Introduction: One of the greatest propaganda schemes is that medical science is making great strides in defeating disease and reducing the aging process. While it’s true that people live longer today than they did say, 50 years ago, people are still dying. In fact, do you know what the mortality rate is today among men and women living in the US? That’s right 100%...and it always has been 100% and you know what? It always will be 100%. Why? Because everyone, dies.

You can jog, you can shed pounds on Atkins or Weight Watchers, you can play tennis and exercise regularly, and you’ll end up one the best looking corpses that ever died. Because death is a reality...for everyone.

Dictionary.com defines death this way
o    The act of dying; termination of life.
o    The state of being dead.
o    The extinction of something

That’s why we don’t like to talk about death. It’s so…final.  Death takes away our life, the only life we have ever known. It separates us from those we know and love. Death is…our end. Or is it? For the next three weeks we will be examining the factual account of a man named Lazarus, who found out first hand that death is not the end.

Transition: Open your Bibles to John 11:1 (pg. 820 in the Bible under the chair in front of you). It is here that we will begin to see that while death is a reality for everyone, it doesn’t have to be the end.

John 11:1-3        The News
Read: John 11:1-3

Verses 1-3 give us the setting for what we will learn about death, life and how they are mastered by Jesus Christ.

First, notice that John wants his readers to know the specific identity of Lazarus, Martha and Mary. He does this so that what Jesus is about to do will be remembered and believed… because the people he is talking about are real and they can be questioned about what happened.

Next, I want you to notice that Martha and Mary don’t actually ask Jesus to come to them, they don’t ask Jesus for a miracle, they just tell him Lazarus, the one he loved was sick. (sick here indicates a life threatening illness)

But, from what we read later in the text, we see that they did expect Jesus to come…why?
o    Because they knew Jesus well, he frequently stayed in their home.
o    Because they knew Jesus could heal the sick
o    Because they knew Jesus loved Lazarus

Application: What can we learn from the news we read about in vs 1-3?

1. When you need help, call Jesus. We have to appreciate that when Lazarus was sick, Mary and Martha knew who to call.

Read: In Jeremiah 33:3: God declares  ‘Call to me…’

Read: In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus declares ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened…’

Jesus should be our first and last place to go when we are in need.

2. When you call on Jesus, expect him to help. We often pray, ask God for something, and then fail to look for his answer.

When it comes we are either
o    surprised,
o    think it’s a coincidence
o    or don’t relate the answer we received to the prayer we requested.

You are God’s child, expect him to answer when you call.

Read: In Jeremiah 33:3 God declares:  ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’

Read: In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus declares ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.’

Read: In Isaiah 65:24 God declares ‘Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.’

Isn’t that great! God is talking about you and your prayer life. Over and over again in Scripture we have the resounding promise that God listens and answers when we call on him.

Transition: Martha and Mary call out to Jesus…how does Jesus respond?

John 11:4-6      The Uncomfortable Wait
Read: John 11:4-6

Jesus says that Lazarus’ sickness will not end in death because God will be glorified by his life. Most likely Jesus said this not only to his disciples but to the messengers that were sent by Martha and Mary and that’s the message they took back to them.

Then, Jesus delayed leaving for two days. This delay, to all concerned; the disciples, Martha and Mary, even the mourners at the grave, would certainly seem to be uncaring.
o    Jesus had the power to heal Lazarus, he healed others, even others he didn’t even know…this was Lazarus, someone he had a relationship with, someone he loved.

Why the delay? Did he fear going back to Bethany because it was just 2 miles from Jerusalem and Jesus was afraid of getting caught by the religious leaders? Why the delay?  It was because Jesus had a greater purpose and his emotions would not control his actions. He was on God’s timetable and his timing is always perfect.

Application: A few points of application
o    Love for friends didn’t force Jesus to act, but his actions are because he loves us.
o    Fear for his life didn’t force Jesus to act, but his actions brought about the beginning of the end of his earthly life.
o    Jesus acted on God’s timetable.

Aren’t we, at times, so easily panicked. Don’t we often become anxious when things don’t happen when or how we think they should. In our heart of hearts, don’t we often silently doubt God when he delays answering our cry for help

It comes down often, to our misunderstanding of time…often we act as if our timing is more important to us than God’s timing.

Time is a wonderful gift given to us by God. And we are responsible to God for it.

1. Time Management: We are responsible for how we manage or
    schedule the time God has give to us.
     Psalm 90:12 ‘Teach us to number our days
    aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.’

2. Time Use: We are responsible for how we actually use the time God has given to us.
    Ephesians 5:16  ‘making the most of every
   opportunity, because the days are evil.’

3. Time Purpose: We need to understand and accept that everything has it proper time and it is always God’s time that’s  important.
    Ecclesiastes 3:1 ‘There is a time for everything,  and a season for every activity under heaven’

How are you doing with the time God has given to you?

How are you at trusting your life to God’s timetable?

Transition: Did Jesus fail to answer the cloaked request of Martha and Mary to come and heal Lazarus? Let’s see.

John 11:7-10        The Fear Factor
Read: John 11:7-10

Two days after the request, Jesus decides it is now time to go and see his friends. But the disciples question his decision by saying he is a wanted man.
o    His disciples rightly assessed the situation; returning to Judea, the location of Bethany just two miles from Jerusalem, would be dangerous because the religious leaders wanted Jesus dead.

But, their fear blinded them to who it was they would be traveling with. Sad to say, the same is true for us today. One example.

o    Letting our children our babies go off to college…without us. Aware, perhaps, of the drinking, the sex, the rampant partying that goes on in most college campuses, we send them away.
o    And we fear they will get caught up in all that we have worked hard, raising them to believe, is wrong and harmful for their lives.

Our fear can blind us, but we must have faith that we are releasing them into God’s hands, into his control, into his agenda and time for their lives. We must trust that just has God walks with us, God will walk with our children.

Application:  Getting back to our text, how does Jesus respond to the fears of his disciples? He speaks with words of great assurance for those who fear what the future may hold for them. We can be assured that…
o    Living in the realm of evil is dangerous, but God is greater than any evil we can come across.
o    When Jesus speaks of 12 hours in a day he is speaking of the time for our activity, of God’s appointed time for us to serve and follow him.
o    When we walk in the light of God’s appointed time doing that which he has called us to do, there is nothing that can harm us.

Transition: Next in our text, Jesus tries to tell his disciples what the situation is like in Bethany with Lazarus.

John 11:11-16        Death comes…
Read: John 10:11-16

Jesus tries to break the news of Lazarus’ death to his disciples by telling them he was asleep. They figured since Lazarus wasn’t really all that sick, why risk going to Bethany and getting caught by the Temple soldiers. They didn’t get it so Jesus speaks bluntly. Lazarus is dead. But that’s not all, listen to what he says next.

Read: John 11:15 ‘and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.’

Please understand that Jesus is not saying that he is glad Lazarus died, but that he is glad he was not there when he died.
o    There was something much more important that was about to play out on God’s timetable. And the faith of the disciples, as well as all those who will see what Jesus does next, is his main concern.

Remember the purpose behind John’s gospel.
Read: John 20:31  ‘But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.’

In the midst of death, Jesus wanted us to see the promise of hope, of life. And we will look at that more closely next week.

Conclusion
Let me close with this.

ILL: It was a difficult subject to bring before his aged mother, but John felt that he must. "Mom, you are no longer a spring chicken and you do need to think ahead of what will happen in the future. Why don’t we make arrangements about when..... you know... when... you pass on?"  The mother didn’t say anything, just sat there staring ahead.  "I mean, Mom, like.... how do you want to finally go? Do you want to be buried? Cremated?"  There was yet another long pause. Then the mother looked up and said, "Son, why don’t you surprise me?" (Paul Decker)

As funny as that is, we really don’t like to talk about death. But there is something you need to understand.
o    Death is pursuing you, it’s stalking you, it’s behind you, in front of you and all around you, it’s close… and closer for some than others.
o    Do you feel it? One day older, one day closer…to the reality of death.

So what will it be when your time comes? Are you thinking about that now?

Don’t wait till you are too sick, too feeble, in too much pain, or too distracted to think seriously about your death and what happens after you die. You need to think seriously about it now.

Death is not the end, or at least it doesn’t have to be. When you place your faith in Jesus Christ.