THE SLEEP OF THE SAINTS

JOHN 11:1

A. "THESE THINGS SAID HE; AND AFTER THAT HE SAITH UNTO THEM, OUR FRIEND LAZARUS SLEEPETH, BUT I GO, THAT I MAY AWAKE HIM OUT OF SLEEP"
  1. Dear ones:
    1. We have in our text a wealth of Divine truth to reassure us and comfort us in the hour of bereavement and sorrow
    2. We have the intimate knowledge of Jesus of our life and also of our death
  2. What is more:
    1. He who knows us intimately in life - knows also when we die
    2. He, who is our friend in life - is our friend in death too. Lazarus was dead, yet Jesus speaks of him as, "our friend" B. LET US NOTE BRIEFLY THREE GREAT AND RELATED TRUTHS AS FOUND IN OUR TEXT
  3. Christian Friendship:
    1. It has Christ as its center and inspiration
    2. He is the author, the model and the inspirer of true and abiding friendship
    3. In Him all the elements of true friendship pre-eminently meet and they are pure, elevating and divine
  4. Pure, unadulterated love is its foundation:
    1. Love and sincere admiration are the elements of true love and Christian friendship
    2. This great truth is expressed in the two great commandments - "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul and with all thy mind, and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" - Matt. 22:37-40
  5. It is common and mutual:
    1. Note, please, Jesus does not say, "My friend Lazarus sleepeth"; but He saith, "Our friend Lazarus sleepeth." This is the one mark to true Bible Christianity - the bond of the brotherhood of the believers - I Pet. 2:17
  6. The Christian view of death:
    1. It was new to the disciples - John 11:12-13
    2. It is foreign to the sinner
    3. It brings a new meaning to death - "With regard to His friends Jesus changed the meaning of death C. HE SPEAKS OF THE SLEEPING SAINTS
  7. To the saint, death:
    1. Becomes a restful sleep - "Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord from henceforth Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them" - Rev. 14:13
    2. To the sleeping saint, death is abolished it cannot hold them; the bonds and the terrors of death have been broken
    3. Writes Paul, "But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel" - 2 Tim. 1:10
  8. But that is not true to the wicked; of them the Bible speaks:
    1. "The hope of the unjust man perisheth" - Prov. 11:7
    2. "The wages of sin is death" - Rom. 6:23
  9. How meaningful and how purposeful death has become to the saints:
    1. "Sleep in Jesus" - I Thes. 4:13-17
    2. Rest from toil, from torment by sin and temptation by physical pain and agony
    3. Rest that has placed them in eternal security against Satan
    4. Their graves become chambers of repose; a shelter during the time of Divine vengeance against the enemies of God - Is. 26:20-21
  10. The resurrection of the friends of Jesus:
    1. It will involve divine intervention - a divine process - it involves the exercise of divine power
    2. The divine process will be performed by Jesus Christ who raised His friend Lazarus
    3. Saith Jesus, "Marvel not at this; for the hour is coming, in which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation" - John 5:28-29
    4. For the sleeping saints the resurrection will be a process of friendship to perpetuate the friendship between Christ and His friends
    5. Thus we must conclude that even the saints will fall asleep, yet, they have the promise of being raised to life everlasting


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