The Gospel Cordial

The Gospel Cordial

(No. 3236)

A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1911.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING,
SEPTEMBER 20, 1863.

"Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto
those that are of heavy heart. Let him drink and forget his poverty,
and remember his misery no more." Proverbs 31:6, 7.

THESE somewhat singular sentences were spoken by the mother of Lemuel
to her son, who was probably Solomon. She had already said to him, "It
is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for
princes strong drink: lest they drink and forget the Law, and pervert
the judgment of any of the afflicted." But such a king as Solomon must
have had an abundant store of wine of all kinds, so his mother urged
him to give it to the sick and the sad and the poor who needed it more
than he did. The Jews were in the habit of giving a cup of strong
drink, usually with some potent drug in it, to stupefy those who were
about to be executed. Perhaps that is the meaning of the words, "Give
strong drink unto him that is ready to perish." We know, too, how
persons who have been very weak and ill, on the very borders of the
grave, have often been medicinally relieved by wine given to them which
they could not possibly purchase for themselves. I believe this is the
literal meaning of the text and that if any man should be wicked enough
to draw from it the inference that he would be able to forget his
misery and poverty by drinking–he would soon find himself woefully
mistaken, for if he had one misery before–he would have 10 miseries
afterwards! And if he were previously poor, he would be in still
greater poverty afterwards. Those who fly to the bottle for consolation
might as soon fly to Hell to find a Heaven and, instead of helping them
to forget their poverty, drunkenness would only sink them still more
deeply in the mire!

I am going to use my text spiritually, for I believe it has a far
deeper meaning than that which glistens upon its surface. There are
many persons who are doubting and despairing, spiritually "ready to
perish." And there is, in the Word of God, a rich store of comforting
Truths which are far more cheering to the spirit than wine can ever be
to the body! And we are to give this Gospel Cordial to those who are
heavy of heart, that they may drink and forget their misery and
remember their doubts and despair no more!

In attempting to obey the precept of the text, I am going to speak upon
three topics. First, that there is a most comforting cordial in the
Gospel. Secondly, that it is our duty and privilege to give this
cordial to all who need it And, thirdly, that when it is given to such
people, it is their duty and privilege to drink and forget their
spiritual poverty and misery.

I. So, first, THERE IS MOST COMFORTING CORDIAL IN THE GOSPEL. Dr. Watts
truly sings–

"Salvation! Oh, the joyful sound! 'Tis pleasure to our ears A sovereign
balm for every wound, A cordial for our fears."

I will take, first, the case of a true Believer in Jesus who is sorely
tried with cares and losses and crosses. I will suppose that you have
come in here, tonight, dreading what may happen to you tomorrow.
Perhaps your trouble, my Brother, is that your business is failing and
that need is staring you in the face. Possibly you, my Sister, are
sorrowing over that dear child who lies in her little coffin in the
quiet room upstairs at home. Or it may be that you, my Friend, have a
sick wife and, day by day you see fresh signs and tokens of the great
loss that is surely awaiting you. I cannot mention all the causes of
sad heart in the believing members of this great assembly, but my
Master has sent me here with His own blessed cordial which is more than
sufficient to comfort every sorrowing saint here!

Remember, Beloved, that all that happens to you comes in the course of
Divine Providence. Your loving Heavenly Father has foreseen, foreknown
and, I venture to say, foreordained it all! The medicine you have to
drink is very bitter, but the unerring Physician measured all the
ingredients, drop by drop, and then mixed them in the very way in which
they would best work for your highest good. Nothing in this world
happens by chance. That great God who sits upon the circler of the
heavens, to whom all things that He has made are but as the small dust
of the balance, who make the clouds His chariot and rides upon the
wings of the wind–that same God cares for you with such special care
that He has even numbered the very hairs of your head and put your
tears in His bottle! You may, therefore, rest assured that even those
experiences which are causing you so much sorrow are all in accordance
with His eternal counsel and decree! Does not this Divine Cordial make
you forget your poverty and remember your misery no more?

Remember, too, that everything that happens to Believers is working for
their present and lasting good. "We know that all things work together
for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to
His purpose." If you could have chosen your own circumstances and
condition in life, you could not have made so wise a choice as God has
made for you! The gardener knows where his plants will flourish best.
Some of them might wish to grow in the sunshine, although like the fern
family, they are better in the shade. Some of them would prefer to be
on yonder mossy bank, but the gardener puts them in sandy soil because
he knows that it is better suited to the requirements of their nature.
You may depend upon it that there never was any earthly father who was
so attentive to the needs of his child as your Heavenly Father is to
you! When you decide as to the occupation you think is best for your
son to follow, you may select the very career that will prove to be his
ruin–but when God plans your future, He takes more care in arranging
for you than you do in arranging for your boy and, as He sees the end
from the beginning–which you cannot see either for yourself or for
your child–He chooses for you with Infinite and Unerring Wisdom! Do
not wish to have it otherwise, dear Brother or Sister in Christ! Be not
only content with such things as you have, but say with David, "The
Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup: You maintain my
lot. The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yes, I have a
goodly heritage." So drink this Divine Cordial and forget your poverty
and remember your misery no more!

Moreover, beloved Friend, do you not know that the Lord Jesus Christ is
with you in all your poverty and misery? Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego
never realized the Presence of the Son of God so blessedly until they
were cast alive into Nebuchadnezzar's burning fiery furnace! But His
Presence with them, there, was so manifest that even the heathen king
exclaimed, "I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and
they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God."
There is many a child who has no special petting and fondling so long
as it stays well–but as soon as it is ill it seems as though all the
mother's love was concentrated upon that particular member of the
family–and it is to you who especially need such a cheering message
that the Lord says, "As one whom his mother comforts, so will I comfort
you; and you shall be comforted." It was to His ancient people that He
gave the gracious promise and it was concerning them that it was said,
"In all their affliction, He was afflicted, and the angel of His
Presence saved them; in His love and in His pity He redeemed them; and
He bore them, and carried them all the days of old." It is thus that He
still tenderly and lovingly deals with His tried and afflicted people!
And this thought ought to be like a cordial to make them forget their
poverty and misery!

I might keep on all night trying thus to comfort tried saints, but I
must content myself by giving them just one more sip of this Divine
Cordial and that shall be this–remember how soon all these trials will
be over! Be of good courage, weary pilgrim–the heavenly mansion where
you are to rest forever is almost in sight! It is so close that you may
well sing–

"My Father's house on high, Home of my soul! How near, At times, to
faith's foreseeing eyes, Your golden gates appear!"

How fast the years fly by and our trials and troubles are flying just
as fast. Beloved, Paul truly wrote concerning "our light affliction,
which is but for a moment," for after all, our afflictions are only
like a troubled dream–a little starting in the sleep of life and then
we wake to sleep no more forever. This world is to the Believer, like a
country inn by the wayside where there are many constantly coming and
going, and there are such disturbing noises that no one can rest. Well,
never mind, you are only tarrying there for one short night and then
you shall be up and away to your eternal home, to go no more out
forever! Will not this Divine Cordial make you forget your poverty and
remember your misery no more?

Now I will take the case of a true Believer in Jesus who is suffering
from soul-desertion. You, my Friend, are inclined to say with Heman the
Ezrahite, "O Lord God of my salvation, I have cried day and night
before YouL.You have laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the
deeps…Lord, why do You cast off my soul? Why do You hide Your face
from me?" You are even inclined to think that you now can understand
that cry of Christ upon the Cross, "My God, My God, why have You
forsaken Me?" The Lord seems to turn a deaf ear to your supplications!
Prayer, itself, is a heavy burden to you–you have no comforting
visions of the Savior's face–past seasons of holy enjoyment are only
remembered by you with regret that you no longer have such happy
experiences! Even when you turn to the Word of God, itself, your eyes
seems to fix only upon the threats and never notice the many
"exceedingly great and precious promises." And your soul is "ready to
perish" in despair! Well, my poor Brother, if there ever was a time
when you needed the spiced wine of God's Covenant faithfulness and the
luscious, nutritious nectar of Jesus Christ's everlasting Love, it is
now! I wonder what Ar-minians do when they are seized with this kind of
spiritual condition and shake in terror from head to foot? I know that
when I have these attacks–and I do have them very badly sometimes–I
turn to those texts that say most about God's free and Sovereign Grace
and I try to get the marrow and fatness out of them to feed my starving
soul! Those who, "do business in great waters," spiritually, find that
nothing will serve their turn but God's eternal decrees, God's
unchanging purposes, God's never-failing faithfulness, God's
distinguishing, discriminating Grace! At least that is my own
experience and I urge you, my despairing Brother or Sister, to take a
deep draft of the same Divine Cordial so that you may forget your
spiritual poverty and remember your misery no more! You are not likely
to turn the high Doctrines of the Gospel to evil account, so come and
feed upon them till your soul is satiated with these dainties of your
Lord's banqueting house. Accept His own gracious invitation, "Eat, O
Friends; drink, yes, drink abundantly, O Beloved."

Among the other comforting things that I should say to a Brother or
Sister suffering from soul-desertion would be this–Remember, Brothers
and Sisters, if you were ever a child of God, you are a child of God
now! You pass through many changes, but you have a Savior who is always
the same–"Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and forever."
You have your ups and downs. You change with every phase of the moon.
But with the great "Father of Lights" there is "no variableness,
neither shadow of turning." We rightly sing–

"Unchangeable His will Whatever be my frame! His loving heart is still
Eternally the same! My soul through many change goes, His love no
variation knows!"

He never began a work of Grace in anyone and then left it unfinished!
He never adopted a child into His family and then cast him out to
perish! The Lord Jesus Christ never first married any soul and then
divorced her, for He hates putting away. He will never part with any
member of His mystical body, If He could do such an outrageous thing,
He would, Himself, be incomplete! So, my despairing Brother, I say to
you that if you have ever had the Light and the Love of God in your
soul, not only are you still a saved man, but the time will yet come
when you will know that it is so! Like Jonah, you will yet come up out
of the depths and with him you will ascribe all the glory of your
salvation unto the Lord.

I also want to try to comfort some true Believers in Jesus who are
afraid they are not really the Lord's. I am glad that John Bunyan
mentioned some of their names in his immortal allegory, for we still
have among us swarms of people who answer to his description of Mr.
Fearing, Mr. Feeble-Mind, Mr. Despondency and his daughter, Miss
Much-Afraid, Mr. Ready-to-Halt and Mr. Little-Faith, though we have
only here and there a Mr. Great-Heart, or a Mr. Stand-Fast, or a Mr.
Valiant-for-Truth. Well, dear Friends, if you are here, tonight, let me
remind you that although you are the little ones in God's family, you
are not little in God's sight! He loves you just as much as He loves
the greatest saint who ever lived! When the Lord gave the commandment
to Moses concerning the ransom for every soul numbered among the
children of Israel, it was expressly stated, "The rich shall not give
more and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel when they give
an offering unto the Lord to make an atonement for your souls." It is
the same in the Atonement worked by the Lord Jesus Christ–it cost Him
just as much, and no more, to ransom the least of His people or the
greatest–and He loves them equally! He may use some of them as His
instruments more than He uses others, but He has the same regard for

all of them! If He ever makes any difference in His treatment of them,
it is the weak ones who have the preference–He carries the lambs in
His bosom, but He allows the strong sheep to follow in His tracks.

So be of good cheer, you feeble folk who belong to Christ, and also
remember that little saints are just as safe as big saints. If we are
with Christ in the vessel of His Church, we are just as safe as all the
rest of those on board–and we may rest assured that we shall never
perish, for if we could, Christ would perish, too, and that can never
be! The greatest saint who ever served his Lord with Apostolic zeal or
even Christlike self-sacrifice, has to rely for his salvation on the
blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ–and the feeblest saint has to
do the same–and the one is no more saved and safe than is the other.
So Mr. Fearing and Miss Much-Afraid, drink that Divine Cordial and be
no longer either doubtful or sad!

I think my text also has a special message to the sinner who is heavy
of heart and desponding in spirit To such an one I would present the
Gospel Cordial thus. My Friend, remember that "Christ Jesus came into
the world to save sinners." That word, "sinners," includes you. And if
you ask me, "What must I do to be saved?" I answer as Paul did when
that question was put to him, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you
shall be saved." So, as you are commanded to believe on Christ, to rely
upon Him, to trust to Him to save you, it cannot be presumptuous on
your part to do so! Jesus Christ is "mighty to save." He is able to
save unto the uttermost all that come unto God by Him. If there is a
sinner here who is so bad that I could not describe his case to you, he
is not too bad for Christ to save! Then why do you despair, O you who
are "ready to perish," seeing that God has given up His well-beloved
Son to die for just such sinners as you are? Your sins are great, I
know, and they cry aloud for punishment–but the moment that you repent
of them and trust in the blood of Jesus to cleanse you from them–you
shall be made perfectly whole! Your sins shall be so completely put
away that God says that if they are searched for, they shall not be
found! They shall be as absolutely annihilated as if you had never
committed them! What more comforting cordial than that can you possibly
have set before you? Then drink of it and forget your poverty and
remember your misery no more!

II. I can only speak very briefly upon the second point which is that
IT IS OUR DUTY AND PRIVILEGE TO GIVE THIS CORDIAL TO ALL WHO NEED IT.

Brothers and Sisters in Christ, I want you all to obey the injunction
of the text by giving this Gospel Cordial to those who are heavy of
heart and "ready to perish." Some of you can do this by talking to them
of your own experience. When you meet with doubting and desponding
souls, tell them how the Lord delivered you from old Giant Despair's
grim dungeon in Doubting Castle. Remind them of that key called,
Promise, which can unlock the doors of the prison where they lie bound
in fetters of iron! We are told that Origen, so long as his strength
permitted, used to go to the prisons where the Christians were confined
during the Decian persecution and afterwards went with them to the
stake, comforting them from the Scriptures which he had found to be
such a support to his own soul. Imitate him as far as you can, even
though Christians are not now persecuted unto death.

Many of you can give away this Gospel Cordial by visiting the sick and
the poor. In so vast a Church as this, it is impossible for the pastor
or elders to visit all the members, much less visitall who compose our
great congregation! So I would urge you to do the visiting, yourselves,
as far as you are able. Especially would I invite you who are the most
deeply experienced in the things of God to find out the sin and the
sorrowing in your own neighborhoods and to comfort them with the
comfort wherewith you, yourselves, have been comforted of God. Then,
many more of you than are at present doing it, can give away this
Gospel Cordial by preaching wherever and whenever you have the
opportunity. In such a city as London, where every street corner can
furnish a pulpit and every street can supply a congregation, there is
no excuse for the man with only one talent if he does not use it for
Christ! The good news you have to tell, my Brother, is so sweet that it
should be told over and over and over again till every gale shall
spread the tidings to–

"All people that on earth do dwell." I pray the Lord also to raise up
many Brothers and Sisters from our midst to go to "the regions beyond"
as missionaries of the Cross and to move you who cannot preach, to give
of your substance either for the training of our Brothers in the
College, or for the support of those who are called of God to preach
and teach the Word in distant lands where Jesus is not known. In that
way, you, too, will be helping to give the Gospel Cordial to those who
are heavy of heart and "ready to perish."

III. Now lastly and but briefly, WHEN THIS GOSPEL CORDIAL IS GIVEN TO
SUCH PEOPLE, IT IS THEIR

DUTY AND PRIVILEGE TO DRINK IT and forget their spiritual poverty and
remember their misery no more!

We can bring a horse to the water, but we cannot make him drink it. And
we can carry this Gospel Cordial to the sinner, but only the Holy
Spirit can sweetly constrain him to take a full, deep drink of it. I
have been trying to give this Cordial, again tonight, to those who need
it, as indeed I have been doing ever since the Lord first opened my
mouth to speak for Him. But what about your part of the business, my
dear Hearers? It is my duty and privilege to preach the Gospel, but it
is just as much your duty and privilege to believe it when it is
preached! "Faith comes by hearing," but alas, there are many who hear
the Word who are like those of whom the Apostle wrote that "the Word
preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that
heard it." To have the healing medicine in your hands and yet not to
drink it is to commit spiritual suicide! I beseech you, Sinner, not to
add that crowning crime to all your other iniquities! I pray you, this
very hour, to accept the proffered blessing. The Water of Life is set
before you–drink and live! The Bread of Life is placed within your
reach–why should your immortal soul be starved and perish?

Do you fear that you are too black a sinner to be saved? Remember
Agur's words concerning one of the "four things which are little upon
the earth," but which "are exceedingly wise." He said, "The spider
takes hold with her hands and is in kings' palaces." It may be that
Agur had seen a big black spider in Solomon's palace and that, as he
mused upon it, he said to himself, "That ugly creature is very wise,
for there was a great storm coming on and her usual home would have
been unsafe, so, looking about for a place of shelter, she spied an
open window in the King's palace and in she went. She had no right
there–no one had invited her–but there she was." Now, poor Sinner,
that spider was not as full of venom as you are full of sin! There is a
greater storm coming on than that spider dreaded–and the door of God's
Mercy is as surely open as was that window in Solomon's palace! And you
are invited to enter, as that spider never was invited! O Sinner, be at
least as wise as a spider and come in to God's royal palace of
salvation! For once you are inside, you shall never be cast out!

Are you still afraid to come to Jesus? Then let me remind you of that
poor woman who came and touched the hem of His garment and was
instantly cured of her long-standing malady! You remember that she was
ceremonially unclean– she had no business to be in a crowd–yet she
was so eager to be healed that she worked her way through the throng
until she was near enough to Jesus to touch the border of His seamless
robe, for she said, "If I may touch but His clothes, I shall be whole."
She did so and Christ at once honored her faith and gave her the
gracious assurance that she might "go in peace"–and keep the cure that
she had, as it were, obtained by stealth! O Sinner, will you not be as
wise as that poor woman was? You need not attempt to steal the
blessing, for you are invited to come and take it openly! Jesus still
says, "Come unto Me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will
give you rest." Rest is what you need–rest of mind, rest of heart,
rest of conscience–that rest can only come to you by faith, "for we
who have believed do enter into rest." O you poverty-stricken and
miserable sinners, believe in Jesus! Take His yoke upon you and learn
of Him, for so shall you find rest unto your souls! And then shall you
also realize that "there remains" another rest–a fuller and yet more
blessed one–even that eternal "keeping of Sabbath" which is the
blissful portion of all "the people of God!"

There is the Divine Cordial which we are commanded to place within your
reach. Drink it and forget your poverty and remember your misery no
more. God bless you, for Jesus' sake! Amen.

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: JOHN11:1-44.

Verse 1. Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the
town of Mary and her sister Martha. To many people it may have seemed
an event of no particular importance that "a certain man was sick,
named Lazarus, of Bethany," but great consequences often depend upon
what appear to us to be very minor matters–and we must not despise the
least of the Lord's people, nor think little of anything that concerns
them. When a king or an emperor is ill, the news is published in all
the papers, but when a friend of the Lord Jesus, a man "named Lazarus
of Bethany" was sick, that event was recorded in the Bible because of
something very remarkable which was to follow that sickness! Lazarus
was a son of God–and Divine Grace makes greater distinctions than
earthly rank and worldly honors ever can make!

2, 3. (It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped
His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick). Therefore his
sisters sent unto Him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick
[See Sermon #1518, Volume

26–BELOVED, YET AFFLICTED.] So you see that those whom Jesus loves may
be, themselves, ill, or may have dear ones who are ill. Yes, and the
illness may be sent by God as a token and testimony of His affection
for them! Men polish gems, but they do not take the trouble to polish
common pebbles–and God sends affliction to His own beloved ones for
their good and for His Glory.

4. When Jesus heard that, He said, This sickness is not unto death.
That was not to be the end of it. God had quite another purpose in view
in allowing Lazarus to be sick. "This sickness is not unto death."

4. But for the Glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified
thereby. Jesus knew that Lazarus would die, but He also knew that his
death would only be a kind of interlude–the great design of God was
not to take Lazarus Home at that time, but to glorify His Son in the
resurrection of Lazarus from the dead!

5. Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister, and Lazarus. Happy was the
family at Bethany of which it could be said that all the members of it
were dear to Christ! Is it so with your household, Martha? Or is it
only Mary who is thus loved? Has Lazarus been left out? Then pray for
your brother as these gracious sisters sent to tell Jesus about
Lazarus.

6. When He had heard, therefore, that he was sick, He still abode two
days in the same place where He was. We cannot always understand what
our Master does. It seemed a strange thing that when Jesus heard that
Lazarus was sick, He stayed where He was. Yet there was a good reason
for the delay–Christ was waiting in wisdom and in love. I think I see
Mary and Martha, day after day wondering where Jesus could be! Perhaps
even thinking hard thoughts of Him and saying, "He loved us, and He
loved our brother–why did He not come as soon as we sent for Him?"

7-10. Then after that He said to His disciples, Let us go into Judasa
again. His disciples said unto Him, Master, the Jews of late sought to
stone You, and do You go there again? Jesus answered, Are there not
twelve hours in the day?If any man walks in the day, he stumbles not
because he sees the light of this world. But if a man walks in the
night, he stumbles because there is no light in him. Christ felt that
His day was not over and that He could not die before His work was done
and, therefore, He did not fear the stones cast by unbelieving foes!
So, my Brother, at all risks go on with your God-given work! You will
live through your 12 hours and you will not live a moment longer! Be so
much a believer in predestination that even if duty calls you to risk
your life, you will bravely do it knowing that you are in the hands of
God and that your life cannot end until your appointed 12 hours have
expired!

11. These things said He: and after that He said unto them, Our friend
Lazarus sleeps. "Our friend?" Why, Lazarus was Chist'sfriend–yes, but
those who are Christ's friends are our friends, too, if we belong to
Christ! I have recently met with a large number of persons from
different countries, but the moment we discovered that we loved the
same Lord, we seemed to be as intimate as if we had been next-door
neighbors for the last 50 years! "Our friend Lazarus sleeps."

11-14. But I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. Then said His
disciples, Lord, if he sleeps, he shall do well How-beit Jesus spoke of
his death: but they thought that He had spoken of taking of rest in
sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. Let me
remind you, my dear Brothers who preach the Gospel, that you will have
to preach very plainly–for you see that even the Apostles could not
understand a figure of speech! When Christ said, "Our friend Lazarus
sleeps," they mistook His meaning, so He had to say plainly, "Lazarus
is dead." That is how we must preach the Gospel–not only so that our
hearers can understand it, but so that they cannot misunderstand it.

15, 16. AndIam glad foryour sakes that I was not there, to the
intentyou may believe. Nevertheless let us go unto him. Then said
Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellow disciples, Let us also
go, that we may die with Him. Thomas always took a dark view of things,
so he thought his Master was going to be killed. But he was a brave
disciple, for he said to the other disciples, "Let us also go, that we
may die with Him." There are still many very timid despondent
disciples, but they cling to Christ and, if necessary, they would die
for Him as Thomas was willing to die with Him! God bless you, Thomas!
There are worse men than you, but not many better!

17. Then when Jesus came, He found that he had already lain in the
grave four days. You know that in the East they have to bury the dead
almost immediately because of the heat of the climate–so that Lazarus
was, not long after he was dead, put away in the family vault.

18. NowBethany was near unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off An
easy walk of somewhere about two miles.

19. 20. And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them
concerning their brother Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus
was coming, went and met Him: but Mary sat still in the house. You will
often hear people praising Mary at the expense of Martha, but although
Mary is commended for sitting at Christ's feet, Martha, here, was the
first to meet her Lord. The varying characters of different persons
come out best at different times. Mary is best at

sermon time–she forgets the cups and the platters. But Martha is the
more practical in the time of grief. She is active and does not give
way as Mary does. She is not so contemplative and not so crushed as
Mary is, so she is the first to go to meet her Lord.

21. Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if You had been here, my brother
had not died. There seems to have been just a tinge of reproach in
Martha's words–and Mary said exactly the same words to their dear
Master and Friend a little later. And I have often heard Martha and
Mary talk in this fashion–"Oh, if we had only had another doctor!" Or,
"If our dear friend had not gone to the seaside!" Or, possibly, "If he
had gone to the seaside, he might not have died." Well now, beloved
Friends, you have grief enough in having lost your relative or friend
without adding to it by these unwise suppositions about what might have
happened if you had done something else! Do not fall into that mistake
and wound yourselves and grieve your best Friend by unnecessary and
useless regrets!

22-24. But I know that even now [See Sermon #2249, Volume 38–EVEN
NOW.], whatever You will ask of God, God will give it to You. Jesus
said unto her, Your brother shall rise again. Martha said unto Him, I
know that he shall rise again in the Resurrection at the Last Day. She
could not believe the joyful meaning that Christ meant to convey to her
when He said, "Your brother shall rise again."

25. Jesus said unto her, I am the Resurrection. Note that our Lord did
not say, "I am He who raises the dead," but, "Iam the Resurrection."

25-27. And the Life: He that believes in Me, though he were dead [See
Sermon #1799, Volume 30–"though he were dead".] yet shall he live: and
whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?
She said unto Him, Yes, Lord: I believe that You are the Christ, the
Son of God, which should come into the world Will not many of you make
Martha's grand confession of faith your own? Believe in Jesus and then
you will be able to believe anything and everything that He says!

28. And when she had so said, she went her way and called Mary, her
sister, secretly, saying, The Master is come, and

calls for you. [See Sermon #1198, Volume 20–THE MASTER.] Metropolitan

Martha's title for Christ might be rendered, "The Teacher, The
Authoritative Teacher," yet I am glad our translators put it, "The
Master."

29. As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came unto Him. The
coming of Christ had such an effect upon her that she arose from amid
the ashes of her sorrow and went out to meet her dear Lord and Master.

30. 31. Now Jesus was not yet coming into the town, but was in that
place where Martha met Him. The Jews then which were with her in the
house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily
and went out, followed her, saying, She goes unto the grave to weep
there. It is significant that these mourners did not follow Martha when
she went to meet Jesus–but they did follow Mary. Sometimes sinners who
are not converted by listening to one preacher, are blessed by the
testimony of two. One sister may not be able to lead her brother to
Christ, yet God may enable two to do it. Jesus sent out His 70
disciples, "two and two," and the Apostles are usually mentioned in
pairs–Simon and Andrew, James and John, Phillip and Bartholomew and so
on–and we shall find that two Christians can often accomplish what one
alone could not do.

32, 33. Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell
down at His knees, saying unto Him, Lord, if You had been here, my
brother had not died. When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the
Jews also weeping which came with her, He groaned in the spirit and was
troubled. His heart was full of sympathy. He felt the grief of these
mourners and sorrowed with them.

34, 35. Andsaid, Where have you laid him? They said unto Him, Lord,
come and see. Jesus wept [See Sermon #2091, Volume 35–"JESUS WEPT".]
In the original, a very blessed and expressive word is used here
concerning Christ's weeping–quite a different word from that used to
describe the weeping of Mary and the Jews. It should be a constant
comfort to the sorrowing Church of God that "Jesus wept."

36-39. Then said the Jews, Behold how He loved him! [See Sermon #3228,
Volume 56–"OH, HOW HE LOVES."] And some of them said, Could not this
Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man
should not have died? Jesus therefore, again groaning in Himself, came
to the grave. It was a cave and a stone lay upon it. Jesus said, Take
away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, said unto Him,
Lord, by this time he stinks: for he has been dead four days. "Will you
expose that corrupt corpse to the air?

"Ah, me, what poor foul creatures we are through the Fall! See what we
may, any of us, become in a few days, so that even the one who loves us
best will have to say of us, "Bury my dead out of my sight."

40, 41. Jesus said unto her, Said I not unto you, that if you would
believe, you should see the Glory of God? Then they took away the stone
from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up His eyes,
and said, Father, I thank You that You have heard me. That groaning in
spirit was Christ's prayer to His Father, that inward tumult of His
soul was His earnest supplication! And now He thanks His Father that He
has heard Him! Yet Lazarus was still dead and lying–a mass of
corruption–in the grave. Oh, for faith to bless God for the mercies
that are on the way to us!

42, 44. And I knew that You hear Me always: but because of the people
which stand by, I said it, that they may believe that You have sent Me.
And when He had thus spoken, He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come
forth! Andhe that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave
clothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus said

unto them, Loosen him, and let him go. [See Sermons #1052, Volume
18–THE SPHERE OF INSTRUMENTALITY; Sermon #1776, Volume 30– UNBINDING
LAZARUS and #2554 Volume 44–THE SPIRITUAL RESURRECTION.]

See what wonders our Lord can work and ask Him to work similar miracles
in the spiritual realm–to raise to life those who are dead in
trespasses and sins!