John 11:1-6 Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.… By it God designs — I. TO DISCOVER TO US OUR TRUE CHARACTER — whether Christians or worldlings. Christ is like the crucible which tries the gold. II. TO MAKE US KNOW GOD. 1. His authority and our dependence on Him. Christ tells us how easily He could crush us, and how all our safety depends on His power. 2. His faithfulness supporting His children and proving that His grace is sufficient for them. 3. His goodness in standing by us, giving us the consolations of His gospel, and letting down into our souls an anticipated heaven. III. TO GIVE US TO FEEL THE PRECIOUSNESS OF JESUS. Even in health the Saviour is the chief among ten thousand, etc., but His value is especially felt when sickness has brought us to look into the eternal world. IV. TO ENABLE US TO ESTIMATE THE INFINITE IMPORTANCE OF RELIGION. Then the most obdurate is constrained to feel the difference between the righteous and the wicked. The believer then feels more than he ever did, his unspeakable obligations to God for having forgiven his sins and sealed by His Spirit. V. TO SHOW US THE VANITIES OF THE WORLD. On the bed of sickness, honours, pleasures, riches, the pursuit of which occupies the lives of so many men, to the forgetfulness of their soul, heaven, God, lose their lustre and appear but phantoms. VI. TO BENEFIT OUR NEIGHBOUR AND GLORIFY GOD. Thousands of examples might be adduced of persons who received their first impressions from the conduct of Christians in dangerous illnesses. (H. Kollock, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.WEB: Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus from Bethany, of the village of Mary and her sister, Martha. |
    |