In the church today, many of us are still bound by our past. We are alive but we are not free!
Lazarus was known as Jesus’s friend and he was dead! In fact, the bible tells us he was dead for four days. Enter Jesus onto the scene and He calls to Lazarus to come out! Still bound by his grave-clothes, Jesus utters these amazing words… “Loose him and let him go.”
In this message you will hear how we can learn a lesson from Lazarus and shake off our grave-clothes and not only be alive but FREE to do the will of our Father. Free from the bondages of our past and free to share His love with all to whom we are in contact with.
Before we start ... I just want to make this pre curser... I'm not singling out any particular person or group today... I'm not saying hey you... I'm talking to you today!
I'm actually speaking to myself today! I'm preaching to me today because God has really been challenging me about really getting free on some certain issues in my own life. He has really been prompting me to shed my grave-clothes and to start really running with my faith! So if you are reading this today and He happens to challenge you too... Then that's a bonus!
John 11:43-44 NKJV
"Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with grave-clothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.””
The ESV records it like this... "Unbind him and let him go..."
Jesus in the above scripture did just that to His dear friend Lazarus. This same Lazarus who was not just bound & shackled by the grip of death, but was also physically bound hand and foot with what was called his grave-clothes.
Have another look at this scripture again and just notice what is recorded here...
"And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with grave-clothes"
Lazarus, who was dead for four days, the bible tells us, came out of his grave room alive, but still very much bound head to toe with his grave clothes.
Just have a think of what that would have looked like.
I think today that for the most part this picture is what best describes us... "the church"...
Most of us are alive... But still very much in our grave-clothes!
We are alive... But we are bound!
A.W. Tozer wrote this... "The devil makes it his business to keep Christians in bondage, bound and gagged, actually imprisoned by their own grave clothes."
You see just as the scripture talks about Lazarus "came out bound hand and foot"
Unfortunately most modern Christians never take off their grave clothes and live their entire lives in these rotting, smelly clothes that represent the deadness and corruption of our old sin nature.
Jesus Christ has provided through his finished work on the cross and his resurrection a new set of clothes with the label “righteousness” and “holiness” that are glorious, pure, and beautiful and reflect the very heart of God.
1 John 3:14 (a) "We know that we have passed from death to life..."
I John 5:11-13 NKJV
“And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.”
Which clothes are you going to put on today?
May I suggest to shake off your grave clothes and run free! Because Jesus said this... “if the Son says you are free, you are free indeed!”
Have a great day...
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