World Unyielding

Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.”

John 11:39

Martha, friend of Jesus, how troubled she was. Her recently deceased brother lay in the tomb, having not survived long enough to receive the Savior’s aid. Jesus did not arrive according to Martha’s schedule, and now He commanded the stone to be rolled away from the tomb. And what was Martha’s expectation of the one she called Teacher? She reasoned within herself that the season for expectancy had ended. So she complained. If there was a stench, so what? Here was a situation orchestrated by God to display His resurrection power in His Son according to His timing. He needed not consult Martha, nor any creature for that matter.

Believer, having been made alive in Christ, do you now doubt His saving power? Surrounded by those who are as you once were, dead in trespasses and sin, do you think the favourable time has expired? Has the day of salvation passed? In a time of waiting, let us not be tempted to latch onto Martha’s reasoning, rooted in unbelief and revealed in a moment of testing. We need not complain, as if God doesn’t already know the situation. Let us conduct ourselves with sure expectation fixed on Jesus, by faith looking beyond what is seen and not thinking as carnal people.

Does a stench of sin and death bother you? Are there souls dead for longer than four days? Yes, a lifetime is spent in spiritual death unless God saves according to His mercy through the renewal of the Holy Spirit. Sinners made alive with Christ. New life given to brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, sons and daughters. Believer, call upon Jesus who is a friend to you. Though God’s timing and your timing may not agree, let that not be an occasion for unbelief. Call upon Him to save. Yes, even the sickness of sin in the souls of those dearest to you may not be unto eternal death, but for the glory of God. The glory of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. There we find a sure basis for our pleas, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. Believer, God’s reputation is at stake. Therefore, those who believe will see the glory of God displayed in saving power.

It was not fitting for the stone to remain where the dead no longer lay. In holy anticipation, let us not be disobedient to the call of God to take away the stone. Whatever opportunity is afforded, let us readily obey Jesus’ command as we seek the salvation of souls by the effectual call of God. The stench of a dying culture may dissuade the religious hypocrite, but surely it fans the flame of compassion in the sincere believer. Upon remembering your past stench, would you not be more determined to take away any obstruction by God’s power that works in you? Are you resolved to live as Christ lived and share His gospel? And then a general call through speaking God’s word may prove to be an effectual call. Do you not expect God to call the dead to life? Has He not done the same for you? Is it strange to think God makes a soul alive, calling them out of the tomb, with the purpose of that same enlivened soul taking away the stone for another soul whom God will also make alive? Martha’s moment of unbelief is no excuse for mine, so God help me.