Welcome to ECB's weekly sermon podcast. ECB is
an international church in Bangkok, Thailand
with dozens of nationalities worshiping together.
We invite you to connect with us from wherever
you are through our website ecb .asia or our
mobile app. And now we pray that you are blessed
by this week's sermon. We are going to start
a new series of studies that will take us through
the rest of the month because as christians we
are entering this season of celebrating easter
and the events that led to the death and resurrection
of our lord jesus christ and this study is a
series of studies that we have entitled living
hope and you will get to hear from a few of us
pastors as well today we are going to open the
series and begin with the first study on John
chapter 11. Before we start, would you please
join me as I pray? As we were remembering, Lord,
the symbols of our salvation, we remember that
all of these events happened and we have them
written in your word. And as we begin to explore
the things that happened during those weeks,
would you open our eyes to see the things you
want us to understand and draw our hearts closer
to you. I ask that you will use me in the power
of your spirit and in your grace. In Jesus' name,
amen. Each one of the studies on living hope
has a very specific title based on an aspect
of who Jesus is. And I have entitled the one
for today, The God Who Weeps. When was the last
time you asked the question, does God weep? It's
a very interesting question because the way we
answer it determines the ways we think of who
God is and how he relates to us. And what is
interesting is that in the Bible, it describes
Jesus weeping two times. And because Jesus is
God incarnate, the answer is yeah. We know that
Jesus at least wept two different times. And
the two times where this happened reveal an aspect
of God's heart for his people when we who follow
Jesus experience suffering in our lives. And
the way we think of God in the midst of our suffering
will determine Whether we are going through our
suffering in a healthy way or in an unhealthy
way. That's why this study is so important. We
will discover by looking at John 11 that this
is the beginning of the end of Jesus' ministry.
These are the events that marked the beginning
of Jesus' time in going to Judea and Jerusalem
and facing his death. Trial, crucifixion, resurrection,
and then ascension. This chapter is the beginning
of that. Therefore, we are going to take a closer
look at the events that happened. And first,
I want to show you the area we are going to be
looking into. In an area that is close to Jerusalem,
about less than two miles or so from that area
of Jerusalem, There's going to be this town called
Bethany. Now Bethany is an ancient town that
is no longer called Bethany because it's in the
West Bank and it has an Arabic name that I do
not know how to pronounce. But the meaning of
it is the place of Lazarus. And you can visit
that place, you can visit that region, you can
even visit what is believed to be the tomb where
Lazarus was buried. All this area is a section
that is going to be the center of Jesus' last
days on earth. You can see here a deeper map
into the region. And the town Bethany, which
is right there on the bottom of the picture,
is where the events that we're going to read
in John chapter 11 took place. Jesus is going
to meet. his friends during a time of grieving.
He's going to perform the last big public miracle
of the ones that he has been doing so far. He
is also going to do the seventh of the I Am's
in the book of John, where he's going to reveal
himself as the resurrection and the life. And
all of this is going to take place right there
in Bethany. But then he's going to leave that
place for a few days. going to a village in the
area. Then he's going to be invited back into
Bethany for a dinner in his honor with the friends
that are there, including Lazarus who resurrects
already. And after that time, he's going to start
his journey up to Jerusalem. He's going to get
to the top where the area of the Mount of Olives
is. And from that, he's going to look down and
he's going to see this view. And he's going to
see Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives. And then
he is going to then go down into Jerusalem and
experience what we call the triumphal entry,
which is what is celebrated during Palm Sunday,
which is next week. This is the region and these
are the events. But it is during this time, if
you see those two red dots, that is the time
in which Jesus, And when you think about God
crying, this is the time in which it happens.
This is the area in which it happens. One in
Bethany and the second one in the Mount of Olives
as Jesus is looking down in Jerusalem. And we're
going to take a look at both studies because
the implication of that is very deep for our
own relationship with the Lord as we follow him.
So what we know in John chapter 11 is that as
Jesus gets to that region of Bethany, in that
town there's a couple of friends that live there
that are very close to his heart. And now if
you are new to the Bible, if you don't have much
background about the events of Easter, let me
take a few moments just to explain the background
so that you are in the know. Jesus has these
friends, Lazarus, Martha, and Mary, and they
are siblings. They are very close to each other,
and Jesus has visited them in the past. Sometimes
he stays with them. They are close friends. Well,
it happens that Martha and Mary start getting
concerned because they see their brother getting
sick, and now he's not getting better. And they
know that Jesus is their friend and he loves
them. He has stayed with them in the past. They
know that Jesus performs miracles. So they decide
to send a message to Jesus. Say, hey, your friend
Lazarus is sick. Meaning, can you please come
right away and heal him? Well, Jesus gets the
message. He's in a different town, a different
area. And to the surprise of everybody, He doesn't
leave right away. In fact, he waits two days.
It's like no urgency. It's just everything is
going to be okay, fine, you know. And he doesn't
show any urgency to go and see his friends and
help. And as he is with the apostles talking
about these things, he says, look, this illness
is going to have a purpose to bring glory to
God. Nobody knows what that understands except
Jesus and the Father at that time. But Mary and
Martha waiting for Jesus to show up and he doesn't
show up. And then from getting sick to getting
worse to dying. And now Lazarus is dead. Then
they bury him on this tomb which is carved in
the rock, this deep. place where they put the
body and they put a rock in front of the tomb
and now four days have passed since Lazarus has
died and now his body starts decomposing and
then starts smelling as well during that time
so this is the time in which Jesus decides to
show up And he's going to come to the outside
of the village of Bethany, and he's going to
meet his friends, Mary and Martha, right there
at the outskirts of the village. And we are told
right there in chapter 11, verse 18, Now Bethany
was less than two miles from Jerusalem, and many
Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them.
In the loss of their brother. So this was a time
in which the community came together. They were
grieving together. They were comforting the sisters.
But many of them came from Jerusalem. Which is
significant. Because whatever happens now as
Jesus encounters them. Is going to spread out
to Jerusalem. People will start hearing about
it. Because many people that live in Jerusalem
came to help Martha and Mary during this time
of grief. And this is where the story starts
getting very personal and very human. Because
you have these two sisters that have been waiting
for Jesus to show up, and he decides to show
up a little bit too late. And as Jesus arrives
to Bethany, we are told that Martha heard that
Jesus was coming and she went out to meet him.
But Mary, no, she didn't show up. She decided,
I'm staying home. Which is interesting because
in the previous time where you see Jesus visiting
them, Mary was the one that wanted to be so close
to Jesus and Martha was so busy working and getting
everything done. We know that there was a level
of closeness, so this is surprising. But then
Martha decides to go and meet Jesus outside Bethany,
and this is what happens. The moment Martha arrives
to see Jesus, she says, Lord, if you had been
here, my brother would have not died. And now
you can immediately see what's in their minds.
They are not just grieving, but they feel deeply
disappointed that Jesus didn't come when they
asked for him. And because they are hurting and
they are disoriented, because this is not what
was supposed to be part of the script, you see.
It was supposed to go like this. Hey, Jesus,
we have a message for you. Your friend who you
love is sick and you come and heal him. Jesus
shows up, heals him. Everybody's happy and all
glory to God. That was the script. And Jesus,
you didn't follow it. If you would have been
here, my brother would not have died. And you
can see the pain and the disappointment in her
voice. And Jesus talks to her and then he's going
to reveal in a very deep way who he is. And we'll
go back to that later in the story. But then,
after Jesus talks to Martha, he is waiting for
Mary to show up and she doesn't show up. So then
Martha goes to the house and says, hey Mary,
Jesus is asking for you. I think it's time for
you to show up. And Mary says, okay, I'll go.
And then she goes to meet Jesus. But she's grieving.
She's sad. And she's also disappointed that Jesus
didn't show up to heal the brother. And then
it says there in verse 32, when Mary reached
the place where Jesus was and saw him, she couldn't
hold it in anymore. She was overcome by grief.
And she just falls at the feet of Jesus. And
as she weeps, as she sobs, she says, Lord, if
you had been here, my brother would not have
died. Why were you not here? We sent a message
for you. I thought you were going to come and
heal him and you didn't. Why didn't you show
up? If you did, this wouldn't have happened.
You could have prevented it. But you didn't.
Why didn't you show up? All of this is going
on in her mind. And the only thing that she could
just get out of her mouth in the midst of the
sobbing is Jesus. If you would have been here.
I do not know if you have experienced the death
of a loved one. But the sobbing and the grief
become so deep. But yes, you don't want to sit
down. You don't want to lie down. You just want
to collapse and sob. And weep. And as Jesus is
seeing all of this happen. He starts now absorbing
everything that is going around. And he starts
feeling things which are going to come out. In
that moment where Jesus is described as weeping.
We are told right there in the following verse.
That as Jesus is observing everything that is
going on. By the way there, thank you. Verse
33, when Jesus saw her weeping. And the Jews
who had come along with her also weeping. He
was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. And
this word of being troubled, this idea of being
deeply moved in spirit, is a specific Greek word
that is translated in other places as being angered.
And in fact, some translations will say that
here. Jesus felt deeply angered by what he was
seeing. Because it was wrong in every level.
First of all, death, which is the enemy, had
touched the home of these people that he loved.
And now he sees them suffering because of it.
Secondly, he sees the people that he loves judging
him and saying, He called for you. You didn't
show up. Why didn't you show up? You could have
prevented this. And you didn't. And they are
not seeing him. For who he truly is. And this
is important to understand. Because if you forget.
That death is the enemy. It's not just your enemy.
It's Jesus' enemy. And he came to the world.
Specifically. To defeat it. So that it will be
removed. And the power of death over our lives
will be completely removed. He came for that
purpose. And a few days from this event. He is
going to solve it. They do not know that yet.
They just are experiencing Jesus from that place
of feeling abandoned. So this feels wrong in
every level. And now Jesus looks at all of them
and he says, where have you laid him? Where is
Lazarus? Come and see, they replied. And they
are going to lead him where they have placed
Lazarus' body. And at that moment, Jesus wept.
This is the most significant verse in this story
because you do not expect. That Jesus, who knows
what's going to happen, who knows why they are
thinking this way, will feel so moved as to weep
in this moment. But the Greek word that is used
here to describe the weeping is literally saying,
and tears came out. He was shedding some tears.
This is not an emotional moment of weeping, like
sobbing like the sisters were. But there's these
tears that start coming out of his eyes. I remember
that something that surprised me when I was going
through the grieving in my own life journey.
When we were preparing everything. And the memorial
service for our daughter Sophia. During those
days. People started emailing us. Calling us.
Sending messages. Talking to us. And there were
many people. That cried with us. Some of them
we did not know. Some of them we knew. But the
moment they heard the news. That Pastor Pablo's
daughter Sophia. Had died. They cried. And that
surprised me. Because I was not expecting that
people. Even strangers. Will be moved. To share
our pain. And at that moment. Those tears. Told
me something. You see my pain. You don't even
know me. But you see my pain. You care. And now
as Jesus is seeing what's happening and tears
are coming out of the creator of the heaven and
earth, of God incarnate, the one who defeated
Satan and death, yet he sees all these things
happening and yet the tears come out. And those
tears can only come out of the heart of someone
who sees you. Who cares for you? And that's obvious
to some of the people that are around. So some
of them, after Jesus Christ, some of them that
are there say, see how he loved him? Yet all
the people look at him and they said, yeah, but
could not he? Who opened the eyes of the blind
man. Have kept this man from dying. Isn't this
Jesus. That's supposed to be his friend. Someone
that had power to prevent it. And he didn't.
And yes. Jesus is surrounded by people. That
are blaming him. For the tragedy. That happened.
And it's understandable. When you and I face
those moments, either in our past or in our future,
we will be confronted face to face with the reality
that we are sinners and mortal. We will have
the natural tendency to turn to God and say,
God, I don't get you. Why me? Why now? Why this?
Aren't you powerful to prevent this from happening?
Why did you let it happen? And that first initial
reaction of blaming God is the place where you
are going to take the first step in the wrong
direction. Because blaming God for our suffering
is not only something that has lack of theological,
biblical understanding. It's not based on real
understanding of truth. But also it's something
that is going to start misguiding you into the
direction that is going to take you more and
more away from God. And that is going to take
you not to a better place. These two things will
always come out. Of that attitude of blaming
God for our troubles. You're going to start shutting
down from God. And you're going to start becoming
distant from God. But let me tell you something.
Humans. To be a human. It's a very difficult
experience because the Bible says that even though
God created us in His image and likeness to be
in close relationship with Him, when we, first
humans, decided to not love God and disobey God,
at that moment, two things entered the world
that were not there before. Sin and death. Which
means that from that point on, we, humans, became
sinners. Sinners and mortal. Which means that
we sinful people make decisions that hurt others.
And other sinful people make decisions that hurt
me. And also, being mortal means that any of
us can get sick or die for any reason. At any
moment. In any place. And therefore to be a sinful
and mortal human is tough. Because inevitably
at one point or another we will be hit by this
reality and we will suffer. And if it's in that
place of suffering when you become disoriented
because your expectations of what God should
or shouldn't have done. when the expectations
of the script that you had created for your life
doesn't get fulfilled, in that moment of disorientation,
you have to remember the God who weeps. Because
the God who weeps sees you in your pain, and
he is not the responsible person for that pain.
Sin and death. came because humans introduced
it into the creation that he had created. So
what Jesus comes to do, the Bible says, is that
he came. To destroy the power of death. He came
to destroy the power of Satan. So those that
are living under that influence. Will no longer
have to be living under that influence forever.
Because he will destroy that power. To one day
restore all things. Including our mortal bodies.
Jesus is not to blame. Jesus is the solution,
not the problem. And that is something that Mary
and Martha will have to understand. And Jesus
is going to take them through this journey for
them to get out of that space. So the Bible says
that as Jesus then walked to where Lazarus had
been buried, he's going to speak. Out loud with
a voice of authority. And the word of God says
when he said this. Jesus called in a loud voice.
This is literally like a yelling. Like a very
strong voice. Jesus says Lazarus. Come out. Just
that. Authority. Like the world had not heard
in thousands of years. And just with those words.
Lazarus comes back to life. He comes out of the
tomb. And Jesus simply says. Take off the great
cloths. And let him go. You would expect that
at this moment, everybody now believe in Jesus
because of who he was. He showed his power. He
showed that he had authority over death. He showed
that the father heard him. He showed that he
cared for his people. He showed everything that
he needed to show. But you know what the Bible
says? Let's keep reading. When the friends that
were there in Bethany went back to Jerusalem,
everybody knew what was happening. Everybody
heard what Jesus had done. Verse 47 says, when
the leaders and some of these people got together,
they started saying, what are we accomplishing?
Here is this man performing many signs. Look
at what he just did with Lazarus. If we let him
go like this, everyone will believe in him. Can
you believe it? And then the Romans will come
and take away both our temple and our nation.
And now these guys, because of Jesus performing
this amazing miracle, now want to kill him. And
that's very telling about we humans. Put yourself
in the shoes of Jesus for a moment. Okay, so
you think I abandoned you because I didn't show
up when you called me? And now you feel that
I let you down because if I would have been here
on time, this would not have happened? So you're
upset with me? Disappointed? Okay. I didn't prevent
the illness from leading to death, but guess
what? I'm going to reverse things and I'm going
to bring Lazarus back to life. Come with me.
Lazarus out. Okay, here. Happy now? Good. But
wait. Now you want to kill me? Because I raised
him from the dead? I don't get you humans. It's
very hard to be a savior for you. There's no
win -win here. I show up and you want to kill
me. I don't show up and you blame me. Come on.
Make up your mind. You see that the problem really.
It's not the circumstances. The circumstances
can go this way or that way. The problem is that
we do not know Jesus for who he truly is. Because
when you know who he truly is, you will stop
the blame game and you will stop playing the
victim. That's why Jesus is going to take the
time to be very personal with both Mary and Martha.
And he's going to remind them, I am the solution
here, not the problem. And until you see me for
who I am, things are not going to go well between
us. So yes. There's a very different way of facing
our mortality and the suffering that comes with
it. There's a healthier way of facing our sorrows
when they come. And the way to face these sorrows
in a healthy way have to be determined by truth.
The first truth is that you need to turn to God,
not away from Him. You have to invite God into
your pain and sob in his presence and tell him
how disoriented you are and tell him how disappointed
you feel and tell him all the words that you
managed to say in the midst of the sobbing. You
need to turn to God because if you do not turn
to God, you will turn to something else. And
whatever that something else you turn to is not
God. And will not be able. To reach you in the
deepest part of your soul. And heal that wound
that you carry. Only God can do that. The book
of Psalms says that God is the one that heals
the broken hearted. And bandages our wounds.
Only God can do that. You have. To turn to God.
Not away from him. And that is what Martha did.
In the midst of the grieving. She just left home.
And went to Jesus' feet. And she opened her heart
to him. And she said what she was thinking. And
in that moment. While Mary had chosen to stay
away. Jesus is going to reveal himself to Martha.
In a new way that she had not encountered him
before. And this is what the Bible says. That
at that moment. Jesus looks at Martha. In the
midst of her pain. And has a very intimate. Tender
hearted conversation. Martha. I know. I know
you're feeling abandoned. That if I would have
come, this wouldn't have happened. I know that
you are thinking that I should have prevented
this and I didn't. I know. But do you know who
I am? I am The resurrection. Death will not be
the end of your story. I am life. Death will
never be the end of your story. The one who believes
in me will live even though they die. And whoever
lives by believing in me will never die. Do you
believe this, Martha? Do you understand who I
am? I see you. The question is, do you see me?
Because until you see me for who I am, you will
continue to misjudge me and think that I'm against
you. And Martha looks at Jesus and suddenly in
the midst of her pain, it's like this veil comes
off. And she can see Jesus no longer just as
the friend who performed miracles, this rabbi.
Now she sees him and she says, yes, Lord, I believe
that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who
is to come into this world. I believe. And for
the first time in the midst of the pain, as Jesus
encounters her there, she's able to have an encounter
with God. And now she's not only seen, but she
also sees. That's why you need to open your heart
to God and walk to Him, not away from Him, because
it's in that place. When God encounters you in
your pain, that he will reveal himself to you
in a whole new deeper way that you couldn't understand
before. I was listening to the story of Tim who
grew up as an immigrant in Canada, the son of
Russian refugees. And he's talking about his
story as an adult and he says, you know, it was
very hard to grow up in my home. Because now
looking back, we realize my father had PTSD.
He was an angry man. And when I say angry, very
angry. He would hit me all the time. He did things
that were considered like torture. And it became
so unbearable that when I was 11 years old, I
decided that I could not take it anymore and
I had to leave home. So I left home as an 11
-year -old, and as I was walking on the streets
looking for a place to go, I happened to meet
this guy that says, hey, I know some people.
Let me call, made a phone call, say, okay, yeah,
this lady said that they could open a place for
you to stay temporarily. I can take you to them.
So the 11 -year -old Tim says, sure, I'll go
with you. And as he goes with them, they never
get to the house of these ladies. Instead, they
get to his apartment. And at that moment, from
being in the hands of an angry father, now he's
in the hands of a pedophile. And that took Tim
into a hold -down spiral that marked many years
of his life. And now, as a 47 -year -old, He
confesses and he says, I always felt angry with
God because I felt that just he hand me over
a, he dealt me a bad hand. He wrote this script
and gave me this role. Why me? Could you have
placed me in a loving home? Could you have given
me a father that would love me and care for me?
Could you have? place someone that prevented
me from going into the hand of that stranger?
Could you have done a whole different story?
Why this story? And it was precisely because
that anger of blaming God for his suffering had
marked all his adult life is that he was in that
place of distance until God encountered him.
And on that day when God encountered him, it
happened to be a time in which he had started
following Jesus now. And in his church, there
was an event that was something about a ministry
with men that they called the Band of Brothers.
And as he went there, they started talking about
the father's wound. That there's a pain that
sometimes we carry that has a very specific shape.
And it's that shape of those of us who have felt
abandoned by our fathers. That paternal abandonment
is what is called the wound, the father's wound.
And that night, as Tim went back home, he says
that out of the blue, he could not explain it.
Just could tell what happened. He says, I was
suddenly surrounded like in a cocoon. By God's
love. And in that moment, God spoke to me. And
said, Tim, would you trust me with your pain?
Because at that moment, he realized that he believed
in God. But what was keeping him distant from
God is that he did not trust God with his story.
He did not trust God with his pain. And instead
of giving his pain to God and trust God's heart
for him. He was holding tight to his pain and
his wound. And this night God is inviting him
to trust him with the pain. And he does. For
the first time in 47 years of life. And then
the next thing that God told him was. Tim, I
want to be your father. Would you let me? And
at that moment, Tim says that everything became
reframed for him. He knew that God had been with
him all along and that God wanted to have that
place in his life that his father could never
fill. And it's in that moment, that night, that
Tim says, the wound, the father's wound that
I have been carrying was healed. Amazing things
will happen the moment you walk to God with your
pain and invite him into it. And the things that
God will reveal about your journey and your story
and about who he is in it. So I have to ask you,
who are you turning to? If you're not turning
to God, whatever you're turning to is not good
for your soul. And listen to me, it's not good
for your soul. Turn back to Jesus. Bring your
pain to him. The second truth is that we have
to open our hearts, not shut down. Because the
other tendency, when we start blaming God and
we walk away from Him, is that we start developing
this resentfulness and the pain and the emotions
that we have, we suppress. And when we start
shutting down, the problem is that those emotions
that we suppress and that disappointment that
is deep in there that we have never released,
this bitterness that we have towards God because
He has failed us, Now it's suppressed in there,
and when I shut down, that stays in there. But
the problem is, is that you cannot compartmentalize
it. It doesn't stay in there, neat, in a little
corner. Think of it like something that stinks.
Have you ever walked home, and you realize the
trash now is stinking? It's not just the kitchen
that stinks, is it? Every room starts sinking.
And when you have all these things suppressed
in your life, all these smells start coming out.
You become an angry person. You are easily just
angered. You become depressed. You become numb.
All of these different things are simply the
symptoms of you shutting down. And God doesn't
want you to shut down. He wants you to open up.
He wants you to open your heart to Him because
He is the Prince of Peace. And unless you come
to Him and open up with Him, you will not be
able to experience peace. Only the stink of the
bitterness and the resentfulness and all the
things that you have suppressed. And this is
where the second time that Jesus weeps comes
into place. Because you know, As Jesus now leaves
Bethany. He is going to spend a couple of days
in a village. Then he's invited back to Bethany
for a dinner in his honor. Where Lazarus, Martha
and Mary are there. And other friends to receive
Jesus. He eats with them. And now he's going
to go to Jerusalem. He is getting there to the
top of the Mount of Olives. And now he looks
at Jerusalem. And we are told that he weeps.
Did you know what is interesting is that about
a thousand years earlier, King David was in the
same region. He is right there in the Mount of
Olives and he weeps for Jerusalem as well. The
son of David weeping over Jerusalem. But we are
told in the book of Luke why Jesus wept. This
is what the word of God says. At that moment,
As he approached Jerusalem, and as he saw the
city, you can imagine the picture we saw earlier.
He's seeing the temple, he's seeing the city,
and it says he wept over it. This weeping, this
Greek word that is translated as weeping, is
not the same one as Lazarus' event. There he
just shed a few tears. Here is sobbing. Here
is like that. deep emotion that comes out he
is crying overwhelmed by all this emotion can
you imagine when you are in that space that you
are like trying to speak and and the words hardly
come out they are hard to understand because
you are weeping and you go and all this air that
comes imagine jesus now looking at jerusalem
and now he's overwhelmed by this weeping and
as the words come out of his mouth he starts
saying If you, even you, Jerusalem, if you had
only known on this day what would bring you peace.
But now it is hidden from your eyes. I am the
peace you need. And you could not see me. And
as I look at Jerusalem, I see what is going to
happen in your future. Only a few years now.
And he is going to describe the prophecy of what
is going to happen to Jerusalem in the year 70.
And he starts saying, the days will come upon
you. When your enemies will build an embarkment
against you and encircle you and hem you on every
side. They will dash you to the ground. you and
the children within your walls, they will not
leave one stone on another because you did not
recognize the time of God's coming to you. God
came to you and you did not see it. I was here
and you thought I was absent. And you shut down
your heart to the God who created you because
I didn't fit your expectations. And now that
you shut your heart to me. You will have no peace
but destruction. So now he's weeping. Because
he realizes. The outcome of the one. Who rejects
him. I was there with you all along. And you
didn't see me. And you still believe that I am
not he. Are you shutting down? If you say, Pastor
Paolo, I prefer not to talk about it. Then you're
shutting down. Because that is what shutting
down is. I don't want to talk about it. I don't
want to touch the topic. I'm so disappointed.
It's so painful. It's not even worth spending
any energy talking about it anymore. I already
know that God doesn't exist. Because if he existed,
he wouldn't allow what happened to me. If that
is where you are shutting down, remember the
God who weeps. Because the God who weeps It breaks
his heart to see you going deeper and deeper
in the depression that only he can heal. Because
you refuse to acknowledge the God who is visiting
you. And his name is Jesus. The final truth is
that you need to suffer with hope, not with defeat.
Because you feel abandoned by God. You blame
him now. You shut down. You have all these emotions.
And you go around life acting like the victim
of the circumstances. Poor me. I have been abandoned.
And that's how you suffer. You have forgotten
that this is not the end of your story. You have
forgotten that the resurrection and the life
will overcome everything ahead of you. You have
forgotten these things because they're not part
of the picture. And Jesus wanted his apostles
never to forget this. They have gone through
the experience of Lazarus. They had gone through
the weeping from the Mount of Olives. They had
gone through all of that. And now that Jesus
is with the apostles, a few days later, he gathers
them and he says to them, I have told you all
these things, guys, so that in me you may have,
what? Peace. In this world you will have trouble.
But take heart, I have overcome the world. You
will have to remember that. Because if you forget
that I have overcome, And you forget what's coming.
You will start believing that your past is determining
your future. And that's not true. I am determining
your destiny. And your destiny has my name written
in it. I am the resurrection and the life. Whomever
believes in me will not die. Jesus knows the
truth that being a human, we will suffer. He
guarantees it. In this world, you will have trouble.
You cannot get away from it. But when trouble
comes, don't blame. Don't think of yourself as
the victim. Instead, invite the Savior into the
pain. Open your heart to Him. And then encounter
the peace. That the Prince of Peace wants to
give you. If you invite him in it. So I have
to ask you. What is your attitude? Are you going
through your suffering and your disappointment.
With an attitude of victimhood. Or you have shifted.
To invite God into that space. And say God even
though I don't understand. Why these things happen.
Why was this part of my experience? I'm going
to invite you, Lord, to take this pain. Meet
me in it. Reframe it. So that this will be for
your glory. And that the purposes that you have
will be fulfilled. Help me walk to my future
with you ahead of me. Not with my past in front
of me. This is what healthy sorrow looks like.
So I want to conclude this study of the God who
weeps with simply mentioning the three convictions
of a person that has seen Jesus for whom he truly
is. A person that understands he is the resurrection
and the life. A person who is facing now their
struggles but with truth at the core. Conviction
number one, God is with me, not against me. Can
you say that aloud? Did you believe that? Believe
it because it's the truth. Second conviction,
this struggle is not the end of my story. One
more time. This struggle is not the end of my
story. Do you believe it? Believe it because
it's the truth. And finally, God will lead me
through it for his glory. Would you say it? God
will lead me through it for his glory. Do you
believe it? Believe it because it's truth. The
God who weeps wants to encounter you in your
pain, wants to reframe you in your disorientation,
and he wants to give you the peace that your
soul needs. Would you let him? Lord, your word
says that one day at your return, At the last
trumpet. At the voice of the archangel. The trumpet
shall sound. And the death in Christ will rise
first. And those of us who are still alive. We
will meet them. In the clouds to be with the
Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another.
With these words. The day will come. Where just
as you said. Lazarus, come out. You will say,
Pablo, come out. Death has no longer power over
you. Because I am the resurrection and the life.
And Lord, we will follow you. Finding the strength
and the power in your name until the end of our
days. Give us that strength. And today it is
in your name that we stand. In Christ alone.
In no other name under heaven. In Christ alone.
The only one that we turn to. In Christ alone.
The only one that is the prince of peace. In
Christ alone. We have our hope. And we stand
in one voice. And we proclaim this truth. In
Jesus name. If God is calling you to support
our ministries, you will find giving options
on our website. And remember to join us next
week. God bless you.