A dead man who had lain in the grave so long that he had begun to reek!
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"He told them plainly: Lazarus is dead!" John 11:14
There lay Lazarus in the grave, dead! His restoration to life was utterly hopeless upon any ordinary principles. Certainly Lazarus could not raise himself. His affectionate sisters could not, with all their weeping, give him life. Nor could the disciples call back the departed spirit, and reanimate the decaying corpse. It was a hopeless case, for who could revive a dead man who had lain in the grave so long that he had begun to reek!
Dead Lazarus is a picture of every unconverted sinner in the world. He is dead in trespasses and sins. He is not a little sick or somewhat wounded, or in a fainting fit—but spiritual death reigns over him. The lost sinner can never give spiritual life to himself. The thing is inconceivable!
There are people who imagine that the natural will of man sometimes inclines towards good; but, alas, this flattering supposition is far from the fact. Until we see dead men raising themselves, we do not expect to meet with dead sinners who have spontaneously and without divine assistance, made themselves spiritually alive.
Neither can relatives or friends regenerate the soul of the spiritually dead.
Nor can the most earnest ministers bestow the New Birth.
Death is a terrible picture of every person's natural state before God, and it is by no means an exaggerated one. The whole world is but a valley of dry bones, according to Ezekiel's vision—and if ever the dry bones are to live, it will not be through an energy innate within themselves, nor through a power resident in the most zealous of men, nor through any might which even a prophet could exert, apart from God.
Education cannot develop spiritual life out of death.
Persuasion cannot quicken one who is dead in transgressions and sins.
Reasoning cannot infuse spiritual life into a dead soul.
Jesus must come to the tomb of Lazarus, and His voice must cry, "Lazarus, come forth!"—or else the corpse shall remain inanimate, and only increase in putrefaction.
All that can be done by mortal man may be done—but nothing will be effected, unless Jesus, who is the resurrection and the life, shall speak the quickening word. In His omnipotent voice lies the power—and only there.
Now, let this be taken as a plain statement of our belief as to the Lord's work in salvation, and taken without any mitigation or dilution. We believe that in every case, salvation is altogether of the Lord alone. Regeneration is a supernatural work. Man must be born again from above. Any power short of that from God, will be ineffectual. The new creation is as much and as entirely the work of God as the old creation. God's divine arm must be revealed, or the case is past hope!
"As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins!" Ephesians 2:1
"Because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ, even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved!" Ephesians 2:4-5