Jeff Schreve - How to See the Glory of God
Summary:
Launching the church’s «Believe and See» theme for the year—drawn from John 11:40 («Did I not say to you, if you believe, you will see the glory of God?»)—the preacher contrasts worldly «seeing is believing» with God’s economy of «believing is seeing.» Using the raising of Lazarus in John 11, he outlines three requirements to experience God’s glory: view problems as opportunities for God to be glorified (as Jesus declared Lazarus’s sickness was «for the glory of God»); cling to God’s promises no matter the circumstances or timing, even when misunderstood; and obey God’s word even when it seems illogical (like removing the tomb stone despite the stench). The message calls believers to expectant faith, promising that stepping out in obedience will lead to seeing God’s miraculous power.
Introducing the Theme: Believe and See
Well, I like themes and slogans; I think they’re good for the church. So, every year we kind of think, pray, and talk through where we’re headed and what’s going on. As you know, for the last two years, we’ve talked about shine and share, and that hasn’t gone away because I believe it is our mandate from the Lord to shine for Christ and to share what the Lord has done in our lives—share our story, share His story, the gospel story. We’re supposed to do that, and that is why we are here on this earth.
But for this year, I want us to really focus on faith and growing in our faith. We’ve chosen «Believe and See» as the theme for this year. It’s based on John chapter 11, verse 40, where Jesus, at the tomb of Lazarus, said to Martha, «Did I not say to you, if you believe, you will see the glory of God?»
You know, Missouri is called the Show-Me State, and they say, «Well, show me, and I’ll believe.» We have the same saying: «Seeing is believing.» But in God’s economy, seeing is not believing; believing is seeing. If you believe, you will see the glory of God, and if you don’t, you won’t. So we want to grow in our faith in believing God and seeing Him do great, mighty, and miraculous things in us, with us, and through us. The Lord wants to do that. The Scripture makes it clear that the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. Those who believe Him will see Him at work in their lives—in their homes, in their jobs, in the church, in their marriages, in every aspect of life.
To kick off this series, «Believe and See,» we want to focus on John chapter 11, where Jesus said those words: «Did I not say to you, if you believe, you will see the glory of God?» We want to ask this question: Are you willing to do what it takes to see God’s glory?
The Story of Lazarus (John 11)
John chapter 11 sets the stage this way: «Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.» It was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. The sisters, therefore, sent to Him, saying, «Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.» He is deathly sick, as we are going to learn from the story. But when Jesus heard it, He said, «This sickness is not unto death but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified by it.» Hey, are you willing to do what it takes to see the glory of God?
In John chapter 11, we find out the requirements that are needed in order to see the glory of God.
Requirement 1: View Problems Differently—as Opportunities for God’s Glory
The first requirement: start viewing your problems in a different way. Do you want to see God show up and show out? Do you want to see God do great and mighty things in your life—not just in other people’s lives, not just for Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, not just for the people we read about in the Bible, not just for somebody you hear about in church, not just for the testimonies that you might see on television—but in your life? If you want to see Him do great things in your life, start viewing your problems in a different way.
When it comes to problems, everybody’s got them; you got them, I got them. Everybody has problems. Man who is born of woman, the Scripture says in the book of Job, is short-lived and full of trouble. We all have trouble; we all have problems. We can have problems with our finances, with our physical health, in our family, emotionally, spiritually, mentally, and relationally. We have problems everywhere, and some are little and some are big.
Well, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus all lived together; they’re siblings, and they were very close to the Lord Jesus. He would come, and no doubt they supported His ministry. They were personal friends of His. You know Jesus loves everybody, but He didn’t go to everybody’s home, per se; He would go to theirs. We read about Him having a meal in their home in Luke chapter 10. They were special to Him. So, it said, «Lazarus, Jesus whom You loved, is sick.» Mary and Martha sent the message to Jesus that Lazarus, our brother, is sick—very, very sick—and he needs You. That was obviously embedded in the message: he needs You.
So what do you do when you have a problem? What do you do when you have trouble? You do what they did: you bring your problems and your troubles to Jesus. The Bible says in Psalm 55, verse 22, «Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you.» So, we got to start bringing our problems to Jesus. You say, «Well, yeah, no kidding, you went to seminary for that. I mean, everybody knows that! How is that viewing my problems differently?» Ah, because when you bring your problems to Jesus, just like they did, then you know that your problems are opportunities in disguise. That’s what’s different.
We look at our problems and see them as this big problem: «I hate this problem! I don’t want this problem! Oh God, deliver me from this problem! Oh God, change the situation! Change the circumstances! I need You to do it now, Lord.» But Jesus said in John chapter 11, verse 4, when He heard the news, «This sickness is not unto death but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified by it.»
«Oh, this sickness! This is a bad sickness, Lord, but it’s not a bad thing because it’s not unto death. It’s for the glory of God, that the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, might be glorified by it.» Well, that’s a whole different way to look at your problem. No matter what it is, no matter how huge it is, it’s an opportunity for the Son of God to be glorified by it. You know, Paul had a big problem. He talks about it; it was his thorn in the flesh. He didn’t want it; we don’t know exactly what it was, but he did not want it. It was painful and caused him problems. Whether it was a physical situation—some have said he had problems with malaria and these terrible headaches; others have said it was his eyesight and he couldn’t see; others have said it was the persecution he experienced from the Judaizers—we’re not sure what it was.
But we know that he didn’t want it. He prayed three times, «Lord, take this thorn from me.» And the Lord said, «No.» He said, «Paul, My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.» Suddenly, when the Lord said that to Paul, the light went on in his mind, and he was like, «Wow, this is a good thing! I thought this was a bad thing, but this is a good thing.» And he said, «Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.» Start viewing your problems from a different perspective. Start seeing that your problems, no matter how great or how big they are, are just an opportunity for God to showcase His glory.
«Oh, you say, 'Well, Jeff, you don’t know my problem.'» Well, is it worse than Lazarus’s? Because he’s going to end up dying. Your problem, however big it is, is probably not as big as his problem because he’s going to die, and then he’s going to be in the tomb for four days. That’s a big, big problem. And the Lord is the one who specializes in the resurrection; He specializes in miracles.
So, that’s the very first requirement: I’m going to start to view my problems in a different way.
Requirement 2: Cling to God’s Promises No Matter What
The second requirement: start clinging to the promises of God, no matter what. Now, here’s the news: it comes to Jesus. Jesus is in Perea; Mary, Martha, and Lazarus live in Bethany, which is about two miles from Jerusalem. Jesus, in John chapter 10, had to leave Jerusalem because they were picking up stones to stone Him. Jesus said, «Why are you stoning me?» They said, «For a good work; we stone you not, but because you, being a man, make yourself out to be God.» That’s why we’re stoning you. They were going to stone Him, so He slipped away.
He didn’t go back to Judea because it was dangerous there for Jesus. So He went to Perea, probably to where John the Baptist was baptizing at one time. He was a distance from Jerusalem, but Jerusalem—like I said—is only about two miles away; Bethany is only two miles from Jerusalem, and Bethany was where Lazarus was. So, He gets the news: «Hey, you need to come.» That’s the emphasis: «You need to come quickly because the one whom you love is sick.»
Verse 5 says, «Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister Mary and Lazarus. When therefore He heard that he was sick, verse 6, He stayed then two days longer in the place where He was.» Well, no, Lord, we don’t need to stay longer; we need to hustle up. But He purposely stayed longer, and then He told the guys, «Hey, we need to go; we need to go to Judea again.» They were like, «Man, Lord, we don’t want to go to Judea; they were just seeking to kill You. We’re not supposed to go there.» And Jesus said to the guys, «Hey, guys, our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep.» They were like, «Big whoop! He’s fallen asleep; I mean, he’ll wake up.»
Then He said, «No, you’re not getting it; Lazarus is dead, and I’m glad for your sake that I was not there. Why? So that you may believe. But now, let’s go.» And Thomas—you know, we give Thomas a bad rap; we call him «doubting Thomas.» Thomas was the one who stood up among the twelve and said, «Let’s go with Him and die with Him.» He thought for sure that as they go back to Judea, if they go around Jerusalem, they’re going to get killed as a result.
It says in verse 17, «So when Jesus came, He found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days.» The Jews would very quickly, after you died—because they didn’t embalm—get you in the tomb quickly because decay would set in. It says, «Now Bethany was near Jerusalem about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Mary and Martha to console them concerning their brother.»
Martha, therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him, and Mary still sat in the house. Martha, therefore, said to Jesus, «Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.» That’s true. Could you imagine Jesus being there and Lazarus dies? That wouldn’t have happened! Jesus is the one who heals the sick; He opens blind eyes; He feeds the multitudes with a little kid’s lunch. That’s not going to happen! If you had been here, my brother would not have died. That’s a true statement, but it might have been said with a little bit of a barb there because there’s hurt. «Where were You, Lord?»
And she said in verse 22, «Even now, I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.» Jesus said to her, «Your brother shall rise again.» Martha said to Him, «I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.» Jesus said to her, «I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?» She said to Him, «Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world.»
Now the Lord had given her a promise in verse 4: «This sickness is not unto death but for the glory of God that the Son of God should be glorified by it.» Okay, but he died, and so she couldn’t wrap her head around that. It’s like, «He died,» and «Your brother shall rise again.» That’s what Jesus said when He came four days later. «Your brother shall rise again.» Well, Martha’s saying, «I know; I believe in the last day he’s going to rise.» No, not on the last day, today! Today he’s going to rise! She didn’t get any of that because she didn’t have the rest of the story.
We see the story from the beginning to the end; they didn’t. They’re living it, and so they don’t know what’s happening. All they know is Lazarus is dead, and Jesus wasn’t here, and if He had been here, Lazarus wouldn’t be dead. But Jesus gave a promise, and His promise doesn’t seem to fit at all because the sickness wasn’t unto death, but now he died. Start clinging to the promises of God no matter what.
Now remember this about the promises of God: God’s promises are often misunderstood, but they’re never false. They’re never empty; they’re never just words that don’t come true. God doesn’t ever give a promise, and it falls flat. But we often misunderstand God’s promises. And let me tell you, that is why so many people get mad at God and become bitter at God—is because something comes into their lives, some big «Lazarus is sick» kind of situation comes into their lives— a big problem! Not just a little problem—“I lost my keys”—but «I lost my job, ” „I lost my spouse, ” „I lost my child to death.“ A big problem comes in to life, and they look to the Word of God and find a promise, and they think that God is supposed to act a certain way and do something specifically for them.
Then they put specifics on a general promise, and then the specifics don’t come to pass, and then they get mad at God. They begin to think—they wouldn’t say this out loud, but they start to think that God doesn’t tell the truth—that God is a welcher on His promises. You know who felt like that? Moses. You remember Moses’ story? God calls him at the burning bush. Moses is living on the backside of nowhere, hiding out. He didn’t want to go back to Egypt because that didn’t work out very well the first time he was there.
Well, God calls him to deliver His people, saying, „I’ve heard the cry of My people. Go and deliver them from Pharaoh and say to Pharaoh, ‘Let My people go! ’“ And Moses said, „Who am I that I should deliver Your people from Pharaoh?“ And God said, „Who cares who you are? It’s not about who you are; it’s about who I am.“ „Well, who are You?“ „I am who I am. You tell them that I AM sent you.“ There’s a lot of back and forth between Moses and God in the early chapters of Exodus, but Moses finally goes. God says, „I’m going to be with you, and you’re going to go before Pharaoh, and Pharaoh’s going to let the people go.“
And you know what happens? He goes before Pharaoh and says, „Thus says the Lord: let My people go.“ Pharaoh says, „Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice? I will not let your people go. I will not let Israel go.“ What does he do? He ends up making it harder for God’s people. He says, „You need to make bricks, but we’re not going to provide straw now. You make straw and make bricks, and your quota of bricks does not diminish.“ And so the Israelites said, „Good night! What has happened here?“
Moses goes before the Lord and says, „O Lord, why have You brought harm to this people? Why did You ever send me? Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done harm to these people, and You have not delivered Your people at all.“ You said You were going to do it, and You didn’t do it! Jesus, You said that this sickness is not unto death, but it’s for the glory of God! But he died! This doesn’t make sense!
That’s how we view the promises of God. We view them from our perspective, and we view them in a snapshot. God doesn’t operate in snapshots. You know, we have a viewpoint in our lives—it’s ground level. God’s up in the helicopter. If you watch a parade from ground level, you don’t know what’s coming up; all you see is what’s in your viewpoint. So many people only see that.
God knows, just like He knew with Moses, „No, Pharaoh was gonna let My people go. I’m gonna show him! He challenged Me! Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice? I’m going to introduce myself to Mr. Pharaoh, and he’s going to let My people go.“ God did that! But Moses didn’t know. All he knew was that things are worse now. Mary and Martha didn’t know what Jesus was going to do; they just knew that if He had been there, Lazarus would not have died.
And He gave us a promise that doesn’t make any sense at all. „This sickness is not unto death but for the glory of God that the Son of God may be glorified by it.“ Know this: God’s timing is almost always later than our timing! His ways are different from our ways; His timing is different. When we want God to do something, we want Him to do it just then. You know, no doubt Mary and Martha, when they sent the servant to tell Jesus that „Your servant Lazarus, your friend Lazarus, is sick,“ wanted Jesus to speak a word and heal him right then because he is really, really sick.
He dies the same day! Because Jesus stayed two more days; it took Him another day to travel to get there. He died the day the messenger came. But see, Jesus can heal from a distance! We already learned that in John chapter 4. He heals a nobleman’s son just with His word—it just says, „Go; your servant is healed.“ He didn’t have to go there! He could just speak the word, and it happened!
Mary and Martha knew that. They were like, „We just need a word from You, Jesus to bring healing!“ But He didn’t do it that way. He doesn’t operate on our timetable! He doesn’t do things the way we think He ought to do them. He’s God! You and I are like ants compared to God. So we just say, „Yes, Lord!“ And when He gives us a promise, we cling to the promise no matter what!
No matter what the circumstances say! And what’s the faith response from Mary and Martha? „This doesn’t make any sense at all, Lord! But You told me this sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, and I’m clinging to that! I don’t know what all it means, but I’m clinging to that!“ God’s timing is always later.
I said almost always; you could probably cut off almost. I can’t think of an instance where it’s not later. God calls Abraham, „I’m gonna give you a son.“ When did He give him a son? Thirty years later! The son of Sarah, his wife—30 years later! God calls and anoints David king; he’s probably twelve years old! When did David become king of all Israel? Thirty-seven—twenty-five years later! God says to Joseph, gives him a dream, „Your brothers are going to bow down to you.“ When did they bow down to him? Twenty-two years later!
So when God gives a promise, when He gives a word, it’s weak; He doesn’t put a timeframe on it. We like to put a timeframe. We like to say, „That’s happening now!“ And so much of the time, it’s not. We get frustrated with God and disenchanted by God because we say, „God, You haven’t come through!“ And God says, „Not yet! Not yet! Just hold your horses!“ That’s what He said to Moses; that’s what He said to Mary and Martha; that’s what He says to us!
Start clinging to the promises of God no matter what!
Requirement 3: Obey God’s Word Even If It Makes No Sense
The third requirement: start obeying the Word of God, even if it makes no sense. So, Jesus has that encounter with Martha, and then He has an encounter with Mary. Mary, she’s the one who sat at His feet, listening to His word in Luke chapter 10. Martha, I think, is probably the oldest one in the family. I think Mary is the youngest one in the family. Lazarus is probably in the middle. Tradition says Lazarus was 30 years old when Jesus raised him from the dead, and he died when he was 60; that’s what tradition tells us.
Here you have Martha; she is naturally bossy! You know, in Luke chapter 10, she came into Jesus when Mary was sitting at His feet. „Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving by myself? Then tell her to help me.“ Never a good plan to tell Jesus what He ought to do; never a good thing! Don’t do that! Don’t follow my example! But she’s just naturally kind of a bossy person, so she comes to Jesus first.
Then Mary comes and says the exact same thing that Martha said: „Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.“ Now that’s true; that’s just true! And so, Jesus, we read that He was so moved and that He, at the death of Lazarus and just death in general and what that meant, and the people that He loved were so upset that He wept. Jesus wept (John 11:35). And then the people were saying, „Couldn’t this man who did all these miracles, who opened the eyes of the blind, who cleansed a leper, couldn’t this man have kept Lazarus from dying?“ Sure! He could!
He did it on purpose! He came late on purpose! And so when He comes, it says in verse 38, „Jesus, therefore, again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. That was a cave and a stone was lying against it.“ Jesus said, „Remove the stone.“ Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, „Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days.“ Jesus said to her, „Did I not say to you, if you believe you will see the glory of God?“
They removed the stone; He comes, and He says, „Roll away the stone.“ She doesn’t want to do it. Why? Because of the smell! Because of the smell! Now remember this: Jesus, in His earthly ministry, raised three people from the dead. First of all, there was Jairus’s daughter, a little daughter—seven years old, or however old she was; she was young. When Jairus was trying to get Jesus to come to his house, they finally intercepted him and said, „Don’t trouble the teacher anymore; she has died.“ Jesus said, „She hadn’t died; she’s only asleep.“
Jesus came to her. Now she was what we would call freshly dead! She was still warm! She had just died! And Jesus said, „Little child, I say to you, arise!“ And she arose; she awakened—she was alive! And He said, „Give her something to eat!“ Then He told her parents, „Don’t tell anybody I did this!“ Oh, don’t tell me! I mean, you not tell anybody! I tell everybody! Don’t tell anybody! But, you know, people could say about her, „Well, she was dead! We thought she was dead, but she must not have been dead. I mean, she was freshly dead!“
The widow from Nain—her son was passing by, and there was this funeral procession; this man was in a coffin, and Jesus stopped. He touched the casket and said, „Young man, I say to you, arise!“ And he rose up and began to speak, and He gave the boy back to his mother. Now that guy—he was cold and dead—but he was still pretty fresh because they would bury you pretty quick. They put you in the tomb pretty quick in Jerusalem because they didn’t practice embalming.
So you would be wrapped up with spices and things, and then you would be put in the tomb. Well, okay, you could say about this guy, „It’s like, hey, we heard stories about people! You know, they thought he was dead; they put him in the coffin, and he wasn’t dead! They were a little too quick! Don’t embalm him!“ But you let Lazarus die, and you wrap him up, like, you know, as they did—almost like a mummy. He’s all wrapped up, and you stick him in the tomb and let him rot and decompose and start to stink!
He’s completely dead! Everybody knows it! And Jesus raises him from the dead! Everybody says, „Wow! How does this happen? How can this be? This man must be the Son of God!“ Many people believed on Him, and the Pharisees heard about it, and they plotted for His death because they said, „This man is going to take away our place, and we cannot have that happen!“ The spirit of religion is all concerned about turf; people who see their need are not concerned about religion; they’re not concerned about turf; they’re concerned about having an encounter with God.
Now I want you to see something that’s so cool: live in expectation! Because this was a time of tremendous heartache in John chapter 11! They are weeping—Mary and Martha! And the tremendous heartache turned into the Hallelujah Chorus! „Wow! This is the greatest day we have ever experienced! We saw the glory of God! We saw God do something that we’ve never seen Him do before!“ You know when those disciples were on the stormy sea of Galilee in Mark chapter 4, and Jesus was asleep in the boat, and they woke Him up and said, „Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?“
He calmed the sea and said, „Hush! Be still!“ and it became perfectly calm. They said, „Who then is this that even the wind and the sea obey His voice?“ Wow! This must be God! And they knew that day in Bethany, „This is One that God has sent! This is the Son of God! And He can do anything in anyone’s life if they’ll believe Him and roll away the stone!“
I love what David said in Psalm 27, verse 13: „I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord! Because the Lord can do anything!“
Now, here’s the interesting point that the Lord just kind of dropped in my heart: John 11, verse 40 is a question: „Did I not say to you, if you believe, you will see the glory of God?“ This question: „Well, yes, Lord, You said that to me. What is your answer to the Lord? He asked you a question. He says, „Remove the stone!“ „Oh, Lord, I don’t know if I want to do that.“ „Take that step of faith!“ „Oh, Lord, I’m not sure, I’m not sure, I’m not sure.“ He’s calling some of you, saying, „You know you’ve been visiting the church for a long time; you need to take a step of faith and join the church.“
„Oh, I don’t know about that!“ You saw Jackie Sullivan get baptized. He had gotten baptized when he was younger, but he got saved later, so he needed to get baptized to make it right. He took that step of faith. You say, „Why?“ Well, I don’t know about that. „If I could take that step of faith…“ Hey, remove the stone! Whatever the stone is! And if you don’t remove the stone, you’re not going to see the glory of God.
So the question comes to you and to me: „Did I not say to you, if you believe, you will see the glory of God?“ And if you believe, you’ll take a step of faith. And if you take a step of faith, if you step up and step out, God will show up and show out because that’s what’s promised in the Word of God.