God come through.

I've watched him do miracles upon miracles on my life.

I've seen him open doors, close doors.

I've seen him deliver.

There were days I thought I wouldn't make it, to tell you the truth.

There were days I felt the end was near.

But I held on to my faith.

And he came through, and I'm standing here before you this morning as a testimony that God is faithful.

These stones of remembrance help to keep my faith intact.

When at times it seems God is silent and indifferent, difficult to trace.

And he taking his time to come back when I call.

Getting back to Mary and Martha, they called.

Jesus knew why they called.

But the Bible says Jesus finally showed up.

But when did he show up?

After Lazarus breathed his last breath.

When did he show up?

After the funeral procession.

When did he show up?

After Lazarus was buried and was in that grave for four whole days.

Now you ask me, what sense does that make now for him to show up?

What sense does it make?

What sense does it make to Mary and Martha to have Jesus show up now when their brother is already dead?

Funeral taking place and he's in the tomb for four days.

But Jesus, I said, had a bigger plan.

Not to heal a sick man, but to raise a dead man back to life.

What could be more powerful than a resurrection?

And sometimes in our lives we don't just need healing, we need a whole resurrection.

And that's why sometimes Jesus delays in coming to our cause.

But of course, the attitude point seven sets in.

I couldn't help but notice that Mary and Martha responded with an attitude when Jesus finally decided to show up.

And you would have done the same.

I would have done the same.

You know what they did?

They both blamed Jesus for Lazarus' death.

In thought, all that talk they say, where are you going now?

I've been calling you for days.

Are you just showing up?

The man done dead buried in the grave.

Where are you going?

Both Mary and Martha had the same attitude.

And I think I would have had it too.

Then also, the mourners who came to cry with Mary and Martha also accused Jesus of carelessness.

They said, where here come now.

This man been out there healing the sick, the blind, the lepers.

You don't think he's gonna stop this man from dying?

Oh where he come now.

When we don't ball, ball, ball, ball, ball, he show up now.

So Jesus was accused twice to his face and once behind his back.

We do the same thing.

When the bad happens, heaven gets the blame.

And when the good happens, we take the credit.

We are so messed up as humans.

But thank God.

God's love goes behind a mess.

And Jesus now has the gall to tell them to move the stone from the tomb.

When this man has been in there for four days, by now his body is suffering corruption.

Well, let me tell you what happened that day.

When Jesus asked them to remove the stone from the tomb, and Jesus called out to Lazarus, come forth.

Commanding him to come out of that.

And when Mary and Martha must have known from afar because I guess it's that wasn't nice.

And when they look towards them.

And before he died.

And then look and then lasic coming.

You can believe the pandemonium that those two sentences not went through.

You said I mean the Bible so quiet, quiet.

I put myself into the trauma.

I put myself into the rejoicing.

And I said, Why?

Why are you laughing?

Why are you looking like I wasn't?

He was looking good.

He wasn't living.

When the sun resurrection.

If you don't have anything the father.

If you don't have a God, the father is hard.

If you don't have a friend, the whole lantum is hard.

When the bottom and your strength is gone.

But there might come a time in your life when you get sick.

Philippians 1 6 says, and I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it's finally finished.

And the day when Christ Jesus returns, all that is saying is this as I give my testimony.

God has invested in what he started in me.

God will not abandon his own investment.

That is me.

He didn't bring me the spar to leave me now.

I look at every mile.

He has already brought me through.

And you wondered how he's gonna get paid.

We remember going back to a place in time when God remained faithful.

Every time this child thought it was over, God showed up.

Maybe not the time I wanted him to, but he always showed up on time.

That's encouragement for you too.

I don't know what stones of remembrance you have in your life, but don't take them for granted.

Don't take the little miracles he gave you for granted.

Don't take his goodness for granted.

Keep a record.

He will begin a good work in you and perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.

He will perform it.

God started something in you and he will always finish what he started.

Listen, he didn't bring you the spark to leave you now.

He's been faithful to you through so many seasons of your life.

God has been there for you.

Don't take God for granted.

And I ask you, don't judge God's movement when you pray.

You think he's not coming.

Don't judge God's movement by your own physical eyesight.

Instead, judge God's movement by your faith.

Always believe.

Somehow, some way he's gonna come true for me.

Let us thank God for the night he protected you while you slept in your bed with a heavy heart.

The strength he gave you when nobody knew you were struggling.

Thank God for those moments.

Thank God for carrying you through battles.

You never even had to fight.

Yes, yes, there were doors.

We are quite over.

We're not, and we wanted them open, but God said no, let it stay closed, and we didn't know why.

We couldn't understand why, but looking back, we realized God was protecting us because suppose he had opened that door that you wanted open.

You might have married the wrong person and have a miserable life.

What if you had opened that door for that particular job you wanted?

Maybe you might have been a miserable employee on that job.

There were people in your life you begged to stay with you.

You begged them to stay after they left and closed the door.

You begged to stay.

But God removed them because he was protecting you from what you couldn't see.

I can testify.

I can testify.

I begged people to stay, but God said, get away.

And today I can say, Thank God.

Thank God for that closed door that remained closed today.

What would my life look like if I had walked through that door that God didn't open?

A miserable woman not able to come before you today.

A miserable life with regrets.

If I had her, if I had her, I showed her.

If I had listened, if I had only listened, there would be no water code, I shoulder.

There would be an amen.

I listen.

And I'm reaping the benefits of listening.

Hallelujah.

Hallelujah.

Hey, look at my darling husband there.

Yes.

What if this foolish child had chosen wrong?

What?

If I had selected wrong, oh the misery of it all, oh the pain of it all.

Kimberly, you chose right, praise the Lord, Minister Penn, Minister Rima, praise the Lord.

Sister Dafo, you chose right, praise the Lord.

Brother Lasselle, you chose right, praise the Lord.

Sister Lucy, even though he disgusting, you chose right, praise the Lord.

Hallelujah.

What a misery we would have been in today.

Lord have mercy.

We're begging people to stay when God's saying it, uh-uh, no, sir, get away.

Not you.

I've chosen somebody different.

Thank God for choosing.

Thank God.

And there were delays that frustrated me.

But God was preparing something greater in my life.

So let us thank God for not answering every prayer we pray.

Because sometimes we could pray some praise, you know.

Out of the flesh.

We come, you can imagine.

We come before God like we know all.

And we're telling God what to do, you know.

We're not saying, God, if it be your will, we say, God, I want this, I want that, I want the other.

Up to you at me, say, God, what you think?

Thank God He didn't answer your foolishness.

He was so wise.

He shut the door rather than shut.

So you couldn't squeeze in and take it back.

Let us thank God for loving us even in the moments when we doubted ourselves.

Never walking away from us in our tiredness.

But as I come down to a close, we're talking about stones of remembrance.

There's another day in history when heaven remained silent.

That was a horrible day when Jesus Christ, the Son of God, hung on the cross because of your sins and mine.

That terrible day when heaven remained silent, when Jesus said, Father, why have you forsaken me, your loving son?

Heaven went silent.

And when heaven finally answered on resurrection Sunday, a stone of remembrance was laid for us.

When the power of God miraculously breathed on the Son of God in his tomb and raised him back to life after being there for three days.

That's the most important stone of remembrance we can look back on and point to a living hope.

Point to the fact that one day you and I will also be brought back to life to live with Jesus forever.

One day, when we leave this world, if Jesus doesn't come before, and they put us down in our in our graves, one day we're gonna hear the trumpet song, and all those graves are gonna burst wide open, and we are going to be reunited with our Savior.

That's the most important stone of remembrance that you should point to.

A living hope.

My mom, my dad, family members that I haven't seen in a long time.

But I have a living hope that one day, one day, hey, one day, the graves are gonna burst wide open.

We are going to be reunited once again to be with Jesus Christ forever.

No more pain, no more dying, no more conflict, no more silence from heaven.

So that resurrection stone should remind you if you're sitting there and thinking God has forgotten you, He has not forgotten you.

So hold on.

I come to tell you today, hold on to your faith and the promise he made to you, hold on.

One day soon his promises will come to pass.

Hold on, no matter what.

We complain sometimes too much, but let our gratitude be louder than our complaints.

Let every sunrise, yes, allow us to see, remind us of his faithfulness.

We don't have to be here, you know.

The only reason you are there is because of his motion, not because of your strength, or because you deserve it, or because you think that you own a right to be alive.

No, you do not, it's all because of God's grace.

Let us thank God for the many dangers that we didn't see that God intercepted, that didn't cross our doors.

Let us thank you for the many storms he came before they reached us.

Now it's the hurricane season.

You take it for granted that a hurricane hasn't come yet.

You're taking it for granted, right?

Have you given him thanks that so far, no storms.

In my life, the devil thought he'd won.

But I am alive to testify to you of his goodness.

I'm still standing, not because Edwin Reimer deserves it, but because of God's faithfulness in my life.

Every battle, every tear, every pain, every disappointment that I endured has turned into a testimony.

So I can stand before you today and tell you, hang on, hold on.

Jesus has not forgotten you.

Let us stand with gratitude today for the things money cannot buy.

Peace.

Peace that keep us alive.

Hope that refuse to die, and mercy that keep giving us chances after chances.

I'm gonna ask you to stand right now, everybody.

And if you could put that prayer up on the board for me, for the Khalid.

Because some of you are standing here today, you are disappointed in the fact that God hasn't come yet to answer your situation.

You are disappointed in your heart and you are angry with God.

We are going to pray.

We are all going to pray.

So if you look at the board, I want you to pray with me.

Can you see the board?

Can you read it?

Okay, we're gonna go.

Let's go, Heavenly Father.

Heavenly Father, we ask you to heal and need to hear you.

Yes.

Heal the disappointments we keep pretending do not affect us.

Heal the memories that still bring pain to our hearts.

And while you heal us, teach us to trust you again.

Teach us to stop living in fear of what could go wrong.

Teach us to believe that better days are still coming.

Lord, we may not have everything we prayed for yet.

But we are grateful for how far you have already brought us.

We refuse to let temporary pain make us forget your goodness.

But today, we thank you, God, for the breath in our lungs, for purpose still inside us, and for the future you are preparing, even when we cannot see it.

We place our lives, our families, our dreams, and our future into your hands.

In Jesus' mighty name.

Amen.

Joy, praise.

Sometimes when a storm blows on us, when things happen we don't understand, all we can do is look up to heaven and say, Come, Jesus, come, only you got the answer, only you got the solution.

So come, Jesus come.

Joy praise, come, Jesus, come.

We've been waiting so long for the thing you read to hear everyone and by everyone.

We're taking all these, keep sticking.

Hallelujah.

If you are discouraged, if you still need to pray, you can come forward and let someone pervert you.

If you still need a touch from God today, because life doesn't always go the way we expect it to go.

Or want it to go.

If you still need prayer, the altar is open for you to come.

So that our ministers can pray with you.

I remind you that all is not lost.

Thank you, Jesus.

Thank you, God.

God, we thank you today.

And though this world gets dark at times, you are the answer.

You are the only answer that we need one day.

You will come and make things right.

But for now, we trust you.

We thank you for your mercy and your goodness.

Bless everyone today.

Encourage them, bless them, remind them that you have not forgotten them.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Thank you for worshiping with us today.

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