The Invasion of God

In one paragraph

Ron Turpin preached from John 11, the raising of Lazarus, using it to trace what happens when God invades a life that has gone cold or been given up for dead. He worked from a simple picture of the human spirit as a candle, lit by God at creation and blown out in the Fall, and he kept that image running through everything he said. Ron opened with two foundation verses: Proverbs 20:27, which calls...

Read together

1. Proverbs 20:27 quoted to show the spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, illustrating how God invades a person's life
2. 1 Thessalonians 5 quoted to show that man is made of spirit, soul, and body, with spirit listed first as most important
3. John 11:1-2 introduces Lazarus of Bethany, Mary and Martha, and the news that Lazarus is sick
4. John 11:3-4 the sisters send word to Jesus and He says the sickness is not unto death but for the glory of God
5. John 11:5-6 noted that Jesus loved Martha, her sister and Lazarus, yet stayed two days in the same place
6. John 11:34 Jesus asks where Lazarus has been laid and the crowd says come and see
7. John 11:35 Jesus wept, prompting the Jews to note how He loved Lazarus
8. John 11:38-39 Jesus comes to the grave, a cave with a stone upon it, and Martha warns that Lazarus has been dead four days and will stink
9. John 11:40 Jesus tells Martha that if she believes she will see the glory of God, cited as the title of the message
10. John 11:41-42 Jesus lifts up His eyes and thanks the Father for hearing Him, saying He speaks so the people may believe the Father sent Him
11. John 11:43-44 Jesus cries with a loud voice calling Lazarus forth, and Lazarus comes out still bound in grave clothes
12. Luke 16 cited to show that at death angels carry a saint to Abraham's bosom
13. Genesis 1 referenced when describing the Holy Spirit hovering over Lazarus as He hovered over the deep at creation
14. Isaiah quoted in the closing prayer invitation: though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow

Talk about it

1. Ron used the image of a candle being lit or blown out to describe what happens spiritually when a person is born again, or when sin enters. How does that picture connect with your own understanding of what it means to be spiritually alive or dead?
2. Ron pointed out that Jesus waited two days after hearing that Lazarus was sick, and suggested that God sometimes waits until we reach the end of our own resources before He steps in. Has there been a time in your life when God seemed to be waiting, and what did that period do to your faith?
3. When Jesus arrived at the tomb, both Mary and Martha said the same thing: 'If you had been here, he would not have died.' Ron asked whether anyone in the room had ever been in that place with God. What does it look like, honestly, to stay in faith when it feels like God showed up too late?
4. Ron described the command 'Loose him and let him go' as a picture of Christians helping one another shed the grave clothes of dead habits, wrong ways of seeing, wrong ways of speaking, and wrong ways of listening. Which of those areas do you find hardest to let others help you with, and why?
5. Ron closed by talking about rolling stones away for other people and how costly that can be, using his own struggle in the orphanage and his reaction to the invitation to visit the leper colony as examples. What is a stone in front of someone in your life that you sense God may be asking you to help move, and what is it costing you to hold back?