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Symbolically, Lazarus is like many Christians. The Bible speaks of us passing from death unto new life when we get born again. But it is also true that in the physical and emotional realm, we bring our "graveclothes" from our old life with us (i.e. habits, attitudes, etc.), and we need to be "loosed" to fully enjoy our new life.
Our emotions and attitudes follow what we think. When we focus our attention on our problems, they are magnified out of proportion. When we neglect our problems and think on God's provision, the answer is magnified and the problem shrinks. Whatever we think upon is going to dominate us. If we think on depressing things, we'll be depressed. If we think on uplifting things, we'll...
YOU MIGHT THINK THIS IS A STRANGE QUESTION BUT HAVE YOU TAKEN YOUR FAITH? IF SOMEONE GIVES YOU SOMETHING AND YOU DON'T TAKE IT, WHAT GOOD WILL IT DO YOU. THE BIBLE SAYS THAT FAITH HAS BEEN GIVEN TO YOU. NOT TAKING YOUR FAITH CERTAINLY DOES NOT PLEASE GOD. IT SAYS IN HEBREWS 11:6 THAT "Without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."
NOW, IF YOU HAVE TAKEN IT, ARE YOU USING IT? THAT IS THE PROBLEM OF A LOT OF PEOPLE. THEY SAY THAT THEY DON'T HAVE ENOUGH FAITH. ROMANS 12:3 SAYS "For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith."...
The Greek word that is translated "groaned" expresses that Jesus was deeply moved, but not necessarily with sorrow. It was more a groan of anger at Satan who had caused all the grief Jesus was seeing around Him. Jesus came to "destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil" (Heb. 2:14), and He was grieved to see the pain that His enemy had inflicted on those He loved.
This is the type of groaning that the Holy Spirit does for us. It is not just the Holy Spirit sympathizing with us, but it is the Holy Spirit doing battle for us when we don't know how to pray. In this case, it was the Holy Spirit doing battle through Jesus against death and the doubt of those present, that would have kept Lazarus in the grave.
Everyone...
I WAS READING ABOUT STEPHEN THIS MORNING AND FOUND A FEW THINGS I DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT HIM. I KNEW THAT HE HAD BEEN STONED BUT DIDN'T KNOW HE WAS THE FIRST MARTYR OF CHRISTIANITY. HE WAS A DEACON IN THE EARLY CHURCH AT JERUSALEM AND CAUSED MUCH HOSTILITY AMONG THE MEMBERS OF VARIOUS SYNAGOGUES BY HIS TEACHINGS OF JESUS. HE WAS ACCUSED OF BLASPHEMY AND AT HIS TRIAL HE MADE A SPEECH DENOUNCING...
Some people have interpreted this as saying that it is possible to never die. Therefore, there are people today who are believing that they will live physically until the second coming of Jesus, even if that is thousands of years away. Although it is understandable how someone could interpret this verse in that manner, it is very doubtful that this is what Jesus truly meant.
First, a doctrine as profound as this would certainly be well documented in other scriptures. Other scriptures may sometimes be quoted as supporting this claim but they would not lead a person to this conclusion by themselves.
There would already have to be a prejudice in favor of this stand within a person to lead him to interpret these scriptures in this light. That is not a sound method of Bible...
DO YOU FEEL STRANGE BEING CALLED GOD'S CHILD? DO YOU KNOW YOU ARE JOINT HEIRS WITH JESUS? THE BIBLE TELLS US THAT WE ARE BOTH OF THESE. LET'S JUST READ WHAT IT SAYS IN ROMANS 8:14-17 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Jesus spoke of Lazarus being asleep instead of dead because that is really a much better description. Death, to their carnal minds, would be final; whereas the word "sleep" would not. When the disciples misunderstood what He was saying, He clarified the situation by saying plainly, "Lazarus is dead."
This looks like a contrary statement to what Jesus was going to do (raise Lazarus from the dead) and indeed it would have been if He had left it at that. But He went on to say in verse 15, "I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe." This was referring to Lazarus being raised from the dead and it turned Jesus' statement of a negative fact into...
There are many scriptures where death is spoken of as sleep, however, the disciples thought Jesus was speaking of Lazarus simply resting. Jesus eventually clarifies their misunderstanding by using the word "death," but that was not His first choice. This is because God's perspective is different than ours. Death is final to natural man but not to God. There will be a resurrection.
In his second letter to the Corinthians Paul uses natural illustrations to explain the resurrection. He speaks of seeds that are buried in the ground and "die." Then they are resurrected as a plant. The plant and the seed bear no resemblance but they are actually the same. The plant is just in a resurrected state. Likewise, our physical bodies will die but they will be...
Jesus compares His decision to return to Judaea to a man traveling during the day. Daytime travel doesn't guarantee a hazard-free trip but the light does allow us to see the hazards. At nighttime, it's inevitable that we will stumble. Likewise, walking in the light of God's direction doesn't mean that there won't be problems, but the alternative of "doing our own thing" (that is walking in darkness) is guaranteed to get us into trouble.
Jesus was obeying the leading of His Father to return to Judaea. He could see exactly what was going to take place and He was going to walk in the light that His Father had given Him. Our decisions should not be based on whether or not we will be hurt in some way as a result of our...