That he will not come to the feast at all? [57]Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him. In 1955, a love letter from Suzanne Kempe to her philosophy lecturer, Thompson's poem is the source of the phrase, "with all deliberate speed," used by the, Thompson's poem was the inspiration for a series of 23 paintings by the American painter, "The Hound of Heaven" is the fifth chapter in, In 1975 "The Hound of Heaven" was mentioned in the suicide note of, Lines from the poem are recited between the discussion during the last scene in "The last enemy", which is the 2nd episode, 3rd season of, In 2002, Katherine A. Praise God that we have been found by God in our sinful state and enjoy the privilege of being united to Christ through His loving, relentless pursuit! Still, even His great acts were not enough for some to trust that He was who He claimed to be. They were completely bewildered. I hid from him, and under running laughter. Jesus has specifically given him a mission. (Philippians 1:9-11). If Adam represented us in the garden, Peter represented us in the courtyard: Liars. 11:17-20Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Let us live earnest, useful, holy lives, to the praise of the glory of his grace. Pink says is emblematic of that black stream through which He was about to pass. The brook was on the east side of the city and eventually flows into the Dead Sea. How is it that we behold His glory here? Those whom Christ has chosen to set His love upon from eternity past as HIS. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it., What does it mean that God would be glorified through it? The sheep was 1 of 100, the coin was 1 of 10, but the prodigal was 1 of 2. We know that He was fully human and we know He was emotional (had emotional ties to Martha and Marry and Lazarus) about this situation. Thats when you start looking through your bank statements, scrolling furiously through the online line items. [24] God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. Even the loss and the letdown. In fact, He later called Himself the bread from heaven, which is simply another way of saying that He is the Word of God incarnate. There is such power in this phrase and in this truth. He lavished upon the son great gifts and love. I believe John recorded this incident for a reason. I do not hate my enemy, because I can see his miserable situation. Lean on His promises and trust that He is who He says He is. So Jesus withdrew for a time in order to prepare for the final chapter in His ministry, where He would once again enter Jerusalem, this time for the last time before His grand passion that would serve as the atoning sacrifice for millions and millions of His followers for generations to come, effectively changing the world forever. However, if you have been listening to this message and feel a stirring in your heart to know God, then I would implore you to seek Him while He may be found. [vii] This quote from Schreiner is from his New Testament Biblical Theology, Page 512. D.A. When someones heart is touched by the words of Christ they want to immediately go and tell others of the experience and bring them near to Christ. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the LORD his God be with him. And as you meditate on and memorize the word of God, pray to the Lord and ask for His help to understand it and deeply engrain it in your mind so that when you face a Peter Moment you will have the sword ready to go. (John 14:6, ESV), He said to them, You are from below; I am from above. Morris comments, The result of the miracle, as always, is division. As far as condemnation goes, John says that Jesus didnt come to condemn the world yet in verse 18 we read that those who dont believe are condemned! You are of this world; I am not of this world. He brings us out of darkness into His marvelous light by His sovereign initiating love. We dont have the strength when it comes down to it, we dont even have the desire! Where did it go? It is not that Peter is not valiant, or courageous, for perhaps he isthough I suspect he acted out of fear. In contrast to the other preachers of his day, he wanted to teach women as much as men. The thought, then, might be paraphrased this way: Stop touching me (or, Stop holding on to me), for (gar) I have not yet ascended to my Father i.e. It has been said by many who are experts in the Jewish law that these trials of Jesus were a sham. [26] The last enemy to be destroyed is death. It is so difficult to understand how God can possibly have taken pleasure in the crush(ing) of His one and only Son. 386-87. Joseph Scrivens great hymn, What a Friend We Have in Jesus. Once the Jews learn of this latest miracle, their main concern seems to be a political one. Jesus had appeared to them prior, but apparently had not spent a lot of time in one-on-one discussion, or extended teaching of them yet (as in Acts 1:3). Only in repentance and faith in Jesus are you able to be saved from the consequences of your sin. You use the Sword of the Word in an unwieldy way and lead others astray, therefore causing great pain and spreading sour milk (to use the authors dairy term) around the church. Now, there are other (MANY other) interpretations that range from the bizarre to the more plausible. We all must stand in debt and awe that the Hound of Heaven has chased us down, has set His great and mighty love upon us, and though we deserved it not, has rescued us from certain death. The reason I think this is significant has to do with what we know from other scriptures about Martha. Verse 16 comes on the heels of an Old Testament account of salvation being reapplied by Jesus as he turned the timetables forward to show how the bronze serpent that Moses lifted up in the wilderness foreshadowed His being lifted up on the cross. You see, death here seemed to have the last say, and the attitude of defeat among the mourners smacked of Satan. In addition to his sermons, he wrote many books, including a four-part autobiography, a massive seven-volume series on the Psalms called The Treasury of David, books on prayer and other . Your witnessing will be sharper and much more effective. Nor would thieves likely have left the wrappings, containing expensive spices, behind. They dont know how to handle their Bible, and consequently they are not living a life in accordance with Gods will they arent pressing on toward completeness (Phil. You really get the feeling from chapter 17 that there is a plan that is unfolding hour by hour here, that the Father and the Son who is filled with the Spirit are working in complete coordination on the unfolding of their glory in a way that will seem terrible and confusing to any bystander unacquainted with Jesus teaching. Certainly the most glaring example of suffering and death being used for Gods pleasure is the example of Jesus Christs own passion and death. [3] And this we will do if God permits. Mark emphasizes that the same malady afflicts the disciples. Yet we are exhorted to obey, and held responsible as new creations to work toward holiness. 1. Piper closes his thoughts on the matter this way: When Jesus died, he glorified the Fathers name and saved his Fathers people. Why is the army of the living God still on the battle-field when one charge might give them the victory? Also present were john and Alexander, but we know nothing about them. It is the underlying reason for all Gods works, from the creation of the world, to the redemption of fallen sinners, to the judgment of unbelievers, to the manifestation of His greatness for all eternity in heavenEverything God created gives Him glory except fallen angels and fallen men. Christ Jesus is the one who diedmore than that, who was raisedwho is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. For no man will ever call upon the name of the Lord without the gracious help of God who opens our eyes and shows us the glory of the light of Jesus for what it truly is.[vii]. This is why we cant earn our way to heaven because we cant make ourselves righteous! [10]For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. We are not going against the harmonies of nature when we are supposing him to be the gardener., If we would be supported by a type, our Lord takes the name of the Second Adam, and the first Adam was a gardener. The old Martha might have said I need to stay here and be with my sister. This Martha realizes the centrality of Christ. If we are brothers, then we are sons, and heirs also. Its hard to say what Mary was feeling at the time, but its safe to say she was alarmed. What strikes me about this is the excitement, the party atmosphere, the joy, the dancing, the music loud music! 9, 10, and 11. [iv], And so he stops and levels this charge against them (read verses 11-12). This only serves to reiterate the tension Christ was causing within the Jewish establishment, and show forth that miracles alone are not able to soften a mans heart, the plain truth is, that mans unbelief is a far more deeply seated disease than it is generally reckoned says Ryle. All men will one day give account for their behavior during this life. His love is poured out upon us through His Holy Spirit. Yet this verse is also one of the most misunderstood, misinterpreted verses in Scripture. A sinking feeling takes hold when you realize that youre missing an entire days worth of money in your bank account what in the world happened? Apart from Christ, before you are saved, you love sin in fact you cannot NOT love your sin. Which leads me to my next point. C.H. Come what may, be it the loss of a loved one, or of a job, or whatever, He is with us, guiding our life with meticulous sovereignty (Ware). And when He tracks one down, all of heaven erupts in jubilant celebration. (Ephesians 2:8-10). John is concerned to show that Christ Jesus understands our pains, He understands our sorrows. This might be something that you recall from the final discourses as well, but in the hours leading up to Jesus arrest and betrayal, He is not focused whatsoever on His own impending pain, but on taking care that He imparts all the knowledge necessary to His disciples. The outline was already in place; theyd done it before. At the heart of the Spirits work within us is His desire for us to know Christ more. "To make a man a saint," says Pascal, "grace is absolutely necessary, and whoever doubts it, does not know what a saint is or what a man is." Rain hits it. [xv] However, we build upon this foundation in order to plumb the deeper mysteries and glories of Christ.[xvi]. Now as soon as Mary turns around she runs smack into Jesus who then asks the same question that the angels asked her. We might sleek into the pits of electronic sex. And that is the great love of our undiscriminating God. 11:11-15After saying these things, he said to them, Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him. [12]The disciples said to him, Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover. [13]Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. The word is actually embrimaomai, which literally means, snort like a horse! The idea here, as MacArthur says, includes a connotation of anger, outrage, or indignation. 3:12)[ix]. Heart Savor The Lion Roars. I have sung How Great Thou Art at full tilt with other men and women in the small chapel that sits firmly ensconced upon that shore. The main thrust of John 11 seems to be two-fold: to show forth the glory and honor of Jesus Christ as the true Son of God, and to show how Lazarus was a type of Christ remembering that Jesus would soon triumph over the grave to the glory of God in Christ. In so doing, He softens our hearts with this love. And so in all of this we again see the three things I mentioned above: My message today has been mostly aimed at those who profess the lordship of Jesus Christ and are followers and believers in His name. I only say that they appear to me to deserve consideration and reflection. We have children who are sick. The main thing to realize coming into this chapter is that Jesus is in complete control over that plan, and over every hour and indeed every moment of His life. It was here that I found the poem The Hound of Heaven by English poet Francis Thompson. He knew what it was to lose a loved one. The text that harmonizes this for him is 2 Corinthians 4:4 a text I use above. The Master-Key, Opening the Gate of Heaven. Jesus is the shepherd in this parable, and he is seeking a specific sheep. Jesus was all to him. But feel free to keep in touch, you can contact us directly at info@sdgclothing.com or on the contact form on the home page. Secondly, if one examines the verse closely, it is plain that John isnt saying that God loves the entire world unto salvation. What happened here is hard to explain, but I believe its a preview of what Paul says will happen when Jesus returns: Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. We see the same thing here with Lazarus, and we see it in our own lives. 19-24) sets forth the inescapable response to the inescapable God: personal holiness. As Moses says, this Word of God is our very life surely it is worthy of our attention today. 1088. Not that the number itself is significant, but rather that the exact number tells us something of how impressive the catch actually was. So the construction crew has to come and rebuild the foundation again. You were lost. Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself. So that will make the victory all that much more sweeter when we enter into His presence and He banishes death and sickness once and for all! He does not rush off to see the family of Lazarus, does not run to comfort them, does not run to perform the miracle. He doesnt try to run to a new secret location knowing that Judas is on the loose etc. In fact, the New Testament opens with John the Baptists announcement of the kingdom: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matthew 3:2). [7]Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Jesus she reasons would never have allowed my brother to die.. There are a few parallels between this prayer and the High Priestly prayer in chapter 17, but the one that stood out to me the most was how the Father and Son had already been (obviously) in previous communion. Hosted by WPEngine. But what Caiaphas meant to say, and what God used Caiaphas to say here were obviously two different things, and perhaps a little more than irony. November 13, 1907 Heaven's Hound Got Thompson. Chosen and made peculiar ground,. We see here that Gods purpose was to use the suffering and death of Lazarus to reveal the glory of His Son. The choice would be obvious. NOW there are consequences to being unskilled in the Word of God. None of this can be done alone, can it? Carson gives us the background: This Bethany, lying on the east side of the Mount of Olives less than two miles from Jerusalem along the road to Jericho, has not been mentioned in the Fourth Gospel before, and must be distinguished from the Bethany of 1:28 and that alluded to in 10:40-42. He abides their foolishness and lack of understanding. Stop clinging to me, but go and tell my disciples that I am in the process of ascending to my Father and your Father.*. All of this can be comprehended by identifying how the Bible speaks about the kingdom of God and the reign of His Christ in other places, and how we are to understand this in light of what we read in chapter 20. 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. Since he is the author and finisher or our faith, to what perfection will he conduct us, and to what glory will he bring us!

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