IN THE WORD DAILY
with Brother Rick
John 11: 12- 14
Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep,
he shall do well.
V- 13 Howbeit, Jesus spake of
his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep.
V- 14 Then said Jesus unto
them plainly, Lazarus is dead.
We see in this chapter, one
of the greatest of all the miracles that Jesus performed. As we look back on
the written accounts of the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, we find
many miracles. And the four gospels only share a small part of the miracles
that Jesus performed during his time on this earth. John 21: 25 says, “And
there are also so many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should
be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain
the books that should be written.” I ask you this morning to stop here
for a moment and try to remember some of the times that Jesus spared your life,
provided your needs, carried you through a deep valley, shared your successes,
pulled your weight when you were weak, showed mercy when you rebelled and
pulled you close when you were hurting. Friend, If I had a life time to tell
the stories, it would not be enough. I'm sure some of you could say the same.
Don't you think he deserves our praise?
Out text gives us one of the
Lord's attributes that sets him apart from most of the Old Testament Prophets,
and most of the New Testament preachers, ministers, and believers. Notice the
text says that Jesus tried to speak to them in a way that was easy for them.
Jesus first told them that Lazarus sleepeth. Of course they could not
understand the message that he gave. Jesus tried to speak to them on a
spiritual level, but they could not receive it. They could not understand that
Jesus revealed the absolute truth about Lazarus, he was dead. Jesus had to put
it on the bottom shelf, for them to reach it. Jesus had to give it to them
straight. The Bible is filled with truth and facts about sin, holy living and
the Son of God. It's best if we not tamper with the truth and do as Jesus did
and give it to them straight. Jesus always gives it to us straight. For
instance, I know a person who actually says that the Bible does not condemn the
drinking of alcohol. Well, let me give it to you straight. They are not reading
their Bible. Proverbs 20: 1 says, “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is
raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.” Do you believe
the scriptures? “All scripture is given by inspiration of God”.
If you say that Jesus inspired the verse in Proverbs and then drank fermented
wine, Someone is lying. Who could it be? Well, let's go to the Bible. Romans 3:
3, 4 says, “For what if some did not believe? Shall their unbelief make
the faith of God without effect? God forbid: yea, let God be true, and every
man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy
sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.” I'm glad we
cleared that up. Proverbs 31: 4- 6 says, “It is not for king's, O Lemuel,
it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink: Lest they
drink, and forget the law, and pervert judgment of any of the afflicted. Give
strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of
heavy hearts.” Habakkuk 2: 15 says, “Woe unto him that giveth his
neighbor drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also,
that thou mayest look on their nakedness.” Here we see that God is
giving it to us straight. Will you receive it? Sad to say, SOME WILL NOT!!!!
Our text is a revelation that
changes lives. If only we would take the word of God at face value and stop
trying to input our own understanding. Proverbs 3: 5, 6 says, “Trust in
the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In
all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Drinking
is only one of thousands of times in the scriptures where God just gives it to
us straight. I'm glad God didn't sugar coat the gospel with me. His message to
me was, “It's life or death, time to grow up and get it right.” HEY
FRIEND, God is trying to help you, not hurt you. Don't you trust that God knows
best for your life. Paul says in Galatians 6: 14, “But God forbid that I
should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is
crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” We look like the world, act
like the world, smell like the world and mingle with the world to such a
degree, its hard to distinguish between the world and the church. Is the world
crucified unto you? Are you crucified unto the world?
God wants to give it to us
straight, and he wants us to accept it. Will you accept it?
