Glory - Pastor Kipp Penrod

Thank you for listening to this message from

Lifehouse Church. Hey, turn to somebody right

now, give them a high five, tell them it's good

to see you on a Sunday. Good to see you on a

Sunday. Yeah. Excited about what God's doing,

what he's doing. Hey, if you would, sometime

today, if you would just breathe a prayer for

the youth team, the youth group. They're actually

in Tennessee now at Winterfest. They raised funds

for that. Some of you supported that just a little

while back, and they are down at that conference.

There's about 20 kids from LifeHouse that went.

There's about 300 from the state of Pennsylvania

out of the Church of Gods that went, and there's

12 ,000 students together in Tennessee. Come

on, they're down there worshiping God. Yeah,

it's awesome. I don't know if you've ever been

where 12 ,000 students are praising God, but

it's an amazing, amazing thing. I've had the

opportunity to do that. So just be in prayer.

They're going to have service this morning, and

they'll be traveling back in that long drive

back home, and they'll come home tired, weary,

hoarse, you name it. But it'll be a great weekend

for them. So we're excited about what God's doing.

Well, listen, we've been hanging out in the book

of John now for some time, and we've been leading

up to chapter 11, which is where we're going

today. And just to give you a little backstory

leading up to that, in chapters 9 and 10, Jesus

heals a blind man. We've heard about him several

times over the last few weeks. And when that

takes place, there are many people in that area

that believe in Jesus. They believe he's the

Messiah. They believe that he's the son of God.

But there's a group of people who don't. believe.

There's Pharisees and some of the Jews who begin

to argue with Jesus, and they publicly get into

these discussions and arguments, one after the

other, with this same group of people. And as

Jesus interacts with these group of unbelievers,

they just simply refuse to believe the indisputable

proof that Jesus is Lord, that He is Savior,

and that He's the Son of God. And this particular

group gets so angry They get so frustrated as

they talk with Jesus that they want to take him

out. They want to kill him. They want to stone

him to death. That's what they did back then.

They'd either stone you to death or take you

up on a cliff and throw you off. They were super

gentle about the whole thing, right? They were

angry. And when Jesus finally gets to the last

discussion with them, and it's about to end,

something happened, and I call it the Holy Ghost

whammy. How many of you ever heard of the Holy

Ghost whammy? Good. I just made that up. But

he did, he put the Holy Ghost by me. And this

happened a lot because at different times Jesus

would be speaking, people would get angry, people

would get saved. Some people were following God,

others were getting angry with them and they

wanted to stone them or throw them off a cliff

or do something crazy like that. And all of a

sudden the Holy Spirit would move and they wouldn't

be able to see Jesus. He'd be right in front

of them and he would just walk right out of the

crowd. He walks through the crowd. I call it

the Holy Ghost whammy. And that's what took place.

Jesus walks away and him and his disciples, meet

up again and they decide they're done all together

ministering in this place with this group of

people. And they finally make the decision to

move on to minister somewhere else. And they

head to the area where John the Baptist was originally

seen in scripture. When Jesus actually came to

John the Baptist to be water baptized, they go

to this area that's called Beth Tadbarah. I probably

pronounced that wrong. For all of you that are

about pronunciation, you can look it up and correct

me later. Send me an email. But this was located

just on the other side of the Jordan River, and

it was likely on the eastern bank opposite Jericho.

And it identified as the place of crossing. And

this is where the disciples in Jesus end up.

And the scriptures say that they begin to minister

there, and many people believe. Many people believe

that he's the Messiah. Many people believe in

Jesus. He does miracles. And while they're ministering

in this place, in this particular place where

John the Baptist had been baptizing, word comes

to Jesus from a town that's nearby called Bethany.

It's about a day's journey away. And the news

is this, your friend Lazarus is sick. He is ill.

He's very sick. And that's what we're going to

pick up in John chapter 11. So if you've got

John 11 · chapter mention

your Bibles, turn to John chapter 11. While you're

John 11 · chapter mention

turning there, we're going to start at verse

1. I'm going to pray over the reading of God's

word. And actually, I'm going to pray over your

hearing, your listening, and our hearts. Amen.

Father, thank you for this day. I thank you for

the opportunity, Lord, to come into your word.

God, to read and to learn. And God, most of all,

to see you. So Lord, as we go into your word,

write it on our hearts, speak it into our minds

and our spirit. Holy Spirit, we ask right now,

you just stir it up within us. And Lord, we just

give you praise. and glory in Jesus' name. Everybody

say it together. Amen. Amen. John chapter 11

John 11:1

verse 1 says this, Now that a certain man was

sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and

her sister Martha, it was that Mary who anointed

the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped his feet

with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.

Therefore the sisters sent to him. Right? They

send word to Jesus. This is a family. It's Lazarus.

It's Mary. It's Martha. They live in the same

household. They're siblings. And Laz gets sick,

and they send word to Jesus, who's about a day's

journey away. And it's saying, Lord, behold,

he whom you love is sick. Your friend, your good

friend is sick. They send a message to Jesus.

And when Mary and Martha send this message to

Jesus, it isn't just informational in nature.

It's an invitation for Jesus to come because

they know that the power of God works through

him. They know that if Jesus comes, Lazarus is

going to get better because Jesus can heal him.

Verse 4 says, then when Jesus heard that, he

said, this sickness is not unto death, but for

the glory. Say glory. Glory. Now, I grew up in

a Pentecostal church. We are a Pentecostal denomination.

And we used to have these individuals when you

were preaching, they'd say amen. And there was

this one guy in particular, he would say glory.

But he wouldn't just say glory. He had one of

those nice, deep, bass voices. And he'd go, glory.

Turn to your neighbor and do that one time. Come

on, just give it a shot. Just give them a glory.

All right? If it was something he liked in Scripture,

he'd just go, glory, right? Well, this sickness

is not unto death, but it is for the glory of

God, that the Son of God might be glorified through

it. And when Jesus heard this, right, when Jesus

hears the news, He tells his disciples, this

sickness isn't for death. It doesn't have the

purpose of death. This is not a sickness that's

going to lead to death. And he just says this

specifically to them. Now, this is an interesting

statement to make because how many know death

is kind of a final thing, right? If you know

anything about death, when death comes, it kind

of means that you're done. You're finished. I

say it finito, right? You could be humorous and

say you're headed for the dirt nap. Okay, some

of you will catch up with that later. All right,

when you die, it's a final thing. And it's interesting

that Jesus says this isn't unto death because

I'm going to give you a little spoiler alert.

Lazarus dies. He says this very thing. And the

statement that Jesus make is super interesting

because we know the rest of the story. If you're

familiar with the scripture, I know the rest

of the story. You may not, but four days, Lazarus

dies and he's four days dead before Jesus even

gets there. And Jesus says, this sickness isn't

unto death. Even though Jesus knows that Lazarus

is going to die. Why did he say that? I mean,

did Jesus lie here? I don't think so. Jesus never

sinned. Was he just trying to think positive

and wanted his 12 disciples not to get worried,

so he just said something positive, right? Did

he not just want to be a downer in the whole

discussion? Why would Jesus say this? It's because

of this. Death is a chronic condition. Death

is a final thing. When you're dead, it's over.

It's done. It's finito. Say finito. Yeah, you're

done. It's like done, done. You don't recover

from death. You don't die and then you go to

the doctor or somebody goes to the doctor for

you because you can't and they get you a prescription.

They come in and dump it into your mouth and

all of a sudden you come back alive. That's not

how it works. We all know that. You don't bounce

back. You don't recuperate from death. It's a

final thing. And death had to this point in time

from the beginning of time when sin first got

introduced and death came on the scene. Up until

this time, death was a chronic condition. It

was irreversible condition until Jesus, until

Jesus came. That would have been a great place

for you to go like glory, all right? Seriously,

until Jesus. When Jesus showed up on the earth,

death shifted from chronic to acute. It is not

chronic with Jesus. When death is around and

Jesus shows up, death has to flee. Life begins

to take over. We're heading into Easter season.

It's what it's all about. Jesus came out of the

grave, and Jesus knew this. He knew this about

himself. So he said, this sickness is not unto

death, but for the glory of God, that the Son

of God might be glorified through it. The disciples

didn't know that Lazarus was dead. They're thinking

he's just sick and he's going to recover. But

Jesus is thinking, I'm about to reverse the curse.

I'm about to change what took place in the garden.

I'm about to overcome death in the grave. It

is no longer going to be an acute, a chronic

thing. It's going to be acute thing. And when

I show up, right, there's going to be life. Going

to be life. That's another great spot. You can

say glory. I'm going to get you in this yet.

All right. There it is. All right. Verse 5 says

this. Now, Jesus loved Martha and her sister

Mary and Lazarus. They were close friends. They

were family friends. So when he heard that Laz,

right, he was sick, he, Jesus, stayed two more

days in the place where he was. Jesus is a day's

journey from where Lazarus is. Jesus gets the

news. with the disciples that Lazarus is sick,

and Jesus doesn't rush off to see Lazarus. He

doesn't head that direction, even though he got

word. He stays where he's at two days longer

on purpose. He and the Father have a plan. He,

the Father, and the Holy Spirit are about to

show the world that Jesus not only has the power

over nature, he does not only have power over

the demonic, he doesn't only have power to speak

things into existence, but he has power Over

death as well. Death, hell, and the grave. Verse

7 said this. Then after this, he said to his

disciples, let's go to Judea again. That's where

Bethany's at. Let's head there. Two days go by.

The disciples said to him, Rabbi, lately the

Jews, now they just think Lazarus is still sick,

lately the Jews sought to stone you, and you're

going there again? Jesus answered, are there

not 12 hours in the day? If anyone walks in the

day, he does not stumble, because he sees the

light of this world. But if one walks in the

night, he stumbles, because the light is not

in him. These things he said, and after this

he said to them, Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but

I go that I may wake him up. The disciples still

don't know, right? Lazarus is dead at this point,

long dead. And they just think he's sick. And

Jesus doesn't, he doesn't fill him in on everything.

In fact, at this point, he's just kind of underplaying

the whole thing. Lazarus is sleeping, and I'm

going to go wake him up. And I can see the disciples,

they're probably confused. They're probably thinking,

well, Jesus, you know, he's got two sisters.

If he's taking a nap, I'm pretty sure they could

shake him, right? They can wake him up. Why do

we got to go there? What's that got to do with

anything? So the disciples, I can see them in

their confusion. They give their best response

in verse 12. Then his disciples said, Lord, if

he sleeps, he'll get well, right? How many know

if you sleep, you get better, right? First thing

you do, go sleep. However, Jesus spoke of his

death, but they thought that he was speaking

about taking rest in his sleep. And then Jesus

drops the bomb on the disciples. He just tells

them plainly. Verse 14 says, then Jesus said

to them plainly, Lazarus is dead. And I'm glad

for your sakes that I was not there that you

might believe. Nevertheless, let us go to him.

They're stunned. They're confused. They're thinking

Lazarus is just sick and sleeping. Jesus said

this isn't unto death. Lazarus is now dead. Jesus

just told them they're dead. They're thinking

in their minds, wait a minute. You said he was

sleeping. You said he wasn't going to die. Now

he's dead. You're telling us he's dead. How many

know sometimes you don't even know what to say,

right, in a conversation? I can see the disciples

just standing there like. I don't even know what

to say. Have you ever been in a conversation,

and it went somewhere, and you're just like,

you don't even know what to say next? Anybody

else other than me just stand there with this

confused look on your face in a conversation,

right? And then Thomas, and when you have that,

sometimes you say whatever comes to your mind.

And I think that's what happens with Thomas here,

because in verse 16 it says, then Thomas, who's

one of the 12 disciples, who's called the twins,

said to the fellow disciples, let us go, that

we may die with them. What? Right? What? I can

see the other 11 like, huh? You know, he says

this thing. And maybe, I don't know, maybe Thomas

was like, you know, this must be a whole Jesus

metaphor. You know, maybe there's some deep spiritual

thing that we're going to learn. So let's just

go. Let's go die with them. You know, maybe he

thought it was a metaphor of some kind. Maybe

he thought it was like a parable kind of thing.

I'm not sure what was happening. But let's go

die. Woo -hoo! That's what happened. And I wonder,

I think these things, I'm reading the shares,

I'm thinking, did the other 11 just stand there

with this weird, awkward silence for a long period

of time after this whole interaction? I don't

know. Maybe they just stood there and shook their

heads. They were confused. More than likely.

17 says this. So when Jesus came, came to Bethany,

he found that he had already been, Lazarus had

already been in the tomb four days. Say four

days. That's dead, all right? 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 and their brother. Now,

Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming,

went and met him, but Mary was still sitting

in the house. Jesus gets close to where they

live. He's late. He missed the funeral. Lazarus

is already in the grave, and Martha comes out

to meet Jesus, and Mary stays in the house. And

I feel like you need a little backstory here

to truly understand the family dynamic with Mary,

Martha, and Lazarus, because they're mentioned

in another place in Scripture. At another point

in time, Jesus was actually at their house ministering,

and the house was full of people as Jesus ministered.

And when this particular scenario took place,

Martha, who I think is the firstborn, I can't

confirm that, but I'm thinking she has to be

the firstborn. She's running around the house,

and she's getting everybody iced tea. She's making

sure everybody's got water. She's making sure

the ice bucket's completely full. She's got snacks

on the table. She's running here. She's running

there. taking care of everybody. Mary has to

be the baby of the family, right? She's sitting

at Jesus' feet just listening. And Martha keeps

running around and running around, and Mary just

keeps listening to Jesus teach. And finally,

Martha gets so frustrated with her sister that

she tells Jesus, now I'm paraphrasing, Jesus,

please tell my sister to get some enthusiasm

and get up and help me. Help me take care of

all these people. And Jesus looks at Martha and

says, Martha, you are busy about many things,

but you're missing the one thing, the one important

thing, and that's listening to me. That's what

happens in this story. And if you read that story,

Martha kind of gets a bad rap, right? She seems

like the spiritually shallow one. And Mary's

the one who's sitting at Jesus' feet, just listening.

And Martha's just concerned about all this stuff.

But as you read these different scenarios, and

as I read about Martha, I realize something about

Martha. Martha's kind of large and in charge.

I think she was the firstborn. I think she took

care of business. And even at this particular

scenario, when Jesus is coming near Bethany,

she's the first one out. of the house, and she

comes to meet Jesus one -on -one, right? Mary's

just in there with the mourners. She's sad. She's

in there, and she comes out of the house. I think

she was taking up business. Her brother has died.

You know, somebody has to be in charge. Somebody's

got to take care. And she comes out and meets

Jesus, who's their good friend, and is four days

late. Funeral was over. Lazarus is already sealed

up in the grave. And verse 21 says, now Martha

said, and I think this is a great scripture,

one of the most amazing verses in the Bible.

Now Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you would

have been here, my brother would not have died.

But even now, I know that whatever you ask of

God, God will give it to you. This is Martha

talking. I think it's one of the most amazing

verses because I think it's one of the most authentic

verses of how somebody feels. I think Martha,

I don't know, again, I wasn't there, but I think

Martha was half mad at Jesus. I think she was

half ticked off that he didn't get there, right?

He didn't get there to heal her brother. Her

brother's in the grave because Jesus didn't show

up in time and he didn't come right away at their

word. And I think she's half mad at Jesus and

in her grief and in her pain and her frustration

and in Jesus' tardiness, right? She feels the

cost of her brother passing away. But she follows

up that statement with a complete statement of

faith in Jesus. She says, but even now, I know

whatever you ask of God, God will give it to

you. Right? Even now, whatever you ask of God

the Father, God will give it. I don't know what

you're going to do, Jesus. I don't know what

it's going to look like at this point because

it all seems too late. But whatever you ask,

whatever you say, it's going to happen. This

is deep, deep faith. She had faith that if Jesus

would have showed up before Lazarus died, that

Lazarus would still be alive. She also had faith

that after Lazarus did die and it's four days

late, that whatever Jesus says is going to happen

is going to happen. She's talking faith. All

the way in her hurt, in her frustration, right?

In her pain. And you can hear it. You can hear

it in her. If we want to witness the glory of

God in our lives, we got to start making great

statements of faith in Jesus. Can I say it again?

That would have been another good place for glory.

All right? I got glory myself. All right? If

we want to witness the glory of God in our lives,

start making great statements of faith in Jesus.

I've already given you the spoiler alert. Lazarus'

death, right, is not chronic. It's not. He's

about to come out of the grave. Martha doesn't

know it yet, but she's believing Jesus that anything

is possible. If we want the glory of God to show

up in our lives, in the difficult situation,

if we want the hand of God, the purpose of God,

the plan of God to unfold, I've got to start

making great statements of faith. I got to start

speaking it before I ever see it. I got to start

making statements of faith and releasing them

into the atmosphere around me. I got to make

statements of faith when it doesn't make any

sense, right? When it's already dead and gone,

right? When it seems like it's all over. I got

to make statements of faith that Jesus can do

anything. I got to make statements of faith when

I'm hurting and when I'm frustrated. I got to

make statements of faith when I feel it and when

I don't feel it. I got to make those statements

of faith. When I can't see my way forward, when

it's hard, when the pain of whatever you're walking

through is almost more than you can bear. And

even if I'm half mad at Jesus, like Martha was,

even if I'm half mad, she's making declarations

of faith in Jesus. Whatever you say, Jesus, is

going to happen. It's already done. It's already

done. She doesn't ask Jesus to raise her brother

from the dead. She just says, Jesus, whatever

your will and purpose is, I'm trusting in that.

I believe whatever you do, whatever you say.

There is no deeper faith in God than to make

this statement, I don't know what's happening,

Jesus. I don't know how this is all going to

work out. I don't know how this is all going

to go, but I trust you with everything that's

in me. And I lay it in your hands, and I know

that you can do whatever. Whether it seems impossible

or not, you can do it. That is the greatest statement

of faith. And Martha has faith in Jesus. Amen?

And this faith continues, continues. Listen,

John 11, 23, Jesus said to her. Your brother

will rise again. Martha said to him, I know he

will rise again in the resurrection at the last

day. Right? She's still wrestling. I know, Jesus.

I know. I'm sure I can believe it for now. But

I know one day he's going to rise, right? One

day we're all going to go to heaven. If you're

redeemed, I know my brother will rise. I know

he'll get there. You can hear it again. And it

reminds me of a story in Mark 9, verse 23, about

Mark 9:23

a guy who was in the same kind of position. Because

in Mark chapter 9, 23, there's a man who has

Mark 9 · chapter mention

a son who has a condition where this son has

actually got a spirit that's plaguing him. A

spirit that begins to... urged this son to act

out. And this boy, he gnashes his teeth. He falls

on the ground. He throws himself in the fire

at times. He throws himself down on the ground

at times. He even, and this dad doesn't know

what to do. The word of God says that this boy

even, the demon that plagues him tries to throw

him in the fire and tries to throw him in the

water both. And they bring him to Jesus' disciples

and the disciples can't do anything. And this

desperate father comes to the disciples so that

this boy is healed. and it doesn't happen. So

they bring him to Jesus and look what Jesus says.

And Jesus said to him, if you can believe all

things are possible to him who believes. And

immediately the father of the child cried out

and said with tears, Lord, I believe. Then he

said, help my unbelief. Anybody ever feel that

way? Lord, I believe. Oh, help my unbelief. Do

you hear the struggle? That's what Martha was

in. This is us sometimes. It was Martha in the

middle of the emotion. It was this desperate

father. And sometimes it's us. I want to keep

making statements of faith, but man, I struggle

sometimes. The thought comes into my head. The

doubt starts to creep in there, right? Lord,

I believe, but help my own belief. And Jesus

says to Martha in 25, 11, 25, I am the resurrection

of life. He who believes in me, though he may

die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes

in me shall never die. Do you believe this? He's

challenging her again. He sees the faith in her.

She said, yes, Lord, I believe that you are the

Christ, the Son of God who has come into the

world. She just keeps making statement of faith

after statement of faith after statement of faith.

She's one after the other. You are the Christ.

You are the one. She keeps speaking it. She hasn't

seen it yet, but she's believing it. How many

know we tend to complain instead of making a

statement of faith when things are going crazy,

right? I don't know about you, but it is easy

for a complaint to roll off my mouth when things

aren't going well. I wish, and I'm going to start

checking myself, I need to stop and make a statement

of faith. When things are sideways, when things

are going awry, when things are a mess, you got

to stop and make a statement of faith. And you

hear it in her words. You hear it. And I know

whatever God's going to do, it's going to be

right. It's going to be good. It's going to be

God. Dixie said it this morning. She didn't look

at my message notes, by the way. Expecting God's

glory to show up in the middle of the mess is

faith in Jesus. Expectation. What is your expectation?

If you're not sure of the outcome, what are you

expecting God to do? Did you come in the house

this morning expecting God to do anything? Or

did you just walk in here and figure, ah, it's

Sunday. This is what I do on a Sunday. I get

up. I go to church. I hopefully hear something

that perks me up a little bit. I'm going to go

home, have a good lunch, take a nap, and get

back up Monday and start all over again. Right?

That's what we do. Or did you come in expecting

God to do something? Did you expect God to shake

heaven and earth, right? And I'm not telling

you it's your words are the only thing that moves

God. God's sovereign, man. He can move and do

anything He pleases anytime He wants. He is supreme.

That's what sovereign means. He is supreme. He

is all -powerful. He can move anytime He chooses.

But I can tell you that it is more likely that

God's glory is going to show up, that God's going

to move, that He's going to shake heaven and

earth when you're speaking statements of faith.

It is all through God's Word. You can go into

Matthew 13, 53, and it'll describe a scenario

where Jesus travels into his own country, to

his hometown, right? This isn't my hometown.

I could go back to my hometown of Wimber. Jesus

does that in Matthew 12, 53. He goes back to

his hometown. And do you know what happens when

he goes there? He preaches the word. He heals

a couple people. But the word of God says that

the people that are there, that know him, they're

like, Jesus, Jesus, I remember Jesus. I know

his brothers, right? His brothers. I know James

and Joseph and Simon and Judas. And his sisters

are actually right here with us right now. And

I remember this guy. His dad was a carpenter,

Joseph. And, oh, his mom. I remember his mom.

He was the one that doesn't look like all the

other kids because, well, yeah. Jesus goes to

his hometown, and they start talking. And the

word of God says that he did a few, only a few

miracles there because they were offended at

him. They weren't speaking statements of faith.

They were speaking doubt. They were complaining.

And he leaves his hometown and he's in very little

ministry there because the word of God says in

57, because of their unbelief. Unbelief. We don't

give Martha near enough credit, do we? We always

look at her as the busy bee that was running

around the house. She was a woman of faith. She

was a woman of great faith. I used to say I wanted

to be married. Not anymore. If I was going to

be somebody like somebody, I'd want to be more

like Martha. Martha was a woman of faith. She

spoke faith when it was hard. She spoke faith

when she needed to. Praise him if you'd come.

And as they're coming, I got to read you the

rest of the story because I know I already told

you what's going to happen, but I got to read

it anyway. John 11, 28 says this. When she had

said these things, she went her way and secretly

called Mary, her sister, saying, the teacher

has come and he's calling for you. Jesus comes

and now he's calling for Mary. As soon as she

heard that, she arose quickly and came to him.

Now Jesus had not yet come into town, but was

in the place where Martha met him. And when the

Jews who were with her in the house and comforting

her, and when they saw that Mary rose up quickly

and went out of the house, followed her saying,

she's going to the tomb to weep there. And when

Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, now

this is younger sister, right? Well, at least

I think she was younger. The one that was in

the house, she fell down at his feet saying to

him, Lord, if you'd have been here, my brother

would have not died. She says the exact same

thing Martha said to Jesus. Lord, if you'd have

been here, he wouldn't have died. She's half

ticked off too. They probably had a talk, right?

Now listen to 33. Therefore, when Jesus saw her

weeping and the Jews who came with her weeping,

he groaned in his spirit and was troubled. Do

you know the difference between Mary and Martha?

Martha came, said the exact same thing. Lord,

if you'd have been here, my brother would be

alive. Martha, Mary says the same thing, but

Martha followed up with a statement of faith

right after it. Lord, I know that you can do

anything, and if you say the word, it's going

to happen. Mary shows up, says the exact same

phrase, but no statement of faith afterward,

and Jesus groans in his spirit. Mary comes with

a bunch of mourners, and people are weeping,

and Jesus groans. And verse 34 says, and he,

Jesus said, where have you laid him? And they

said to him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept.

When the Jews said, now listen, Jesus did not

weep because of Lazarus' death. He was weeping

because of the lack of faith of those who were

following along. And then Jews said, see how

he loved him. And some of them said, could not

this man who opened his eyes to the blind also

kept this man from dying? Do you hear a statement

of faith there? That's doubt, right? Well, there

he is, that guy, if he'd have been here, right?

It would have happened. Then Jesus, again, groaning

in himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave,

and the stone lay against it. Jesus said, take

away the stone, Martha. And Martha and sister

of him who was dead said to him, Lord, by this

time, there's a stench, for he's been dead for

four days. Martha can't help herself. She's always

about the details. Jesus says, roll the stone

away. Martha's like, Lord, it's going to stink.

He's been dead for four days in there, funeral's

over, right? But Jesus said to her, next verse,

Jesus said to her, did I not say to you that

if you would believe, you would see the glory

of God, right? And they took away the stone from

that place where the dead man was lying, and

Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I

thank you that you have heard me. I know that

you always hear me, but because of the people

who were standing by, I said this, that they

may believe that you sent me. Now, when he had

said these things, he cried with a loud voice,

Lazarus, come forth. And he who died came out

bound hand and foot with grave clothes. And his

faith was wrapped in cloth. And Jesus said, lose

them and let them go. Come on, can I get you

to stand? to this message from Lifehouse Church.

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