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Welcome to the Daily Blade. The Word of God is described as the sword of the Spirit, the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil. Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson, and they stand ready to equip men for the fight. Let's sharpen up.

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All right, welcome back to day five of our deep dive in John, chapter 11. This is the grand finale. We're going to pick it up in verse 38. Then Jesus deeply moved again.

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Again, this is kind of this mixture of he's sad for his people but he's also angry at death. He came to the tomb. It was a cave and a stone lay against it and Jesus said take away the stone. And Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him Lord, by this time there will be an odor. The King James says Lord, it stinketh. I think that's funny, for he has been dead for four days Now.

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Listen to this. Do you remember a few days ago, when she said that Jesus asked her the question do you believe? And she says I believe. I believe you are the resurrection and the life. I believe you are the son of God. And he goes okay, are you sure you believe? And she goes yeah, I believe. And then now, when he is about to do the thing that she said that she believed in, now she's got questions. So let me ask you this I know it's easy to believe when you're sitting in church and you hear a good sermon, but what about when you were confronted with the actions that are required based on what you said that you believe.

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Like, believing without doing is worthless. James says faith without works is dead. Like do you believe in the forgiveness of the cross? Okay, then why don't you act like it? Do you believe that forgiving people are supposed to forgive people? Okay, then why do you hold on to the grudge? Do you believe Verse 40,?

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And Jesus said to her did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God? And so they took away the stone and Jesus lifted up his eyes and said Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around that they may believe that you sent me. And when he said these things, Jesus cried out in a loud voice Lazarus, come out. I love what Charles Spurgeon says here. Charles Spurgeon says he had to call out the name Lazarus because if he had just said come out, he would have emptied the entire graveyard. It'd be like the thriller video. Spurgeon didn't say the thriller video part. I added that, but it makes sense. He says Lazarus, come out, verse 44,.

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And the man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips and his face wrapped with cloth by the way, if you are a Christian, that's how you got saved. Like dead people can't make themselves alive that the almighty, sovereign king of the universe called your name and you came out of that grave, that he transferred you from death to life. You didn't save you, you didn't figure this out. God saved you. Salvation belongs to the Lord. And then the first thing that Jesus says to Lazarus, who used to be dead and now is alive, he says unbind him and let him go.

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The NIV says take off his grave clothes. Why? He had about 125 pounds of cloth and herbs all wrapped up on him. And the first thing that Jesus says to do is take off the grave clothes. Here's why Because living people don't wear dead man's clothes.

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So let me ask you this Are you still wearing the clothes that you used to wear when you were a dead man? Like, the reason we don't do the things that we used to do is the old us is dead and the new us is alive. And how silly would it be if, three weeks later, you walked into Lazarus's house and you'd be like man. Something smells like death in here and you looked over and Lazarus still had on his grave clothes. It wouldn't make any sense at all. You see, the reason that we put off our old self is because these aren't the things that define us anymore. This is greater than just right and wrong. So are there areas of your life that, after you believed in Jesus, but you're still carrying around those grave clothes, you're still carrying around your old vocabulary, you're still carrying around your old thought life, you're still going back to the wrong people, to the wrong websites, to the wrong way of thinking. What you need to do is to take off your grave clothes and throw those things away and dress yourself in the righteousness of Christ that has been given to you.

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And Lazarus could not do this on his own. He needed some brothers to come around him and help him put to death the things that were dead. And so if you are still wearing dead man's clothes, then you need to get your foxhole brothers, you need to get your mat carriers. You need to say hey, here's some areas of my life where my old flesh, the old me, my old ways of thinking keep creeping up and I've got to put those things to death because you are not the person you used to be. You don't have to do the things you used to do because you're not the person that you used to be. The old you is dead and the new you is alive in Christ Jesus. So take those grave clothes off, put them where they belong in the grave, and I pray that you will walk in the freedom and newness of Christ that Christ has called you into. Be free brothers.

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Thank you for listening to today's episode Before you go. If you want to help equip other men for the fight, share this podcast around and leave us a five-star rating and review. Stay sharp.