Synopsis of Sermon 04.07.24

Delivered by Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III

John 12: 9-11 NKJV
9 Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead. 10 But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, 11 because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.

    I.          INTRODUCTION

1. You will discover that everyone is not excited about what you are doing in your life. It can be disheartening for some people.
2. Some people have seen you bounce back from attacks, and we have learned that where there are celebrators, there are also haters. Some people don’t want to see you survive. They feel in some way that your presence minimizes who they are. This is a true form of a hater.
3. There is a biblical backdrop for haters. One of the first haters is found in 1 Samuel 18:6-9 NIV where it says, 6 When the men were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs and with timbrels and lyres. 7 As they danced, they sang: “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.” 8 Saul was very angry; this refrain displeased him greatly. “They have credited David with tens of thousands,” he thought, “but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom?” 9 And from that time on Saul kept a close eye on David. – Here we discover Saul was a hater towards David. He was angry about the song proclaiming his 1000 vs David’s 10,000. Some people don’t mind you being blessed as long as they control the blessing.
4. Understand, haters will do what they do. The question is what are you going to do? Realize that it is not about you. You can’t own the emotional intelligence of others. You have to come to a place where no matter the plots, nothing is going to prevent God’s purposes from coming to past in your life.
   1. Keep on living, keep on loving, keep on doing what God has called you do. Do like Celie did in the movie “Color Purple” and say, “I may be all of this and all of that, but thank God I’m here”.
5. John’s gospel is not part of the synoptic gospels. John approaches his gospel by focusing on the Divinity of Jesus. He starts out by saying, “In the beginning was the word and the word was with God, and the word was God. John links the name of God. God’s name was not Jehovah Jireh. This was just an expressive name of who God is. God reveals his name as “I am”. He reminds us that He is who He says He was.
6. When you read John’s gospel you see where Jesus turned the water into wine, along with other miracles. One of Jesus’ most memorable miracles was when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.
   1. They summoned Jesus saying Lazarus was sick, but Jesus delayed his arrival purposefully. When Jesus finally arrived, Lazarus had died. Mary and Martha were angry about this, explaining to Jesus that if He had been there, their brother Lazarus wouldn’t have died.
   1. Jesus asked them to show Him where they laid Lazarus. Mary and Martha tried to assure Jesus that it was too late.
   1. Jesus calls Lazarus’ name and he comes out of the tomb with his burial clothes still on!
7. John’s gospel shows the religious leaders have a problem with Jesus. When they are against Jesus, they were trying to kill him.
8. The religious leaders didn’t just come for Jesus, they came for Lazarus also. They knew they could kill Jesus, but they also knew that if they left Lazarus alive, the Jews were going to believe that Jesus was who He said He was. In other words, Lazarus was evidence. Many attacks you receive is because you are evidence of what God can do!

   II.               IT IS NO SECRET YOU’VE BEEN RESURRECTED

• Everyone knew Lazarus was raised from the dead. Recognize that you are evidence!

A.    There was a season they buried you and thought it was over.

1. How did Lazarus end up in the tomb?
   1. Through Sickness – Regardless of his sickness, he was a friend of Jesus. Jesus calls us friend, regardless of our sickness.
   1. God’s sovereignty – God will allow things to get worse on purpose, so when he moves, nothing will get the glory but Him.  
   1. Grace that’s saved – When the devil said it was over, God said not so.

B.    God made sure your comeback was public.

1. The funeral crowd will always be bigger than your crowd was when you were alive. The ones that buried you will be surprised. Jesus will turn the Pall Barriers in Armor Barriers.
2. If you bury me in public, you have to be present at my resurrection publicly.

III.               SOME PEOPLE WILL SHOW UP TO SEE IF IT’S REAL

• Religious Leaders came to see Jesus, but they also came to see Lazarus.

A.    You’ve got celebrators as well as spectators.

1. Sometimes you just got to celebrate the people that are authentically there for you.
2. Spectators are the ones that will not comment or clap. They’re just hanging around spectating.

B.    Your haters want to verify your miracle because it doesn’t make sense.

1. Miracles are beyond logic. It doesn’t make sense. It’s when you look at something and realize that God has already performed miracles in your life the whole time.
2. Your life doesn’t make sense, because it is beyond human comprehension. Many don’t know that they are sitting next to a miracle right now!

IV.               THE ENEMY IS SCARED OF WHAT YOU REPRESENT

• Lazarus’ presence is intimidating. The enemy is afraid, because just you showing up destroys what they said about you and God.

A.    You represent the power of God.

1. We represent the power of God. Every time someone sees you, they can’t deny the power of God.

B.    You represent what’s possible.

1. They wanted to stop Lazarus, to keep people from believing in Jesus. It is possible to have a breakdown and still end up with a breakthrough. God uses you to show us that anything is possible.

  V.               KEEP SHOWING UP REGARDLESS

• Lazarus is not bothered by the presence of the chief priest. There comes a moment where you show up and just don’t care what people say!
• When you look at people and see them being emotional about what they are going through, talk to them about some of the stuff you’ve had to endure. They tried to get Lazarus to be quiet about his miracle. They did not want him to be a witness for Jesus’ miracles.

A.     When you show up, show up with Jesus.

1. You might think I’m by myself, but I’m not by myself.
2. I’ve got:
   1. His presence – God is always with me.
   1. His protection – I’m surrounded by his protection.
   1. His promise – God won’t bring you back from dead, just to let haters kill you again.

B.    After all I’ve been through, I’m still here.

1. I give God glory that I was buried, and now I’m back. My breath is a privilege. They’re hating, but I’m still here!