Viewing Sickness in God's Eyes - Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Have your Bibles this morning. Meet me in the book of first Timothy, where we meet every Sunday at least for this season. And meet me in chapter five. Today, we're gonna consider just one verse. First Timothy five, place your finger there in verse 23, and let's pray again.

Okay? Father, thank you that you give us the license to speak to you with freedom and liberty as a son would his father. Lord, in this place, we're fully aware of our weaknesses and our frailties. And Lord, we know that though we may not sense you at times or see you or audibly hear you, we rely on the truth of your word. Help us operate in the spirit, not just in this moment, but day by day.

But Lord, for the sake of this moment, we pray that your Holy Spirit would move powerfully through the ministry of your word. Lord, this can easily become an impressive moment where we might admire some insights, but that will not change us. This can be something where we perhaps even hear familiar truths and we doze off, Lord, in our attention, but we rob ourselves of so much in that. We pray, Lord, by this spirit, you would arrest our hearts, and that you would open our hearts to receive the piercing powerful scripture that we will unfold today by your grace. We ask, Lord, for liberty and communication.

We ask, Lord, for your voice to be booming. We ask, Lord, for you to be seen and heard by all your people today. We ask, Lord, that those who do not know you will surrender their lives to you. We ask that those who do know you would surrender their lives afresh and trust in adoration toward who you are. And so, Lord, we pray that the living Christ would make our hearts alive in him.

And, Lord, we we just lay aside all things in this time and give you our full attention. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen and amen. If you and I truly believe that this book is God's word, then at the same time, by the same token, we also must trust that every part of this book invites us to engage with and apply appropriately. What I mean by that is there is no wasted portion in the Bible.

Not one. There's not one page. There's not one chapter. There's not one verse. There's not one word.

Because unlike us, God does not speak idly. You know what that means? It means that he doesn't waste his words. He doesn't just spill out random thoughts or insignificant details to fill up time. Every single thing that he utters, everything that he inspired these men to write in holy sacred scripture has purpose and value.

And not just purpose and value but power to change us from the inside out. And that is true for something as well known as Psalm 23, and it is equally true for a verse that we're about to read that seems insignificant or unrelatable to our own lives. Consider this verse as we read it. In our portion in our study of this book, we see Paul telling Timothy on a personal level, no longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments. Full stop.

We can skip over that and we can say, give me something more theological. Give me something more deep. God doesn't speak idly. And if you and I carefully and prayerfully with meditation sit at his feet long enough to say, Lord, what are you saying here? Even though it's clear that it's directed towards a person at one time in history, Lord, this is in your book and this book is for me.

What do you have to say to me? And would you know it, if you come with that kind of faith, a verse like this can offer some spiritual honey. Spiritual honey that can enlighten the eyes just like actual honey did for Jonathan on that weary journey when he extended his rod and at the tip of that rod, he received some sweetness that energized him to continue to move forward. I want you to trust that just like that rod, that you would extend your faith toward this verse and say, Lord, would you return for my faith some honey to bless me and feed me and energize me on my journey for your glory? In this verse, I think we can pull many things up, but let's consider three.

Number one, I see here and I believe God says something to us concerning his guidance and how God's guidance can be known through his servants. God's guidance can be known through his servants. Why is Paul saying this here? What's his purpose? Seems like something that you would write at the end of a letter.

And so after you teach and you explain what the church is all about and how you should conduct yourself. Hey, hey, Timothy, side note. PS, take care of yourself. But for some reason, he writes it here. Does Paul think like us when we communicate with somebody and all for a sudden we have a random thought and it doesn't have context to our setting, but because we know it's important, we just insert it there, lest we forget?

Or is it more careful than that? Why at this point is he concerned about the well-being of his spiritual son? And the only way to really make sense of it is to honor something known as the context. What did he say before in connection to this point? And we read in verse 22.

Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure. Keep yourself pure, and then he just rolls into the subject of not just drinking water, but also adding a little wine to your diet. He tells Timothy, I'm reminding you of the non negotiable standard of purity that you are called to as a minister and as a follower of Jesus Christ. And could it be that Timothy, in his pursuit of spiritual holiness, Did not want to touch alcohol.

Did not want to touch wine in the name of setting a godly example for his congregation. Being blameless. And avoiding even something that was allowable, but for the sake of his own conscience, adopting a personal rule saying, I won't touch alcohol. I won't touch this substance. I want to be seen as blameless.

For the sake of my own conscience, Timothy probably thought, I will not allow myself to even have a sip, a taste, so that I could not be stumbled nor be a stumbling block to others. Listen, there is indeed wisdom in Timothy's conviction here that is highlighted by Paul. But also, we see that according to Paul and the Holy Spirit, in this discipline, Timothy was in the pursuit of harming himself. He had potential danger ahead of him. And I would say this, when it comes to spiritual growth, there are many dangers that face the Christian.

For a majority of the people, they are so consumed by the flesh, they don't consider that they have a spirit. And for others, there are those who are so concerned about the spirit that they forget they have a body. And would you like to know unique temptation for many genuine servants of God? Let me tell you it. That by motivation for a holy life, they harm themselves in pursuit of it.

Now you might hear that and you say, are you serious? That's actually an issue for some people, you'd be shocked to know that it is an issue for some people. And you may not succumb to that kind of temptation, but it is a temptation for many. But here's the truth, Paul also said in another place, may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Spirit, soul, and body.

God is concerned about the whole man. He's not just concerned about the immaterial part of who you are. He wants everything from the spirit to the soul to the very frame that carries the invisible part of who you are, to be kept blameless at his coming. If Jesus Christ didn't care about your body, he wouldn't be so concerned of resurrecting that same body at the last day. He cares.

And not only does he care about it being glorified, he cares about it being honored in this life time. And you have some people, unfortunately, sincere believers that push themselves, that push their bodies to a certain limit because they wanna so focus on spirituality that they don't even realize the very thing that's carrying their spirit is being damaged. Again, this may not resonate with you, but would you take a hold of it so that you can counsel a friend that might that might deal with this? I've heard of a story of a young man in bible college that was so passionate about being close to God and being empowered by the Holy Spirit, that in extreme fashion, he fasted for forty days, and he was found dead in his dorm. See this unbridled passion and this uncalculated way of determining spiritual disciplines, if it is not assisted by wisdom and accountability can be dangerous, can be harmful.

So you here in this place who long to be sensitive to the things of God and empowered in the things of God, remember, you have a body. But beyond that, consider what is happening here. You could say that Timothy, Timothy is being rescued from a potential dangerous direction because of the watchful eye of his friend, Paul. Paul. Paul is reaching out to him and if this is an example of anything, it is that even the most sincere and faithful followers of the Lord Jesus Christ have blind spots.

Timothy had a blind spot. He didn't see how this discipline could actually turn out to his detriment, but somebody else did. His spiritual father, Paul. And Paul was well acquainted with Timothy enough to know of his weakness, and to know of his way of life, that he can actually speak into it and help him and guide him so that he can be more fruitful and balanced in his life. And Timothy had to be exposed by his weaknesses before Paul, so that Paul can know this.

You see this exchange. You see this tight knit friendship in the spirit. Not just for the sake of companionship or greater effort for the advancement of the kingdom of God, for the sake of personal safety. Spiritual safety. And it would be the young man's transparency that would reward him in the end.

Let me put it this way, you can avoid driving yourself into much despair or even unnecessary harm by simply living in the light of the fellowship of godly men and women. Only the Lord knows what Timothy avoided if he had obeyed what his friend Paul said. But there is one thing that is certain, you and I inherit safety in community. There is a shield, there's a protection, there is something that keeps us on our feet. Proverbs says it clear, where there is no guidance, a people falls.

In Proverbs eleven fourteen. Where there is no guidance, a people falls. But in an abundance of counselors, there is safety. There is safety. You know, the same Holy Spirit that has been sent to live inside of you, to comfort you, guide you, give you assurance, is the same Holy Spirit that penned that verse and said, if you want to be a wise person, you're not gonna be a lone wolf in your Christian journey.

You're gonna prayfully and actively seek people that you know love you and that will speak to your steps. And so can I offer a counsel here? A wise counsel, I hope, is that you would invite people into your life and that you would embrace correction and you would embrace honest reflection and assessment from others because this is God's way. This is God's way. Timothy had Paul and I love this verse because it shows that God often speaks through his servants in directing us into his perfect will.

We often think that God The only way God can really speak is if he speaks directly to me. Who said that? Also, the same Holy Spirit that you are so pursuing and relying on which you should, also can't speak to others when he says, through many counselors there is safety. I see a friend Paul here to Timothy, speaking to his understanding of what it means to be spiritual and blameless to his testimony, and helping him be more sharpened and enlightened and empowered. But secondly, I also see this, God's miraculous power is not made by demand.

God's miraculous power is not made by demand. Let's look at this from another angle. Who's speaking to who? The great apostle Paul is speaking to this wonderful servant and young man Timothy. But consider who Paul is.

A great man. One of the greatest men in history, not just church history. And this man wasn't just great because the depth of his spiritual knowledge that you and I benefit from today, but he was also great for other reasons including this. He was a vessel that tapped into supernatural power and miracles flowed through this man. In fact, so endued was he with the grace of God and the miraculous that Paul himself, it is written of him in Acts nineteen eleven and twelve, and God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul.

Extraordinary miracles. You You wanna know how extraordinary? See this. What is this? Handkerchief, Kleenex, whatever you wanna call it.

Well, verse 12 tells us, so that even his handkerchief or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them. Hold on. So the same apostle Paul that gave an instruction and by the way, the instruction is, hey, Timothy, lighten up a bit and have a glass of wine. I'm sorry to shoot down your dreams. It's take a little bit of wine, so that what?

For medicinal purposes. You're telling me that the same apostle Paul that is giving instructions by using ordinary means, at another point in time, he was so glowing with the power of God that when people touched his skin with a handkerchief, they would go back to their mild journey and lay it on their brother or sister or father who was sick and they would be recovered. That's the Saint Paul. Yeah. It is the Saint Paul.

So here's my question. Why can he send one of those handkerchiefs to Timothy? He's sick. He has a frequent ailment. This is an abiding thing.

So Paul, why don't you just take your handkerchief, place it on your skin, send it to Timothy, let him put it on his forehead or on his stomach, and let him recover. You know why? Because the miraculous is not by the will of man. And the miraculous is not by demand. And this will shatter a lot of people's theological understandings of faith and healing.

But it also saved people from a false hope and a self condemnation that many people are suffering with today because of bad understanding of the doctrine of healing in the church. And it wasn't just Timothy. If you think this is an isolated moment, it wasn't just Timothy. In second Timothy four twenty, Paul writes in his last letter, Erastus remained at Corinth, and I left Trophimus, who was ill of Miletus. So there's another fellow.

Trophimus, who was ill. I left him there. Paul, why didn't you lay hands and heal him? Why didn't you call him to rise so he can join you? You have a wounded soldier who can do much for the glory of God, but here he is laying in bed sick, And you apparently have this ability to speak to people, to command things, to pray for people, and they can be whole.

But he said, I left him ill. Should we believe in miracles? You better believe it. Should we expect miracles when we pray? Sure.

That's called faith. Should we believe that God can intervene in anything that we ask him to intervene in if it's according to his will? But should we exclude all other options as a demonstration of our faith? Absolutely not. That's not faith.

We might even think that in the old testament, when there is a highlight reel of miracles performed by amazing men of God, in a way that is not comparable to our day obviously, But consider one of the greatest miracle workers in the Old Testament, not Elijah, but Elisha who did double of the miracles of Elijah. This man called a leopard from a different country to dip himself in a muddy pool and he rose up without leprosy. This man was able to command a woman to, who was barren, have a child, and then later on when that same child died, he rose him from the dead. And that same man, who can do such wonders in his day, Do you know how he died? Do you know how he died?

Here's how he died. In second Kings thirteen fourteen, now when Elisha had fallen sick now when Elisha had fallen sick with the illness of which he was to die, he died of a sickness. This man was riddled with a disease and he died, perhaps even with pain. God's servant, who God used to heal other people, died of a sickness himself? Is that possible?

Yes. And not only do we think that that shouldn't be the case, we go beyond that and say, if somebody like Elisha actually died of a sickness, maybe he did something wrong near the end of his life and God had to punish him. He was one of the most faithful men in scriptures. So how do we understand this? We understand this way, that God is not obligated to only work in the miraculous.

God is a very practical God. You know that. Right? He's very practical. And he can come in and intervene and do mighty things, and he can also extend his mercy as you go to the doctor's office and get some practical help.

But what you have today is many in the church who profess not only that God can heal, which we all believe that, but that it is the right of every Christian to overpower sickness and for it to never even touch your frame at one point, because it was purchased on Calvary. Sounds like a nice thought. It's wonderful to think that way. And they would even quote Isaiah fifty three five, by his stripes, we are what? Healed.

By his wounds, we are healed. See, Jesus, this is the thought process, was scorched and beaten and every single one of those marks, every single one of those lashes was for the payment of your wholeness in the physical. And because some would say even it's in the past tense, it's already done and all you have to do is connect your faith to that promise and it will be experientially real in your life today. But my question is, how does the Holy Spirit interpret Isaiah fifty three five? Because the Holy Spirit made commentary on that verse.

What's his primary understanding behind that prophecy? Would you like to know? It says, by his wounds, we are healed. And so you're gonna get your healing today, and if you don't get your healing today, guess whose fault it is? Not Jesus's, not mine, your lack of faith.

You You don't think this is real? The beginning of my walk with the Lord, I met a young man who had diabetes, and he died as a young man with diabetes, and he was told by ministers and people in the church, your lack of faith is the reason why you still have it. How does the Holy Spirit give commentary on the scripture? What would you know what he does in the New Testament in first Peter two twenty four? Equip yourself believers.

First Peter two twenty four, he himself bore our sins in his body on the tree that we may die to sin and to live to righteousness. By his wounds, you have been healed. What is Peter talking about? What kind of wounds? The wounds of a fractured spirit that keep us from a righteous standing before God.

The brokenness in the inner man that holds us back from being strengthened and empowered to live practically in righteousness in this lifetime. That's how the Holy Spirit primarily interprets Isaiah fifty three five. Now, we can argue that Christ did do something about sickness because sickness is only the consequence of sin. And you can make that argument, but can I give you another point of view? Does it have to mean that wholeness must happen in this lifetime?

Does that make sense? Even if Christ did purchase our wholeness in the physical, does it mean that it has to manifest in this lifetime? Is the purchase just for this time? Or can we understand it this way, that there is a day coming where you will know wholeness? And that the purchase at Calvary and by his wounds, yes, there is a purchase and it's for your glorified body where you will never know sickness, you will never know pain, you will never know tears, you will never know hunger.

I can champion that. I can praise that even if I'm experiencing affliction on the way to that place. So if you're saying, brother, what do you do? Do you pray for the sick? Absolutely.

James five tells us to pray for the sick. Do we believe God can heal that? I believe God can heal everything from a headache to cancer. Because Jesus healed a fever with Peter mother Peter's mother-in-law and he raised the dead. Everything in between.

And so we have every right to believe it, but oh, maybe be careful. Because if you continue with that logic and your understanding of how God heals, then you have to come to Paul and say, Paul, you lack faith. You lack faith. You're not taking advantage of what Christ purchased on Calvary, go in your faith, and maybe Timothy's lacking faith too, and believe God. Why are you asking him to take some medicine?

Because even a great man like Paul understood that God works in different ways. And it's not recorded here, but I can imagine, this is not dogmatic, this is not scripture, this is imagination, that Paul maybe laid his hands on Timothy a few times. Timothy came up to Paul, Paul, I can't do this traveling stuff too much because my stomach hurts. Do you think Paul looked at him and says, okay, well, figure it out. I'm sure Paul prayed for him, laid hands on him, sought God for his healing.

Maybe after a few times he realized this is not the way God wants to do it. So he comes to his letter one day and says, Timothy, take some wine. Would you criticize Paul's faith? I dare not. I see something else here, that God's dealings are unique toward each his children.

Unique not in the sense that he manifests his love in greater ways to one over the other. Unique not in the sense that he proves his love to one saint in comparison to the next, but that God differently shows his love and mercy and compassion to each one of us, though it is equal in sentiment and feeling. God could have proven his compassion to Timothy by doing what? Giving heavenly power necessary for him to be on his feet and to never know affliction ever again. But instead, his love was displayed by the fatherly care of his spiritual dad, Paul, who would tenderly meet his needs and show that he actually cared for him at a distance.

And Timothy would experience a balm, not just for his body through the advice of Paul, but through his care and his love and his attention. And we must confess that we have a limited view of God's love as God's people. Because we tend to believe that it can only flow from one channel. We tend to point to the evidence of God's love as this, that as much as you live in this world, the least amount of pain and grief you experience demonstrates that God really does love you. This channel that we have in interpreting God's love is the channel of intervention that God rescues you from as much sorrow as possible, and that's how you know he loves you.

Do we dare to package his love in one way and the only way as such? We measure his favor by the freedom from difficulties, but how wrong are we to think in such a manner? Because we come to a scene and it's a mind altering scene about Jesus while he was walking on this earth. Jesus, while he walked on this earth, had some friends by the way, and one of his friends was named Lazarus. And Lazarus, during the earthly ministry of Jesus, at one point, was afflicted with a sickness that was that was severe enough for the need of attention and intervention on Christ's part.

It wasn't a cold, it wasn't something small. It was something worthy for servants to be sent by Lazarus' sisters to say, Jesus, you gotta do something about this. Turn to John chapter 11. I wanna know I want you to notice some wonderful truths about the love of Jesus. Now a certain man was ill.

Verse one, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. Now look at this in verse three. So the sisters sent to him saying, Lord, he whom you love is ill. Lord, he whom you love is ill.

You know what I love about this message sent by the sisters? They don't even mention Lazarus's name. They were so aware of Christ's love for Lazarus that all they had to do was point to the object of his love, And they knew that Jesus would know exactly who they were talking about. All they would have to do is mention whom you love, and they knew that Jesus would would understand it was his friend Lazarus. That's his affection.

That's his thought towards this man. Do you think it's just for Lazarus? If you pull into the heart of God, the file cabinet of love, your name is in it. Your name is in it. He didn't have to question it.

He didn't need clarification of who they were talking about. Just like the high priest in the old testament that bore the names of the tribe of Israel on his breastpiece, so Christ has your name on his heart. He does. And that perfect love, that holy love, that divine love that throbs throbs with your name and mine. They didn't even need to say Lazarus.

They just said, whom you love. And that was enough for Christ to know, my friend is in need. Lord whom you love is ill. And then it goes on to say here, that Jesus in verse five, loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So his love wasn't just for this man.

We are told that the love of Christ was also for each of his siblings and that's comforting to know. You know why? Because I know that Mary, Martha, and Lazarus were different people. They had different personalities, they had different strengths, they had different weaknesses, and you see that between Mary and Martha. You have one woman who has given more attention to the word of God and the other woman is much more anxious and troubled.

Christ loves them equally. Christ loves them equally. Though different, his love remains the same for each and it's a perfect love towards all of them. So he could have just made it a general statement but the Holy Spirit says, no. He loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.

And you know what's incredible here? Not only did he love them in their uniqueness, the way God created them, and even in their different weaknesses, God loved them though their conditions were different at this point. What's the difference between Mary, Martha, and Lazarus? That one likes to sit at Jesus' feet, while the other likes to do things and get distracted? Not just that, the fact that two of them are healthy, and one of them is dying.

And J. C. Ryle said it very wisely, that Jesus loves us when we are sick no less than when we are well. In the natural eye, we look at these three people and if we know that they're all Christians, we might think that there's something wrong with Lazarus. Maybe God doesn't love Lazarus as much because here's Mary and Martha, they're fine, they're whole, and here's this man ready to meet death.

But if you go to the mind of God, if you see what the Holy Spirit says, we're reminded, no, just because their conditions, just because their circumstances are differently, Christ loves them equally. Christ loves them equally. And sickness is a mysterious thing because it does a mysterious work in us. We hate it. We shun it.

We avoid it and we should. It's not something that we should invite into our lives, but when God allows it by his sovereignty, it often does what is happening here and it pulls our affections out for Christ. And it causes to be desperate for the Lord just like these two sisters who send for Jesus. They fetched for Jesus, and they begged for his nearness, and they pleaded for his intervention. And I can tell you, the rod of illness can do that in man today.

When you are reminded of your mortality and you're reminded of your frailty and your brokenness and how easily the breath of life can be sucked out of you, well, Jesus looks a lot more attractive in those seasons. Prayer becomes much more of a priority, doesn't it? Memorizing the promise of God seems like a much more attractive task and discipline. And so we see here that these sisters in this kind of season fetched for Christ, and you better believe that in his sovereignty and his providential work, he can do the same today. And what we read here is what we can relate to Timothy.

Do you think God loved Titus and Barnabas more than Timothy? Think Jesus had more concern for the ministry to be fulfilled by other of Paul's companions and not Timothy? Don't think that for a moment. Because he loves them equally, though he works in them differently. How differently?

John eleven six tells us, so when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. So, that's an important word. Right after we are told that he loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, so, because he loved them, because he really had an affection set upon them, he chose to delay. I love you so much that I'm not gonna answer you the way you want me to answer you. No, Lord.

It's not how it works. You love me, so you help me now. That's how it works. God's love is not only unique in that it is perfect and holy, but then the way it manifests itself is much different than us humans. No, I love you so I'm not gonna answer you.

You know what this delay meant. Right? This delay meant an extension of their grief and pain. You know what this withholding of his power, and Jesus had the ability because he's done it before to just speak the word, and by the time they went back, that man would have been healed. He didn't even need to travel there.

He did it with the centurion. He said, it's done. Your servant's fine. Go back. And when he came back, he calculated the timing.

The moment he spoke it, he's made whole. He could have done it here. He could have said the word, Lazarus, you're healed. Go back and tell him that it's all gonna be okay. By the time you get there, he's gonna be up and about anyway.

Doesn't. He says, I'm not gonna do anything. Does that sound like love to you? You're just gonna prolong the agony. You're gonna let Lazarus slip into the cold grip of death.

You're gonna you're gonna allow them to suffer. And that's what we ask. Right? If you have the power to do it, why don't you do something about it? You know why?

Because we don't understand his love. That's why. We question his existence, while all the while he's saying, I'm doing the most loving thing I can do you. I'm doing the most loving thing I can do for you. And we go, do you even exist?

Maybe the atheists are right. They have some good points. In this silence, there's love. God so loved the world that he gave his only beloved son. We think we think love is action.

Love is action. Love is action. Sometimes love is withholding action. Sometimes love is in the absence of a parent intervention. We don't understand Christ's love.

We don't. We understand it in tangible evidence. Then he says to the church in Revelation, whom I rebuke I love. See, it's the the beginning steps of Christianity. And yes, we obviously mature in the understanding of the gospel, but it's the obvious when we say God loves us by what he did on the cross.

But as you grow and walk with him, you also realize in the way he treats you and handles you, you see his love. When he rebukes you, he loves you. Have you ever thought of that? When he chastises you, he loves you. When he doesn't answer you, he loves you.

And so he says, I'm not going to answer. And here's where we fall short in our understanding of God. We think his providence is predictable. We all say God is providential. He works in mysterious ways.

And And then when it's actually mysterious, we get frustrated with him. Because we think we can predict it. We say God is sovereign, but we actually have an idea of how it's gonna pan out. They were so confident that he loved Lazarus that they didn't even need to say, Lord, Lazarus whom you love is sick, come and heal him. They just said, Lord whom you love is sick.

And they knew that the love was so real that he didn't need the invitation. He would have moved upon that knowledge. That's how confident they were in his response. I'm sure they were shocked to know that when those servants came back, they came back without Jesus. What if the Lord responded immediately?

I'll tell you what I believe what would happen if the Lord responded immediately. You wouldn't have the rest of John chapter 11. You just would have had another recorded incident of Jesus healing another sick man, which is wonderful. But Jesus wanted to use this story to illustrate a truth that would bless the church for the rest of time. So you have just a momentary season of pain and tears and brokenness, and Mary and Martha did not realize that the way Jesus would treat this situation would embed a truth and a revelation of who he is that would bless the world until he returns.

Had Jesus had come and responded immediately, you know what have happened? You had another storing of his of his power and intervening against sickness. But you know what he wanted to show here? I'm the resurrection and the life. And you know what Jesus needed to illustrate that truth?

He needed a dead man. He needed a dead man. And he wanted to show other things too. He needed a dead friend. So that when he heard that his friend died, he would weep so that we can see, Jesus weeps with me.

And then we don't understand that. We don't understand the truths that he wants to teach us in those moments where he's silent. We wanna grab his hand and say, No. I don't want this pain now. I don't want this confusion.

I don't want this darkness. I want you to save me now. And there's something he's trying to teach us. And there's something he wants to display to the world through your life. And it might cost you some tears.

It might cost you some sleepless nights. It might cost you some questions or some wrestlings. But realize that it's all because of love. Love for you? Absolutely.

Love for them? It's clear. He loves each of them. We people who are passionate about the glory of God in the gospel and all things, we cannot go to the extreme or think that he is so concerned about his glory that he doesn't really love us. He is concerned about his glory, but he also actually loves us.

We're not just means for him to be glorified. There's actually affection in his heart toward us. What if the Lord responded immediately? Perhaps we wouldn't see all the things that we take so much comfort and hope in today. I am the resurrection and the life.

Whoever believes in me though he die yet shall he live. Lazarus had to die so that I could face death with confidence. Lazarus had to get sick so that I could understand that when I'm sick, he still loves me. He still loves me. He loved Timothy.

And Timothy was not hindered in walking in the will for his life as a pastor in Ephesus. This pastor who probably threw up the night before before his sermon would come up and preach on that Sunday morning with pain in his stomach still probably, and he had to understand that God in Christ loved him perfectly. And that in his weakness, he would be perfectly strengthened to serve to the capacity to which he has been called. And that he could trust that God was gonna supply and lead his steps through ordinary means, doesn't make him any less supernatural. And so, I hope we tasted some honey this morning from a verse that we might think doesn't produce much for us.

Let's pray. And as you prepare to pray, remember that we are breaking bread today. Father, we thank you for your word. That through an instruction about not drinking just water, but a little bit of wine, we understood that, God, you speak through your servants to help us. God, the miraculous is not by our will or demand.

And that, Lord, you have a unique dealing with each of your children, but there's no question that you love us equally. We thank you. Lord, as we break bread, help us reflect on the love of Jesus on Calvary. That, Lord, if you gave your son, Jesus, will you now also give us all things? Lord, you gave the most precious thing this world will ever know.

Everything is under Christ. Surely, Lord, you are willing to give us exactly what we need. Help us reflect on the body and blood now. Your name we pray. Amen.