#1
(The “Great Escapes” Series)
"ESCAPE FROM BONDAGE!"
TEXT: John
11:11-44; 1 Cor.
10:13
INTRO:
All
Christians will experience tough times!
Some times it seems there is no way out, no escape from the temptation or
trial ... but one of the great themes of the Bible is that God always gives us
an escape route from the tragic designs Satan has on us!
1
Cor.
We
all love great escape stories ... one of my favorites is the following true
story:
ILLUS: In
July 1976 one hundred and three Jewish hostages were taken by terrorists in
Entebbe,
There
is probably no greater bondage over humans than "DESPAIR AND DEATH." How do you break the horrible bondage of
despair and death ... its gripping power on humans is obvious in the ruined
lives of many that can't shake it.
Even
the best of Christians can be gripped by despair at times, but God has made an
escape for us!
PROP.
SENT:
The Bible teaches us that we
can escape the destructive nature of despair by refocusing our present
experiences upon the power and relationship we have in Christ, and also with the
help of fellow Christians who are in active fellowship with
us!
I. BONDAGE OF DESPAIR
A. Perceptions
1. It is actually possible to be with
Jesus and yet forget WHO HE REALLY IS!
a. The disciples were with Jesus when
He tried to explain to them that Lazarus their good friend was
dying!
b. Yet, they thought Jesus simply
meant that Lazarus was sleeping, i.e. natural sleep!
c. What Jesus meant was
"death."
d. So, to make the point clear He
tells them plainly, "LAZARUS IS DEAD!"
2. Though they were with Jesus, the
source of all life, their response signaled by Thomas indicates their
perceptions were out of whack!
a. Thomas simply states, "LET US ALSO
GO (with Jesus) THAT WE MAY DIE WITH HIM"
b. They assumed that the end was near,
that Lazarus' death meant the deaths of all Jesus’ disciples were near, by going
to his house near
c. How lost their perspectives had
become, they were seeing from natural eyesight, not that of faith!
d. This can happen with the best of
saints, it did then, and it can now!
ILLUS: In
3. These disciples responded from the
natural standpoint, death is so final and inevitable, may as well get it over
with ... we can't escape it!
a. Though they were with Jesus the
source of life they are willing to simply give in and die along with
Lazarus!
b. How fatalistic their response seems
to be – yet, Jesus had something much greater in mind, He wanted them (AND US)
to know that even death is not the inevitable end that we so often accept it to
be!
c. For Jesus this was to be the moment
to reveal the GREAT ESCAPE POWER God has in mind for us even over
death!
4. This event would end Jesus' earthly
ministry aside from the last week of His own death ... He wanted to be sure they
understood the power of God to raise our mortal bodies again, thus Jesus
deliberately waits for 4 days to pass before raising Lazarus ... to be sure no
one can claim any other conclusion outside of the fact of God's power to raise
the really really dead!
a. Thus Jesus' delay was deliberate
and with purpose!
b. When Jesus delays in answering your
prayers it is for the same reason, there are always reasons; God does nothing
half-hazard in our lives!
B. Painful
11:17-32
1. Some of the finest saints of that
day were gripped by the painful reality of death!
a. Even Mary and Martha were grieving;
Martha (the practical one who was mad at
her sister Mary for not helping serve dinner one night) mentioned to Jesus
when He finally arrives that her brother might have lived if He had come
earlier!
b. Even when Jesus mentions to her
that His purpose in coming now was so Lazarus would live again it is accepted by
her only as a promise of the future hope of life in the
resurrection!
c. What was missing here is the
presence of Jesus as the SOURCE OF LIFE ITSELF!
2. Their present pain was hiding the
reality of God's presence ... Jesus is the
resurrection and the life!
a. In our pain we forget to understand
the power and the presence of the God we serve, we still have our theological
belief system but it is often void of the practical power of the ever present
God!
b. We rely on pat answers and
memorized spiritual promises at such painful times in our lives, but God wants
us to see past our pain and into the face of Jesus Himself ... OUR SALVATION AND
OUR POWER!
3. Even when Jesus attempts to clarify
Himself to her by saying He was "the resurrection and the life" she simply
continues the automatic pilot mode of thinking by again stating, "Yes, Lord I
believe you are the Christ."
a. Her pain at the moment prevented
her from seeing the implication of who Jesus was for the terrible ordeal they
were going through in the moment!
b. Jesus is not only the God who will
save us in the future, He is very much a miracle working God in the
present!
c. Sometimes we wrap ourselves up in
so much pain that we forget the power of God to really deliver in the
present!
C. Personal
11:33-37
1. Jesus’ interest was very personal,
He was not indifferent to their personal needs even though this miracle was
intended to send a very broad message to many people!
a. This is seen in the fact that Jesus
is deeply moved by the sorrow He witnessed by these friends of
His!
b. The phrase translated: "HE WAS DEEPLY
MOVED IN SPIRIT AND TROUBLED" literally means, "He was enraged
in Spirit and troubled Himself." It is unusually intense in the original
language.
(1. This was not anger at the women or the
others who were weeping over Lazarus' death ... it was probably anger over the
final enemy of man, i.e. death, and the pain it brings on the human race. Jesus is angry over death's grip over
humans. God always intended man to
have life, not death!
(2. The personal side of this is evident in
Jesus' own weeping ... He too feels their pain over the fallen condition of man,
that death must touch us as the penalty of sin, but Jesus is here to make a loud
statement about this final enemy called death ... AND IT IS THAT FOR HIS PEOPLE
IT SHALL NOT HOLD POWER OVER US ANY MORE!
c. Jesus is about to destroy the
bondage of despair they were all gripped with, He is able to make a way of
escape even now!
2. Like Mary and Martha, the others
too indicate the same reasoning that if only Jesus had come
sooner...
a. They all saw Jesus strong enough to
heal but not as the God who could help them escape the worst of events ... death
itself!
b. Were they in for some interesting
news, JESUS IS LIFE ... EVEN NOW!
3. The crowd notices Jesus' reaction
of TEARS and they too see a Jesus who really loved in a personal
way!
a. Jesus still does this
today!
b. He is not indifferent to your
despair, your feelings of aloneness!
c. He is not so busy with the universe
that He doesn't have time to get personal with you!
d. He is the same God who loves us
individually and is moved by our pain and sorrows!
e. And He is the same God who desires
to SHOW US HIS LOVE, to help us escape from the bondage of despair and
fear!
II. BONDAGE OF DEATH
A. Permanent?
11:38-40
1. Like Mary and Martha we too
understand the future reality of resurrection, but fail like them to understand
that LIFE is operating within us NOW already!
2. It is not just a future
thing.
3. While we will still experience
physical death, (unless we are alive at the time of the rapture) death has no
real hold on us, we are permanently alive!!!
ILLUS: The
Vietnam memorial is an awesome sight, the black granite walls contain the names
of 58,156 Americans who died in that war.
It is one of the sites that draw the most visitors in
4. There is no death for God's people,
we go from "LIFE TO LIFE." We are the living among the dead right
now!
B. Promise!
11:41-43
1. We don't have to live today
consumed with the power of death over us, we are testimonies of
life!
2. Jesus demonstrates this promise of
life to all standing around the sight of death!
a. He asks first for the stone to be
removed!
b. This was the testimony of death's
power ... the stone was the great barrier that separated the dead from the
living!
c. Jesus can remove this stone and
remove the power of death over us!
3. It is interesting to note the power
of their despair when Jesus asks for the stone to be
removed:
a. Martha (the practical one again!) quickly
speaks up, "But Lord, by this time there is a bad odor, for he has
been dead for 4 days!"
b. She is concerned about the stench
of death; Jesus is concerned about giving life!
4. How often do we allow the stench of
death to grip us, even though we believe in the power of God and the future
resurrection? Sometimes we still
demonstrate the grip despair holds over us by refusing to seek God's power to
escape this bondage!
5. We are people who are not to be
consumed by physical death, life rules us!
ILLUS: Many
years ago, the ship known as the "Empress
of
6. It is vital that we portray to the
world a very different picture of facing death as Christians, for us it is not
an end, we are not held in the bondage of despair as the world
is!
ILLUS: Winston
Churchill planned his own funeral, which took place in
III. BONDAGE OF DISABILITIES
A. Problems
1. Imagine the sight of Lazarus coming
forth from this grave after 4 days of being dead!
a. What a God Jesus is! Even those who knew Him had to be struck
by this God of power; healing was one thing, raising the dead after 4 days was
something else!
b. Surely they must now confess the
confidence of faith in a God who can even escape the despair of
death!
2. Lazarus still had a problem
however, he had stinking clothes on and was still all wrapped up with the stench
of death!
a. This is still true today when we
get saved, we are filled with "new life" yet because we still live in this
world we are still wrapped up with the stench of
death!
b. How was this problem to be
solved?
3. Jesus' solution to Lazarus’ problem
is very instructive for us today:
How can we find release from the "wrappings" (bondage) of death that once
held us?
a. Lazarus was alive ... but still
bound by the trappings and stench of death!
b. His hands weren't free to serve
others, his feet were bound so he could not walk well, his face was wrapped by
death sheets so he could not see life clearly, this is all such an apt picture
of the saint of God who is alive in the world today!
c. So how does he get "FREE" from that
bondage of despair and death?
4. Jesus gives a magnificent solution
to the bondage problem ... He commands those nearby, mostly family and friends,
to reach out to him and loose him from his bondage!
a. The meaning is very clear: The way
of escape from the bondage of Despair includes the help of other
people!
b. We need one another to help remove
the painful reminders of sin's presence in this life!
c. We need help to get free from the
various things that can put us in bondage.
d. Christians need other
Christians!
e. Those that pretend they can serve
God without going to church are just plain FOOLS!
5. Freedom from bondage includes a
recognition of WHO Jesus is ... and the recognition of WHO the family of God is
... we need God AND each other to make it through this life together and ESCAPE
THE BONDAGE OF DESPAIR!
6. Too many Christians isolate
themselves in self-pity and never find release from the bondage of despair, they
accept future life and future deliverance, but do not experience the escape from
bondage and death that is available today through the help of the
saints!
7. It is much easier to walk with God
if we have each other!
ILLUS: One
day in the woods a Boy Scout troop came across some abandoned railroad
tracks. Each boy in turn tried to
walk on a rail to see how far they could each go. None of them made it too far down the
rails until a couple of boys demonstrated how easy it can be, they each stood on
one side of each rail and held hands and walked together ... they were able to
walk easily down the rails without falling off since they were connected by hand
on opposite sides with one another, they could walk in a way that was nearly
impossible for them to do as individuals!
– Source Unknown
a. Too many Christians never escape
the bondage of despair and self-pity because they go it
alone!
b. They prefer to try and unwrap the
"grave clothes" themselves but can't
even get started alone!
c. There is an escape from the bondage
of despair and death! It is found
in a vital relationship with Christ and with each
other!
CONCLUSION:
Despair can be a life and mind boggling bondage! It can rob us of hope, courage, and
faith. God offers an escape from
the bondage of despair ... it is found in Jesus Christ! In Christ we find deliverance instead of
the bondage of despair! Have you
experienced this great escape?