Subject One Hundred Seven

THE NEED OF THE DEAD

Scripture: John 11

1. A man had died
   1. First mention that a man was sick, and his sisters came to ask the Lord for healing.
   2. When he was sick, the Lord would not come to heal him. This is to say that if a man only admits that he has some problems but will not admit that he is dead, the Lord will not come to save him, because the Lord’s salvation is not to heal but to cause the dead to resurrect. The Lord’s salvation is not to cause man to be healed, but to cause man to be enlivened. Healing is a matter of correction, whereas enlivening is a matter of life. The Lord’s salvation is not to correct man’s problem, but to enliven man that man may receive His life. This point needs to be emphasized.
2. The Lord is life
   1. The need of the dead is to receive life. The only way for a dead person to be healed is to receive life. Only life can vanquish death.
   2. Give examples to prove that man is dead.
      1. A dead person is weak and impotent in doing good.
      2. A dead person has no consciousness in doing evil. The fact that man is weak and impotent in doing good and yet has no consciousness in doing evil is a proof that man is dead.
      3. A dead person is in bondage. The dead Lazarus was bound with burial cloths and confined in a tomb. Many today are bound in a theater, and the theater is their tomb.
   3. The Lord said that He is life. Only the Lord can meet the need of the dead.
3. How the Lord causes man to receive life
   1. The Lord’s life is in His words. The basic principle in gospel preaching is to cause man to receive the Lord’s life. So you must cause man to believe in the Lord’s words. The Lord’s words are the Lord’s voice, which is the Lord’s gospel. Today the gospel is being preached to you so that you may believe in His words, for in His words there is the Lord’s life.
   2. What caused Lazarus to be resurrected from death that day was the Lord’s words, saying, “Lazarus, come forth!” The dead Lazarus heard the Lord’s words and was quickened. John 5:25 says, “An hour is coming and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear shall live.”
   3. Today the words of the gospel are the voice of the Lord. Friends, if you will listen to this voice, you will live. Those who believe are the ones who have really heard His voice. Some of you here may have heard these words superficially, but you still do not believe. The reason you do not believe is that you have not heard. Those who have really heard the words are the ones who believe. Quote to them the verses in the Bible regarding how to obtain the eternal life.
4. The result of obtaining the Lord’s life
   1. Lazarus lived when he heard the words of the Lord, and he came out of the tomb. Today as you hear the gospel, you have also heard the words of the Lord, and you live. Because you are living, you will surely come out of the movie theaters and other sinful pits.
   2. Freed from the bondage. Eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling are all bondages. They cause you to be unable to move an inch. When you receive life, you will be freed from the bondage.
5. Remarks
   The story about the resurrection of Lazarus in chapter eleven and the miracle of changing water into wine in chapter two are similar in figure. In Cana there was a wedding feast, signifying the joy of human living; the center of the feast was wine, signifying life. This means, likewise, that there was joy in the house of Bethany, and the center of the joy was dependent upon life. But the life of those three was as weak as the reed. When life was terminated, the joy of human living was gone, just as when the wine ran out. John chapter two is a picture, whereas John chapter eleven is a description of that picture. The following is a comparison between these two chapters.