DON’T GIVE UP ON GOD—YOU’RE COMING UP OUT OF YOUR DEAD SITUATION!

John 11:20-24

This morning’s sermon deals with a real issue—maintaining your faith. Not giving up on God. So many times in our life, we find that we lose hope, but I’m here to admonish you today, don’t give up on God! I stopped by for just a few moments to remind you that there is a reason why you’re going through what you’re going through. What I’m saying is that you might not even realize it, but God is allowing you to go through this thing for a strengthening season. I know somebody knows exactly what I’m talking about. That’s why the Lord would have me to tell you, don’t give up on Him because you are about to come up out of your dead situation! Somebody ought to get excited about what God is saying. I don’t know what’s going on in your life; maybe somebody was just about to give up, was just about to let go, but God told me to tell you, don’t give up on Him because He is about to bring you through your situation.         
          So many Christians go through their spiritual journey not experiencing the fullness of God because of their limited faith. Some believe that Jesus can heal and set them free as long as it’s in the realm of their belief system. But the moment the problem goes outside of their belief system and it gets to a point of no return, they stop believing and start placing blame. Some folks are like ‘Doubting Thomas;” they only believe when they can see how it’s going to work out or when they have enough or know enough people to work it out before it gets worst. But sometimes God will allow the situation to get worst so that He can get your faith to a place that even when you don’t see how you’re going to come out of your circumstance, you will still believe in Him. I admonish you, “Don’t give up on God; because believe or not, you’re coming up out of your dead situation!                                                                                                   
          Our faith needs to get from operating on our time to understanding and operating on God’s time. I’m saying sometimes our faith operates on our time; that’s why God will allow our situations to get worst so we can learn how to operate on His time. He may not come when you want Him to, but He’s always on time. Know that our time is not when He shows up. Our time is always now! But sometimes He won’t show up until later which is right on time. Watch this; His on time is our late, and our late is His on time. But some of us only operate on our time and our faith never develops beyond that. Realize that the power of Jesus isn’t limited to our time because He is all powerful. And we must get our faith to operate beyond what we can see. Even if it dies, death is not the last word or action. Even if it gets worst, that’s not the last result. The question is how do we get our faith to operate on His time and not our time even when we can’t see how.
        God said I know the situation you’re facing now seems unbearable, I know that no one knows what you’re going through, I know that you haven’t spoken a word of this to anyone, but don’t give up! God wants you to know that the waiting period is almost over and all you have to do is reaffirm your faith in Him. Not only that, but He wants you to stand on His Word like never before. He said there are doors opening up for you right now, there are yokes that are being destroyed right now, there have been made snares that have been set up for you but the Almighty, everlasting to everlasting God has released you from it right now! God said He knows your financial situation is in turmoil right now, but God said don’t give up. He said He knows how you’ve labored, He knows how you’ve prayed; He knows the sleepless nights that you’ve spent, praying, fasting, and crying out to Him, kneeling praying, and lying prostrate! God said He knows!
        He said don’t give up! There’s a reason for the delay in the breakthrough, there’s a reason for the slow release because you were just like an impregnated mother, but you had to go through the growing process and make sure that when your breakthrough comes, it will be a healthy one. In other words, it’s not something that He’s going to set you free for a minute, but for a lifetime! Talk to me and say, “Don’t give up on God!”
        Our Scripture text for this morning is about a story that I believe we are familiar with. It’s the story about of Lazarus, and how he had fallen ill. It would seem, in verse four of the text that Jesus had prophesied that the illness would not result in Lazarus’ death, but for the glory of God. He was trying to tell them that no matter what happens God is going to do something that will bring glory to His name.                                    
          What you’re going through will result in praise. I’m telling you now that the end result of your problem isn’t destruction but your end result is praise. Somehow, some way, God is going to do something in your situation that will cause you to praise Him. God needs to show us that He has power over everything we experience in this life. God is getting ready to do something big in your life. The reason for your trial is so that God can get some glory. You are going through so that in the end God will get the praise. Nobody else deserves the praise; nobody else will get the praise, only God will get the praise. So if the end result is going to be praise; that let’s you and me know how it’s going to end. It’s going to end with you having the victory. You see Jesus will use your problem to help someone else’s faith. You’re not going through just for you; you’re going through for a testimony to someone else. So in spite of Lazarus’ illness, Jesus delayed His departure for two days and stayed in the city where He was. Now, the journey back to Bethany was a four day journey, and on their way back, Jesus let His disciples know that Lazarus had died.
          This is how we get sometimes as we are working on our Christian journey. We begin to have a great need for Jesus and we cry out to Him, and we’re hoping and praying that He will go ahead and make a way out of no way for us, but Jesus comes in His own perfect timing and season. It’s important for us to know and to believe that when God acts on our behalf He always does so at the right time. When we are suffering it appears that God has delayed too long because the pain and the wait seems so unbearable. Jesus was telling Martha, “You haven’t seen the last of your brother.”                                           
          What I’m trying to get across this morning is that sometimes God will wait and bring deliverance on the far side of disappointment. Sometimes, you have to have faith after the funeral. In other words, after you’ve written it off, after you inwardly feel that it won’t get any better; you have to have an "after-the-funeral-faith." So as they journeyed back, Martha met Jesus, and told Him, “Lord if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” But Jesus told her that her brother will rise again.
          God is saying this morning that you’re going to come out of your dead situation! In other words, some of us are just like Martha; we sometimes feel like maybe it wasn’t in God’s best interest for the thing that we have been moaning for and praying for is really in God’s will, so she began to say, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection.” But if she only knew the kind of God she was dealing with! But God would have me to tell you don’t give up on Him. That’s right, don’t lose hope! Don’t give up on God because you are coming out of your dead situation; your dead circumstance; your dead whatever!                               
          So as Martha went her way, she called for her sister and secretly told her that Jesus had sent for her. Now Mary did the same thing, but when she saw Jesus, she fell at His feet and began to cry and said, “Lord if you had been here my brother would not have died.” But there’s something we have to remember: this is our testing point, and sometimes it’s not going to happen when we feel like it should. So don’t give up on God!
        Therefore, as Mary told Jesus this, it grieved Him and He began to groan in His spirit, and the Bible says, ‘Jesus wept.’ Now there are many speculations as to why some say Jesus wept at this point. Some say it was because of the lack of faith that His friends showed in Him; others say it was because of the love He had for His friends that He didn’t want to see them hurt. But what ever the reason, the reason for the delay was for the glory of God! I’m saying; we need to stop worrying about how long it’s taking God to move in our situation or circumstance; we just need to start trusting Him more!
        And as Jesus came up to the tomb where Lazarus was buried, He ordered them to take away the stone. Now at this point, they were telling Jesus that Lazarus had been dead for four days and that he stank. But Jesus still insisted on reminding them they should believe to see the glory of God! Lazarus was in the grave for four days; but I want to remind you that some of the things that we have been crying out to God for have been dead for longer than that; some weeks, months, and even years. Some of us feel like it’s too late now, and that it’s all over. But I want you to know this morning that God is about to raise you up out of that dead situation! As Jesus went to the grave, He said a prayer to God, acknowledging that He trusted Him and that He knows that He hears but because of the people that they might believe who had sent Him.
          The Bible says that Jesus called out with a loud voice ‘Lazarus, come forth.’ Then it goes on to say ‘he that was dead came forth;’ which tells me that you can speak to any dead thing in your life and God can resurrect it! You can speak life to that dead situation! Jesus spoke and Lazarus came forth. The Word says that he came bound, hand and foot with grave clothes, and that his face was bound with a napkin.
        God is saying to you this morning that sometimes when you call that dead thing out that it’s still bound, because when it comes forth, you still might not know what to do with it. It’s like an unopened present; it’s of no use to you until you open it up! So this bound body came forth. I want you to imagine a body wrapped from head to toe, you know how they wrap mummies, but when his name was called, he had to come forth! I can see this thing as if I was right there! I can see it being bound, and rising up because of the command, it had to come leaping forward; with arms still bound, body still bound, legs still bound and then, with one command Jesus said with authority and power, ‘loose him and let him go!’ Somebody ought to praise God right about now because you have been released from your bondage. You ought to say, ‘Thank you Jesus.’
        I want you to know this morning that this thing is just like a race, you won’t get any satisfaction if you don’t finish. It’s just like going to school. You won’t get anywhere in life if you don’t graduate. There are some things in life that we just won’t make it in if we decide to give up! There is a lot to learn from this. A lot of times, we give up because somebody tells us we can’t make it, but if we just reach way down and find that source of our strength we will begin to speak those things for deliverance in our life. We will begin to say, ‘I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me.’ We will begin to say, ‘God has not given me the spirit of fear but of love, power, and a sound mind.’ You will begin to say, ‘though He slay me, yet will I trust Him!’ You will begin to say, ‘for God I live and for God I die,’ and you will begin to say, ‘the race is not given to the swift or the strong but to those who endure till the end!’
        As I begin to close; this is what God wants to do for His people on today. He wants to loose you of those things that you thought were dead in your life, those things that you have been praying about, those things that you’ve been fasting about. God said don’t give up on Him—you’re coming out of your dead situation. Now give God a radical praise for your victory!