Watchman Radio Hour

David Shult: Welcome to the Watchman Radio hour. Coming to you from Portland, Oregon, here in the beautiful Northwest. This is David Shult, your announcer. The Watchman Radio hour is a production of Watchman Radio Ministries International, an evangelistic ministry reaching out to the peoples of the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. And now here's our speaker, Alex Dodson, to bring you this week's message from God's word.

Alex Dodson: For our scripture reading today, let us turn to the Gospel of John chapter 11 and we'll begin reading in verse 17. Let us hear the word of God. On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Bethany was less than 2 miles from Jerusalem and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him. But Mary stayed at home. Lord, Martha said to Jesus, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask. Jesus said to her, your brother will rise again. Martha answered, I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. And he who believes in me will live. Even though he dies. And whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this? Yes, Lord, she told him. I believe that you are the Christ, the son of God, who was to come into the world. Our Father, we thank you for the Bible that you have given to us.

We thank you that it's your infallible word and that would we can put our full confidence in everything that it says. And our Father, as we come to study your word today, we pray that you will send forth your Holy Spirit in great convicting power in Christ's name we pray. Amen. We often think only of Martha as that she was this busybody who did not spend time with Jesus like her sister did. Yet we often forget that the Bible also teaches that she had a firm faith in Christ as her savior. In John 11:27, which is our text for today, it's it says she told him, yes, Lord.

I believe that you are the Christ, the son of God, who was to come into the world. Martha gave a clear profession of faith in Christ. Leon Morris writes, these words of Martha do not always receive the attention they should. When Martha and Mary are spoken of, Martha is apt to be characterized as the lady of whom Jesus said, Martha, Martha, thou art anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is needful. For Mary hath chosen the good part. But Martha, with all her faults, was a woman of faith. Here is a significant declaration.

First, she agrees with what Jesus has said. She is not choosing her own way, but accepting his. She may not understand fully the implications of what he has said, what he has just said, but as far as she can, she accepts it. And then she puts her faith in her own words. I have believed indicates a faith once given and permanently remaining. Her eye is emphatic. Whatever may be the case with others, she has put her trust in Jesus and she believes that. Her faith is not vague, formless credulity. It has content and doctrinal content at that.

She brings out three points. First, Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah of Jewish expectation. Secondly, he is the son of God. It is an expression which can mean little more than that the person so described is a godly man, but it can also point to a specially close relation to God. It is in this latter sense that it is used throughout this gospel. And indeed, John writes explicitly to bring men into faith in Jesus as the son of God. There can be no doubt but that Martha is giving the words their maximum content. Thirdly, she speaks of Jesus as he that cometh into the world, the long-awaited deliverer, the one sent by God to accomplish his will perfectly.

Taken together, these three affirmations give us a a high as high a view of the person of Christ as one well may have. Martha should be known to us from this moving declaration rather than from her worst moment of criticism and fretfulness. William Hendrickson brings out the fact that there had been several others in John's gospel who had made a similar profession of faith. For other notable confessions recorded in preceding chapters of John's gospel, he says, see the one by John the Baptist who said, look, the lamb of God who is taking away the sin of the world in 1:29.

And by Andrew who said, we have found the Messiah in 1:41. And by Philip who said, the one about whom Moses wrote in the law and about whom the prophets wrote, we have found in 1:45. And then by Nathanael who said, Rabbi, thou art the son of God, thou art the king of Israel in 1:49. And by the Samaritans who said, we know that this is really the savior of the world in 4:42. And by Simon Peter who said, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of everlasting life and we have believed and know that thou art the holy one of God.

Martha, with a simple child-like faith, believed that believed what Jesus said and believed that he was the Messiah, that he was the son of God and that he was the promised one that should come into the world. Her faith was simple, but her faith was firm. This is the kind of faith that we need. This is saving faith, to simply believe Jesus at his word and to put our trust in him. Now let us see in the first place that she believed that he was the Christ. Again, our text says, yes, Lord. She told him, I believe that you are the Christ.

The one who gives life. She believed that he was the savior. She believed that he was the resurrection and the life, just like he said. And Matthew Henry he says what she inferred hence and what she alleged this for. If she admits this, that Jesus is the Christ, there is no difficulty in believing that he is the resurrection and the life. For if he be the Christ then he is the fountain of light and truth and we may take all his sayings for faithful and divine upon his own word. If he be the Christ, he is that prophet whom we ought to hear in all things.

Jesus is the Messiah. He is the savior of the world. He is the one who gives life. And Martha believed this. And then she believed that he was the one who delivers from death. In John 11:25 and 26, Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even though he dies. And whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this? RBG Taska writes, Jesus now completely reorientates the faith of Martha by telling her that he is the resurrection. Let her look trustfully to him, for to believe in him is not only to be assured about the resurrection at the last day, but to experience here and now something of that eternal life to which resurrection is the prelude.

Such a believer, though he must pass through physical death as Lazarus has done, will go on living. No one who has faith in Jesus can ever perish. Martha may not understand all the implications of this momentous revelation. But she voices her belief that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, for whose coming God's people have been waiting. The one who believes in Jesus will have victory over death. His body will be resurrected from the dead and he will live forever. In 1 Corinthians 15 verse 53 and following it says, for the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable.

And the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true. Death has been swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? Secondly, she believed that he was the son of God. Again, our text says, yes, Lord. She told him, I believe that you are the Christ, the son of God. God in the flesh. This profession could mean no less than she believed that Jesus was God. William Hendrickson writes to say, as is sometimes done, that Martha did not intend to confess the Lord's full deity involves one in hopeless inconsistency.

Martha must have heard Jesus speaking about himself as the son of God. Now if others understood this to mean that he claimed full equality with the Father, why not Martha? She had heard the claims of Jesus and she believed them. Note, I have believed. The pronoun I, because it is expressed and because of its position in the sentence must probably be regarded as emphatic here. Others had heard the same claims but had rejected them, calling Jesus a blasphemer. But Martha says, I believe. Martha undoubtedly believed that the one who was speaking to her was God himself, the son of God.

Matthew Henry writes, he is the fountain of life and blessedness. And we may therefore depend upon his ability as well as upon his veracity. How shall bodies turned to dust live again? How shall souls clogged and clouded as ours are live forever? We cannot believe this, but that we believe him that undertakes it to be the son of God who has life in himself and has it for us. Only the mighty son of God himself could give us life. And then he's the one who came from heaven. This Jesus, the son of God, came from heaven.

He came from the throne of God to live among men. 2 Corinthians 8:9 says, for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. Philippians 2 in verse 5 and following says, your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus, who being in very nature God did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross.

Hendrickson goes on to say, the I am of Jesus had helped her considerably. We now see her at her best. Rather, we see God's grace displayed in her as we hear her say, yes. Ascending to the statement that Jesus is the resurrection and the life and to the two propositions which followed it. Yes, Lord, I have believed. The perfect tense. It has become a settled conviction with me. Yes, Lord, I have believed that thou art the Christ, the son of God, the one coming into the world. A fixed title for the one who willingly came from heaven to earth.

When we believe in Jesus, we accept him for who he is, the son of God, the one who came from heaven. Thirdly, she believed that he was the one who had been promised in the Old Testament. Again, our text says, yes, Lord. She told him, I believe that you are the Christ, the son of God, who was to come into the world. She believed the Old Testament prophets over and over again. They promised a Messiah to come. In Isaiah 9:6 and 7 it says, for unto us a child is born. To us a son is given and the government will be on his shoulders and he will be called wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. Zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. In Micah 5:2 it says, but you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times. And then in Zechariah 3:8 and 9 it says, listen, O high priest Joshua and your associates seated before you who are men symbolic of things to come.

I am going to bring my servant the branch. See the stone I have set in front of Joshua. There are seven eyes on that one stone and I will engrave an inscription on it, says the Lord Almighty, and I will remove the sin of this land in a single day. Zechariah 6:11 through 13 says, take the silver and gold and make a crown and set it on the head of the high priest Joshua, son of Jehozadak. Tell him, this is what the Lord Almighty says. Here is the man whose name is the branch. And he will branch out from this place, his place, and build the temple of the Lord.

It is he who will build the temple of the Lord and he will be clothed with majesty and will sit and rule on his throne. And he will be a priest on his throne and there will be harmony between the two. All these Old Testament prophets pointed ahead to the coming of the Messiah. He would be the Prince of Peace, the ruler whose origins were from ancient times, the branch, the builder of the temple of the Lord. John Calvin writes to prove that she believes what she had heard about Christ, that he is the resurrection and the life.

Martha replies that she believes he is the Christ and the son of God. And this knowledge embraces the sum of all blessings, for we must always remember the purpose for which the Messiah was promised and the office the prophets ascribed to him. When Martha confesses that he was the one who was to come into the world, she fortifies her faith by the predictions of the prophets. It follows from this that the full restoration of all things as well as perfect happiness are to be looked for from him. And in short that he was sent to set up and prepare the true and complete state of the kingdom of God.

Matthew Henry writes what she believed and confessed concerning Jesus. Three things all of the same effect. First, that he was the Christ, a Messiah promised and expected under this name and notion, the anointed one. And then that he was the son of God, so the Messiah was called not by office only, but by nature. And then that he was he who should come into the world, that blessing of blessings which the church had for so many ages waited for as future, she embraced as present. Martha simply believed the Old Testament prophets that a Messiah was coming and she believed that Jesus was that Messiah.

She believed the Bible. She simply believed the scriptures and we should too. We should believe the Bible, for it is the word of God. She believed like Philip. In John 1:45, Philip found Nathanael and told him, we have found the one Moses wrote about in the law and about whom the prophets also wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. Philip knew his Old Testament. He knew it foretold the coming of the Messiah and when he saw him, he knew him. Matthew Henry wrote, here is the God of her faith. And that is the word of Christ.

Without any alteration, exception, or promise, she takes it entire as Christ has said it. Yea, Lord, whereby she subscribes to the truth of all and every part of that which Christ had promised in his own sense, even so. Faith is an echo to divine revelation, returns the same words and resolves to abide by them. And then he goes on to write the ground of her faith and that is the authority of Christ. She believes this because she believes that he who saith it is Christ, she has recourse to the foundation for the support of the superstructure.

I believe. I have believed that thou art Christ and therefore I do believe this. Martha had a simple child-like faith. She said, yes, Lord, I believe. God has spoken to us in his word, the Bible. And all we need to do is to believe it with a simple child-like faith. We don't need to know a whole lot. We just need to believe. The Bible has been around for a long time and has been believed by many people. It has been believed by the simple and uneducated and it has also been believed by the scholar and educated.

Martin Luther, Dr. Martin Luther simply believed the Bible and he changed the world. George Whitefield, the great preacher who preached to tens of thousands here in America and in England, was a very intelligent man and he believed the Bible by faith and preached it with great power and multitudes were saved. John Calvin, the lawyer and Christian preacher was a great intellectual and thinker. He simply believed the Bible and took it at its word and he also changed the world along with Martin Luther. These men were great men who influenced the world for great good. They believed the Bible and so should we.

Dr. Henry M. Morris was professor and head of the department of civil engineering at Virginia Tech. He along with Dr. John Whitcomb, professor of Old Testament Grace Theological Seminary, wrote a book which was published in 1961 by the Presbyterian and Reform Publishing Company. The book was entitled The Genesis Flood. These two great men, one a scientist, the other a theologian, simply believed the Bible and stood up against godless evolution. And their book has influenced multitudes. Today, Christians compromise with godless evolution and refuse to believe the Bible to their own detriment. True evolution is godless. It has nothing to do with God or the Bible.

Christians who try to accept evolution and put it together with the Bible are wrong. What they need to do is to forget godless evolution and believe the Bible. Martha had a simple child-like faith and believed the Old Testament. She knew that the Messiah was coming and when he came, she accepted him with that same child-like faith. Today, there are godless college professors who shake their fists in the face of God and think they are doing their students a service. They think they are wise, but they have become fools. And then there are those whom these same college professors would call fools because they simply believe the Bible for what it says.

They are the ones who are truly wise. What we need today is more people who will simply believe the Bible and have a child-like faith like Martha. John wrote his gospel gospel so that people could come to know Christ. In John 20:31 he's it says, but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and then by believing you may have life in his name. We can only have life by believing. If we refuse to believe, we cannot have life. What we need today are people with believing hearts.

This nation crumbles due to unbelief. We worship our scientists and believe everything they tell us. Yet we refuse to believe the Bible. Today's generation has become so ignorant of what the Bible teaches. They don't believe it and they don't know what it teaches. If we truly believe the Bible as a people, we would rise up with a loud outcry all over this nation against same-sex marriage and the lifestyle that it promotes. We would refuse to be drawn into these things because we would know that the Bible teaches that such is wrong. Yet more and more people reject the clear Bible teaching and go with the crowds.

We no longer believe the Bible as a people. We need more Martha's in this land. We need more Martha's who will simply believe as she did. We need to repent of our unbelief as a nation and return to the Bible that our forefathers believed. If we continue in our unbelief as a people, this nation will be judged. God brings judgment upon unbelief. May God send a spiritual revival into our midst that will turn our hearts back to the Bible and to the God of the Bible. Do you believe the Bible? If you don't, then repent of your unbelief at once and turn to the God of the Bible for forgiveness and salvation.

Jesus came to save sinners, not the righteous. He came to save you. Now turn to him and believe on him with a simple child-like faith as Martha believed in her day. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for Martha. We thank you for her simple child-like faith. O Lord Jesus, we pray that you will raise up more Martha's today with a simple child-like faith who will believe the Bible, who will believe in you. O Lord, we pray for spiritual revival in this land. We pray for an outpouring of your spirit which will take away the unbelief of our people.

In Christ's name we pray. Amen. This is Alex Dodson and I would like to invite you to write us this week. Our email address is info at watchmanradio.org. That's info at watchmanradio.org. That's w a t c h m e n radio.org. You may also text us at 503 841 9643. That's 503 841 9643. This is Alex Dodson again. At Christmas we are collecting funds for orphans in India and Kenya, East Africa, and Honduras. If you would like to help us help children at this time of year who are needy in these parts of the world, you may do so by going to our website at www watchmanradio.org.

That 's www watchmanradio.org. Click there on the link to our children's fund. We invite you to help a needy child this Christmas. Thank you.

David Shult: We hope this week's broadcast has been a blessing to you. If you have any questions about Mr. Dodson's message, please write us. You may email us at info at watchmanradio.org. Our mailing address is Watchman Radio Ministries International, Post Office Box 13251, Portland, Oregon 97213. That's Watchman Radio Ministries International, Post Office Box 13251, Portland, Oregon 97213. You may listen to this broadcast at any time on the internet at www.oneplace.com. In the list of ministries, just select The Watchman Radio hour. This week's program and previous programs are always available there for listening. Our web address is www.watchmanradio.org.

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