Mt. Zion Church of the Holy Spirit - Sermons
When Intimacy Meets Grace
Looking at John 11, the first thing we need to see is this, Lazarus was a man who walked in intimacy with Christ, that he truly loved the Lord Jesus.
John 11:3 — "Therefore his sisters sent unto Him, saying, ‘Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.'"
John 11:5 — "Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus."
In these two scriptures you can hear the tender affection between Jesus and Lazarus. This is a relational love, a love birthed out of relationship. It is that love that the sincere seekers of God’s heart have with Him, because they are growing in the intimate knowledge of God.
But John 11 is the first time we are introduced to Lazarus. Why? This is not the first time in the gospels we find Martha and Mary, so why is it now we are just being introduced to Lazarus?
Bringing this question before the Lord, the Lord spoke to my heart and asked me a question,
“Who is Lazarus?” Studying the scriptures I saw that Lazarus was a man who was “caught in the middle”. There were two voices continually speaking into his life; there were two pictures continually being played out before him, and Lazarus was a man who was caught in the middle.
And let’s ask a question: what were these two voices? One was intimacy based on doing; the other was intimacy based on coming. We see this in Luke 10:38-40a:
"Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard His word. But Martha was cumbered about with much serving…"
It is easy to see in John 11 that Lazarus was very close to his two sisters, but each had a different understanding of intimacy. One perceived intimacy to be based on works, the other knew intimacy to be sitting in the presence of Christ and letting Him speak to her heart. These were the two voices that were continually speaking into Lazarus’ life.
FIRST, LET’S TALK ABOUT MARTHA:
Martha represents the "do" man, the "do" voices. Since her whole perception of intimacy is working to serve the Lord, overall, her message is simply, "No matter how much you do, it is not enough. You are not serving enough, you are not obedient enough, you are not laying enough down on the altar and surrendering enough. No matter what you are doing, it is not enough!" Understand, there are times that the Spirit of God will come to our hearts and provoke us, but if you are truly walking in intimacy with Christ, there are times in your walk that you can look into your heart and say in all sincerity, "God, as much as I know, I am in obedience to everything that you have set before my heart. Everything I know that you are asking me to lay upon the altar, I have laid it down." These voices come, whether it is the voice of the devil or the voice of man, and try to make you feel that God is displeased, because no matter how much you are "doing," it is not enough.
HOW DO WE KNOW THAT WE ARE LIVING UNDER THE OPPRESSION OF THESE “DO” VOICES?
We have two answers, and they are both found in Luke 10:40.
"But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to Him, and said, 'Lord, dost Thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me."
- Martha is complaining to the Lord about Mary as though He would be in agreement. Martha felt like Jesus should be sharing her displeasure because Mary was not “doing” enough.
MY POINT: You know that you are living under the oppression of these “do” voices when you feel like God is in agreement with these voices, and He is displeased with your walk because you are not doing enough! You feel like your walk is a disappointment to God, even though you can look into your heart and say in all sincerity, "God, I am walking in obedience, and I have laid everything down on the altar that You have spoken to me."
- In Luke 10:40, again, Martha is criticizing Mary for not doing enough; you can hear the criticism clearly in her voice.
MY POINT: You know that you are living under the oppression of these "do" voices, because you are living under the heaviness of their criticism. Again, the Spirit of God will come to our hearts when He needs to in order to provoke us, but when it is the Spirit of Christ, it is easy to entreat even when it brings much conviction. But when it is a voice coming from a critical spirit, it brings a heaviness, because what you hear in that voice is criticism.
LET ME SHOW YOU A TRUTH THAT THESE “DO” VOICES DO NOT UNDERSTAND:
2 Corinthians 3:18 — "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord."
This verse tells us the secret to being changed. We are changed as we behold Christ, that is, setting our hearts upon Him, spending quality time in His presence, making Him the very focal point and center of our lives. As we do this, we are changed into His likeness. Change does not come by striving in the flesh to become more like Christ; change comes by beholding Him.
As we behold Him, we are changed from glory to glory, which means from image to image. This is called sanctification, being conformed more and more to the image of Christ. Because these “do” voices do not understand that God’s people need room to grow and to change, no matter what place you are at in the Lord, it is not high enough; you should be at a higher place of sanctification, a higher place of sacrifice, a higher place of service. If you do not understand the simplicity of the New Covenant, it is so easy to fall prey to these voices and come under the heaviness of this critical spirit.
MARTHA IS THE VOICE THAT TURNS INTIMACY INTO WORKS.
It is important to know that if God’s people are truly going to walk in intimacy with Him, then there are things that we have to do. We must seek the Lord with all of our hearts, we must walk in obedience to everything God places before our hearts, and there are things that must be placed on the altar. However, here is what we need to understand: God is leading each one of us at a pace that we can walk and travel, and at a pace that gives each one of us room to grow.
Isaiah 40:11 — "He shall feed His flock like a shepherd: He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young."
Isaiah 40:11 says that God will gently lead His children. This tells me that the pace God sets for each of our lives is a gentle pace. Jesus tells us that when we come to Him we will find that His yoke is easy and His burden is light, and we shall find rest for our souls.
Jesus does not drive His people; He leads them. He knows our frame and He sets the pace that each one of us can travel.
THE "DO" VOICES TURN INTIMACY INTO WORKS BY OVERDRIVING YOU — BY TRYING TO FORCE YOU TO WALK AT A PACE THAT GOD DID NOT SET FOR YOU.
When I think about this, I can not help but think of King Saul. In 1 Samuel 14:22-28 we see Saul’s army is defeating the Philistines. Saul makes a decree that no one in his army shall eat anything until the Philistines are completely destroyed. The Bible says that in the midst of the battle his soldiers became weak and began to faint. What was Saul’s mistake? The Bible tells us that Saul was head and shoulders above everyone else—that he was a strong man with much stamina.
Saul’s mistake was that he expected everyone else to have his strength and stamina, but they did not have it. We see a spiritual truth in this, and it is simply this: when God is dealing with our hearts about something personal, we should be very careful before trying to place our own personal dealings on someone else’s heart because they may not be at that place in the Lord yet.
God spoke to me on this as a pastor. Most of my sermons come out of my own personal dealings, and God is very gentle with me because He knows that my heart is towards Him. Yet, if I am not careful, I can take those things that He lovingly shows me and be very harsh in bringing it before the people. When our hearts are truly toward the Lord, God does not have to be harsh, because He knows that all He has to do is speak and we will listen.
HOW DOES GOD FINALLY FREE US FROM THE OPPRESSION OF THESE "DO" VOICES? HOW DOES HE FREE US FROM THIS MINDSET OF INTIMACY BASED ON DOING?
In John 11 we see that Jesus allows Lazarus to experience the pangs of death, to go down into the grave. This symbolizes Christ allowing us to walk with Him for a time in our own strength until we come to the place of absolute death, the place where you absolutely die to your strength and all of your efforts to live the Christian life. He will allow you to walk with Him for a time in your own strength, zeal and efforts until you truly come to the realization in your heart that, "My own efforts are powerless to produce life! My own efforts are powerless to produce fruit! My own strength and fleshly zeal is powerless to change my heart! There is nothing in myself that can live the Christian life!"
IT WAS IN THIS PLACE OF DEATH THAT JESUS CALLED OUT TO LAZARUS.
This is the simplicity of the New Covenant! It is simply hearing the voice of Jesus calling to your heart and rising up in faith and moving toward His voice. It is rising up in all of your weaknesses and imperfections and simply answering His call to come. Though you may be wrapped up in all of your grave clothes, wrapped up in all of the issues of your heart, you heard His voice and you are responding to His voice to come to Him.
WHERE IS THIS VOICE LEADING YOU?
John 12:1,2 — "Then Jesus six days before the Passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom He raised from the dead. There they made Him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with Him."
When the Lord called Lazarus out of the tomb, He brought him to the table of communion and fellowship. The Lord calls each one of us out of the tomb for a reason — to bring us to the table of the Lord. The table is a spiritual place; it is the place where we come and sit in the Lord’s presence and commune heart-to-heart with Him. The table is the place where we share intimate fellowship with Christ. When we hear the voice of Christ calling to our hearts to simply come to Him, He desires that we answer His call and come to the table of the Lord and love Him with all of our heart.
HERE IS A WONDERFUL TRUTH IN JOHN 12:
Lazarus is sitting at the table of intimate fellowship with Christ, but he is sitting there with an understanding, “I am not sitting in this place of intimacy because of anything that I did; I am sitting here because of the grace of God. I am sitting here because there was a moment in time that I heard the voice of Jesus calling out to me to come, and I responded to His call. I was powerless to remove my own grave clothes, but He did not ask me to remove my own grave clothes, only to come.”
Beloved, it is when we respond to His call to come and be with Him that He removes our grave clothes, which represents the deep issues of our heart. We are changed into His image, from glory to glory as we sit in His presence and behold Him. The devil tries his best to load us down with condemnation and make us feel so unworthy to go into the Lord’s presence because he knows if we spend time in the Lord’s presence beholding Him, we will change!
LET ME SHOW YOU WHAT LAZARUS LEARNED:
Luke 10:41,42a — "And Jesus answered and said unto her, ‘Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things, but ONE THING is needful..."
Lazarus learned that when it came to his sitting in the presence of Christ only one thing was needful, and it was not all of his services and sacrifices, but it was simply hearing the voice of the Lord bid him to come and rising up and coming. Yes, there is a walk of obedience and service to the Lord, but it is at the gentle leading of the Lord. We take on the yoke of Christ, and He is leading us, but we find that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. We finally find rest for our souls.
David writes in Psalm 27:4 — "ONE THING have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple." David is saying “the desire of my heart comes down to this one thing—to spend time in the Lord’s presence seeking His heart.”
DAVID UNDERSTOOD SOMETHING: THE SOURCE OF HIS THIRST FOR GOD WAS SIMPLY A VOICE CALLING HIM TO COME TO THE PLACE OF INTIMATE COMMUNION.
Psalm 27:8 — "When Thou saidst, ‘Seek ye my face;’ my heart said unto Thee, ‘Thy face, Lord, will I seek.'"
David is saying, “My heart is thirsty for the presence of God, to commune with the Lord, but it is simply because the voice of God is speaking to my heart to come. ONE THING I have desired, and that is to commune with the Lord in His presence, and only ONE THING is needful, and that is to simply rise up and come when He calls.”
WHAT WAS THE END RESULT OF LAZARUS’ WALK WITH CHRIST?
John 12:10 — "But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death."
It excited me when the Lord made this real to my heart. The chief priest and his religious cohorts represent the "do" voices. The religious leaders of the day were so driven by works, keeping all the "do’s" and "don’ts" of the law, and here they are conspiring to kill Lazarus.
However, what you have to understand is that Lazarus was already dead and brought back to life; he was not afraid of their motives and threats. There was no fear in his heart concerning these religious men.
Here is the wonderful truth: When Jesus allows us to pass through this death and come into the simplicity of the New Covenant, that is, simply rising up and responding to Christ’s call to our hearts to come into His presence, then these "do" voices lose their power over our hearts.
They no longer strike fear into our hearts, because we know it is only by grace that we are sitting at the table of the Lord. We are not sitting at the table because of all of our service and sacrifices, we are dead! We heard the voice of Christ calling to our hearts and we came. He brought us to the table of intimate communion with Himself. The wonderful truth is, in this place of intimately beholding Christ, we are changing into His image, from glory to glory, because His wonderful Holy Spirit is working in our hearts.