God Made A Message Out Of Man

Morning Call to Worship – Day 4

Message Background: The Lazarus Phenomenon

The world defines the Lazarus syndrome or Lazarus phenomenon as the return of circulation after attempts at resuscitation [of the “dead” has failed. It is a scientific fact that the near-death experience is a stage in the dying experience, meaning that if you have a near-death experience, you have had a “death” experience because near-death is in the process of dying.  Now some people don’t believe in God, or that heaven is real. Yet, there are at least 12 – 15 million people who have experienced the Lazarus phenomenon, and many claim to have seen heaven, angels, etc.

Some people blame it on science. Some people say it is an encounter with God. But, whatever you believe, you can’t make me believe that God is not in the mix when the doctors have thrown up their hands; and when all your friends have forsaken you; and when your BFF tells you to curse God and die like your name is Job [8], and all of a sudden, the disease is gone; the heartache is gone; the pain is gone; your heart starts beating again; the love is coming back, and the joy starts welling again; the peace starts rising again, and patience starts reigning again, and the hope that was lame is walking again; it’s working out your soul’s salvation; then, you can’t tell me that God is not resurrecting people today, when there are people walking this earth, bound in their souls, living like zombies; and then something happens; it defies logic; it just doesn’t make sense; and suddenly, the bonds are broken and he that was a dead man walking is now a redeemed soul. He doesn’t go the places he used to go. He doesn’t do the things he used to do. He walks differently. He speaks differently. and his testimony is not only true, but it’s so powerful; it’s so fantastic, it’s so radical; that some people, wouldn’t even believe it if he told them.

Say, “It’s unbelievable!”

But I must decrease, so God can increase. To God be the glory. If you want to know my testimony, just read I Corinthians 15 and remember that Moses came with a message and some people wouldn’t believe it. Lazarus whom Jesus loved was resurrected and some people still wanted to kill Christ because they were jealous of His power. And the poor man Lazarus was oppressed because he had no money and no status, but the rich man Dives who died [10],  still wanted Abraham to tell Lazarus to speak to his family that they would harken to God and choose life; but Abraham said that if they wouldn’t even believe the testimony of Moses, they wouldn’t believe a man who was resurrected if he was standing right in front of their faces. When God sends a messenger, you’ve got to believe the report, else you may miss the promise. But thanks be to God, who can even make a mule speak if that’s what it takes to get your attention.

Say, “God’s got a message!”

Illustration: The Lazarus Phenomenon (2006 movie)

I CORINTHIANS 15:1-22

15 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; ² By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. ³ For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; ⁴ And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: ⁵ And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: ⁶ After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. ⁷ After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. ⁸ And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.

⁹ For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. ¹⁰ But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. ¹¹ Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed. ¹² Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³ But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:  ⁴ And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. ¹⁵ Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. ¹⁶ For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: ¹⁷ And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. ¹⁸ Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. ¹⁹ If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. ²⁰ But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. ²¹ For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. ²² For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

Jesus Raises Lazarus

And the Bible says, …42 “I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me.” 43 When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth.” 44 The man who had died came forth…:” He was bound hand and foot like in wrappings like a mummy. But at the command of Jesus, they had to, “Loose him, and let him go” ’cause God was making a message out of a man.

When Lazarus sat at the dinner table with Jesus and the disciples, he didn’t have to preach a sermon. No, Lazarus didn’t have to sing a song. He didn’t have to say a mumbling word, because God had a plan to make a message out of a man. And all Lazarus had to do was sit there and breathe. [Inhale. Exhale.] Say, “Breathe.” [Inhale. Exhale.]

The fact that LAZARUS was living at all, is a testimony that God can do anything, all by Himself. He can heal the sick. He can raise the dead. And if He can make a mule speak, He can make a message out of me.

Some of you have had situations that should have killed you like I have more than once. But you are still alive because God is making a message out of you. You have had Pharaohs trying to keep you down, but still, you rise, because God is making a message out of you. You have been lied on, lied to, looked over, locked out, and left for dead, but God is making a message out of you and a way out of no way. He said He would make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

Jesus did not even flinch when He went to the tomb. He just looked right on past death, and said, LAZARUS, come forth! Say, I’m getting up. I’m getting up. I’m getting up! Now, get up! It might be by miracle. It might be by medicine, but whatever it is, you’d better believe it’s by faith. You are getting up!

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, it saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now, I’m found. ‘Was blind, but now, I see. The Moabitess was an evangelist, ‘show-nuff. You might have said she wasn’t even a good woman. But she told everybody, come and see a man who told me everything I ever did. Many people believed because of her. God can use a no-good woman to make a message as he used me.

God Is A Master Strategist

God is a master strategist. He knows every move of the enemy before the battle is set in array. He knows how to checkmate every situation before ever his opponent makes a first move. But unbelief, causes miracles to cease [1]. God is always looking for people who answer, “Believest thou that I am able to do this?” [2] by saying, “I believe.”He already has the victory. He knows where to place the kingpin. He knows where to put the watchman. He can see over the wall. He has Bishops who have never bowed to Baal. He knows where to move the chariots of fire. And just when the devil thinks all hell is breaking loose, and he commands his imps to fire on God’s property, it will not work, because no weapon formed against you shall be able to prosper.

The enemy wants your joy, so you can give up the fight. But tell that old serpent, The LORD rebuke thee, IN THE NAME OF JESUS. God is not through with me. Devil, you might have a pawn in the midst of the garden, but I know a man from Galilee: HE IS THE KING OF KINGS! And at His name, every knee shall bow. Every tongue shall confess it: HE IS LORD. The battle is not mine; it’s the LORD’s.

I CORINTHIANS 15:41-54

⁴¹ There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. ⁴² So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: ⁴³ It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: ⁴⁴ It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. ⁴⁵ And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. ⁴⁶ Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. ⁴⁷ The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven.

⁴⁸ As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. ⁴⁹ And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. ⁵⁰ Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. ⁵¹ Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, ⁵² In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. ⁵³ For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. ⁵⁴ So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written,

Death is swallowed up in victory!

God Raises Christ

JESUS IS the CHRIST; the Messiah! The Son, of the living God. You don’t need to look for another.

The earth shook and the sky went black when JESUS gave up the Ghost. He had taken all your sins and impaled them to the cross, with his own flesh and blood streaming down. But the guards messed up. They pierced JESUS in HIS side, and LIFE flowed from the King of Kings. The blood washed away that stinking stain and the water healed the wound instead [13]. It was the first blood transfusion ever recorded in history. And now everyone who receives that gift, behold, he is a new and she is a new creation.

Yes, it got dark that day, but the son, S-O-N is shining now! I said, the SON is shining now! He went to hell and set the captives free. He did it for me.

I Corinthians 15:55 – 58

⁵⁵ O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? ⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁵⁸ Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

And God raised Him Christ from the dead on the third day according to the Scriptures. And He’s now at the right hand of the Father. He’s pleading your case, and He cannot lose. And He cannot fail.

He said OF ALL THAT THE FATHER HATH GIVEN HIM, HE’S NEVER LOST ONE YET!

He said I AM the RESURRECTION and the LIFE. None can come to the Father but by Him. He is your redeemer. He did it for you! He did it for you! He did it for you!

The Apostle Paul, couldn’t get rid of that thorn in the flesh. The Bible says, that he prayed three times. But God said, I will not take it away. Don’t even ask me again. God, in His infinite wisdom, was making a message out of a man.

Esther couldn’t be free without freeing her people. She went out boldly to plead with the King. She said, “And if I perish. I perish.” God was making a message.

That sour cup couldn’t pass from Jesus, because God was making a message out of a man. And the message is,

I have loved you with an everlasting love.

For you, He gave His only begotten SON that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish but should have everlasting life. He says I LOVE YOU. I LOVE YOU. I LOVE YOU WITH MY LIFE. Be saved; be healed; be delivered, in Jesus’ name. The SON is shining for you! The SON is shining for you! He shines for YOU. So shine for Him! Shine for Him, all ye people.

Lift up your head, O ye gates and be ye lifted up everlasting doors and the KING of GLORY SHALL COME IN! WHO IS THIS KING OF GLORY? THE LORD STRONG AND MIGHTY!

Thank you Jesus! Hallelujah!

• Look No Further (Lyric Video) // Evvie McKinney

Topical Sources

• Journal of The Royal Society of Medicine – http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2121643/
• USCCB: Lazarus – http://www.usccb.org/bible/jn/11:1
• Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia – Lazarus – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lazarus_(name)

Image CreditsFrom Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository

The image, “Resurrection of Lazarus. Private coll., Athens. 12-13 c.” is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1923.

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