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Proverbs 21:14
14 A gift in secret pacifieth anger: and a reward in the bosom strong wrath.
Here is, 1. The power that is commonly found to be in gifts. Nothing is more violent than anger. O the force of strong wrath! And yet a handsome present, prudently managed, will turn away some men’s wrath when it seemed implacable, and disarm the keenest and most passionate resentments. Covetousness is commonly a master-sin and has the command of other lusts. Pecuniæ obediunt omnia–Money commands all things. Thus Jacob pacified Esau and Abigail David.
2. The policy that is commonly used in giving and receiving bribes. It must be a gift in secret and a reward in the bosom, for he that takes it would not be thought to covet it, nor known to receive it, nor would he willingly be beholden to him whom he has been offended with; but, if it be done privately, all is well. No man should be too open in giving any gift, nor boast of the presents he sends; but, if it be a bribe to pervert justice, that is so scandalous that those who are fond of it are ashamed of it.
Proverbs 21:15
15 It is joy to the just to do judgment: but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity.
Note, 1. It is a pleasure and satisfaction to good men both to see justice administered by the government they live under, right taking place and iniquity suppressed, and also to practise it themselves, according as their sphere is. They not only do justice, but do it with pleasure, not only for fear of shame, but for love of virtue.
2. It is a terror to wicked men to see the laws put in execution against vice and profaneness. It is destruction to them; as it is also a vexation to them to be forced, either for the support of their credit or for fear of punishment, to do judgment themselves. Or, if we take it as we read it, the meaning is, There is true pleasure in the practice of religion, but certain destruction at the end of all vicious courses.
- Matthew Henry Commentary
Matthew 8:3
Jesus put forth His hand and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean.
What is faith? Faith is venturing out upon a fact. Do remember that. There are three little words some of you will have heard me mention before: fact, faith, and feeling. You may have quoted them to the unconverted. They need to be said to the Christian too, for there are so many people who seem to imagine that faith depends upon feelings. So that if you feel your sins are taken away, and you have been cleansed from all sin, that is wonderful: but if you feel burdened, then it has not happened. That is quite wrong! Faith depends upon facts. Facts are the basis.
The fact is that Christ died; and because Christ died and shed His blood, God waits to be faithful to the finished fact of Calvary; and God waits to be just, because sin was put away when Christ died on the cross. There is the divine fact: the human essential is, that you should come to Christ, and confess. Come to Him with a conscious need, come to Him and tell Him all the sin of your heart. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That is the promise, and that is the pledge of God.
If you come and confess, faithful and just to the finished fact of Calvary, God will forgive the sin of your heart; and more than that, He will cleanse you from all unrighteousness. – L.F.E. Wilkinson: Be thou Clean, 1954
- Daily Thoughts From Keswick
But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made [us] sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
Ephesians 2:4-6 KJV
Obama May Send 1200 Troops To Mexico Border – May 25, 2010
President Obama told Senate Republicans Tuesday that he’s read the controversial Arizona immigration law and is concerned it would allow for discrimination – but he is planning to deploy up to 1,200 National Guard troops to the US-Mexico border to allay security concerns. An administration official confirmed to Fox News that Obama plans to deploy the National Guard troops as needed and request $500 million for “enhanced border protection and law enforcement.” Fox News
Top Politician’s Kidnapping Worries Mexico’s Elites – May 25, 2010
All the police found in the abandoned Cadillac pickup truck were scissors and blood that matched the type of Diego Fernandez de Cevallos, the cigar-chomping political powerhouse who has not been seen again. His disappearance has rattled the political and business class here, stoking fears that the war against powerful crime syndicates might be escalating to more dangerous heights, where elites become targets for the drug cartels. The Washington Post
Michael Shermer Promotes Tolerance Except For Evolution Critics – May 25, 2010
Shermer seems like a genuinely nice guy who’s not eager to support things like censorship or intolerance. Unfortunately, some parts of his article don’t fit with his praise of intellectual tolerance.’In this same article, Shermer compares skepticism of neo-Darwinian evolution to pernicious and obviously false views like Holocaust denial. Shermers message seems conflicted: He wants to uphold democratic ideals of tolerance and freedom of speech, but comparing scientific doubters of neo-Darwinian evolution to abhorrent ideas like Holocaust denial doesn’t foster those values. Discovery Institute
Forced Socialism Is Not Biblical – May 22, 2010
Despite Engels and Marx (who dismissed religion as the “opium of the people”), Obama and many others still manage to see socialism in the Bible. They point to the early church which, at first glance, seems like a model socialist community. The New Testament reports that these first believers “had all things in common” (Acts 4:32) and “all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, and laid them at the apostles’ feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need” (Acts 4:34-35). But unlike socialism, the sharing was voluntary, not coerced… OneNewsNow
New ‘Life’ Not Created From Scratch – May 21, 2010
Genetics pioneer J. Craig Venter announced Thursday that he and his team have created artificial life for the first time. Using sequences of genetic code created on a computer, the team assembled a complete DNA of a bacterium, then inserted it in another bacterium and initiated synthesis, or in Venter’s words “booted up” the cell. CNN: Did you create new life? Venter: We created a new cell. It’s alive. But we didn’t create life from scratch. We created. as all life on this planet is. out of a living cell. CNN
“The 30th day of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet church-yard in the land. In this observance no form of ceremony is prescribed, but posts and comrades will in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit. If other eyes grow dull, other hands slack, and other hearts cold in the solemn trust, ours shall keep it well as long as the light and warmth of life remain to us. Let us, then, at the time appointed gather around their sacred remains and garland the passionless mounds above them with the choicest flowers of spring-time; let us raise above them the dear old flag they saved from dishonor; let us in this solemn presence renew our pledges to aid and assist those whom they have left among us a sacred charge upon a nation’s gratitude, the soldier’s and sailor’s widow and orphan ” -General John A. Logan’s Memorial Day Order, Headquarters, Grand Army of the Republic, General Orders No.11, Washington, D.C., May 5, 1868
“It is, in a way, an odd thing to honor those who died in defense of our country, in defense of us, in wars afar away. The imagination plays a trick. We see these soldiers in our mind as old and wise. We see them as something like the Founding Fathers, grave and gray-haired. But most of them were boys when they died, and they gave up two lives, the one they were living and the one they would have lived. When they died, they gave up their chance to be husbands and fathers and grandfathers. They gave up their chance to be revered old men. They gave up everything for our country, for us. And all we can do is remember ” -Ronald Reagan
“Our wars have won for us every hour we live in freedom. Our wars have taken from us the men and women we honor today, and every hour of the lifetimes they had hoped to live ” – President George W. Bush, Memorial Day 2002.
“Siding with tyrants in the name of peace is a recipe for disaster. Empowering of murderers for the sake of human rights is a guarantee of further bloodshed. And the inability to distinguish right from wrong is a prelude to our own destruction ” -Lowell Phillips
“The real world requires difficult moral choices. But try as we might, we cannot avoid making them. We should choose to side with those who support our values, however imperfectly, and against those who violently oppose our values. The real world is a dangerous place filled with dangerous people. Severe myopia can be a fatal handicap. Mr. Magoo makes an amusing cartoon character but a poor role model and a lousy statesman. We have eyes with which to see the evildoers in the world. We have ears to hear the cries of those who suffer under tyranny. It is our duty to use them. Otherwise, we are foolish people, and without understanding ” -David C. Stolinsky
“Today is a celebration of those who didn’t come home with the rest of us. We remember that their lives were cut short, their life’s chapters closed in the paddies, jungles and mountains of Vietnam. Perhaps the greatest honor the rest of us can bestow is to regard our own lives as sacred and full of meaning. It is difficult to stay above the quagmire of feelings left from our experiences but what better way to salute our brothers and sisters in arms than to rise above the pain of their deaths and give freely of ourselves to others.” -Marine veteran Robert Sasse
“But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us–that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion–that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth. ” – Abraham Lincoln, The Gettysburg Address, 1863.
“…Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.” Dan 3:17-18 (emphasis added)
“But see, there’s a problem when Grandma prays to be healed and she isn’t healed. She thinks she doesn’t have strong enough faith or that God doesn’t love her. What about Grandma?” – An anonymous skeptic
There are many times in our lives when we say, “God, if You love me, You will do X, Y and Z.” We mistakenly believe that if God doesn’t answer our prayers the way we want, it’s because He doesn’t care about us.
The Bible is very clear that God loves us (John 3:16, 1John 4:10, Jer 31:3, Rom 8:35-39). God’s Word declares that He loves us more than we can possibly know, that He IS love (1 John 4:8). Perhaps we would experience more miracles if we went to God with confidence in His love for us, ready for whatever glorious things He wanted to do in us and through us. That’s the heart of God.
No matter what happens, though, we can still trust Him implicitly.
More Miracles:
In January of 1992, Tony Darmanin went for a ride with Jeremy Benson in his sweet 1973 Chevy Nova hatchback. Jeremy and his father had spent a year fixing up that Nova for Jeremy’s 16th birthday, and he loved it. Jeremy hadn‘t had his license long, though, and inexperienced teen boys with muscle cars generally spell T-R-O-U-B-L-E.
On a rainy winter evening, Tony Darmanin climbed into Jeremy’s Nova with Brandon Wright and Billy Walters. As soon as Jeremy started up the engine and took off, Tony knew he was in trouble. They sped down North Shore Drive in Bellingham, Washington at speeds worthy of the car, but unwise considering the weather conditions. They came to a hairpin turn, Jeremy hit the brakes, and the car naturally hydroplaned on the wet pavement.
Tony said, “So, we’re not slowing down, and now Jeremy can’t steer.” They shot off the cliff edge and flew through the dark night air. They should have all died.
A tree at the bottom of the 40-foot deep ravine helped save the young men’s lives. The car smacked the tree, which changed their trajectory just enough to keep the car from landing upside down and crushing all its occupants. Instead, the Nova nose-dived into the ground.
Tony dangled in the back seat by his seatbelt. The hatchback had popped open and its cover had slammed down into his neck and back. His internal organs were gashed by the force of the seatbelt, and his ankle was injured. Tony only knew that he’d never felt that much pain in his life. Billy had cracked the windshield with his head and his brain had started to swell. (After temporary blindness, he would recover.) Miraculously, Jeremy and Brandon climbed out unharmed and went for help.
Tony woke up outside of the car in the rain. He knew he had to get some help quickly, and he saw no friends around. He began to pull himself a little bit at a time out of that ravine in excruciating pain. As soon as he reached the top, flashlights shone in his face. People in a nearby house had seen the Nova’s headlights fly off the cliff and had already called 9-1-1.
At The Hospital:
Tony’s mother Alice Darmanin raced to the trauma unit at St. Luke’s Hospital ahead of the ambulance. When they brought in Tony on the gurney, she thought he was already dead.
He wasn’t moving and he was a grey color, and my heart just sunk. Of course they couldn’t tell us anything. We sat there praying and praying, and the kids were calling everybody they knew to pray. We still didn’t know anything about Anthony. Finally they told us that there was so much blood in the pictures they had taken, they couldn’t could tell if it was his liver, his kidney or spleen that was bleeding. They said , ‘If he survives the next half hour we’ll take another set of pictures.’ I only heard the ‘if he survives’ part.
Instant Healing:
Tony was conscious as the doctor probed his stomach and felt for damage and took him in to get a CAT scan. All he knew was that there was serious internal bleeding. “If you do not go into surgery in 15 minutes, you will die,” the doctor told him. “Do we have your consent to take you to surgery?”
Tony gave the doctor permission to save his life while a sense of excitement filled him. In 15 minutes he could be standing in the presence of Jesus. If they did surgery and he got better, that was great, and if he died, he realized that was also great. Tony told us, “It makes you realize the significance of ‘O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? [1Cor 15:55]‘” Already his veins had started to collapse and he felt pins and needles through all of his extremities.
Even as they sent Tony in for a CAT scan, though, he knew people were praying for him. “I felt their prayers. It was the first time in my life where I could actually feel the prayers of people praying for me.”
About 45 minutes after she’d first visited them, the doctor returned to the Darmanin family in the waiting room to give them the relieving and unexpected news that their son was okay. According to Alice:
All she says is, “Do you want to see your son?” We walked back there and he’s sitting up. The doctor said, “I don’t know what to tell you, but we don’t know what happened. We don’t know where the blood came from. We don’t know where the blood went.” There was no blood. There were no wounds. She said, “He has a very nasty crack on the back of his neck.” Actually, he should have died from that. The crack was on the hangman’s vertebrae, and we were told only one in a thousand survives that.
The doctor kept Tony overnight, For the next few days Tony had some soreness, but that was it. He never had surgery.
Pain Remains:
Tony noted:
But even though God did that miracle and healed my internal organs, for the past 18 years I have lived every day with pain in my back and neck from when the hatch slammed into me. I’ve gone to chiropractors, done physical therapy and deep tissue massage, and I’m still in constant pain.
People tell me, “You just don’t have enough faith. If you had more faith God would have healed your whole body.” And I think, “No… I have faith.” Or they say, “You have unconfessed sin, that’s why you’re not healed,” and I think, “No… I have my faults, but I don’t have unconfessed sin.”
No, this is what I’ve learned. I’ve learned that pain is not the enemy. I have learned that God has allowed me to have this pain for His reasons and for His purposes.
God’s Love In Every Detail:
A year later, Tony was at college living in the dorms when he ran out of all his toiletries at one time. “I squeezed out the last of my toothpaste. I used the very last of my shampoo and conditioner (yes, I condition) and even my deodorant had been completely used up. All on the same day.”
Tony walked down to his bank to see if he could take out five dollars. When he checked the ATM, though, he had only $3.67 – too little to draw out on a Saturday afternoon.
“Well, Lord,” Tony said, “If You don’t want me to be stinky, please help me out here.”
He walked back to the dorms. As he was heading to the door, his friend Margaret walked up to him with a paper bag in her arms. She said, “I don’t want you to be offended, but while I was at the store shopping this morning, I really felt God wanted me to buy these things for you.” Tony took the bag and looked inside. It held shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste and deodorant.
“And after all these years,” he said, “It still brings tears to my eyes. Because it told me that God really cared about me, even in the little things. And it wasn’t that she gave me money. Anybody can hand you money. She handed me the very things I needed.”
It’s Not About Toughness:
People often think that the proper response to pain is to be tough and pony up and push through it out of sheer determination. But, that’s not the heart of God. Everything He does is for good, and He desires that we learn to completely depend on His love for us, no matter what things look like. He is willing to give us all we need, down to things as seemingly small as toothpaste. Almighty God who created the stars and calls them by name cares even for the sparrows.
“But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.” – Luke 12:7
Tony said:
The fact is that God cares intimately about me and knows about the smallest details of my life, and yet He’s allowed me to live with this pain for the past 18 years. It’s not that He’s doing these things – He didn’t cause my suffering. But, He’s allowed me to suffer pain. None of us escape it. It’s part of the territory of being human. What God has promised is He’ll never leave us. He’ll never abandon us. And He’ll never let us suffer more than He can carry us through. Some people ask why does a loving God allow pain? And I’ve learned that it’s because of God’s love that I can live through the pain.
Is suffering always God’s plan? Of course not. Jesus had great compassion and healed people constantly, and he promised that we would do greater things than he did (John 14:12). God wants us to know Him and He wants to form us into the image of His Son (Rom 8:28-29). He wants us to trust that He loves us, and when we go to Him for help, to go boldly (Hebrews 4:16). And whatever happens, as the Hebrew children said before Nebuchadnezzar threw them into the fiery furnace, “But if not” – But if not, we will still trust Him, we will continue to follow Him alone. Whatever He decides, we need to have confidence that nothing is able to separate us from His great and perfect love.
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” -Romans 8:35-39
President Obama’s Commencement speech to the West Point graduates this weekend has gotten flak for its emphasis on developing a new “international order” and putting too much faith in global institutions. His speech comes on the heels of Joe Biden’s comments to the European Parliament that Brussels should have the title “capital of the free world” – in opposition to Washington DC. Despite all the controversy and bloodshed perpetuated across Planet Earth, politicians still cling with idealistic tenacity to the idea of global peace and unity. Peace and unity are great goals, of course, but the perpetual problem is that godless governments have always resorted to tyranny in their attempts to produce their philosophical utopias when troublesome human beings have refused to conform.
US President Barack Obama addressed the 2010 graduating class of the US Military Academy At West Point, the oldest of the United States’ five military service academies, this weekend. Obama had some fun with the cadets, telling them, “And so, as your Commander-in-Chief, I hereby absolve all cadets who are on restriction for minor conduct offenses,” for which he received applause. He elicited laughter when he followed that by saying, “I will leave the definition of ‘minor’ to those who know better.”
Obama began his speech well enough, encouraging the West Point cadets, crediting the “competence and creativity and courage” of American soldiers with the successes in Iraq, and recognizing the work ahead in Afghanistan. He honored the “78 graduates of this Academy who have given their lives for our freedom and our security in Iraq and Afghanistan.” The President declared his expectation of success in Afghanistan and his confidence in the innovation of American businesses. Throughout his speech the President promoted America as a great and heroic country.
Obama’s speech did have some good stuff in it. Many parts of the speech rang true to Americans who love their country. Yet, some are skeptical of the President’s real intentions and doubt his sincerity.
Former military intelligence officer and police detective Sidney Franes remarked that, “[Obama] talks a great fight, but he’s a pushover for any tin-pot dictator or political thug.”
Political strategist Mike Baker noted, “Politically, Obama loves to talk about the Constitution, but will bypass its provisions if he believes it hinders his agenda. He uses flowery language and colorful flourishes that hide his predisposition to socialism and neo-Marxism.”
And Judith Miller reminds the readers of Fox News that Obama did nothing to promote human rights when Persian protestors were being beaten and killed last summer after the Iranian elections.
A president’s words are extremely important, but the actions that follow the words have far more significance. Miller concluded, “It remains unclear whether future American actions and policies will be more consistent with his West Point objectives.”
New “International Order”:
Obama also went on in his speech to promote a new “international order” with the idea of improving upon times of historical international cooperation and making the world a better place. He said:
So we have to shape an international order that can meet the challenges of our generation. We will be steadfast in strengthening those old alliances that have served us so well, including those who will serve by your side in Afghanistan and around the globe. As influence extends to more countries and capitals, we also have to build new partnerships, and shape stronger international standards and institutions.
This engagement is not an end in itself. The international order we seek is one that can resolve the challenges of our times — countering violent extremism and insurgency; stopping the spread of nuclear weapons and securing nuclear materials; combating a changing climate and sustaining global growth; helping countries feed themselves and care for their sick; preventing conflict and healing wounds. If we are successful in these tasks, that will lessen conflicts around the world.
Never mind that the United Nations has failed to stop the nuclear ambitions of Iran or rescue the starving, tormented citizens of North Korea. Never mind the impotency of global governments to sponsor peace in a little country called Israel. Global cooperation sounds like a fantastic idea. The difficulty always comes down to the fact that human beings are not good at cooperation. Ultimately, the human race has a sin problem, and world governments have not embraced the One who can fix it. Not yet.
New “Capital Of The Free World”:
Vice President Joe Biden raised eyebrows on May 6th when, in his flattery of the European Parliament, he handed Brussels the title of “capital of the free world.”
“As you probably know, some American politicians and American journalists refer to Washington, DC as the ‘capital of the free world,’” Biden said. “But it seems to me that in this great city, which boasts 1,000 years of history and which serves as the capital of Belgium, the home of the European Union, and the headquarters for NATO, this city has its own legitimate claim to that title.”
The Vice President may have felt he was being humble and generous in making that statement, but if America bows to the European Parliament as the world’s leader of freedom, then US sovereignty is endangered. The great danger of global governance is not just that it is bureaucratic or impossible. The great danger of global governance is when there are no free countries left to escape to. America can cooperate with its neighbors and get along with them, but America’s standing strong as a truly free land ensures that persecuted peoples always have a place to run to.
One day the Messiah will return and rule the earth, and in that day all our heartfelt desires for peace will come to pass. In that day, Isaiah 11 tells us, the lion will lay down with the lamb:
“…The sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.” – Isaiah 11:8, 9
Expecting world peace without the Prince Of Peace, though, is fruitless, and potentially dangerous.
Related Links:
• Biden Says Brussels Could Be ‘Capital of the Free World’ – Fox News
• West Point Speech: Obama Pledges a New World Order – Law Enforcement Examiner
• What Exactly Is Obama’s New World Order? – Fox News
• Obama Call for ‘International Order’ Raises Questions About U.S. Sovereignty – Fox News
• Obama At West Point Graduation. Transcript – White House
• Strategic Trend: Global Government – Koinonia House
For we are told, verse 29, “When she heard that, she rose quickly, and came to Jesus.” Sinners, when will you do so? Or why do you not do so? How know you whether Jesus will call for you any more, before he calls you by death to judgment? Linger, O linger no longer. Fly, fly for your lives. Arise quickly, and with Mary come to Jesus. She obeyed the call so very speedily, that her haste was taken notice of by her visitors. “The Jews then, who were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary that she rose up hastily (without any ceremony at all) and went out, followed her, saying, she goeth to the grave, to weep there.”
How wisely does our Lord permit and order all this, to bring the Jews out to behold the wonderful miracle that he was about to perform! Little did Mary and the Jews think for what end they were thus providentially led out. But when Jesus hath work to be done, he will bring souls to the place where he intends to call them, in spite of men or devils. But how does Mary behave when she comes to Jesus? We may be assured, not without great humility. No wonder then we are told, verse 32, that “when she saw him, she immediately fell down at his feet (a place Mary had been used to, and in an agony of grief, says, as her sister had done before her) Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.” Poor Mary! Her concern was great indeed. Though she was a holy woman, she could not well bear the loss of her brother. She knew very well, that the world would miss him, and no doubt he had been a kind and tender brother to her. But I am afraid she was sinfully overcome with overmuch sorrow. However, had we been there, the sight must have affected us.
It seems to have affected the visitors, especially the blessed Jesus. He, instead of blaming her, for her tacitly accusing him of unkindness, and for not coming to her brother’s relief, pities and sympathizes both with Mary and her weeping friends! “When Jesus saw her weep, and the Jews also weeping, he groaned in his Spirit, and was troubled.” Troubled: Not with any sinful perturbation we may be assured: nothing of that nature could possibly be in his sinless soul. And, therefore, some have judiciously enough compared the trouble our Lord now felt, to some crystal water shaken in a glass or bottle; you may shake it, but there will be no sediment: it will be crystal water still.
“He groaned in is spirit.” I do not see why this may not be understood of his praying in the spirit, which maketh intercession for the saints, with ajlalhvtoi” stenagmoi’”, “groanings that cannot be uttered.” [Rom. 8:26] Methinks I see the immaculate Lamb of God, secretly, but powerfully agonizing with his Father; his heart is big with sympathy! At length, out of the fullness of it, he said, ver. 34, “Where have ye laid him? They (I suppose Mary and Martha) say unto him, Lord, come and see.” He came, he say, “He wept,” ver. 35. It is put in a verse by itself, that we might pause a while, and ask, why Jesus wept?
He wept, to show us, that is was no sin to shed a tear of love and resignation at the grave of a deceased friend; he wept, so see what havoc sin had made in the world, and how it had reduced man, who was originally little lower than the angels, (by making him subject to death) to a level with the beasts that perish: but above all, he wept at the foresight of the people’s unbelief; he wept, to think how many then present, would not only not believe on, but would be hardened, and have their prejudices increased more and more against him, though he should raise Lazarus from the dead before their eyes. Well then may ministers be excused, who, whilst they are preaching, now and then drop a few tears, at the consideration of their sermons being, through the perverseness and unbelief of many of their audience, a savor of death unto death, instead of a savor of life unto life. Upon a like occasion Jesus wept. What an affecting sight was here! Let us for a while suppose ourselves placed amidst these holy mourners; let us imagine that we see the sepulcher just before us, and the Jews, and Mary, and the blessed Jesus weeping round it. Surely, the most obdurate of us all must drop a tear, or at least be affected with the sight; we find that it affected those who were really by-standers: for then said the Jews, ver. 36, “Behold, how he loved him.” And did they say, Behold, how he loved him, when Jesus only shed a few tears over the grave of his departed Lazarus? Come then, O sinners, and view Christ dying and pouring out his precious heart’s blood for you upon an accursed tree, and then surely you must needs cry out, Behold, how he loved us! – George Whitefield – Resurrection of Lazarus – John Chapter 11
“These things (the evangelist tells us, ver. 11) said Jesus, and after that, (to satisfy them that he was not going into Judea without a proper call) he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth.” Our friend. Amazing! For what is a friend? As one’s own soul. How dear then, and near are true believers to the most adorable Jesus! “Our friend LAZARUS.” Still more amazing! Here is condescension, here is unparalleled familiarity indeed. And what of him? “He sleepeth.” A figurative way of expression. For what is death to the lovers of Jesus Christ, but a sleep, and a refreshing one too?
Thus it is said of Stephan when he died, that “he fell asleep.” Christ indeed died, but believers only sleep. And “those that sleep in Jesus, (says the scripture) will God bring with him.” “Our friend Lazarus sleepeth.” For though he be dead, I shall raise him from the grave so soon, that his dying will be only like a person’s taking a short sleep. “Our friend Lazarus sleepeth, but I go that I may awake him out of sleep.” By this time, one would imagine, our Lord’s disciples should have understood him: But how unwilling are we to believe anything that we do not like. “Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep he shall do well.” Oh fearful, and slow of heart to believe! How fain would they excuse themselves from going into Judea, for fear of a few stones! By this way of talking, how do they in effect impeach their blessed Master’s conduct, and under a pretense of preserving his person, foster, and as it were plead for their own (though perhaps undiscerned) cowardice and unbelief? That charity, which hopeth and believeth all things for the best, teacheth us to judge thus favorably of them. For, “Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: they thought that he had spoken of taking rest in sleep.”
The great and compassionate High priest knowing and remembering they were but dust, throws a veil of love over their infirmity; and at length, verse 14, “Saith unto them plainly (for if we wait on Jesus, we shall know his will plainly, one way or another) Lazarus id dead.” And even then, lest they should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow, he immediately adds, verse 15, “And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe,” or have more faith, or have that faith which you already possess increased and confirmed. A plain proof this, that all Jesus’ delays to answer prayer, are only to strengthen our faith.- George Whitefield – The Resurrection of Lazarus – John Chapter 11
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