WEBVTT

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Have you ever wondered why Jesus referred to

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death as sleep? But just a very few minutes in

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our heart -to -heart talk, we're going to take

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the very words of Jesus. Everything that I say

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today will be backed up. with his word the highest

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authority in heaven and earth i am going to read

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to you from the eleventh chapter of john and

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immediately you will recognize that portion of

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the word of god that tells about the raising

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of lazarus now a certain man was sick named lazarus

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Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.

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And it was that Mary which anointed the Lord

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with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair,

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whose brother Lazarus was sick. Therefore his

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sister sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he

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whom thou lovest is sick. And when Jesus heard

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that, he said, this sickness is not unto death

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but for the glory of god that the son of god

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might be glorified thereby now jesus loved martha

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and her sister and lazarus and when he heard

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therefore that he was sick he abode two days

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ill in the same place where he was Then after

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that saith he to his disciples, Let us go into

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Judea again. And his disciples saith unto him,

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Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee,

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and goest thou thither again? Jesus answered,

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Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any

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man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because

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he seeth the light of this world. But if a man

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walk in the night, He stumbleth, because there

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is no light in him. These things said he, and

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after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus

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sleepeth. But I go, that I may awake him out

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of his sleep. Then said his disciples, Lord,

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if he sleep, he shall do well. Howbeit Jesus

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spake of his death. death, but they thought that

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he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. Then

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said Jesus unto them, Lazarus is dead. I am glad

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for your sakes that I am not there, to the infant

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ye may believe. Nevertheless, let us go unto

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him. Then said Thomas. unto his fellow disciples

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let us go also that we may die with him then

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when jesus came he found that he had lain in

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the grave four days already now bethany was nigh

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unto jerusalem about fifteen furlongs off and

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many of the jews came to martha and mary to comfort

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them concerning their brother then martha As

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soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went

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and met him, but Mary sat still in the house.

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Then said Martha to Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst

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been here, my brother had not died, but I know

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that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God,

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God will give it to thee. And Jesus said unto

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her, Thy brother shall rise again. And Martha

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said unto him, I know that he shall rise again

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in the resurrection at the last day. I know all

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about that. But Jesus said unto her, I am the

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resurrection and the life. He that believeth

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in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live,

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and whosoever liveth, believeth. in me shall

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never die. Believest thou this? She said unto

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him, Yea, Lord, I believe that thou art the Christ,

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the Son of God, which shall come into the world.

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And when she had so said, she went away and called

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Mary, her sister, secretly, saying, The Master

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is come, and he calleth for thee. And as soon

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as she heard of that, she arose quickly and came

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unto him. Now Jesus was not yet come into the

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town, but was in that place where Martha met

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him. And the Jews then, which were with her in

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the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary,

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that she rose up hastily and went out, followed

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her, saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep

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there. Then when Mary was come where Jesus was

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and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying

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unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother

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had not died. When Jesus therefore saw her weeping,

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and the Jews also weeping which came with her,

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he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled, and

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said, Where have ye laid him? And they said unto

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him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept. Then said

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the Jews, Behold how he loved him. And some of

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them said, Could not this man, which opened the

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eyes of the blind, which caused that even this

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man should not have died? Jesus therefore again,

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groaning in himself, cometh to the grave. It

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was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. And Jesus

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said, Take ye away the stone. And Martha, the

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sister of him that was dead, saith unto him,

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Lord, by this time he stinkest, for he hath been

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dead for days. Jesus saith unto her, Said I not

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unto thee, that if thou wouldst believe, thou

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shouldst see the glory of God? And then they

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took away the stone from the place where the

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dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and

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said, Father, I... thank thee that thou hast

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heard me and i knew that thou hearest me always

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but because a people would stand by i said it

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that they may believe that thou hast sent me

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and when he thus had spoken he cried with a loud

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voice lazarus come forth and he that was dead

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came forth bound hand and foot with grave clothes,

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and his face was bound about with a napkin. And

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Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him

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go. Why did Jesus here speak of death as sleep?

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Twice before in the record of our Lord's ministry,

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we see him standing in the presence of death.

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Once it was a child, the child of Jairus. And

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then again, there was a time when it was the

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son of the widow. Here death is seen in the case

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of the brother of Martha Mary. And on that physical

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level, this incident is superlative. In the first

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case, the child was dead in the house. and not

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many hours had passed. In the second case, the

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boy was on his way from the city to a burial

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and not yet buried. But here we have the presence

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of death of a man who had been dead for four

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days, buried, and yet Jesus spoke of death as

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a sleep. Let's consider this. To me, this is

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very thrilling. First of all, we see that Jesus

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had a clear view of the fact of death. He knew

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the fact of death as they saw it, but he also

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knew it in a way that they did not see it. When

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the disciples misunderstood him and thought he

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was really referring to natural sleep, then John

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says he said plainly. Now mark that word. He

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said distinctly, positively. He is not taking

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a rest. He is dead. He has died. his shared experience

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is covered by the word that men had constantly

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used he is dead he is numbered among those who

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are dead he saw death as they saw it and consequently

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when they did not understand him he said the

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plain thing he is dead emphasizing it in the

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word that he used completely dead actually dead

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the body has been put in the sepulcher It's lifeless.

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He's dead. See something. What is sleep? When

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we go to sleep, it does not mean our being has

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ceased in sleep. What is it? unconsciousness

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of all things around. Now, I'm dealing with normal

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and proper sleep. We're unconscious of everything.

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We say sometimes that someone's sleeping like

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a baby. There is, therefore, completely unconsciousness

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of surrounding things. And that's the figure

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that our Lord used. And therefore, we've come

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rightly and very beautifully. to associate the

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idea of sleep with repose. That's what those

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men with Jesus thought that he was referring

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to. If Lazarus was asleep, he would recover.

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If a man has been ill, has really gone to sleep,

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he will recover. He'll be saved. And literally,

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that is what they thought. The danger is past,

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for he is sleeping. but jesus was seeing more

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than they did mary and martha saw a lifeless

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corpse and martha all bless her was so blunt

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in her description of the condition of that corpse

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as she expected that it was by this time and

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those disciples would travel along with jesus

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as peter said let us also go that we may die

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with him If they had been able to look into the

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tomb when the stone was rolled away, they would

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have seen wrapped in grave clothes the body of

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that one who was dead. That's what they saw.

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And that's all they saw. But Jesus said, that

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is not all. As a matter of fact, it is not the

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supreme fact. He's dead. He's lost the consciousness

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of all the things that are around him, his sisters,

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his friends, and everything else. He's dead.

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But he is not dead in the full and deep sense

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of the word. Death as we know it. He saw the

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dead body, but he saw the man. The man was not

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in the sepulcher as he saw him. So that he said,

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so far as this side is concerned, so far as you

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are concerned, as far as the loved ones are concerned,

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he is dead. But so far as he is concerned and

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the things of this side, he's unconscious. He

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knows nothing about them. But that's not the

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end. That is not the end. What then is the teaching

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which we have here? First, the clear evidence

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that Christ's outlook on personality was that

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of his continuation beyond death. When a man's

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heart ceases to beat, that is not the end of

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that man. Even when, as to this world, they are

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asleep, unconscious, and we cannot communicate

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with them in any way, they were not actually

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dead. They had not ceased to be. Notice his sympathy.

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When presently he told them to roll away the

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stone, and they had done it, what did he do?

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He spoke to the man. He spoke to him by the name

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they had known him. Lazarus. Come forth. He spoke

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to the same man, the same personality. That man

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could not have heard Martha if she had said,

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Lazarus, come forth. Oh, no. He would not have

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heard Martha. That man could not have heard Peter

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or John standing there if they had called into

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the void after him. But he heard Jesus, and Jesus

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addressed him by name. he did the same with the

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little girl he laid his hand on her and said

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little lamb arise he spoke to one who could hear

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him not the father and mother they could not

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reach her she was asleep so far as they were

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concerned she was not asleep so far as jesus

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was concerned And when he approached that one

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who was dead and said, young man, arise, as to

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one who could hear the son of the living God,

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the one who did hear him, the one who is resurrection

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-like, that one came forth. They all heard him.

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He brought them back. from the sleep that was

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the unconsciousness of the things here and now

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and brought them into consciousness of them and

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into the position in which they became conscious

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of them and he called it sleep but watch lazarus

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but only one could bring him forth, the Son of

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God. Lazarus heard, struggling to an upright

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position in his gray clothes. Loose him, Jesus

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said, and let him go. The little girl, not yet

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wrapped in her gray clothes, but lying there,

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she heard his voice, the divine voice, and she

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sat up and opened her eyes. The young man was

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able to struggle up. possibly sitting upright.

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And Jesus gave him back to his mother. So that

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if we speak of death as sleep, we must recognize

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that the only one, get this now, the only one

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who can wake out of sleep is our Lord himself.

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The one who can bring back into consciousness

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those fallen. on sleep no one else can remember

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that forever and ever and ever oh beloved only

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one can say arise I say unto you, the hour cometh

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now is when the dead shall hear the voice of

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the Son of God, and they that hear shall live.

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All that are in the tomb shall hear his voice,

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and shall come forth. They that have done good

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unto the resurrection of life, they that have

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done evil unto the resurrection of judgment.

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When he spoke to Martha, he said, I am the resurrection

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of life. He that believeth on me, though he die,

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yet shall he fail. Only one voice. can give life.

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His voice.