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Confess God's Truth
John 11:14 'Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.'
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...
Our Resurrected Bodies
John 11:13 'Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep.'
JOHN 11:11-14
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...
Walk In The Light
John 11:9 'Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world.'
JOHN 11:9-10
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...
DO YOU WANT REVIVAL?
Turn From Sin
John 11:5 'Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.'
It is interesting to note that special mention is made of Jesus loving Martha. This is after the incident recorded in Luke 10:38-42 where Martha is caught up with serving instead of worshipping Jesus and her priorities are still not in order. Jesus was not rebuking Martha but rather exhorting her for her own profit. When the Lord deals with problem areas in our lives, it is always for our profit - not punishment and we should not take it as rejection. This is one way to discern God's correction from the devil's condemnation.
God convicts us of sin but He doesn't condemn us. Conviction is solely for our profit with no malice while condemnation includes punishment. Satan is...
The Faith To Forgive
Luke 17:5 'And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.'
It is very interesting to note that the apostles asked Jesus to increase their faith after He spoke of forgiveness. They observed all of the wonderful miracles Jesus performed and yet that never inspired them to ask for greater faith. Truly, walking in love and forgiveness with each other takes as much faith as any miracle we will ever believe for.
The basis of forgiveness is the love and mercy of God. It is only because God first loved and forgave us that we can love and forgive others. If we aren't walking in the forgiveness of God, we won't minister it to others. He forgave us before we repented or asked for forgiveness.
The scriptures admonish us to...