Well, good morning, saints. It is a marvelous morning to be able to gather unto the Lord. It is a special privilege for those who are His own to be able to share in the table of remembrance of Him. That is what so encourages us.
But we need to remember, as we gather around that table in honesty before our Lord Jesus—worshiping Him, glorifying Him, responding to all of His love—that it is also a pleasure for Him. Though we gain so much in remembering Him, the Lord’s table is really for the Lord. It is His table, and He has invited us to it.
So we are thankful this morning that we have had this opportunity to share in such a way. I hope that, as we come to His Word this morning, the preciousness of our Lord Jesus will remain in our hearts.
Lord, we are so thankful this morning. Lord, what love—what mighty grace—poured out toward us sinners. Lord, how much You have offered back to us, Lord, for the undeserving and often unwilling. But, Lord, You have given Your life up for us, and You continue to give that life to us.
You indeed are our portion forever. Lord, we ask this morning that You would bless Your Word, that You would use Your Word to help us, encourage us, strengthen us, and transform us into the image of Christ.
Lord, Your Word is so mighty. Your Word, You said, is being used to wash all the wrinkles and spots out of Your future bride. Lord, we are thankful this morning for Your Word, and we ask that it would be alive and powerful. Lord, may we get beyond the letter of Your Word. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Well, as I have been sharing on this thought of something for Himself, that little phrase came from a testimony given at one of our open testimony times. It has been a while now, but that phrase has really stuck with me and has been on my heart: something for Himself.
The Lord is doing something for Himself. It is for Him, but we have been included in it. What a marvelous thought. God has something so big in His heart, and we have been included in it.
It is on my heart that we discover, or rediscover, the glory of being included in this great thing that He is doing. May the Lord open our eyes to see more fully what this “something for Himself” is. It is a precious thing.
Let us begin by reading Revelation 21:1-3.
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He shall dwell with them, and they shall be His peoples, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God.
When we get to this chapter in the book of Revelation, we are about to move into eternity future—out of time completely and into eternity. This revelation is the summing up of all the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ that we see throughout the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation.
In the beginning, there was a garden, a place where God would come. In the book of Revelation, we see this tabernacle where He wants to dwell. Remember how He came to Adam and Eve in the cool of the day for fellowship? Here He says, “I will dwell among My people, and they will be My people, and I will be their God.”
What is hinted at in Genesis is being fulfilled and finalized in Revelation. In the beginning, we see a wedding. We see a bride, Eve—something out of Adam brought back to Adam as his bride.
In Revelation 21, we see the heavenly Jerusalem brought down from heaven as a bride adorned for her husband. We see the fulfillment of that picture in Genesis: a bride for our Lord Jesus Christ. But we also see that it is the place where God desires to dwell.
What a magnificent thing is going on. Brothers and sisters, this has been on God’s heart from eternity past. From eternity past, we know the Lamb was slain before the foundation of the world.
That was because man had fallen and was unable to fulfill God’s purpose: a bride for His Son and a habitation, a home, for Him to dwell in. But, brothers and sisters, the mighty act of redemption—in which the Lord Jesus poured out His life for us—that our sins might be dealt with, hallelujah, and forgiven forever, done away with forever, brings mankind back on track.
There is eternal forgiveness, that He might get mankind back on track to be part of that something which He had so much in His heart. In Revelation, we see this fully matured bride, and we also see the complete house for God.
In Revelation 21, first we see the bride: the city. The city is a bride, the helpmeet for Christ. Brothers and sisters, that is the Father’s gift to His Son, something He has had on His heart from the very beginning—a gift for His Son, whom He loves so much, who is the apple of His eye.
He is precious to God. You know, He broke through heaven at one point and said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Praise the Lord. The Father’s gift to His Son—and we are included because we are to be part of that bride.
The Son loves the Father. Secondly, we see a city coming down, and an announcement is made. It is as though heaven needs to know and earth needs to know what is coming—what is on God’s heart, what He is getting, what He has finally been after through eternity past and through this period we call time.
The announcement is this: “The tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell among them.” The tabernacle, brothers and sisters—something for Himself, but we are included.
Now, I am really giving a review, because you have to get what is important. You have to get to the foundation of what God is doing, what your purpose in life is all about, and what He is doing for Himself. You need to know it, or it might escape your attention, and you might not find yourself able to enjoy the fullness of what you have been born for. And Christ will miss a lot.
In the last two messages, I have been sharing about this matter of a home for God: His house, His tabernacle. In the Old Testament, we have types. I mentioned the tabernacle, where God wanted to dwell in the midst of men and in the midst of the nation of Israel.
Right in the midst of all the tribes—three on the north, three on the south, three on the east, and three on the west—He was in the middle. But He could only be there because He had a dwelling place suitable for Himself.
The reason the tabernacle was suitable for Him is that everything in that tabernacle speaks of Christ. He is surrounded and engulfed by His Son, Jesus Christ, and all the works that He has accomplished. We went through quite a bit of detail concerning the various parts of the tabernacle.
When God told Moses on the mountain—when Moses was up there forty days and forty nights—He gave him every detail for the house: the furnishings, the clothing, the materials, the feasts that were to be carried out, and all the services of the priests. Everything was in exact detail.
Nothing could be changed and nothing could be omitted, because it had to be made strictly in accordance with God’s heart. Everything speaks of Christ and His work on Calvary. That is why God was pleased to dwell in that tabernacle.
The tabernacle was temporary. It was for the time when Israel was wandering in the desert. They did enter the promised land with it, but eventually David came into power.
The first thing David wanted to do was take back Jerusalem from the enemy, which he did. Then he built a place to bring the tabernacle, that God might be in their midst.
Eventually, David said, “This has been suitable. This has been an appropriate place for God while we were traveling and moving about in the desert. But I want Him to have a permanent place—a permanent place, a temple on this earth.”
I think this temple is a precursor to the one we see in Revelation. It is permanent. It is eternal. It is the forever house that He was after. David prepared all the materials for the temple, and his son Solomon actually built it according to the pattern God gave.
The Lord Jesus Christ, through Calvary, prepares all the material for His house. The Holy Spirit is seeing that it is all built in accordance with the pattern.
When our Lord Jesus came to earth, the tabernacle was gone. The temple was there, but it was just a shell. The presence of God was not there.
In fact, the Lord Jesus said that it was supposed to be a house of prayer for His Father, but they had made it a den of thieves. It was not a house for the Lord anymore.
But God had His house among men, and that house was the Lord Jesus Himself. Colossians says that all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him bodily. All the fullness of the Godhead dwelt in our Lord Jesus Christ.
He was the temple of God. He has always been the temple of God, represented in the tabernacle and in the temple itself. All the fullness of God dwelt in Him, and it was sufficient. It was suitable to God that all the fullness might dwell in that physical body of our Lord Jesus Christ.
That physical body was suitable to carry out the work of redemption, but it was also veiling much of the glory of God. John said, “We beheld His glory, full of grace and truth.” We see the glory of grace and truth in our Lord Jesus Christ, but all the fullness of that glory was shielded by that body.
He was limited, brothers and sisters. But in that body He carried out the work of redemption. All the sins of the world were put on that body of our Lord Jesus Christ, and He was crucified in judgment by His Father for all sin—your sins and my sins.
Yet that body was not suitable to show forth all of His glory.
After our Lord Jesus was crucified, buried, resurrected, and ascended back to the throne, the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the Head.
It came down first upon the Head and then upon those 120 saints who were gathered, waiting for what the Lord had said was to come. It was Pentecost, the birth of the church.
The church was born because the Head was anointed, and that anointing came upon those 120. They became the church, the living organism, the living body of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Brothers and sisters, it was also the house of God. It was filled with God. That house was His place of glory.
Finally, God has a temple that is not only suitable, but sufficient to show forth all the glory of Christ.
Now, as we look at the church today, we may say, “Boy, something is missing.” What it is, is that we are in time. We are in a place of transition, a place of transformation.
We, the living stones, are being built together and transformed into a house for God. God already has it in Christ. It is already secure in eternity, because with God there is no time. He sees the beginning and the end; He already has the end.
But we are now being brought into what is already secured in Jesus Christ: a house for God, with Christ being the chief cornerstone and we, the living stones, built upon Him.
In Matthew 16, in His revelation to Peter, the Lord says, “Thou art Peter,” a stone. Upon this revelation of Me—the massive Rock, Jesus Christ—“I will build My church.”
Remember, Peter said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Upon that revelation, the Lord said, “I will build My church.” He says, “Peter, you are a stone.” What He is really saying is, “You are a living stone, Peter, and you are going to be built together with many stones and become the house of God.”
That is what Peter says: we are living stones built together for a house of God, a spiritual house, to offer up spiritual sacrifices.
In Matthew 18, when the Lord is dealing with the matter of a brother who has sinned against another brother, He finally says, “Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.”
Brothers and sisters, that is the local church. The local church is absolutely necessary in order for God to have His universal church. It is in the local assembly where this transformation is taking place. That is why it is so important that we be living stones joined together.
Today I want to share a little bit on Bethany once again. If you really think about it and really see it, Bethany represents the local church on earth.
We can gain a lot by looking at Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, and at the house where they lived and what occurred there. We can really see what is going on in the life of the assembly, in the life of an assembly given to Christ.
By looking at Bethany, we can see what God is after and what God is doing today on earth, that finally He might have that tabernacle made without hands in eternity.
Let us turn to Luke 10:38-42.
Now as they went on their way, He entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received Him into her house.
And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at the Lord’s feet, and heard His word.
But Martha was cumbered about much serving; and she came up to Him, and said, Lord, dost Thou not care that my sister did leave me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she help me.
But the Lord answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art anxious and troubled about many things:
But one thing is needful: for Mary hath chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.
We see a microcosm of the local church here, I think, and there is much to be considered. First of all, when you read that first verse, it says, “A certain woman named Martha received Him.” He was received at Bethany. His presence was desired.
That is the way it should be in the local assembly—the Bethany. His presence is what is important, and you desire it. Even when we come together, we should always be aware by faith of His presence in our midst.
He was present, and He was welcomed there. When He went to the temple, He was not welcome. But He was welcomed at Bethany, at her house—a place where He was valued. He was at home there, a place He could go and be at home.
What a contrast Bethany was with the world He walked in, with the religious world of Judaism, and even with His own people, Israel.
The apostle John, in the opening chapter of his Gospel, says:
He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world knew Him not.
He came unto His own, and they that were His own received Him not.
He was not welcomed by the world. Yes, there were a few shepherds in the field, and I think of the wise men who came to welcome Him. But He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.
The nation of Israel rejected Him rather than receiving Him. But at Bethany, He was received. Brothers and sisters, sometimes the Lord comes knocking on our heart and we will not let Him in.
We need to let Him in. We need to receive our Lord Jesus in our lives individually, and it should result in Him being received in the assembly of two or three. I think it is so interesting that there are three here: Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.
What a tragedy it was for our Lord Jesus to be rejected by His own. This world that He made, all that He created, and all the people born as a result of His creation rejected Him. They did not receive Him.
But at Bethany, the key word is that He is received and welcomed. His presence is valued.
Secondly, it says that Martha had a sister called Mary, “which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard His word.”
Bethany, the local assembly, is where we should be at the feet of Jesus—at His feet, hanging on every word. Often the Lord speaks to us and we do not hear it, do we? But, brothers and sisters, His Word is precious.
That is what we see in Mary: a sister who hung on every word and who responded to our Lord Jesus Christ.
Mary was humble. Brothers and sisters, how the Lord desires to have a humble people before Him—not only humble, but teachable.
Mary was not just listening to high thoughts and great dissertations. She was listening that she might learn. She was listening that she might grow. She was teachable. She was teachable.
You know, that is what meekness means: teachable. Moses, it says, was the meekest of men, and often we say, “Boy, he certainly was not meek at all.” But he was, because he was teachable.
Thirdly, we see that the Lord is served. Martha is serving. She is running around, preparing a meal. Remember, she had to prepare a meal not only for Him, but for the disciples who were with Him. So she was quite busy.
But she was serving the Lord. Bethany is where the Lord is served. Yet we see an issue arise. Martha finally becomes a bit indignant. She is serving and working so hard, while her sister is sitting at the feet of Jesus.
She says, “I need help, and it looks pretty obvious that I need help. She is just sitting there—so heavenly minded, but no earthly good, you know.”
But that was not the issue. Martha thought her sister had an issue. The Lord, I am sure, startled her in His response. First of all, I am a little startled at Martha’s speaking to the Lord.
She said, “Lord, dost Thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Tell her to come and help me.” She was the head, right? Lazarus was supposed to be the head, but anyway, we know who ran the household. It was Martha.
She was a strong person, very strong. She was a doer. She saw that things got done. The Lord needs doers, but He had to adjust Martha. He had to show her something.
What that tells us is that in Bethany, the cross is active. There are many opportunities, through conflicts sometimes with brothers and sisters, for the cross to do its work at Bethany.
We are in the process of becoming the house of God. We are the house, but we are also becoming. Brothers and sisters, the cross has to be active. All of our flesh has to be dealt with. All of our fleshly things need to be dealt with.
The Lord Jesus was very emphatic. He said:
If any man would come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
For whosoever would save his life shall lose it: and whosoever shall lose his life for My sake shall find it.
That is Matthew 16. In other words, brothers and sisters, our soul-life has to be dealt with. It is flawed because of the sin nature. We are basically self-centered, and self is always exposing itself.
Martha did not realize it. The Lord says, “Martha, I know you are getting ready.” And she was. She was busy as a bee. It was important to her. She was fixing that special meal for the Lord Jesus. In her heart, she wanted to serve the Lord.
She was a doer, and she was going to get this thing done. Then she sees her sister sitting there, and I am sure she is thinking, “Oh, there comes that settled sister of mine again. I am so busy trying to get things done, and she is just kind of meditative over there, enthralled with the Lord.”
She goes to the Lord and says, “Lord, do You not care? My sister is leaving all the work up to me. You need to tell her. You need to correct her. You need to tell her to straighten up and come help me.”
The Lord is very gentle with us, thank God, even with our flesh. But He has to deal with it. So He says, “Martha, you are troubled about many things. You are running around; you are so busy. All that you have on your mind is fixing this meal.”
“Martha, you do not have your priorities right. I know you are fixing a meal for Me, but you are missing the main thing. Yes, I need a meal. I like to eat. But I did not come here for the meal.”
“I came here because this is My home. This is My place where I can fellowship. I wanted to be in fellowship with you, Lazarus, Martha, and Mary. You are missing the fellowship. You are missing the main thing in all of your busyness.”
“Martha, you are serving, but you are not listening.”
There is a real clash of personality that has brought this out. As I said, she was a doer. Some of you in this room are real doers: “Let us get this thing done. Let us get it done.” Mary is more contemplative.
But the Lord is trying to help Martha here. Not only is He dealing with her priorities, but He is dealing with the self-life. That is hard, and that is painful, brothers and sisters.
It says that we are to be transformed into the image of Christ. That transformation is into the perfect humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is not transformation into deity, but into His perfect humanity. He was the perfect human being.
We all have different personalities. Stephen has said in the past that our personalities are the shape of our soul, and that shape tends to remain fairly constant, though it can be altered some.
But the problem with our soul-life is the flesh. It gets in the way of what God wants to do. This living stone has to be worked on a little bit—chiseled, with some rough edges knocked off, the dirt removed, the dust removed: the flesh.
The Lord wants to free her personality into all that it is meant to be. No one person can represent all the humanity of Christ, but each one of us has been designed especially, usually with some special feature.
That will be brought forth as living stones are built together, and we see all the glory of Christ in one another. Brothers and sisters, we really do need to be looking for Christ in one another.
The flesh will pop up, but in Bethany, in the house of God, where two or three are gathered and the Lord is in their midst, the Lord is dealing with the flesh-life—the self.
What is this with Martha? You have to remember that with doers, their great satisfaction is getting it done. It satisfies them.
If you are a doer, that is your satisfaction. You get satisfaction by getting something done. It is for the Lord—you are doing it for Him. Brothers and sisters, she was doing it for Him, but I have to say she was also doing it for herself. It brought her pleasure to do this.
Self was there, and the Lord recognized it. In gentleness, I think the Lord was being pretty gentle, He tried to correct her. Self-satisfaction—the satisfaction of being able to do that—was replacing her fellowship with the Lord.
The Lord wanted her to see that He was her satisfaction. He was to become her satisfaction.
Now, brothers and sisters, I do not know what satisfies you. But I had to confess before the Lord, “Lord, are You truly my satisfaction in this life? Are You the One in whom I get true satisfaction? Or is it in the things that I do? Is it in sharing Your Word? Is it in doing this or that?”
I have to say personally, when I get down, you know what I do? I go and do something that I can accomplish. Even cutting the yard, as much as I do not like it, I have to get something accomplished.
But I really need to find my satisfaction in Him. May our hearts turn to Him.
The flesh is dealt with in fellowship and at Bethany. I have found also, brothers and sisters, in serving the Lord, that I have found myself at times frustrated.
I feel like I am running around, trying to get something done in the house or whatever it may be—serving in some way. I have to get this done. Then I get frustrated: “Why does somebody not see that this needs to be taken care of?”
It is frustrating. But the Lord showed me something. He said, “Look, when you are serving Me, do it as unto Me. It does not matter whether you have help or not. Just do it unto Me.”
Amazingly, when our hearts get adjusted and the flesh is dealt with, it gets done. Miraculously, the Lord just moves. That has been my experience anyway.
But thank God, the Lord loves us so much that He deals with our flesh.
Secondly, I think Martha was struggling a bit because she did not feel appreciated—unappreciated. The Lord, I am sure, appreciated what she was doing, but He saw something that was really interfering with her spiritual life and growth: the self-life.
Brothers and sisters, He saw that this needed to be dealt with, and that she needed to know He was her priority. So He began to correct her.
Thank the Lord, she received the correction. Later on, at the feast in Simon the leper’s house, the night before Jesus was taken away, Martha is serving again. But there is no rebuke. She is still serving.
You see what I am saying? The personality is still there, but it has been adjusted. Praise the Lord for that.
I am also thankful that she was not offended. It would have been very easy for her to be offended, right? When the Lord said, “Martha,” instead of dealing with Mary, He dealt with Martha.
Martha could have easily said, “The Lord just does not appreciate me. He does not appreciate all my service. He does not see it. Mary is the one with the problem. I am not. I am doing all I can. He just does not appreciate me.”
I say that because of the strong way in which she was trying to order the Lord around. She could have been greatly offended at that point and said, “I will never invite Him to my house again. No way.”
But thank God, the Lord prevailed. The Holy Spirit prevailed in her heart, and she was not offended. How easy it would have been. Just think about it: “Never invite Him again.”
I think there have been saints who have been offended by the Lord. Often we say, “The Lord could never offend me.” Of course He can. He deals with our flesh, and that is offensive.
Sometimes we can push the Lord out of our lives, offended with Him for years. Be careful, brothers and sisters. The Lord is dealing with us all the time.
Remember the Lord’s words to John the Baptist? John the Baptist was in jail, and he was going to have his head taken off. He sent a message: “Is this really the Lord? If this was really the Lord, I would not be in this predicament. I certainly would not be losing my life.”
The Lord responded to him. He did not even come. You see, it is spiritual. It is love. The Lord sent a message back to him and said, “Blessed is he, whosoever shall find no occasion of stumbling in Me.” Blessed are the unoffended in Me.
Well, brothers and sisters, at Bethany sometimes the cross is active. Thank the Lord for it.
The Lord is making something for Himself. Now let us turn to John 11. The next incident we see at Bethany is the raising of Lazarus.
I am going to have to read a good bit of this, or you are going to miss it. So just take a few minutes.
Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, of the village of Mary and her sister Martha.
And it was that Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.
The sisters therefore sent unto Him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom Thou lovest is sick.
But when Jesus heard it, He said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified thereby.
Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.
When therefore He heard that he was sick, He abode at that time two days in the place where He was.
Now listen: this was His message back to them. “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified.”
Then after this He saith to the disciples, Let us go into Judaea again.
The disciples say unto Him, Rabbi, the Jews were but now seeking to stone Thee; and goest Thou thither again?
Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If a man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world.
But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because the light is not in him.
These things spake He: and after this He saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus is fallen asleep; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.
The disciples therefore said unto Him, Lord, if he is fallen asleep, he will recover.
Now Jesus had spoken of his death: but they thought that He spake of taking rest in sleep.
Then Jesus therefore said unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.
And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him.
Now let us go down to John 11:21.
Martha therefore said unto Jesus, Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.
And even now I know that, whatsoever Thou shalt ask of God, God will give Thee.
Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again.
Martha saith unto Him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth on Me, though he die, yet shall he live;
And whosoever liveth and believeth on Me shall never die. Believest thou this?
She saith unto Him, Yea, Lord: I have believed that Thou art the Christ, the Son of God, even He that cometh into the world.
Then she went away and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, “The Master is here, and calleth thee.” Go to John 11:32.
Mary therefore, when she came where Jesus was, and saw Him, fell down at His feet, saying unto Him, Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.
When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping who came with her, He groaned in the spirit, and was troubled,
And said, Where have ye laid him? They say unto Him, Lord, come and see.
Jesus wept.
The Jews therefore said, Behold how He loved him!
But some of them said, Could not this man, who opened the eyes of him that was blind, have caused that this man also should not die?
Jesus therefore again groaning in Himself cometh to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone lay against it.
Jesus saith, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto Him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.
Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou believedst, thou shouldest see the glory of God?
So they took away the stone.
Jesus lifted up His eyes, and said, Father, I thank Thee that Thou heardest Me.
And I knew that Thou hearest Me always: but because of the multitude that standeth around I said it, that they may believe that Thou didst send Me.
And when He had thus spoken, He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.
He that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave-clothes; and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.
What a story.
The first thing we see here, I think, is this matter of love. The Lord is moving in relation to love.
Looking at John 11:3 again, the sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom Thou lovest is sick.” In John 11:5, it says, “Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.”
The word used when the sisters said, “The one whom You love is sick,” is philia. It is affection. It is brotherly love. There is affection in Bethany.
But when it says in John 11:5 that the Lord loved Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, it is agape. It is agape love. It is that love which is God. It is the higher love, the highest order of love.
It is God’s love. It is selfless love. It is sacrificial love. This is the love of Christ. This is how He loved them.
He loved them, and He wanted them to learn something more of Himself. He wanted them to see who He was. They were lacking in revelation of who He was, and He wanted to see them grow. He knew this was the opportunity that God was providing.
This love of our Lord Jesus in Bethany and fellowship brings life. It brings purity. It brings in the love of Christ, brothers and sisters.
We can have affection for one another, and we should. But there should also be that agape love—that selfless, sacrificial love for one another, pure and unselfish.
Love prevails. I want you to know that. Love never fails.
If our Lord had merely had philia, merely affection, most likely He would have rushed out of there as soon as He heard the word about Lazarus, gone right away, and probably healed him. That is what affection would do.
But agape love sees the hand of God. Agape love knows that God is after something, and it waits. It is agape love.
He was certainly misunderstood, I am sure, by the sisters, because He had sent the message, “This sickness is not unto death,” and yet Lazarus was in the grave.
He had to bear being misunderstood. Obviously, the crowds misunderstood. “Why was this One not here to save him from this sickness? He could have healed him. We have seen Him heal others.”
Well, agape love often is misunderstood. The Lord, in His love, wanted to give them all a greater revelation of who He was—not only Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, but all who would hear.
They knew Him as the great Physician. They knew Him as the Healer. But, brothers and sisters, they had no idea that He was the resurrection and the life. He wanted them to see that. Desperately, He wanted them to know Him.
Paul said in Philippians 3:10, “That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection.” Paul had such a passionate desire to know the Lord. The Lord wants us to have that passion to know Him.
We must not misunderstand His agape love when He is working in our lives in ways that we do not initially understand—even in ways that seem contradictory to what He has said.
Brothers and sisters, in Bethany there are trials—deep trials. But they are with a purpose.
Thank God, as Christians, our trials are not without purpose. God wants to show Himself to us in a new way or reinforce what He has already shown us. That is what our trials are for.
He wants us to learn Him, to learn who He is. He wants us to experience agape love, not just affection, but agape love.
Remember that agape love is what is in charge, what is controlling. Agape love is not hard and cold, though it may seem that way. It is not without affection.
If you look at John 11:34-35, He said, “Where have ye laid him?” They said, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. Jesus wept.
It is not without compassion. He knew they did not understand. He wept for them, and I am sure He wept at the situation. But there was compassion there.
You see, in agape love, you are walking in the light. What do I mean? Let me read John 11:6-10 again.
When therefore He heard that he was sick, He abode at that time two days in the place where He was.
Then after this He saith unto the disciples, Let us go into Judaea again.
The disciples say unto Him, Rabbi, the Jews were but now seeking to stone Thee; and goest Thou thither again?
Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If a man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world.
But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because the light is not in him.
Brothers and sisters, in agape love, we walk in the light. That is what our Lord Jesus was doing on this earth. He was walking in the light of God His Father. He was walking in fellowship with the Father.
In fellowship with the Father, He knew that the Father wanted to glorify Himself and His Son. He knew that the Father wanted all those people to see that He was resurrection and life.
Resurrection was not merely an event. Resurrection life was something that could be possessed now. As long as Christ is there, resurrection is available.
He was walking in the light, and we are charged, brothers and sisters, to walk in the light. Because of that, the fact that there was opposition—that they were ready to kill Him when He came back—did not deter our Lord, because He was walking in the light.
He was not fearful. The disciples were right: He did return to Jerusalem, and He was crucified there. But He was not controlled by His circumstances or by fear.
He was controlled by love for the Father and by fellowship and light with the Father.
Then we come to John 11:39. Jesus comes and says, “Take away the stone.” He came that the glory of God might be manifested, brothers and sisters, and there was something blocking the glory: a stone.
That stone over the mouth of the cave was hindering the manifestation of the glory of God. He was unable to show forth the glory until that stone was removed.
What is that stone, brothers and sisters? It is unbelief.
Look at this. In John 11:37, some of them said, “Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that this man also should not die?” That was the people.
Now listen to Martha. Martha said to Him, “Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.” Jesus said, “Said I not unto thee, that, if thou believedst, thou shouldest see the glory of God?”
In John 11:4, Jesus had sent back the message: “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified.” All Martha could see was that her brother was dead.
She had forgotten about the glory of God being manifested. After all, the Lord had said he would not die, and now he was dead. Unbelief was the stone that held back the manifestation of the glory of God at Bethany.
Brothers and sisters, the glory of God is manifested at Bethany, but the stones have to be removed.
Let us get real practical. There are stones in our lives. Really, there is one stone: unbelief. So much of the glory that God wants to reveal to us is hindered because of unbelief. We do not get it.
The Lord said that the nation of Israel did not enter into the promised land because of unbelief. They did not see the glory because of unbelief.
There is a real lesson for us to learn here in the raising of Lazarus. Brothers and sisters, there needs to be faith—living faith—in Bethany. In Bethany, we learn to live by faith.
The Lord had said the glory of God would be revealed. They had forgotten that. They did not really believe it, and they were about to miss it. But the Lord, in His love, continued.
He said, “Remove the stone,” and they finally removed the stone. Once the stone was removed, the Lord was able to show forth His glory.
Brothers and sisters, I want to be very practical. The Lord has said that we have been crucified in Christ, but He lives. The life that we live is the life of the Son of God in us.
We have heard this so much in our lives. But have we entered into the glory of the fact that we have been crucified in Christ? Have we entered into the glory that Christ lives in us, that His life is in us and is to be manifested in us?
That is glorious, brothers and sisters, but it can just remain a doctrine. There can be a stone blocking the reality of that truth from being effective in our lives, and that stone is unbelief.
May we, brothers and sisters, say, “Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief.” We do not want His glory blocked any longer in our lives. The stone has to be removed: unbelief.
Then in John 11:44, He says, “Lazarus, come forth.” He is the resurrection and the life. The life is there, and Lazarus comes forth in resurrection life.
But there is an issue. There is a problem. He is bound with grave-clothes. The grave-clothes are still there, and the Lord said, “Loose him, and let him go.”
Brothers and sisters, in Bethany, grave-clothes can be loosed.
We are Christ’s, and we have been raised with Christ. We know that. But as we go through life, we find that there are grave-clothes there. There are grave-clothes in our lives.
They hinder our walk: old habits, old friends, old ways of acting, old ways of thinking, relationships that are not healthy. They bind us, and the grave-clothes have to come off.
The great thing about Bethany is that it is where the grave-clothes come off. Why do they come off in our lives today?
It says in His Word, “If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus cleanseth us from all sin.” It is in fellowship that we often find the grave-clothes removed.
What do I mean? I mean in fellowship, in sharing with brothers and sisters, just like in the Bible study times. Sometimes in those fellowships, and in our corporate prayer with one another, the Lord speaks to us.
He says, “That is your problem. You have a problem there. It is like grave-clothes. It is binding your life. You need to lose it.”
Praise the Lord, when we discover that—usually through fellowship or hard knocks with brothers and sisters—the Lord says, “It has to go.” Then you can go to the Lord and say, “Lord, forgive me. I just did not see it.”
It is those old grave-clothes, is it not? They need to go. Praise the Lord.
I remember a testimony from one of our younger sisters. I love these testimony times. She said she was before the Lord, and I do not know whether it was in a time of fellowship or not, but the Lord spoke to her.
He said, “You have some baggage.” He showed her what the baggage was. He said, “As long as you are carrying that baggage, you cannot continue to walk with Me.”
She said, “Lord, I will drop the baggage right now.” That was such a blessing to my own heart. That is the way it works.
“Lord, forgive me for carrying this baggage. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses me.” We are loosed at Bethany.
Lastly, we see God’s glory at Bethany. The resurrection life was manifested. What God was after was achieved in Bethany. His glory was revealed: resurrection life. He was the resurrection.
It is for His glory, brothers and sisters. Forget everything else, but remember: we are meeting here for His glory, for Himself. The Lord is doing something for Himself.
There is more about Bethany. Maybe I will share it another time. But these two chapters, Luke 10 and John 11, you might want to look at again yourselves and reflect on how the Lord works marvelously.
The reason He is able to work is that, as He says, “Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.”
Do you have any idea of the great thing that you have come into by coming into the local assembly and coming into fellowship with brothers and sisters? This is Bethany. This is what God has called us to be: Bethany.
It is for His glory. Oh, brothers and sisters, He included us. Something for Himself, but He has included us.
He is building that house. He is the chief cornerstone. We are the living stones built together. Brothers and sisters, that house will not be built unless we are built together. That is why we have to be together.
Lord, we just come to You today. We are so thankful for these lessons that You show us in Your Word. Lord, You are pouring out Your Word upon us.
Lord, we pray that we will be like Mary—humble and teachable—to hear Your Word and to do Your Word, and to have Your Word make its impact on our hearts.
Lord, we want You to continue to be pleased to be in our midst. Thank You that You are willing to deal with this flesh of ours. Thank You that You are willing, in love, to prevail and to hang in there with us until You get what You are after.
We thank You in Jesus’ name. Amen.