REDEEMED

   Know ye not, that so many of us were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death:  that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.  For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:  knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.  For he that is dead is freed from sin.  Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:  knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.  For in that he died, he died unto sin once:  but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.  Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.  (Romans 6: 2-11)

   The resurrection of Lazarus of Bethany by Jesus Christ is the hope of all believers in Christ; for if we do not believe in the resurrection of Christ, how can we believe in the resurrection of Lazarus?  But if we believe in the resurrection of Christ, as well as in the resurrection of Lazarus, this is the evidence of our faith in Christ the Lord:  that, just as Christ raised up Lazarus from death, we believe that we, too, shall be raised up by Christ after our bodies are dead.  And with our faith in Christ, we are placing our faith in Him by the belief that Christ can do everything He said He will do, and in so doing we are placing our belief in eternity in the hands of Christ the Lord. 
  Lazarus, then, becomes the example of our faith in Christ.
  Knowing this, we can believe that Lazarus was baptized into Jesus Christ and that Lazarus was baptized into his death.
   That Lazarus was buried with him by baptism into death.
   That like as Christ was raised up  from the dead by the glory of the Father, Lazarus was also raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father.
   That as Christ should walk in newness of life, Lazarus also should walk in newness of life.
   That as Lazarus was planted together in the likeness of his death, Lazarus would also be in the likeness of his resurrection.
   That the old man of Lazarus was crucified with him, that his body of sin might be destroyed, and that Lazarus, in his resurrection by Christ, should not serve sin.  For that he is dead he is freed from sin.
   That if Lazarus be dead with Christ, Lazarus shall also live with him.
   That as Christ being raised from dead dieth no more, then, for Lazarus, death hath no more dominion over him.
   What, then, can we say about Lazarus and his resurrection by Christ?
   Lazarus was a new man and he walked in newness of life. 
   Therefore, being redeemed for his sin by Christ before his death, he was freed from the dominion of sin after his resurrection!  Never again did Lazarus experience pride.  For after his resurrection, he was totally humility, just like Christ.  From that day forward, the mind and heart of Lazarus was always about others, and not about himself. 
   When the redeemed of the Lord are raised from death in the last days, we will recognize one another just as the people who loved Lazarus recognized him after his resurrection.  For we will have new bodies, just as Lazarus was redeemed from death with a new body.
   Because of our faith in Christ, we can therefore believe by faith (speaking futuristically) that we are redeemed from the dominion of sin, we are redeemed from the dominion of death, and we are redeemed for eternity to walk in newness of life with Christ the Lord! 
   Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be:  but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.  (1 John 3: 2)

                                Lift up your heads, O ye gates;
                                   even lift them up,
                                   ye everlasting doors;
                                   and the King of glory shall come in.
                                Who is this King of glory?
                                    The LORD of hosts,
                                    he is the King of glory.  (Psalm 24: 9-10)
  

A DEAD MAN'S BONES

   Judas Iscariot must have been one of the most miserable people on the face of the earth.
   Little is known about Judas:  where he came from, his parents, family life. 
   Perhaps he never knew his parents as a mother and a father. 
   Perhaps he was an unwanted pregnancy, and, as a young child, perhaps he was passed from house to house. 
   Unloved and unwanted, a boy who learned to live on the streets, doing the best he could do to simply survive, even if it meant stealing food, stealing money, or taking the clothes and shoes off dead people, and maybe that was all he knew.
   Perhaps he was a child of physical and sexual abuse, which alienated him deeper and deeper into himself, warping his innermost being, causing him to never trust people, and not caring if people liked him or loved him, and not caring to know the difference.  And maybe survival was all he knew.
   Along his road of life, he met Jesus of Nazareth, and Judas became one of the twelve disciples.  Perhaps this environment was the first home and the first hint of family life that Judas had ever known.
   Even then, little is written about Judas, and neither was much said to Judas as he traveled with Jesus and the disciples for more than three years:  listening to the sermons that Jesus preached, and watching the miracles that Jesus performed; for neither did the resurrection of Lazarus from death impact the heart of Judas!  There is so much silence of Judas it is as if Jesus had eleven disciples instead of twelve.
   At the feet of Jesus, however, Judas Iscariot received the greatest education a person could ever receive, from the world's greatest teacher, yet he rejected everything the Savior said.
   Judas Iscariot was a prisoner of his past, and he could not let go of the old man within him and embrace the Son of God, for he preferred to live his old ways and to survive by the only method he knew, which included no trust in Jesus.
   In the life of Judas Iscariot, Jesus of Nazareth was the first person to ever love him, and the Lord would be the last. 
   Jesus never gave up on Judas, and even after he kissed the face of the Son of God on the day when Christ was crucified in Jerusalem, Jesus called him friend.
   To be honest before the Lord, perhaps all of us can relate to the story of Judas Iscariot in some way; for I know that I, too, had years of misery, years of wandering in the wilderness, years of surviving and doing the best I could do to get by, and years of mistrust of people, and years of feeling unloved and unwanted.  Kneeling before Christ was a decision I struggled to make, but when I did it, it was the best decision I have ever made in my life!
   Perhaps Judas Iscariot struggled, too.  But when he rejected the only friend he ever had, his past became his graveyard.  He lived a miserable life, he died a miserable death, he never had a funeral, and no one was there to weep for Judas, nor to bury this dead man's bones.
      For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?  Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul.  (Mark 8:  36-37)
   But in conclusion, do you remember the parable Jesus gave us (in Luke, chapter 16) about the rich man who died and went to hell and the words he heard from Abraham?
      If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead?
   Judas Iscariot saw Lazarus, back from the dead, yet Judas refused to acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ.
  
  
  
  

DEATH BECOMES US

      My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge:  because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me:  seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget about thy children.  (Hosea 4: 6)

   The United States is not healthy.
   The United States is not well.
   The United States is sick.
   The odor of death is rising across America, and the people have an immunity for the stench of death.
   While the people of the United States continually complain about the lack of jobs and the lack of personal income, the entertainment business is thriving!  Television, movies, music, and sports have a never-ceasing flow of money.  Conditions are bad, we say, but let the entertainers entertain us.  Help us to take our minds off our troubles and our woes.  Things are bad, we say, but here's our money for another song, another movie, another World Series, and another Super Bowl.
   Even churches across America have become entertainment centers.  Bring on the singing minstrels to thrill us and to get us pumped up before we sit in silence to listen to a positive message about how good we are and how good we can be.  For even churches have become big business, and the competition is stiff.  That old fashion Gospel News is too old fashioned.  Get with it.  Get hip.  Get modern.  To draw a crowd, turn down the lights and turn up the noise.  To get the young people---we were told years ago---bring in the music that young people like.  Give them something they can relate to.  Wear dark clothes.  Grow beards. Stomp and shout.  Bring in the guitars, the amps, the drums, and give them that rock 'n roll!
   When Jesus cleansed the Temple in Jerusalem, He said,
      My house shall be called a house of prayer; but you have made it a den of thieves. (Matthew 21: 13)
   When the Lord arrived at the funeral of Lazarus,
      Jesus wept.  (John 11: 35)
   When Jesus was on His way to the cross in Jerusalem, He said,
      Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children.  (Luke 23: 28)
   Knowing this,
   When was the last time you saw a church gather to pray?
   When was the last time you saw a preacher, minister, or priest weeping for his people?
   When was the last time the music stopped as people stood in silence before the Lord?
   As churches have been falling across America, moving along in shadows of darkness has been the arrival of Witchcraft, which is now the fastest-growing religion in the United States---taking young adults, teenagers, and children into its chamber of darkness:  while many of its converts have disguised themselves as ministers of music and now hold positions of power in Christian churches as well as positions of power in Christian music, which is now a big business in the world of entertainment.
   The United States is falling.  Our Golden Age is in our past.  The future of our nation will never be any better than it is today.  The state of our union stinks.  The smell of death is in the air. We were invaded by the unseen enemy, and spiritual corruption is all across the land.  Our nation turned its face against God, against Christ, and against the Holy Bible, and now the future of our nation is in the hands of the mercy of God; for neither this nation, nor any nation, will be a nation of freedom and prosperity if this nation, or any nation, forgets God.
   Have we forgotten that God is holy?
   Have we forgotten that Christ is holy?
   Have we forgotten that the Holy Spirit is holy?
   Have we forgotten that the Holy Bible is holy?
   Still, even in the midst of our darkest storm, God is available to help us in the time of trouble if we truly desire His help from above and pray together on bended knees:
      The LORD is my light and my salvation:  whom shall I fear?
      The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
      When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.
      Though an host should encamp about me, my heart shall not fear:  though war should rise up against me, in this will I be confident.
      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 enquire in his temple.
      For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion:  in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.  (Psalm 27: 1-5)
     
  
  

THE KING IS COMING!

  Near the end of the last chapter of the Gospel of John, after the Lord's resurrection, Jesus gives Peter a prophecy of how Peter will die, in verse 18; then, in the next verse, Jesus said:  Follow me.
   In the next three verses, we read these words:
   Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee?  Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do?
   Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?  follow thou me.
   Now that we know that Lazarus is the disciple whom Jesus loved, Peter's question to the Lord is about Lazarus:  what shall this man do?
   A question many people have is this:  did Lazarus die a second death? 
   Is it possible, however, that Jesus allowed Lazarus to continue living, to have sons, and that Lazarus is still alive on the earth today? 
   Is it also possible that Christ has kept the identity of Lazarus hidden for centuries? 
   As Jesus said to Peter, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? 
   The 11th chapter of the Gospel of John is a story about the resurrection of Lazarus by Jesus of Nazareth.  But this chapter of John is also a prophecy of things to come.
   Lazarus is of the bloodline of Eleazar, son of Aaron, and the Priesthood of Levi.  Martha and Mary are also of this same bloodline. 
   Martha represents the House of Judah. 
   Mary represents the House of Israel. 
   Lazarus is the Priest of Levi, though the Priesthood of Levi was not functioning in Israel during the time of Jesus.
   Jesus is the King of Israel, and in the 11th chapter of the Gospel of John, the King is coming to raise up the royal priesthood and to reunite the House of Judah and the House of Israel:  to put the family back together again.
   The sisters, Martha and Mary, sent word to the King and said, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. 
   Later, we are told that he whom thou lovest is asleep, that he is dead, and that he stinks.
   Israel turned its back against God.  Israel turned its back against the Son of God.  And Israel locked arms with pagan Rome and has been working in a secret conspiracy with Rome and against the church of Christ for nearly 2000 years.  Therefore, Israel went to sleep, Israel died, and Israel stinks because of its association with evil men, which has produced spiritual contamination all over the world through the false church of Rome, to which Israel bows, even to this day.
   Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.
   When the King returned to Bethany, he raised up Lazarus, the priest, and thereby reunited the House of Judah (Martha) and the House of Israel (Mary) and the family was together again.
    In the latter day, the King is coming to restore the House of Israel and the House of Judah, and the Jews and the Israelites will be a happy family as they will acknowledge Jesus the Messiah, who is Christ the Lord.
   Likewise, the King is coming for the church, for the redeemed of the Lord.
   Who, then, should proclaim that the King is coming?
      Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy; and gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south.  They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in.  Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.  Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distress.  (Psalm 107: 2-6)
    
  

THE BELOVED DISCIPLE

   Speaking of Christ, John the Baptist said, He must increase, but I must decrease.  (John 3: 3)

   John the Baptist was a humble man, and he knew that Jesus was greater than himself.  For it was John the Baptist who pointed people to see the Lamb of God, instead of wanting people to see himself.
   So was Lazarus a humble man.
   In the Gospel of John, Lazarus is the disciple whom Jesus loved.
   Lazarus sat with Jesus when the Lord was anointed two times in the two suppers prior to the Lord's crucifixion.
   Lazarus sat with Jesus at the Last Supper before the Lord was crucified.
   Lazarus stood at the cross of Jesus with Mary, the mother of the Lord, and with Mary Magdalene and other women.
   Lazarus ran with Peter to the empty tomb on the first day of the week.
   Lazarus was in the boat with Peter and the disciples while they were fishing after the Lord's resurrection; for there, it was Lazarus who said, It is the Lord.  (John 21: 7)
   Throughout the Gospel of John, the unidentified disciple is identified as Lazarus as the disciple whom Jesus loved.
   In the heart of Jesus, there is something special about this family of Bethany:  Lazarus, his sister Martha, and his other sister, Mary Magdalene.  For it is written, Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.  (John 11: 5)
   Before the death of Lazarus, he never spoke of himself; and after the Lord resurrected him from death, all he did was speak about the Lord, and never about himself.
   After his resurrection, Lazarus knew there was something different about himself.  He knew he had a new body.  He knew that he did not appear to people as he had appeared to them before his death.  He also knew that people were coming to see him, perhaps more than they were coming to see Jesus.  For at the supper for the Lord in the house in Bethany, six days before the Passover, Lazarus understood the words of John 12: 9---Much people of the Jews therefore knew that he was there:  and they came not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead. 
   Thereafter, Lazarus decreased in order for the Lord to be increased. 
   Never in the heart of Lazarus did he desire to be a celebrity because of his new status.  Never did he want to be a gazingstock by placing himself on a pedestal, nor desiring the praise of men, nor by going on the road as the main event of a circus.
   In the Bible, it is not uncommon for God to change the names of people for His purpose.  Abram became Abraham.  Sarai became Sarah.  Jacob became Israel.  Peter became Cephas.  Saul became Paul.  Therefore, in order for Lazarus to decrease that Christ would increase, Lazarus became John the Evangelist.  Which means that Lazarus is the writer of the Gospel of John, the three epistles of John, and the last book of the Bible, The Revelation of Jesus Christ.
   For after his resurrection by Jesus of Nazareth, Lazarus not only had a new body, but he also had a new mind!  Even in his death, the Lord enabled Lazarus to see things that the other disciples never saw.  Who else, then, was more qualified to present Jesus as God in the Gospel of John?  Who else had an understanding of things past, things present, and things future than Lazarus?
   At the conclusion of the Gospel of John, it is written:
      And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written.  (John 21: 25)
   Could these many other things which Jesus did be the things that Jesus did beyond the grave?
   For in his death, Lazarus was enabled to see things through the mind of Christ and therefore to know that In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  The same was in the beginning with God.  All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made.  (John 1: 1-3)
   Who else would know from experience that Christ is Almighty God, from everlasting to everlasting? 
    Who else would know from experience the I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. (Revelation 1: 8)?
   As it was for Lazarus, so will it be for all people who place their faith and trust in Christ! 
   Just as Lazarus was raised up from death, so will we! 
   Just as Lazarus was given a new body, so will we!
   Just as Lazarus was given a new mind, so will we! 
   Just as Lazarus was enabled by Christ to understand things past, things present, and things future, so will we!
  

O FOOLISH MAN!

      The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.  (Psalm 14: 1)

   Have you ever wanted to be a god?  To be in total control of your own life?  To have no authority over you?   To do as you please with no one to stop you? 
   Disobedient children are as gods in their own minds.  They care not for the authority of their parents; neither do they want their parents to get in their way, for they believe they know best what is best for themselves. 
   As such, disobedient children will pursue evil; and the more evil they pursue, the more evil they will do.  To them, their parents are stupid and do not know anything that is good.
   Just like disobedient children, a man without God wants to be a god.  He wants to be in total control of his own life, to have no authority over him, and he wants to do as he desires to do with no person standing in his way.
   As such, he wants to build his own tower to heaven, and thereby live in a place forever, a place that is designed by himself and for himself, just as he imagines his heaven should be in his own imagination.
   Hell? 
   There is no hell in the mind of a fool, just as there is no God in the mind of a fool.
   Therefore, if a man upon the earth says he is a god, men without God will believe in him as a god and will follow him all the days of their lives---especially if they believe that this man holds the key that unlocks heaven.
   Such is the power that men have over men.  And if this man convinces other men that he is a god, then those men will also convince their wives and their children to follow them to follow the man who has convinced them that he is a god.
   All of this is the working power of deception, and this power of deception abides in men in the house of religion.
   Such were the minds of the men who killed Jesus, for, in their own minds, they became as gods:  they became the Judge, the Jury, and the Executioner.  Not only them, but the men of Rome became as gods as well.  To them, there was no authority to prevent them from killing people, even from killing the only begotten Son of God.
   So, too, are the minds of people today whose trust is in a man of religion:  a man who has convinced them that he is god, even the people of religious Christianity:  for their faith is in this man, whom they believe can forgive them for their sins, and in whom they also believe holds the key that unlocks heaven until them---as long as their faith is in him, and not in Christ.
   To them, a church is no more than a building with a cross stuck on the roof.  But their faith is not in Christ, neither do they have faith in the Holy Bible, nor in the words of Jesus, which are written in the Holy Bible.  For their faith is in their god-man, and their faith is in his words, whose words they believe are greater than the Word of the Lord.
   Such people are hypocrites---pretending to be Christians, yet denying the power of the Lord's salvation through His death on the cross, but also by their denying the power of the Lord's resurrection from death!
   In the Apostle Paul's epistle to the Christians living in Galatia, he wrote:
      O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?  (Galatians 3: 1)
   And again, in Paul's epistle to the Christians living in Corinth:
      For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.  (1 Corinthians 1: 18)
   Is this same truth in the lives of people today, living in the United States and in nations all over the world?
   who hath bewitched you to believe that there is no God?
   who hath bewitched you to believe that a man, or a religion, is greater than Christ the Lord?
   

LAZARUS: AN EPILOGUE

   And after the resurrection of Lazarus from death by Jesus of Nazareth, there was something different about Lazarus.   From the moment Jesus said, Loose him, and let him go, everything was different about Lazarus!
   Lazarus was not the same person they had buried.  No longer was he sick.  No longer did he have leprosy.  His body was different.  All of his internal organs and bones were new.  His brain and blood were restored.  He had new skin.  He walked and talked differently.  His life had an entirely new and different meaning.  He had believed in Jesus before dying, and he believed in Jesus after the Lord resurrected him from death.  And Lazarus wanted to be near Jesus from that day forward, in Bethany as well as in Jerusalem, for he knew that Jesus was his Redeemer. 
   On the day when Lazarus was resurrected, it is written: 
      Then many of the Jews that came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him.  (John 11: 45)
   And again, six days before the Passover at the home of Lazarus in Bethany,
      Much people of the Jews therefore knew that he was there:  and they came not for Jesus's sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead.  (John 12: 9)
   Still, there were others who did not believe on Jesus even though they knew that Lazarus was alive again, for their hearts were still cold:
      But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death; because that by reason of him many went away, and believed on Jesus.  (John 12: 10-11)
   For now, not only did they seek to kill Jesus, but they also wanted to kill Lazarus!
   Martha and Mary, however, were the first persons to believe that Jesus could raise up Lazarus from death, for Martha said:  I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
   To which Jesus responded:   I am the resurrection, and the life:  he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:  and whosoever believeth in me shall never die.  Believest thou this?
   And Martha replied:  I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come unto the world.
   Over the past 2000 years, millions of people have come to believe as Martha and Mary believed before Jesus raised their brother from death.
   Over the past 2000 years, millions of people have come to believe by the same faith that Lazarus believed before his death. 
   Over the past 2000 years, millions of people have come to believe in everything that Lazarus believed after his own resurrection by Jesus.
   For we have come to believe by faith that Jesus is the resurrection, and the life:  he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. 
   Therefore, just as we believe that Jesus raised up Lazarus from death, we also believe that Christ will raise us up after death in the resurrection of the last days; for if we did not believe in the resurrection of Christ, neither would we believe in the resurrection of Lazarus, and neither would we believe that there will be a resurrection of the dead.
   As it is written in the Word of the Lord:
      And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book:  but these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.  (John 20: 30-31)
   And again,
      And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written.  (John 21: 25)
   And in the words of Jesus to Martha,
      Believest thou this?