AIGGM BIBLE STUDIES - LIFE STUDY OF JOHN - CHAPTERS 23-32

AIGGM BIBLE STUDIES - 

LIFE STUDY OF JOHN - CHAPTERS 23-32

✞ Embracing Grace✞

EXCERPTS FROM THE AIGGM MINISTRY

Pastor Stephanie Blackburn // Abiding In God's Grace Ministries {AIGGM} // October. 2021

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbqTYxhTijFnyiKNwT0XpXA

AIGGM BIBLE STUDIES - THE BOOK OF JOHN

LIFE-STUDY OF JOHN

MESSAGE TWENTY-THREE :

THE NEED OF THE DEAD—LIFE’S RESURRECTING

(1)

The case of raising Lazarus from the dead is certainly a wonderful case. Here we see the case of a man who had died, who had been buried for four days, and who had begun to stink. Nevertheless, he was resurrected. Why do the other three Gospels give us no record of this wonderful case? Although this case is marvelous, the other Gospels say nothing about it. This case of resurrection does not fit in with the purposes of the other three Gospels; it only suits the purpose of the Gospel of John. Matthew, Mark, and Luke are Gospels with purposes other than life. John is the Gospel on life. Therefore, the Holy Spirit kept this case for John. This proves that the Gospel of John is a book of life.

I. THE DEAD AND HIS NEED

In 11:1-4 we see the dead and his need. Lazarus was not only sick but also dead (11:14). Thus, he did not need healing but resurrecting. In the Lord’s salvation He does not merely heal the sick; He also gives life to the dead. So He remained two days until the sick one had died (11:6). The Lord does not reform people or regulate them; He regenerates people and raises them out of death. Hence, the first of the nine cases is on regeneration and the last is on resurrection, revealing that all of the different aspects of Christ as life to us, as unveiled in the other seven cases, are in the principle of regeneration and resurrection. This last case is the actual changing of death into life.

Before going into the matter of Christ raising Lazarus from the dead, we must realize that the Gospel of John reveals two things. On the positive side, it reveals that Christ came to be our life. The Son of God is the Word of God, which is the expression of God. As the expression of God, He came in the flesh to be our life. This central thought is found in every chapter throughout the entire Gospel. On the negative side, this book also shows that religion, even the Jewish religion of Judaism, is very much against Christ as life. By reading this book carefully, you will see how even the sound and genuine religion opposes Christ as life. Within the first ten chapters of this Gospel, the only opposition our Lord met came from the Jewish religion. Religion opposed Him, rejected Him, repudiated Him, and persecuted Him. Eventually, at the end of chapter ten, He was forced to desert religion. He forsook the temple, the holy city, and all the good things of the Jewish religion and came to a new standing.

In every chapter from chapter one through chapter ten we can see one point concerning religion versus Christ. In chapter one we see that religion was expecting a great leader to come. Religion looked for the so-called Messiah, Elijah, or the promised prophet. However, Christ did not come as a great leader, but as the little Lamb of God to accomplish redemption and with a little dove to produce the transformed stones for God’s building. Thus, even in the first chapter of this Gospel we find an indication that religion takes the wrong way, a way other than the way of life. There is a great discrepancy between religion and life.

In chapter two we see that religion will try to destroy life, for religion will try to destroy Jesus. But Jesus as the divine life will raise Himself out of that destruction. Life not only can withstand destruction, but can raise Himself up out of the destruction of death.

In chapter three we see that Nicodemus, a high-class man, held a religious concept of the Lord Jesus, addressing Him as rabbi and referring to Him as a teacher sent from God. All such concepts are religious.

In chapter four we see that even a poor, mean, immoral, low-class Samaritan woman held a religious concept. At a certain point in her conversation with the Lord she began to speak about the worship of God. Although the religion among the Samaritans was not orthodox, it was a religion. The Samaritans had a religious tradition and inheritance.

In chapter five we see religion’s opposition to life fully aroused. This was due to the fact that the Lord Jesus enlivened the impotent man on the Sabbath day. To the Jews, it seemed that He broke their regulations about the Sabbath. Consequently, they began to oppose Him. In fact, they began to be very much against the Lord. By this case we can see how the rules and regulations of religion are in opposition to the Lord as life to the needy. The Lord who is our life is one thing, but religion with all of its rules and regulations is another. Christ as life and religion with its regulations can never go together.

We also see something of religion in chapter six. When the people saw that Jesus had fed the multitude with five loaves and two fishes they said, “This is truly the prophet who is to come into the world” (6:14). They were about to force the Lord to be their King (6:15). That was a religious concept. The Lord Jesus withdrew from them, for He wanted to remain as the small bread, good for people’s food.

We see another religious concept in chapter seven. The people at the religious feast were discussing Jesus, but Jesus stood and cried, asking them to turn from their dry religion and come to the source of living water.

We see more of religion in chapter eight. The religious scribes and Pharisees tried to trap the Lord by asking Him, in their religious way, how to deal with an adulterous woman. But the Lord answered in the way of life, exposing their folly in holding on to their religion and silencing them with shame.

The opposition of religion to life is strengthened in chapter nine. In chapter five the Lord enlivened an impotent man on the Sabbath. In chapter nine, He gave sight to a blind man. He purposely did this on the Sabbath day. Why did not the Lord Jesus go to the blind man before or after the Sabbath day? He did it purposely to break the dead rituals of dead religion. That stirred religion’s opposition against life. The Lord purposely broke the Sabbath regulation before the eyes of the religious Jews. The eyes of the blind man received sight, but the eyes of the Pharisees received blindness due to their opposition. The Jews thought that Jesus was very much against their religion because He broke the regulations of their religion. Hence, they became very angry with the Lord and began to oppose Him. They even excommunicated the man who had been healed by the Lord (9:34). When they cast the blind man out of their synagogue, they excommunicated him from their Judaistic religion. Then the Lord took the opportunity to tell them that Judaism was nothing other than a sheepfold which keeps the sheep for awhile. Now that the pasture is ready, the sheep will be released from the fold and brought into the pasture. The Lord Jesus let them know that since they had excommunicated the blind man from their religion, a sheep was released from that fold and brought into Christ as the living pasture. At the end of chapter ten, the Lord walked out of the fold of the Jewish religion.

In the first ten chapters of this Gospel we see the fighting, the struggle, between religion and life. Eventually, the Lord deserted that religion and went outside of it. Where is He now? He is outside of religion. He has nothing to do with it. Now, in His new standing, there is no religious element. All the elements of religion have been excluded.

(Life-Study of John, Chapter 23, Section 1)

II. FRUSTRATION OF HUMAN OPINIONS

Now we come to the last case. This case is not in the Judaistic fold; it is outside of it. After the Lord went out of Jerusalem, He went to a home in Bethany of one brother and two sisters who loved Him very much. Before He came, something happened in this home. The brother, Lazarus, became seriously ill, and the sisters sent a message to the Lord, which means that they prayed to Him (11:3). There is nothing wrong with prayer. If you are in trouble, you must send a message to the Lord. At any time you can send a word to Him. You may send Him the information about any situation. But what He would do is up to Him.

Chapter eleven serves a very specific purpose: it shows us that besides the opposition of religion, human opinions are the strongest frustration to life. Throughout the foregoing chapters, the problem that life faced was with religion. As we have seen, in every chapter life was opposed by religion. However, there is no religion in chapter eleven. But there is another kind of frustration—the frustration from human opinion. What is revealed in this chapter that frustrates the resurrection power of the Lord? It is the human opinions. This chapter vividly portrays how the human opinions frustrate the Lord’s resurrection life. Once human opinions are subdued, resurrection life is manifested. This is not a matter in religion, but in the church, at the home in Bethany, which is a miniature of the church life. In Jerusalem, you are in religion; in Bethany, you are in the local church. In Jerusalem you have religion; in the local church you have the problem of human opinions. In chapters one through ten, Christ as life is fully revealed and, at the same time, religion is exposed. Now, in chapter eleven, Christ as the resurrection life is unfolded, but, at the same time, human opinions are brought to the surface. Although there is no problem of religion in the church, there is nevertheless another kind of hindrance, the hindrance of human opinion. The Lord is the resurrection life, but He is hindered by the opinions. This chapter is filled with human opinions.

Martha and Mary considered that the Lord should have come immediately. This was their opinion. But the Lord never acts on the basis of anyone’s opinion; He always acts according to His own will. They thought that the Lord should come immediately, but the Lord purposely stayed away for two more days.

The Lord is the resurrection and the life and death is no problem to Him. It is easy for Him to swallow up death. Death may be a problem to us, but it is not a problem to Christ. He as resurrection can overcome death and swallow it up. However, when we come to applying Him as resurrection, we face the problem of human opinions. In this message I want to impress you with this matter of our opinions. The problem in the local church life which keeps us from seeing the resurrection of Christ is our opinion.

If you read this chapter carefully, you will see that even the death of Lazarus was provided by God. In His sovereignty, God prepared the environment which allowed Jesus’ follower to die. God’s sovereignty provided such a death situation in order to unfold Christ’s resurrection power. Without death there is no way to express resurrection. Resurrection needs death. How could resurrection be manifested without it? We need to praise the Lord for the death of Lazarus. If Martha and Mary had seen that resurrection can never be manifested without death, they would have praised the Lord when they saw their brother dying. They would have known that this death would manifest the Lord’s resurrection. In such a case, there would have been no human opinion.

We may apply this to situations in the local church. There is always someone dying in the local church. Someone or something is always dying. Whenever the responsible ones see such a death situation, they are troubled and say to the Lord, “O Lord, isn’t this Your church? Don’t You love the church? Don’t You know that something in the church is dying? Lord, come quickly.” This is a good prayer, but it is a prayer according to human opinion. The more you pray like this, the more the Lord will stay away. He will delay His coming in order to exhaust the human opinion.

When I first saw the light in this chapter, I was laughing. I had never seen how many opinions there were in this chapter. Surely the Lord knew that Lazarus was sick and He knew exactly how to handle the situation, even if they had not sent any news to Him. However, they sent the news to Him, but He was not moved by it. Sometimes it is very difficult to move the Lord. In a prayer meeting you may say, “Lord, we move Your hand,” but the more you try to move His hand, the more His hand refuses to be moved. The Lord will never be moved according to your opinion. When He heard the news, His heart was hard and unmoved. He remained where He was for another two days.

A. The Disciples’ Opinion

In 11:8-16 we see the disciples’ opinion. When the news came about Lazarus’ sickness, the Lord’s heart was not moved. The disciples must have been puzzled and perplexed. You can imagine how disappointed the disciples were. After two days, the Lord suddenly expressed the desire to see Lazarus. He said, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going that I may awaken him out of sleep” (11:11). The disciples immediately said to Him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover” (11:12). Here we see the disciples’ human opinion. When the Lord did not want to go, they were puzzled, and when the Lord was about to go, they thought that it was not necessary to go. Once the Lord expressed His desire to go and see Lazarus, all of the disciples expressed their opinions. They told the Lord that it was dangerous to go because the Jews sought to stone Him (11:8). This is human opinion, which always contradicts the Lord’s will. However, once the Lord made up His mind that He was going to see Lazarus, no one could change it. Eventually, the disciples agreed to go, but with a martyr’s attitude fearing the Jews’ persecution, for one of them said, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him” (11:16). Many times in every local church the situation is exactly like this. There are plenty of opinions.

B. Martha’s Opinion

When the Lord came, Martha was the first one to meet Him (11:20). But before the Lord could say anything, Martha opened her mouth and gave forth another opinion: “Lord, if You were here, my brother would not have died” (11:21). She was complaining that the Lord had come too late. The Lord said to her, “Your brother shall rise again” (11:23). This means that the Lord would raise him immediately. However, Martha said, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection in the last day” (11:24). Martha expounded this word of the Lord so as to postpone the present resurrection to the last day. What an expounding of the divine word! What devastating knowledge of fundamental teaching that frustrates people from enjoying the Lord’s present resurrection life! Then the Lord Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me, even if he should die, shall live; and every one who lives and believes in Me shall by no means die forever” (11:25-26). The Lord seemed to be telling her, “It is not a matter of time. There is no problem of time with Me. Nothing is too late, and nothing is too early. As long as I am here, everything will be all right, for I will raise up your brother.” Then the Lord asked Martha, “Do you believe this?” Martha replied, “Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world” (11:27). What she answered absolutely was not what the Lord asked. She was not clear about what the Lord was saying. Her old, preoccupying knowledge prevented her from understanding the Lord’s new word.

Martha is like many Christians today who have a great deal of knowledge and doctrine. Martha said, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection in the last day.” This sounds quite scriptural and correct. Then the Lord asked her if she believed that He would raise Lazarus up, and she said, “I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God.” She believed in a certain kind of doctrine that the Lord is the Christ and the Son of God. She believed in the doctrine that the Lord will raise up all of the dead saints in the last day. She had all the knowledge, but it was not the living knowledge that the Lord taught. All of her different opinions were due to the fact that she had all the knowledge. Today, many Christians have opinions because they have so many teachings. When someone talks with them about the inner life, they immediately begin to share their opinions. Too much knowledge and too many doctrines breed endless opinions.

After Martha said that she believed the Lord to be the Christ, the Son of God, she went away and called her sister Mary. Martha said, “The Teacher is here and is calling you” (11:28). However, I cannot find a word saying that the Lord had called for Mary. That was Martha’s suggestion. It was her self-assuming opinion. Again we see in Martha a person who was so full of her own opinions. She was so active in her opinion that she could never be silent. Perhaps you also love the Lord very much, but, like Martha, you cannot be silent.

C. Mary’s Opinion

Mary came to the Lord at Martha’s word. She reiterated what Martha first told the Lord: “Lord, if You were here, my brother would not have died” (11:32). This also is an opinion, a complaint against the Lord.

The Lord never argued; neither did He accept their opinion. They simply did not understand that as long as the Lord was present everything would be all right. They could not realize this, for they were very sorrowful and even weeping. For this reason, the Lord groaned in His spirit and was troubled (11:33). He did not groan over the death of Lazarus, but over the fact that not one of the sorrowful ones knew that He was the present resurrection, and He was troubled by this. Then the Lord asked them where they had put Lazarus. They said to Him, “Lord, come and see” (11:34). This answer was very good. That opinion was the best. When the church has a problem, do not talk so much. Simply say, “Lord, come and see.” At this juncture, the Lord wept in sympathy with their sorrow over Lazarus’s death.

D. The Jews’ Opinion

In 11:36-38 we see the Jews’ opinion. They thought that the Lord wept (11:35) because He loved Lazarus. But some questioned why the Lord could not have kept Lazarus from dying. Those opinions plus the Jews’ ignorance of the Lord’s ability to raise Lazarus from the dead caused the Lord to groan again.

E. Martha’s Opinion Again

When the Lord came to the tomb, He told them to take away the stone. Once again, Martha frustrated the Lord with her opinion. She said, “Lord, by now he smells, for it is the fourth day that he has been there” (11:39). She felt that there was no use in moving the stone. In this chapter there is nothing religious, but there are many opinions standing in the Lord’s way. Although the Lord is life to the people in the church, He meets a great number of human opinions from the people in the church. It is just like His meeting the opinions of the disciples, Martha and Mary, and their Jewish friends.

F. Opinions Belonging to
the Tree of Knowledge vs. the Tree of Life

All opinions come out of man’s mind. So they all belong to the tree of knowledge, which is versus the tree of life. The tree of life is actually the Lord Himself for our enjoyment. When we stay with our opinions, we are kept away from the enjoyment of the Lord as our resurrection life. When our opinions are subdued, it is easy for us to enter into the full enjoyment of the Lord Himself.

III. LIFE’S RESURRECTING

A. Giving Life to the Dead

The Lord as resurrection gives life to the dead. He is the resurrection and the life. In resurrection, this life is imparted into the dead to raise them up from death. This is life’s resurrecting.

B. Needing Man’s Submission and Cooperation

We must see one point here. The point is that the Lord was able to raise up Lazarus from death. However, He could not do anything because He was continually frustrated by human opinions. He was frustrated by those opinions until the time came when they were subdued. Eventually, Martha was subdued with a certain amount of submission. The Lord has the resurrection life, the resurrection power, but it needs our cooperation. It needs our submission. What is our submission? It is simply the giving up of our opinion. You must forsake your opinion and allow the Lord to speak. When He tells us, “Move this stone,” we should simply move it. We must submit, cooperate, and coordinate with Him. We need to submit to His word, cooperate with Him, and coordinate with the resurrection power. Why did the Lord, who was able to raise the dead, not remove the stone by Himself? Because His resurrection power requires our cooperation. Once they had removed the stone, the Lord cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” (11:41-43), and Lazarus was raised from the dead. He heard the voice of the living Lord, was quickened, and was raised from the dead. After Lazarus came out of the tomb, there was still the need for human cooperation. Lazarus’s hands and feet were bound with the burial clothes and his face was bound about with a handkerchief. Therefore Jesus said to them, “Loose him and let him go” (11:44). They had to remove the bandages from the resurrected Lazarus. They did it and the work of resurrection was completed.

We too must work by cooperating with the Lord to release others from the bondage of their bandages. When the Lord raises up people from their death in the church, we need to cooperate with Him in order to release them from their earthly bondage. By this kind of cooperation the church becomes the testimony of the Lord as life. The Lord could have moved the stone from the cave and He could have removed the bandages from Lazarus, but He did not do it. He would rather ask us to cooperate with Him. However, before we can cooperate with Him, we must first give up our opinions and act according to His will. In the church life, we must drop our opinions, submit to the Lord’s word and work, and cooperate with His resurrection power.

This is a serious lesson that everyone in the local churches must learn. Especially the Marthas and the Marys—the leading ones, the responsible ones—must learn to drop their opinions, submit themselves and their opinions to the Lord, and cooperate with Him and with His resurrection power. If in any local church the leaders drop their opinions, submitting them to the Lord’s word, and cooperate with the Lord’s resurrection power, that church will see resurrection life. This is a part of the major revelation of this chapter which is the submission of human opinions and the cooperation of the lovers of the Lord with His resurrection power. The Lord today is still waiting for an opportunity to express His resurrection power, but it is difficult for Him to obtain the submission, cooperation, and coordination. As leaders in the local churches, we may be busy praying and asking the Lord to do things according to our opinion. We have to drop our opinions, submit every opinion for His consideration, and cooperate with Him. When He asks you to remove the stone, remove it. When He tells you to do a certain thing, do it. Then you will see resurrection life. You will see resurrection power. This is a part of the revelation of John 11. Most people have seen only the story of Lazarus being raised up from the dead. They have not seen the revelation in this chapter, which is that outside of religion, in the local churches, the frustration to Christ as life comes from our human opinions.

C. The Actual Changing of Death into Life

To resurrect the dead actually is to change death into life. The significance of this case is the same as that of the sign of changing water into wine. As Mary’s opinion in that sign frustrated the Lord’s changing of water into wine, so Martha’s opinion in this case frustrated the Lord’s resurrection power. Once Mary’s opinion was subdued, the Lord’s changing power was manifested. When Martha’s opinion was subdued, the Lord’s resurrection power prevailed.

LIFE-STUDY OF JOHN

MESSAGE TWENTY-FOUR

THE NEED OF THE DEAD—LIFE’S RESURRECTING

(2)

By considering the signs in the Gospel of John, we can realize that the Lord firstly comes to us as life. The first category of hindrances that He met was the Judaistic religion, and the second category was that of the human opinions held by those who loved Him. The hindrance of human opinions is exactly the same today in His church. Countless opinions of those who love the Lord the most hinder the Lord from being resurrection life in the church. Outside the church, it is religion that prevents the Lord from being life. But inside the church, it is the endless opinions that hamper Him from being our life.

These nine cases are very meaningful because they show that the Lord as life starts with regeneration and ends with resurrection. All of these cases are signs signifying that the Lord comes to us as life in several different aspects. The experience of the Lord as our life begins with regeneration and reaches the climax with resurrection.

The Lord Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life” (11:25). Resurrection is superior to life. By itself, life can only have existence, but resurrection can withstand any kind of attack, even the attack of death. The Lord is not only life, but He is also resurrection. Death cannot hold Him because He can conquer death. Death cannot retain Him, because He is not only life—He is also resurrection. Life is the power to exist, but resurrection is the power to conquer everything that is against life. Therefore, because resurrection can defeat every attack against life, it is superior to life.

According to the Scriptures, death is a great power. When death comes upon a man, he cannot escape it. Not even atomic power can overcome death. Only the Lord Himself as resurrection can defeat death. He can deliver all of the dead persons from death because He is not only life but also resurrection. Since He is the resurrection, He can break the power of death. Even Hades is unable to confine our Lord to the tomb.

We must learn how to apply this resurrection life day by day. We must not only live by the Lord as life, but we must also conquer by the Lord as resurrection. Many times our circumstances affect us like death. But praise the Lord that all matters which contain the touch of death are a test because these matters prove whether or not the Lord is the resurrection. Nothing can confine us, for we have the Lord as our resurrection life. Regardless of the pressure or trouble we are bearing, we can stand it because we have resurrection life. According to 11:25, the Lord did not say that we will not die, but that we will prove to the whole universe that the Lord in whom we believe is the resurrection! Satan will try his best to put us permanently into death. One day, though we all may die, we will all be resurrected. Throughout the whole universe this will be the greatest victory, the victory that will testify that the Lord is the resurrection. However, even in our daily life we may have the foretaste of the ultimate victory of that resurrection. This is why the Apostle Paul said, “To know Him and the power of His resurrection” (Phil. 3:10).

The human opinion is always in the way of experiencing the Lord as the resurrection life in the church. Therefore, human opinion must be given up before it is possible to have the church life. How we need to learn the lesson of being silent in the church instead of voicing our opinion! We must be even more quiet than Mary. We should not say a word. We should simply send a message to the Lord—that is all. Then Lazarus will be saved. Whether the Lord answers or not and whether He comes or not, we are simply quiet. We just leave the matter completely in the hands of the Lord. Then we will never be wrong and He will never be late. When He comes, we must not say a word. We should just let Him speak and give Him the opportunity to do whatever He wants. We should simply be available to cooperate with Him. This is the proper way to have the church life. If we do this, we shall experience Christ as the resurrection life.

This chapter in John is very meaningful when it is related to the church life. The Lord is the One who comes to the church as the resurrection life, but there are two categories of hindrances. One is religion and the other is human opinion. Even Christianity as a religion is absolutely a hindrance to the Lord’s purpose of bringing life. Today, there are many so-called free groups of Christians who have given up Christianity as a religion. They have come out of the denominations and other Christian organizations. Nevertheless, how endless are the human opinions among these free groups! Although there may be nothing like religion among them, yet how much their human opinions stand in the Lord’s way! Therefore, we must learn the lesson of not only giving up the Christian religion but also of forsaking our own opinions. Then we will afford the Lord a free course to be life in our midst. Once the Lord can express Himself, then the Lord will have a living church. Let us remember that religion and opinion are the two main categories of frustration to the flow of the Lord as our life.

Before going further into this last case, we must discover a principle. In chapter two we saw that the first sign was that of changing the water into wine. The second sign, in chapter four, was that of making the dying son of the royal official live. We have mentioned several times that the intention of the Holy Spirit throughout this gospel is simply to make the Lord Jesus to be the life to meet all of our needs. These two signs in chapters two and four reveal the principle of life out of death. In all nine cases there is the principle of life in the realm of resurrection to meet every human need. Now we can understand why the changing of water into wine was the “beginning of signs.” It contains the all-important principle of bringing life out of death. This is the basic principle in all of the nine cases. In every case there is nothing but water, which signifies death. All that we are and all that we have is nothing but the water of death. In other words, we are nothing more than the water of death and we have nothing other than the water of death.

If you consider the condition of the people in each case, you will discover that in every case they had nothing but death. Look at the man named Nicodemus. He had nothing but the water of death. Look at the Samaritan woman. Her thirst meant that she was under the threatening of death. Look at the dying son of the royal official. He was under the cruelty of death. Look at the man who was sick for thirty-eight years. What did he have? Death. Look at the multitude before they were fed by the Lord. They were hungry because they had nothing other than the water of death. Look at the thirsty religionists. The vanity with which their feast ended also spoke of death. Look at the sinful woman who was brought to the Lord by the Pharisees. She also had only the water of death. Spiritually speaking, even the blind man had only death. And Lazarus reeked of death. All the people involved in these nine cases had nothing but the water of death. According to the second chapter, the six waterpots, a type of humanity, were filled to the brim with the water of death. Likewise, every person in every case was filled with death. Death is revealed in every case.

However, the Lord came into these situations of death in order to be life in the principle of resurrection. He turned the death of each situation into life and brought life out of death.

Let us apply this principle of life in resurrection to all of the cases. Firstly, the Lord spoke with Nicodemus about regeneration. Do you know what is the principle of regeneration? Regeneration simply means that the Lord has come to be our life in resurrection. How can the Lord regenerate people or cause them to be born anew? Simply by being their life in the principle of resurrection.

In the case of the Samaritan woman, the Lord spoke with her about the satisfaction of the living water. How can a poor sinner be satisfied with the living water? Only by the principle of life in resurrection. When the Lord comes into us as life in resurrection, we shall then have the living water which satisfies us.

In principle, the healing of the dying son of the royal official also meant that life was imparted to him. For the healing of the death wound there was the need for the imparting of life in resurrection.

What happened to the impotent man who was sick for thirty-eight years? Again the principle is the same, for the Lord came to him as the enlivening life in resurrection. Because the Lord came to be his life in resurrection, the Lord became the enlivening power to make him strong.

In the case of the hungry multitude, the Lord came as their bread of life. If the Lord had not died and been resurrected, He could never be our living bread. Since He has died by being slain on the cross and has been raised in the power of resurrection life, He can feed and satisfy us with the living bread. We can be fed by and with Him. This also is the principle of life in resurrection.

In the case of the thirsty people in chapter seven, the Lord was the living water to quench their thirst. How can the Lord be our living water? John 7 clearly tells us that after the Lord was glorified the life-giving Spirit became the living water. What does it mean for the Lord to be glorified? It simply means that the Lord was to be crucified and resurrected. In His resurrection the Lord has become the living water which quenches our thirst.

In the case of the sinful woman, the Lord set her free from the bondage and slavery of sin. The Lord died to be the living, great I Am to sinners. The Lord strengthens and energizes us with His life in resurrection, which frees us from the bondage of sin. Without His life in resurrection, we could never be freed from the slavery of sin.

The case of the man born blind also reveals the principle of life in resurrection. How was it possible for the Lord to give him sight and the light of life? Chapter ten, which continues the case in chapter nine, says that the Lord, as the good shepherd, had to die in order to give His divine life to His sheep. The Lord had to die and become the resurrection life in the Spirit. Now He comes to us on the basis of life in resurrection.

Of course, it is clearly evident that the last case, the raising of Lazarus from the dead, is based upon Christ as life in the realm of resurrection. The first sign, the second sign, and now the last case reveal the intention and principle of the Gospel of John: that of life through the resurrection of the dead.

Why was it that the Lord waited for two days instead of going immediately upon receiving the news of Lazarus’ sickness? Strictly speaking, the Lord waited for two days because He would not only heal people; rather, He would enliven us. The Lord never heals according to our understanding; He heals by enlivening. Can you find the term “healing” in chapter five about the impotent man who was sick for thirty-eight years? Was that man actually sick in the eyes of the Lord? No, in the eyes of the Lord that man was dead. The Lord did not heal his sickness; He enlivened that dead man. Therefore, the principle of life through resurrection is that the Lord always enlivens the dead.

Do you think that the Lord wants to heal you? The Lord wants to enliven you. According to the old concept, healing means to reform or to improve you. But the Lord never comes to improve you or to regulate your behavior. He always comes to enliven you. The Lord’s only intention is to impart Himself to you as the enlivening life.

For this reason the Lord refused to go to Lazarus immediately to heal him of his sickness. He waited until Lazarus was thoroughly dead and buried. He waited until Lazarus’ human life had come to an absolute end. Lazarus was so completely dead that he was stinking in the tomb. It was at this time that the Lord came. He did not come before this time because He refused to come on the principle of healing. He came only on the principle of life in resurrection.

Consider the example of a religious brother who discovers that he has a bad temper. We may say that he is sick with a bad temper. Consider also the case of a little boy who, after he is saved, discovers that he is quite naughty. He also is a sick person; he is sick with his mischievous behavior. Another believer may discover that he jokes too much and that he is sick with his joking. All of these sick people, after discovering their sickness, send the information about their sickness to the Lord. Just like Martha who said that Lazarus was sick, they also say that they are sick of a bad temper, of bad behavior, or of joking. They want the Lord to heal them by improving their temper so that it will be a good temper, by reforming their bad behavior so that it will be a good behavior, and by adjusting their joking. The brother who wants his joking adjusted prays, “O Lord, keep my mouth!” In other words, these people are sick and are asking the Lord to heal them. But the Lord will never come to heal you. The more you pray for the healing of your temper, the worse your temper will be. The Lord will never come to heal, but He waits...waits...waits...until you are dead. He will not answer your prayer for healing, but He will wait until your sickness turns into death. He will wait until you realize that you are not only sick but that you are also dead. The Lord will wait until you tell Him that you are a hopeless case, until you give up all hope for yourself.

Do you still hope for some improvement? Are you really disappointed with yourself? I am afraid that each of you still possesses some hope for yourself. Many times you are like both Martha and Lazarus. On one hand, you are the sick Lazarus; on the other hand, you are the Martha informing the Lord. You inform the Lord about your sickness with the hope that He will come to improve your condition. But we all can testify that the Lord will never come to answer this kind of prayer. The more you seek for improvement, the more He stays away.

One day you will finally realize that you are an absolutely hopeless case. You will discover that you are a vessel containing nothing but the water of death. Everything is full of death; nothing is living. You are just one of those six waterpots full of death water. When you realize that you are absolutely in death, having nothing except the water of death within you, then the Lord will come to enliven you. When you awake to the fact that you are dead, buried, and even stinking with bad odors, the Lord will then come to enliven you. How often we try to be better and to improve ourselves! But the Lord will just wait until you stink and even spread the bad odors to others. The Lord will wait until others smell your stinking odors. Then He will come to you in the principle of life in resurrection to enliven you.

Christianity acts contrary to this principle, for it is a religion that tries to improve people, reform them, and regulate their behavior. But Christ is life and He comes to enliven people with that life. He comes to regenerate and resurrect them with Himself as life. What does it mean to improve, reform, or to regulate one’s behavior? It simply means to make the original man better by the means of the original self. But Christ comes to regenerate and remake us with Himself. The Lord would not heal the original man; He waits until the original man is dead. Therefore, when you are so full of the water of death that you stink with the odor of death, then the Lord will come to re-create you and resurrect you out of that death into Himself as life in resurrection.

The principle of the Gospel of John is Christ as life in resurrection. The intention of this gospel is not to improve or reform us by regulating our behavior. The Lord’s only intention is to bring life into us. This life will enliven, regenerate, resurrect, and recreate us. If we can apprehend the principle of this gospel, our thirst will be quenched, our hunger satisfied, our darkness enlightened, our bondage in sin broken, and our death swallowed up by resurrection—all by experiencing Christ as our resurrection life in the Spirit and through the Word. We can never experience the living Christ by anything of ourselves or by any of our doings. The living Christ is only experienced in the Spirit and through the Word. The Spirit and the Word will bring us into the principle of life in resurrection. If we take Him in the Spirit and through the Word, we shall then be satisfied, enlightened, freed, and resurrected. When we are resurrected from the dead, we are delivered from all aspects of death. Nothing can suppress us, nothing can restrict us, and nothing can imprison us because we are living in resurrection.

IV. THE CONSPIRACY OF RELIGION AND
THE GATHERING OF GOD’S CHILDREN

The Lord raised up the dead only among those who loved Him dearly. This is typical of His church today, for He is the resurrection life only to the group of believers who dearly love Him. However, as the information about His resurrection power is brought to the religious groups, such as Judaism, it will cause a reaction. The religious groups will simply become angry with the Lord and even make the decision to arrest Him and put Him to death. Judaism in chapter eleven implies that even the Christian religion of today is very much against the Lord’s desire to bring resurrection life to others. In many cases, the Christian religion has driven out the Lord as life. In these last days, the Lord is more and more with those groups of persons who love Him dearly. As a result, He will do many things to raise people out of their death. But this information will spread to the religious groups who will be angry and will be against Christ as the resurrection life.

It is remarkable that the time of Lazarus’s resurrection coincided with the time of the Passover. According to the Scriptures, we know that Christ is our Passover (1 Cor. 5:7), but those religious folks were going to have another Passover. By keeping their own Passover, the religious people killed the reality of the Passover. In other words, Christ as the real Passover is the reality of the Passover. On one hand, the religious people wanted to keep the Passover; on the other hand, they wanted to eliminate the reality of the Passover. Today this principle is exactly the same in Christianity. Although Christianity has so much to do with Christ, it puts away the reality of Christ. It preaches about Christ on the one hand, but destroys the reality of Christ on the other.

A. Religion’s Conspiracy Fulfilling God’s Purpose

We have seen that the death situation provided by God enabled Christ to manifest His resurrection power and that this resurrection power issues in the raising up of the dead one. But this raising of Lazarus caused some trouble. The news of it spread to the Pharisees, and the Pharisees, after hearing of it, considered the situation as very serious. Thus, they conspired to kill Jesus (11:45-57). As the Pharisees were conspiring against the Lord Jesus, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke prophetically, saying, “You know nothing at all, nor do you account that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not the whole nation perish” (11:49-50). The following verse says, “Now this he did not say from himself, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was about to die for the nation; and not for the nation only, but that He might also gather into one the children of God who have been scattered abroad” (11:51-52). The phrase “gather into one the children of God” mentioned here implies that not only the death but also the resurrection life of the Lord is for the building up of God’s children. What does all this mean? It simply means that the resurrection life will raise up a situation through which God’s scattered people may be gathered together in order to be built up for God’s dwelling on earth. Religion’s conspiracy helps in the fulfillment of God’s purpose.

B. The Gathering of God’s Children through
the Death and Resurrection Life of the Lord

I say once again that the death of Lazarus was provided by God as an opportunity for resurrection life to be manifested. Resurrection life needs death in order that resurrection life and power might be expressed. This manifestation of resurrection power caused a reaction among the opposers, who then conspired to kill the Lord Jesus. As part of their consideration, a prophecy was uttered. This indicates that the conspiracy among the opposing religion actually serves to fulfill God’s purpose. It helps to gather all the scattered people of God for God’s building. Therefore, never be disappointed by the situation in your local church. If there is a difficult situation in your church, praise God for it. It must be His provision. He will do something and then the opposition of religion will be stirred up. The opposers may even try to kill you. But do not be troubled. That very conspiracy will be used by God to gather His scattered people together for His building.

I want to impress you with the fact that as long as we are in the Lord’s recovery and as long as we have the resurrection of Christ, regardless of the situation among us or the conspiracy in the environment against us, God’s eternal purpose will eventually be fulfilled. There will be a gathering of God’s scattered people for God’s building. All the negative things—the death and the opposition—will be the servants of God’s eternal purpose. They will further the fulfillment, the accomplishment, of God’s purpose. We are on the mountaintop, and the flood waters are under our feet. Do not be troubled. As long as you are in the local church, as long as you have Christ as your resurrection power, and as long as you are in this flow and have this testimony, you may be at peace regardless of the death condition inwardly or the opposition outwardly. The opposition of religion, the conspiracy that plans to kill or terminate you, will carry out God’s eternal purpose.

This is the revelation in this chapter. John 11 is not merely a story of resurrection. It is a complete revelation that discloses that as long as we are with the Lord and with the resurrection life for God’s purpose, everything that transpires is for the fulfillment of His purpose. Thus we may say, “Lord, if You want to give us a death situation, please do it. We are happy with it. Let some Lazarus brothers die. Then Your resurrection power will be manifested. You will do a work in resurrection that will arouse the opposition, and that opposition will gather together the scattered children of God for God’s building.” These things are happening in this country. Praise the Lord! Praise Him for His resurrecting power. Praise the Lord for His sovereign gathering. He is raising the dead and He is gathering His people together for His wonderful building!

LIFE-STUDY OF JOHN

MESSAGE TWENTY-FIVE

LIFE’S ISSUE AND MULTIPLICATION

(1)

In this message we come to another major subsection in the Gospel of John. We have seen that this Gospel is composed of two sections: the eternal Word incarnated coming to bring God into man (chs. 1—13), and Jesus crucified and Christ resurrected going to prepare the way to bring man into God, and as the Spirit coming to abide and live in the believers for the building of God’s habitation (chs. 14—21). We have already covered the first three subsections of the first main section: an introduction to life and building (1:1-51); life’s principle and life’s purpose (2:1-22); and life meeting the need of man’s every case (2:23—11:57). The principle of life is to change death into life (2:1-11), and the purpose of life is to build the house of God (2:12-22). Beginning with chapter three, we see nine cases which illustrate how Christ as life can meet mankind’s every need for the fulfillment of God’s purpose. This brings us to the end of chapter eleven. After this, in chapter twelve, this Gospel reveals the issue of Christ being life to man: the producing of the church. The church, a house of feasting, is the place where the Lord can rest and obtain His satisfaction. The issue of Christ being life to man is the church. What then is life’s multiplication? In chapter twelve we see a small church. It is small in number, in size, and in the growth of life. How can this church be multiplied? It is by the multiplication of life. The issue of life is to produce the church, and the multiplication of life is to increase the church in size, in number, and in the growth of life.

I. LIFE’S ISSUE

Chapter twelve stands alone. It is not the continuation of the nine foregoing cases; it is the conclusion of all of them. The conclusion of the nine cases is that Christ as life issues in the church. In 12:1-11 we see life’s issue, which is the church.

A. A House of Feasting

In chapter eleven the Lord raised Lazarus from the dead. That resurrection issued in the church life. We all were dead persons. Then the Lord came in to resurrect us. After He resurrected us, we became the church. Thus, in chapter eleven we see Lazarus resurrected and in chapter twelve we see that the resurrected person becomes the very place where the Lord can find rest and satisfaction. This is the church. Now we need to consider the church as the house of feasting.

1. Outside of Religion

This house of feasting is outside of religion. It was not in Jerusalem, the holy city, or in the holy temple. It was in a little house in Bethany, outside of Jerusalem and outside of religion.

The Lord being life to people to meet all of their needs brought about His rejection by the Jewish religion. Judaism could not tolerate seeing the Lord being life to so many kinds of people. So the religious ones rejected the Lord as life. This rejection began in chapter five (vv. 16, 18) and reached its climax in chapter ten (vv. 31, 39). In chapter eleven the Jewish religionists even held a council on how to put the Lord to death because He had raised Lazarus from the dead (11:53, 57). The Jewish leaders also plotted to put Lazarus to death for the same reason (12:10). This shows how much religion is against the Lord as life. It not only persecuted the Lord, but also tried to destroy those who participated in the Lord as life. Religion always renounces and rejects the Lord as life.

As we study the Gospel of John, we must see the difference between religion and Christ as life. The Lord Jesus came to earth in His incarnation not to be a religious leader but to come into man and to be man’s life. From the first case of regeneration in chapter three to the last case of resurrection in chapter eleven, all that the Lord did was to present Himself as life to people outside of the Jewish religion. If we look at religion, including Christianity, from a viewpoint other than that of life, we shall be easily cheated and misled, for religion teaches people how to know God and worship Him. It even teaches the Bible. It seems that there is nothing bad about it. However, if the Lord has mercy on us and if His Spirit opens our eyes, we shall see that what God is doing in the universe is not merely to make people worship Him or serve Him. In this age God’s desire and intention is to come into man in the Son, by His Spirit, and through His Word to be man’s life that man might live by Him. This is absolutely different from religion and altogether contrary to the religious concept.

When the Lord came as life to man, He was rejected by the Jewish religion. Throughout all the succeeding centuries, He has been continually rejected by religion. Whether that religion is Catholicism or Protestantism, as long as it is a religion it will not and cannot purely take the Lord as life. In this matter of taking the Lord as life, both the religion of Catholicism and the religion of Protestantism have been great frustrations to people, just as the religion of Judaism was in the Lord’s time and still is today. Therefore, we must be aware and alert concerning any kind of religion. If not, we might be led astray.

2. A Place for Feasting, Rest, and Satisfaction
for the Lord and His Believers

The rejection of the Lord by Judaism was a negative issue. But there was also a positive issue brought forth by the Lord’s being life to people—a home for Him in His rejection, a place where He could rest, feast, dwell, and be satisfied. In chapter twelve we see that the Lord has come out and has hidden Himself from the religion that rejected Him and has come into a home of His Jewish believers in Bethany. By making Himself the resurrection life to His believers, He found a home. This home may be considered a shadow of His church. On the one hand, He was rejected by Judaism and gave it up; on the other hand, He obtained a home where He could stay and rest. He had a place where He could feast and be satisfied. Formerly, the Lord had “nowhere that He may lay His head” (Matt. 8:20). But now, after raising Lazarus from the dead, He obtained a place for resting and feasting. After the Jewish religion had rejected Him, He was no longer willing to stay in Jerusalem. He always went away to stay in Bethany (Matt. 21:17-18). There He could not only stay and rest but also feast and be satisfied. This spiritually signifies that He was absolutely separated from the Jewish religion of the Old Testament and was and still is dwelling in the church as His home wherein He can rest, feast, and be satisfied.

Although there was nothing outwardly attractive about that little house, inwardly it was filled with feasting, resting, and satisfaction. Not only the Lord Jesus was feasting and resting, but so was everyone else who was there. It must be this way in the church life. When you look at the church life outwardly, nothing is attractive. Neither the building nor the chairs nor anything may seem to be very good. Outwardly, everything may be poor; inwardly, however, everything is precious, sweet, and dear. We have the sweet sensation that we are with the Lord and that the Lord is with us. He is feasting with us and we are feasting with Him. Both He and we are resting. Everyone is at rest and everyone is satisfied. This is the church life.

B. A Miniature of the Church Life

1. Produced by the Resurrection Life

Let us now consider several points concerning the miniature of the church life found in John 12. Firstly, it was produced by resurrection life. Lazarus was present as a sign that the church is produced by resurrection life. The church does not come into being by man’s organization, man’s wisdom, man’s work, or man’s teaching. It comes into being by resurrection life.

Bethany was the place where the Lord accomplished His last sign—the raising of Lazarus from the dead. Therefore, Bethany is the place where the Lord raised up the dead. The believers there issued from the Lord’s resurrection life. This is exactly where the church is—in the place of resurrection where the Lord as resurrection life raises people from the dead. Originally, we were dead, for we were dead in sins (Col. 2:13). But the Lord has raised us up from the dead; He has quickened and regenerated us. The issue of this is that we who have shared in His resurrection life have become the church. The church is the produce of the Lord’s resurrection life. In the natural life there is no church. The church can come into being only through the Lord’s resurrection life. Such a church in resurrection life is the place where the Lord can find rest and satisfaction with us and where we can feast with the Lord.

2. Composed of Cleansed Sinners

The church is composed of cleansed sinners as represented by Simon the leper (Mark 14:3). When I was young, I thought that the house there in Bethany where they were feasting with the Lord was the home of Lazarus. Eventually I learned that it was not the home of Lazarus, but the house of a leper who must have been healed by the Lord. According to Mark 14:3 the feast mentioned in John 12:2 was prepared for the Lord in the house of a leper named Simon. The house of Simon, a cleansed leper, became the meeting place of the church. This is very meaningful. On the one hand, we all were dead; on the other hand, we all were lepers. Originally, the members of the church were both dead and leprous (sinful) people. In a sense we, like Lazarus, were dead and have been resurrected. In another sense we, like Simon, were contaminated lepers and have been cleansed. Hallelujah, the Lord has raised us from the dead and cleansed us from our leprosy, our sins! Now where we are becomes the meeting place of the church.

It is very strange that the place where the feast was prepared for the Lord was in the home of Simon the leper, yet John 12 is silent about Simon’s doing anything. The feast was prepared in Simon’s house, but everything was done by two sisters and one brother. In Bethany, in the house of a leper, everything was done by Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. Although the church is the place where the Lord quickens and regenerates the dead and cleanses the lepers, the service in the church is not done by the lepers. This is the meaning behind the fact that Simon was absent from serving in John 12.

3. Outwardly Poor and Afflicted

Bethany means house of the poor or house of affliction. Outwardly, the church may be poor and afflicted. The church on earth may not be rich in material things; it should be rich with the enjoyment of the Lord in His presence. The outward people will always look down on the church, saying that it is poor and full of affliction. They do not have a spirit to realize how rich we are in the enjoyment of all that the Lord is to us.

4. Inwardly Feasting in and with
the Presence of the Lord

Inwardly, the church life is a life of feasting in and with the presence of the Lord (12:2). The Lord came to that house and His presence was there. In the church life, the first thing we need is the Lord’s presence. We must be a people in such a position and with such a condition that the Lord can come and be with us. His presence means very much to the church life. The church life is a life that absolutely depends upon the Lord’s presence. Without the Lord’s presence, the church life is empty.

Inwardly, the church life is a feast. In the church life there should always be a feast that the Lord Himself can enjoy and that His people can enjoy with Him. It is in the church that the Lord has rest, enjoyment, and satisfaction. Here there is always a feast prepared for the Lord and His people. Not only the Lord Himself enjoys it, but all the people who are with Him enjoy it as well. The church is a place where the Lord Himself can enjoy being with His people and where His people can enjoy being with Him. The church is a place where the Lord and His people come together to feast with one another and to enjoy one another.

No outsiders can understand this. No outsiders know what we are doing in the church life. More than twenty years ago, when I was still in Taipei, a Danish lady missionary came to have a long talk with me, asking about the church. She was attracted to the church but still had some problems due to the rumors. I said to her, “Sister, even if I would talk to you for days, you still could not understand what we are doing here. The best way and the only way for you to understand what we are doing is to come here and stay for two and a half years. Within this period of time, do not visit any other place and do not do any work. Simply stay with the sisters day and night and attend every meeting. You must attend all the meetings—big meetings, small meetings, home meetings, and hall meetings. Don’t miss one meeting. In addition, you must read all the books that we have put out, more than two hundred . . . 

Love Always and God Bless Y'all, 

Pastor Stephanie XoXoxoxoxo

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