"Loose Him and Let Him Go" | Sunday AM | Pastor David K. Caruthers

John 11, verse 43 and 44.

John 11:43

I want to read those verses to you.

I'm reading from the King James Version.

It says, And we, when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.

And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was bound about with a napkin.

And Jesus said unto them, Loose him and let him go.

And I want to preach on that topic today.

Loose him and uh let him go.

Amen.

Would you uh just join me in prayer right now that God's hand would rest upon us?

Let's just pray together.

Lord, we thank you for this time together.

We thank you for every person that is here.

We thank you, Lord, for the moment you've given us to look into your word today.

We pray that you would speak to every heart, every life, that we can receive your word today.

Lord, we pray that you would minister to us and through us, and we trust in you, put our confidence in you.

In the name of Jesus, we pray.

We thank you, our God and Savior.

Amen.

Amen.

One thing I need to note, I think I just got a text.

We had one not on the list, Sister Josie Austin.

She gets her own round of applause.

She was here also for the class.

Thank you, Sister Josie.

Sorry about that.

Uh it was a great crowd of people, I'm thankful.

Turn around, take somebody's hand, tell them it's good to see them smile.

Smile, smile, smile like you have your teeth.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

We're so glad you are here today.

We're so glad you're here.

Thank you, thank you.

Amen.

Amen.

Thank you.

You may be seated.

I I want to I I want I don't want to take a lot of time today, but I do want to take a few minutes in the word of the Lord.

So uh I want to jump right in here if you will allow me to do that.

John chapter 3, very familiar verses of scripture to many of you.

John 3 · chapter mention

John chapter 3 at the beginning, it says, There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, ruler of the Jews.

John 3 · chapter mention

The same came to Jesus by night and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest except God be with him.

And Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Nicodemus said to him, How can a man be born when he is old?

Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?

Jesus answered, Verily, verily I say unto thee, Except a man be born of the water and of the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit.

Marvel not that I said unto you, you must be born again.

The wind blows wherever it lists, and you hear the sound thereof, but you can't tell from whence it came or where it's going.

So is everyone that is born of the spirit.

I think probably at most uh most in Christendom, if I can say it that way today, would understand this idea of being born again.

Being born again uh is more than just a uh you know a restart, but it is a restart.

It is a a starting over again, a fresh beginning, a new uh beginning.

It is it is that it's it's something that's transformational that God does in our lives, and it gives us this fresh new start to begin our lives from that point forward.

But it doesn't just change our lives, it changes our very identity.

It changes who we are, it changes how we live, it changes uh uh that uh everything in our lives really changes from that point forward.

It suggests that when we're born again, that everything changes just by the definition of being born again.

It's gonna look different.

We're gonna act different, we're gonna look different, we're gonna do things differently when we have been born again.

Sometimes in you know, modern Christianity examples, it's uh you know, you see portrayed like I'm born again, but nothing really changes in my life.

I just feel good, or I just feel excited, nothing really changes, but I just I'm just excited for the moment.

Or or uh uh oh, I went through the ritual, or I went through the the prayer that somebody led me in, or something, but nothing really changes.

Well, that's not being born again.

When you're born again, you change.

Things are different in your life, and it and it's revealed in your life, and so you begin the process of following God.

Now you could have been following God before then.

Sometimes spirit-filled people uh treat people as if or assume sometimes that people aren't moving towards God before they get there.

That's just not true.

People are moving towards God before they get to the place of salvation, so it's another step where God's taking them, but it's not it's not that they don't love God or pursue God or seek God.

They are in that moment seeking God.

That's what brought them to that place.

But that doesn't end there.

We continue to seek God, we continue to follow after God, we continue to want to learn about what he desires of our lives and what he wants to do in our lives.

In 1 John chapter 2, verse 3 through 6, the word of the Lord says, and hereby we know that we know him if we keep his commandments.

1 John 2:3–6

That's the measure here he's pointing to of whether we know him or not.

He said, He that says, I know him and keeps not his commandment is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

Apparently, John was not a modern American preacher.

Because that may be too bold for modern American preachers, you know.

If you say you love God, but you don't keep his commandments, you're a liar, he said.

The truth is not in you.

You're not telling the truth.

But whoever keeps his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected.

Hereby, know that we know that we are in him.

And he said, He that saith he abides in him ought himself also to walk, even as he walked.

And I think this scripture really says it forthright that when we are saved, when we are born again, we pursue God, we seek after God.

It doesn't mean we never make a mistake, but we're seeking after God.

Our life is changing, it's different from what it was before.

You can't become a Christian without change.

It's gonna change your life.

It's just gonna change your life.

And so we live that out in our lives.

We live that out in all that we do.

We live that out, it's it's it's example in everything we do as we're living out what God has called us to be.

It's affecting our lives, it's affecting our decisions, it's affecting our thoughts, it's affecting our perspective on everything.

In John chapter 11, the very familiar story that you you've heard, and one of the most, I think one of the most profound stories in the in the scripture and profound uh incident that Jesus is recorded about Jesus here in John chapter 11.

John 11 · chapter mention John 11 · chapter mention

We didn't talk about this yesterday because this is in the next segment of the ministry of Jesus, because it's uh later in the last week or so of Jesus' life here on earth.

And and it tells this story in John chapter 11 about a friend of Jesus named Lazarus.

John 11 · chapter mention

He lived in a town of Bethany, and he had two sisters, Mary and Martha, and uh and so the Bible introduces us to them, and it tells us that Lazarus was very sick, and so Mary and Martha sent word to Jesus to come and to pray for him.

Sent word that Lazarus is very ill and he's likely going to die.

And so Jesus received that word and he confirmed to the to the disciples, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but it's for the glory of God.

Now, if you know the rest of the story, you know that statement is a little bit strange.

Because Jesus said it's not to death, but for the glory of God.

And so the Bible tells a story about this incident.

I'm not going to read the whole chapter to get you there today, but you can go back and read it in John chapter 11.

John 11 · chapter mention

Jesus traveled, and he he, after some conversation we have recorded in the scripture, he traveled, he goes to the area where Lazarus is.

He already knows that Lazarus is dead.

He's already told his disciples, in fact, that Lazarus is dead before he ever gets there.

And so he already knows what the circumstances are, but he arrives here in the area on his way to the house of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus.

And word gets out that he's on his way.

And Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was nearby, she ran out to meet Jesus.

And and Mary was still at the house at the moment.

Martha comes and she said, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

If you had been here.

And Jesus is declaring to her that I am the resurrection in life.

And so that little exchange happens.

It seems that Jesus was still some distance from the house, uh, but maybe a little closer, but some distance from the house.

And the Bible says that Mary now has decided to go see Jesus.

Now I don't know what transpired to delay Mary going, but it's a separate uh interaction.

The Bible says when Jesus is closer, Mary goes out then and meets Jesus, finds him there.

She fell down at his feet, verse 32, and said, Lord, if you would have been here, my brother would not have died.

And so from that, from that moment we see how Jesus unfolds a story.

They come, uh I don't I don't know exactly if they got to the house because the Bible is not clear there, but it seems like they went directly to the tomb where Lazarus was buried.

And so Jesus comes with the Jews and the followers that were with him, and he comes with Martha and Mary, and and uh he walks to this place where the tomb is, where people was gathered there together, and when he gets there, he says, roll away the stone.

Okay, so the tomb is basically a cave with a stone rolled in front of it.

And you have these kind of interesting ways of uh uh uh processing and dealing with people that died that's different from ours.

You know, we're pretty uh we're we're pretty uh uh sterile in all of that.

You know, we're pretty hands-off.

We just call somebody on the phone and they take care of everybody else, and then we get the big bill at the end, of course.

But they take care of it, right?

They go through the process.

Oh, there's ways of doing things, there's styles of doing things, there's cultural things that people do and don't do, but but this is a lot different from what we're used to because they're doing this largely themselves, this all this preparation.

It's not it's not uh uh like going to a nice uh uh funeral home somewhere, building somewhere, business somewhere where they're doing it all for you.

This is this is quite different.

And so, and so the way they did things is when somebody died, they wrapped up their bodies in in a in some grave clothes, as it's called here, in linen and wrapped them up, and and there's sort of some debate about how much they wrapped them up and at what time and all those things, but but that the bottom line is they wrapped up the body in this cloth, put them in this tomb, sealed it up for obvious reasons, and uh the children's here.

Sealed it up for obvious reasons and and and put them in this tomb.

And sometimes later, uh as they as there were only bones left, they would take the bones and bury the bones then in the family burial area uh or in some special place.

But they had to have this period taking place.

I'm trying to say this as sort of okay, all the adults are nodding along.

You got you're with me, right?

I don't wanna I don't wanna disturb anybody.

Okay, so this is the process, and and it's not like our process.

There's no refrigeration.

Jesus knows he's been dead.

Jesus already knows he's been dead.

And they and Jesus said, roll away the stone.

He's already been saying, I'm the resurrection.

I'm gonna, and you know, they believe it, but rolling away the stone, that's a whole other thing, you know.

So Martha says, and I'll just read the scripture so you won't.

Martha, his sister, said, Lord, by this time he stinks.

For he's been dead for four days.

Now, this is the reality of the situation.

It seems a little strange to us, but this is the reality of the situation.

They're gonna roll away the stone, they already know what happens because everybody knows what happens.

If it was just adults, I'd go into more detail, but I'm not gonna do that here today.

But I'm trying to make a point here.

I'm trying to make a point.

So they did roll away the stone.

That did not mean it did not sing.

This is the reality of it.

They rolled away the stone.

And and when they rolled away the stone, Jesus prayed, and then he said, Lazarus, come forth.

And so when he spoke, Lazarus come forth, somehow the in the power of God, Lazarus was brought back to life, and he makes his way slowly, perhaps, out to the opening of this cave, of this tomb.

Somehow he gets there.

I don't know.

It could have been small, it could have been big, we don't get all those details, but somehow he gets at least to the doorway, at least to the opening of this tomb.

He gets there, but of course he still has all the grave clothes on.

He's still wrapped up, and and so all this would be difficult for him to even get there because he's all wrapped in this for obvious reasons.

They have him all wrapped up.

It's interesting to me.

I don't know.

It's always interesting to me when I see Jesus do miracles in the Bible.

It's interesting to me what he does and then what he doesn't do.

You know, what he actually does and then what he doesn't do.

I mean, we talk about feeding the 4,000 and the 5,000, and we talk about Jesus feeding all these people, but what really happened is they gave the food to Jesus.

Jesus prayed it, broke it into pieces for the disciples, handed it to disciples.

Jesus didn't do the rest of it.

The disciples did the rest of it.

They're the ones that took the bread to all these people.

And how did that all multiply?

While they were taken to these people, it's more Jesus only broke it into, let's say, let's say it was just the 12 apostles, just for because we don't really know how many were there.

Let's say it's 12.

Jesus breaks it into 12 pieces.

That's a miracle in and of itself.

And then he puts it in the disciples' hand and they go feed thousands and thousands of people.

Somehow it multiplied in their hands too, or in their basket, or something, whatever they were.

I don't even know how all that.

It's just astonishing to me what Jesus did, and then what he didn't do.

He just started the miracle and it just kept happening.

And then they picked up the baskets full left over.

Same in this story.

It's kind of interesting to me what Jesus does and what he doesn't do.

He didn't roll away the stone.

He told them to.

They had to have enough faith to roll away the stone.

And they rolled away the stone, and then Lazarus comes out.

He still got the grave clothes on, and Jesus said, loose him and let him go.

What he is wearing is not appropriate for his condition now.

What he looks like now is not what he is now.

Something's changed, something dramatic's changed, something entirely has changed, something completely different has happened.

He should not be in those grave clothes, besides, they still stink.

They're still grave clothes.

Those grave clothes are they represent something.

They represent what was going on, they represent his status.

They represent where he was, they represent what everybody was experiencing in this moment.

But Jesus, in calling Lazarus forth, has entirely transformed the situation, the circumstances, everything.

And he says, You got to get these grave clothes off of him.

Now I know that seems obvious, but Jesus made a point of saying it.

It seems like, you know, maybe somebody would have ran over and did it before Jesus said, you know, immediately somebody would have said, So we gotta we gotta take care of this.

But no, Jesus tells them, loose him and let him go.

Because those grave clothes represent the stench of decay.

Loose him and let him go from that.

Those grave clothes represent the helplessness of death.

Loose him and let him go from the helplessness of death.

Those grave clothes are binding to him, holding him, keeping him in the position he's in.

And Jesus says, loose him and let him go.

He doesn't need to be in that position anymore.

He's not in that place anymore.

You've got to do something to set him free from that.

He's not there anymore.

The grave clothes resist that movement, resist him going forward.

And Jesus said, No, it's not the end.

Get the grave clothes off of him.

He's gonna go forward, he's gonna continue in what I've called him to do.

Those grave clothes represent what he was, but not what he is.

Those grave clothes represent where he was, but not where he is now.

He's not in the tomb anymore, he's not dead anymore.

Get the grave clothes off.

That's not his life anymore, that's not his identity anymore.

And that's what happens when we're born again.

We don't keep wearing the stinky grave clothes of our past life when we're born again.

We're not living in that position anymore.

Interestingly, when Jesus was resurrected, when his followers found him in the tomb, they came back and his grave clothes were folded up and left there.

That's interesting.

He folded them up and left them there.

Where he was laying dead was now only the clothes left.

And not just the clothes as they fell off his body as he resurrected.

He took the time to fold them up.

Don't you wish your husband would do that?

Sorry, I just want to throw something in there.

Oh, maybe it's the wives.

Husbands, don't you wish your wives to do that?

There's no husband gonna clap for that.

No husband's gonna do that.

No, no, they know better than that.

Jesus folded the clothes up and left them laying there to let us know I'm not coming back.

This is not my identity, this is not where I'm staying.

I've overcome this grave.

I don't belong here anymore.

This has no hold on me.

It has nothing that's in me represented by the death.

Only the victory is represented here.

Not the tomb, but the victory, not the death, but the overcoming power, not the death that comes from sin, but the life that I give.

That's the definition, that's the identity, that's who I am.

And Jesus calls us to the same thing.

Jesus calls us out of our death into life.

He calls us out of where we were to what he's called us to be and who he's called us to be.

Get the grave clothes off.

Take the grave clothes off.

God doesn't want you to live in yesterday.

God doesn't want you to live in the disappointment of your past, in the sin and shame that you once lived in.

God wants to set you free.

In Romans chapter 6, verse 8 through 10, it says, Now if we be dead in Christ, we believe that we also shall live in him.

Romans 6:8–10

Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dies no more.

Death has no more dominion over him.

Or in that he died, he died into sin once, but in that he lives.

He lives unto God.

We share in the life that Jesus raised to when we are born again.

It's not intended for us to stay where we were.

If that would be the case, we just put you in the water and let you drown when we baptize you.

You got to come up out of the water.

I know that's funny, but I'm just saying you don't get in the water representing Jesus' death and stay dead.

You raise up again.

That's the whole point.

You raise up again, you come out, you're alive now.

You don't live in that any longer.

Colossians chapter 3 and 10 says, and you have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that's created.

Colossians 3 · chapter mention

Ephesians 4 says that you put off concerning the former conversation or the former lifestyle, the old things which are corrupt according to deceitful lust in here.

Renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

What I'm trying to preach to you today is get the grave clothes off.

You don't have to live in that anymore.

You don't stay there anymore, but you begin to live in the victory and the power and the strength that God has given you.

When you're filled with the Spirit, when you're born.

Again, you live in the power of God in your life.

Not your own power, not your own ability.

Thank God, thank God, thank God.

I know we live in a world that constantly says, Oh, you're great, you're wonderful, you can do anything.

Turns out that's not true.

But anyway, that's what they keep saying.

But the power of God can do anything.

Yes, the power of God can do anything.

It can raise the dead, it can set the captives free, it can heal the lives, it can do all.

The power of God can do anything.

He's not, I want to live in his power, not mine.

I want to live in his strength, not mine.

Get the grave clothes off of my own power, my own strength, my own authority.

I want to live in God's power.

I'm gonna live in God's strength and God's way.

We mentioned it yesterday, Brother Thornhill, I think, mentioned it yesterday, but Jesus read in the synagogue Isaiah 61.

And he said, This is this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.

This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.

This is fulfilled, which I think is wonderful to hear because we don't have to wait on it to be fulfilled.

It is fulfilled.

Jesus fulfilled it.

And this is what he read The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to preach the good tidings unto the meek.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all that mourn.

You don't have to be mourning anymore.

But you can be raised in the comfort of God, to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes.

You don't have to live in your ashes anymore.

You can live in the beauty of the Holy Ghost.

You can live in the beauty of God's power in your life.

To give them the oil of joy for mourning, to give them an oil of joy, to live in the joy that He has given them instead of the mourning that they might feel in their hearts or sense by their circumstances, but to live in the joy of the Lord.

God wants us to live in his joy.

So that means even if I don't feel joy, I can live in his joy.

Even if I don't feel very joyful, I can rejoice in him and I can experience his joy in my life, and I can experience the strength that comes from the joy that he gives me.

The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.

A garment of praise exchanged for a spirit of heaviness.

Because the spirit of heaviness, that's those grave clothes.

A garment of praise is what we put on, giving praise and honor to God.

If you're feeling heavy, you're feeling weighted down, you need to get your garment of praise on and start praising the Lord and start worshiping the Lord and giving God adoration from your heart.

Put on the garment of praise, get off the garment of heaviness, get off the garment of the weight of the world, and let God minister in your life.

That they might be called the tree of righteousness and the planning of the Lord, that he might be glorified.

So the new birth means that we're a new creature.

So we can take the grave clothes off and we can rejoice in what God gives us.

I'm gonna skip that page and go right to the conclusion for the sake of time today.

Sometimes people need to come to terms with where they really are.

Sometimes people don't recognize the circumstances they're in.

Sometimes the people living in the bondage of sin keep declaring themselves free while they're trapped in the bondage of sin.

They're celebrating sin while that sin is destroying their lives.

And they're calling that freedom.

But it's not freedom.

It's destructive in their lives.

And it's harming them, it's hurting their relationships, it's hurting their lives, and it's hurting their eternal destiny.

Jesus spoke in John chapter 8, recorded, he spoke to the followers and those that were there, and the Pharisees that were questioning, and the crowd gathered, and Jesus said, And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

John 8 · chapter mention

And these Jewish people answered him.

These Jewish religious leaders answered him.

And they said, We're of Abraham's seed, and we've never been in bondage to any man.

So that's what they said.

We're Abraham's seed, we're Jewish, and we've never been in bondage to any man, to any person.

Have you read the history?

What kind of experts are you?

Have you read the history at all?

Do you not know what your background is?

Do you not know how many times you've been in bondage?

How can you claim that?

How can you say such a thing?

And not only that, right now, right at this very moment, the Romans are ruling you.

Right now you're under the bondage of Rome, and you're saying, We've never been in bondage to any man?

Why would you say they said, You shall be made free?

And Jesus said, Verily, verily, I say to you, whosoever commits sin is a servant to sin.

It turns out Jesus wasn't really talking about governments.

Jesus said, Whoever commits sin is a servant to sin.

And the servant doesn't abide in the house, but the son does abide forever.

And so if the son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.

You will really, you will truly be free.

God calls you out of that grave.

God calls you out of that death.

God calls you out of that place in your life because he wants to fill you with his spirit, fill you with his power, touch your life in a way that you may have never experienced.

And when he does, you get to take off all the grave clothes, you get to be released from all the bondage of where you've been because God breaks the hold on you, and he doesn't intend for you to stay there.

You won't stay in addiction, you won't stay in that destructive behavior, you won't stay in that thing that's controlled your life, because Jesus will set you free, and your life will change.

That doesn't mean you'll never experience a hardship or difficulty, but what it means is when you're free from sin, you are truly free.

And He sets us free.

Would you stand with me?

Yes, you can leave here tonight, today, this afternoon, and you can say, Well, I'm free and I'm I'm good, and all the things that you might say.

But you leave here with the same grave clothes on you came in with.

You leave here with the same stinky garments you were wearing when you came in, and I'm not saying you stink, I'm just saying the sin, the effect of sin in your life.

You leave here the same, but you don't have to leave the same today.

You can leave this place today just like Lazarus coming out of that tomb, with your life transformed, your circumstances changed entirely.

Your name may be the same, but your identity has changed because God has done a miracle in your life and set you free from death, set you free from sin.

So today I want to invite you to come and receive what God wants to do in your life.

If you have never been filled with the Holy Spirit, the Bible gives us good instructions.

You can read it clearly in Acts chapter 2, verse 38.

Acts 2:38

It says, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

It is for everyone.

It is for everyone.

Later, the disciples declared, it's to you, to your children, and to all that are far off, as many as the Lord calls.

The door is open for you to receive the Spirit in your life, to receive God's grace and power, and to walk out of that grave without those grave clothes anymore, without all that stuff anymore, to leave it behind, leave it in the grave, and let Jesus do his work in your life.