John 11:17-27 Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already.… When believers are sorrowful they may be sure that a consolation is provided exactly adapted to their cases. For every lock God has made He has provided a key. I doubt not that for every disease there is a remedy in God's laboratory if we could but find it, and if we Christians are borne down by excessive sorrow it arises from a defect in our faith. This defect sometimes arises from — 1. Slender knowledge. There is a promise that meets your case, and you know nothing of its efficacy because you have never read or understood it. 2. Want of appreciation of the person of Christ. This was the case with Martha. If Jesus were better known our burdens would be lightened. Submit then to a heart-searching inquiry. Believest thou — I. THIS PARTICULAR DOCTRINE? You have faith in the Scriptures in general. Now the point is to take each separate doctrine, and look over it in detail, and then say with heart and conscience, "I believe this." Martha had already expressed her faith in certain great truths — in the Saviour's power to heal the sick, in the efficacy of His prayer, and in the certainty of the resurrection — but all these were very general, and Christ set before her a specific fact, and said, "Believest thou this?" Let us do the same with the election of grace, justification by faith, union with Christ, etc. This inquiry wen managed and pressed home will enlarge the range and strengthen the grasp of faith and enrich the soul. II. THIS DISTINCT DOCTRINE? There is great cloudiness about the faith of many, arising largely from its second-hand character. We believe not because we have personally grasped a truth, but because somebody else believes it. Instead of the hazy notion of the resurrection which Martha held in common with others, Christ challenged her faith on a crisp, definite teaching about Himself. Christian doctrines, the atonement, e.g., are robbed of half their delight if indistinctly stated. Read Isaiah 53, and then say to yourself, "Believest thou this?" III. THIS DIFFICULT TRUTH. Certain truths are hard to grasp. There are points about them which stagger faith till faith rises to her true character. What Christ preached to Martha seemed contrary to experience. But when we become Christians and once accept an incarnate God, no difficulty need trouble us. Everything is simple in the presence of that profound mystery. Believing then in the Incarnation, what difficulty should there be in believing "when thou passest through the fire," etc.? IV. THIS TRUTH AS IT STANDS CONNECTED WITH CHRIST. Martha believed there would be a resurrection, but Jesus says, "I am," etc. It is one thing to believe a doctrine, and another to believe it as embodied in the person of Christ. There the comfort lies. Martha was called upon to believe in Christ's personal power, His present power, and the union of His people with Him. V. THIS TRUTH WHICH IS APPLICABLE TO THYSELF NOW. This was where Martha fell short. We sometimes receive great truths, but are staggered by lesser truths, because the great truth has no present practical bearing, whereas the lesser one has. You believe that Christ's blood can wash away all sin, do you believe that it cleanses yours? You believe that all things work together for good, do you believe that your present affliction does? VI. THIS PRACTICAL TRUTH. "Martha said she believed it, but ver. 39 did not prove it. Coleridge says: "Truths, of all ethers, the most awful and mysterious, and at the same time of universal interest, are too often considered as so true that they lose all the power of truth, and lie bedridden in the dormitory of the soul, side by side with the most despised and exploded errors." Why are people "better than their creed"? For the same reason that others are worse than their creed, because their creed is asleep. There is a house on fire — you believe it, but you don't stir until you know it is your own. We believe that God hears prayer, but, nothing surprises us more than when He answers it. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Parallel Verses KJV: Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already.WEB: So when Jesus came, he found that he had been in the tomb four days already. |
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