We are one church. We love God, love people, love
His mission, and love His church.
Welcome to the One Church podcast.
I want to share a story about a day that God arrived late, but
he got there on time. Now that sounds like a paradox.
If you're late, then you can't be on time, except you're
Nigerian. Now, I said that because here in
the Western world, when is when? If something is fixed for 3:00,
you're all seated by 5 minutes to three.
But in Nigeria, we have something called Nigerian time.
If something is fixed for 3:00, it means we start getting ready
for to go at 3 now we don't get there at 3:15.
We get we start getting ready at 3:00 now.
But even for a Nigerian, anyone coming four days after the
event, that is a new world record.
You can imagine someone calling for a party and they say, what
are you here for? I say I'm here for an event and,
and they ask you about the event and they say it happened four
days ago. They'll be like anyone listening
to you like Bros. You're this is, this is, I don't
even know what to tell you, but I want to share that story this
morning. Now, I remember just in
December, just last December, my wife was a part of a three women
group to set up the end of year party for the team, the team she
belonged to. Now we went shopping I think was
in range and she got herself a Christmas hat, but she really
didn't like that Christmas hat. So she went online and ordered
for yet another one. Now have you been ever expecting
something or expecting someone and it came late.
Now it wasn't just about the heart, it was about the heart
coming on time. So they said it will be there on
time. Now the day of the event came,
the party went, it was beautiful, it was lovely,
pictures were taken, all of that was done.
The heart did not arrive. Now of course he had to go back
online and then cancel the order.
It wasn't because the the heart was no longer valuable, it was
about the timing was about the timing.
And so I'm about to say a story about 3 lovely people the Bible
says about these three siblings, Marta, Mary and Lazarus.
The Bible says here in John 11 verse 3 and verse 5 it says, so
the sisters sent word to Jesus. Lord, the one what the one what
the one you love is sick. Now that is what the one of the
sisters said. He said one of the sisters sent
what I said the one you love. So just in case she was she was
the one saying that Jesus loved him.
The Bible says in verse 5 it says now Jesus did what loved
Mata and her sister and Lazarus. So it wasn't just our opinion.
The Bible actually records that Jesus loved these three
siblings. So you would expect that if God
really loves these people, then nothing bad should happen to
them, don't you think? So it makes sense.
Now let me tell you, let's go on.
There's something about the story that really excites me.
So the Bible says that now they sent for Jesus.
Jesus, yes, that the one he loves is sick.
And this is what Jesus did. So when Jesus heard that Lazarus
was sick, he got up and started on his way to get there before
he died. Is that what the Bible says?
What does he say? Wow, do you really love Lazarus?
He says. So when he had, he stayed back.
That's what you do when you hear so on this so on.
Now. Now I would have understood this
because this whole story is filled with a lot of paradox.
Because if you love somebody and you hear they are sick, the
Bible says so when he heard he stayed back, it's of him running
towards the situation. He stayed back.
Have you ever felt like, Lord, if you truly love me, you should
be here right now to help me. If you say you love me, why
would this be happening to me in the 1st place?
And sometimes we're there in that part and we're wondering,
this cannot be love. This is not how love looks.
I mean, we've all, at least we've heard stories of the
knight in shining armour and all of that.
They run towards battle, they don't, they don't stay back.
And that's the way it ends. It then goes on.
Now it then goes on to say that Jesus after two days now says
let's make the journey. And he gets there not one day,
not two days, not three days. I want to tell you why this is
important. He got there four days later.
At this point, you know the Bible says in verse 6 it says,
so when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed back.
Then the next verse says that he got there late.
By the time he got there, Mary and Martha said to Jesus at
different times. He said to him, if only you were
here, my brother would not have died.
You know, I want to say it this way.
The way they were saying is that with all due respect, Jesus, if
it's not that we know you and we love you, I would have spoken to
you in a way you would not really like, Jesus.
That's what they were saying. They said if only you were here
because we have heard about a God that shows up before the
problem starts. We've heard about Jehovah Jarry,
the Lord who sees the need ahead of time.
Then we've also heard about the God that shows up in the midst
of the fire. He shows up in the midst of the
storm. Can you imagine the three Hebrew
boys and you are going through the the whole fire thing and
you're like anytime now, Lord, anytime now.
The fire is getting hotter anytime now, but he died.
It could be likened to something like saying I wish the trauma
never happened. Lord, you should have shown up
for me before the trauma. You'd have shown up for me
before I got into this challenge.
You'd have shown up for me before the problem.
I prayed, I cried, I shouted, I believed, I trusted you.
Not only someone puts it this way, not only did the person
die, the person died the more after you prayed and after you
called out. But this is the point and this
is the main thing I'm going to. Then on the 4th day, Jesus
showed up. Now he arrived late, but he got
there on time. Because when Jesus shows up, you
know, there's some some things happen in this story that I find
very interesting. When Jesus showed up, Mary and
Mata had to leave the company of those that were comforting them.
This is important. Now the comfort was necessary,
but when Jesus showed up, the story was about to take another
turn. I don't know if there's someone
here that thinks that the story has ended.
You've prayed, you trusted God, you believed God, but it's all
over now. And you're like saying, well,
Lord, I'm not going to hate you, but I trusted you.
If only you were here. If only you were here.
I trusted you. But it's too late now.
So it's fine. It's OK.
It's, it's OK. I'm I'm not upset with you.
It's OK. I just want to tell you that if
only you were here, this wouldn't have happened.
But let me say this. When Jesus shows up, the story
changes and there are some things that we need to do when
Jesus shows up. The first thing is this.
When Jesus shows up, we need to show him the place showing the
problem. Jesus showed up and he said in
verse 34 he says where have you done what?
Where have you laid him now? They just told him that he's
dead now, but he said, where have you laid him?
Have you ever felt like it's too late?
No need. Don't need to pray about this
anymore. There's no need to talk about it
anymore. I'm OK with it.
I'm hurt. The sky is there.
There's no need to talk about it anymore.
It's too late. But I'm saying to you this
morning, whatever that situation is, whatever that problem is,
show it to him. It doesn't make sense anymore,
but still show it to him. It's over, but still show it to
him. Let me tell you something about
four days. So I was reading and preparing
for this and I read something that in the Jewish tradition
back then, the 4th day was quite significant because the Jews
believed that when someone dies, the first three days their
spirits, well that's what they believed, was still hovering.
But by the 4th day it was finalised.
You couldn't call back. And on the 4th day, that's what
the Jews believed. Everything he was doing was
intentional. You see, Jesus had raised
Jarius's daughter. That was just a few hours after
she died. Jesus had raised the boy that
was being taken to be buried, but at this point he was in the
grief. There's really no need to bother
Jesus at this point. That's that's that's the thing.
If so, somewhere in your head something is telling you no need
to bother Jesus. It is too late.
The case is sealed and dead and done.
He's saying, I'm saying to you today, show it to him.
Why? Because Jesus has arrived.
Now the second thing is, and this is important as well is
when Jesus arrives, hear him, the Bible says in verse 39, he
says take away the stone, he said, and this was their
response. But Lord said Mata the sister of
the dead man, by this time there is a bad odour for he has been
there for what for days? The trauma, the pain, the
situation. Jesus, if only you did not allow
that to happen to me. But it's happened.
It's too late now. Not just show him, hear what he
has to tell you. Because someone here God may be
saying to you forgive and you're saying it would have been easier
if you never allowed the bad thing to happen to me.
Then I would not even be in a place where I'm struggling to
forgive. You may be in a place where He's
saying that rejoice and praise me despite the fact that the
situation is dead. And you are saying, Lord, it
would have been easier if you answered my prayer maybe before
I got into the problem or while I was in the problem.
But right now the problem is not only dead, it's been dead for
four days. Why are you still asking me to
praise you? But he's saying, I'm saying to
you that when he comes, He will give you instructions now
because the miracle is in his word.
And he says as the water comes from the heavens and it must
touch, Have you ever seen the rainfall?
And then he goes like it comes down, it goes really close to
the flood and goes, no, I'm not going down.
Have you ever seen the rain do that?
If you have probably was in your dreams, not in real life.
The rain must touch the flow. And so also the word that God
sends must perform what it has been sent to do.
And the miracle is in the Word. So He speaks this word.
He doesn't have to make sense. He just has to make faith.
You may say I don't feel. He says it's smelling.
It doesn't make sense to try to do anything at this point.
It doesn't have to make sense. God doesn't call us for us to
understand what he's saying. God calls us to believe him.
There's a difference. You see, sometimes we ask for
details when we don't trust the person just in case someone is
somewhere and you say where are you right now?
Say I'm I'm, I'm I'm with a friend.
Give the phone to the friend. Let me hear his voice.
That's when you don't what trust.
Then you ask for details. Take a picture, round up
building. Let me be sure you are in
church. You know you're asking for
details because you don't trust. But when you trust him, just do
what he says doesn't have to make sense to you.
He says, praise me in the midst of the storm, praise him.
He says forgive and let go. You say, well, but they hurt me.
It feels better to hold on to that pain.
It feels better. And as I was sitting out there,
that's something that dropped my spirit.
You know, we may go. It feels, but it's not about
feeling. It's about faith.
You see, when Jesus showed up, one of the things they had to do
was they had to leave those that were comforting them.
And I feel also in my heart that God may be saying to someone
here that you may also have to leave your current company, not
because the company is bad. You know, for a long time I
thought that Jesus sent everyone out when He wanted to raise
Jerry's daughter because their unbelief was going to affect
him. But then as I was meditating
yesterday, I realised Jesus raised Lazarus in front of
everyone. So it had, it had, it wasn't
that their own belief was going to affect Jesus, but I realised
that their own belief was going to affect Jarius.
And so he had to tell them, put them out, put them out not for
Jesus, because Jesus said yeah, Lord, I thank you because you
hear me always. How do I know?
Because he said he kept saying to Mary that didn't I tell you
belief? Why I said this is I want you to
understand that God does not need everyone to agree with you.
It just needs you to believe. It doesn't have to make sense to
everyone. And you see, if they stayed with
the company of those that were comforting them, they would say
it doesn't make sense because even those people said see how
much when the only place in the Bible is in this story that
Jesus cried only place in the whole Bible how he loved them so
much he wept. You will be wondering why are
you crying? You raised that you you raised
Jairus daughter a few hours you you raised the boy before he was
buried. You healed so many sick Jesus.
Why are you crying at this point?
Wouldn't it have been easier to have come days before now the
fact that he loves you doesn't mean something bad will happen.
But I'm here to tell you that the story has not ended.
The story is about to unfold. So he says come out.
They came out from them so that their fate will not be affected.
And then last but not the least is that when Jesus shows up,
obey. It doesn't make sense.
The miracle is in the obedience. The miracle is in the obedience.
As the story rounds up, you see, after they did all these things,
Jesus said to her, said where have you placed him?
He's been dead for four days. Don't worry, just show me.
The sky is there, don't worry, just show me.
They've caught me. Don't worry, just show me.
I don't feel like praying anymore.
Don't worry, just show me. I've been offended.
Don't worry, just show me. Then he gives you an
instruction. Yeah, but then don't stop there.
Obeying. The Bible says so.
They took away the stone and this is the part I love.
You've done your part. Now Jesus looks up and said,
you've done your part. You don't have to.
It doesn't have to make sense. You don't have to feel it.
You don't have to understand how it's going to do it.
Just bring it to him. God is saying to someone here,
I'm not only coming to heal you, I'm coming to make you whole.
I'm not just coming to. And the reason why he's doing
this is so that when he changes the story around, even you will
know. This has to be God.
There's no, no one can explain it.
No one can understand it because, you see, we live in a
time where it's a bit challenging to preach the gospel
because there's so much, you know, resistance.
But you see, one of the biggest ways we overcome is by the words
of our testimonies. I may not be all I can tell
someone sometimes that Jesus did it for me.
I don't know what you're talking about.
All I know that I was dead. Now I'm alive.
All I know was that I was struggling with this.
Now my life has changed. You can argue with whether Jesus
is real or not or who is great. All I know is that Jesus changed
me and that's why that's what he wants to do with your testimony.
Because someone can argue up and down and say, I don't believe in
miracles. You say, well, I don't know
about whether that preacher heals or doesn't heal.
All I know is that I was sick in, in, in, in the dead bed and
Jesus healed me. Argue with that, and that's what
God wants to do today. Praise God.
Like I said, this story is basically a story about the day
God came late but arrived on time.
One thing that struck me was, like I said, we've heard about
Jehovah Jireh, the one who sees your needs ahead of time and
makes provision for it. We have heard about Jehovah
Elroy. The one who sees you in the
midst of your problems. But today I'm also here to tell
you about the one who says I am the resurrection and the life
that even when it is dead, I will bring it back to life.
I want us to see that Scripture again.
John 11 verse 25. This is God's word to show on
John 1125. It says the one who believes in
me will leave even though they were dead about 30 years ago.
About 30 years, not up to 30, but almost 30 years ago.
I was in my 100 level and I just got into university.
All my life, I've always wanted to be a doctor all my life.
But you see, the list came out for Med school in Nigeria.
My name was not on the list the first time, second time, the
third time and the last time, my name was not on the list.
And I stood there looking at the list.
You know when when your name is on the list, every names looks
like your own. My name is a Debbie.
But then you see a deck here and you're like, you go up, down,
then you go sideways. Just in case, you know, my name
was not on the list, but God said to me, your name is on the
list or you can't see it. So I turned to my friend and I
said God just said to me my name is on the list, but I can't see
it. Now that doesn't make sense.
If you can't see it, your name is not on the list.
If it's on the if, if, if, if it's on, if it's on the list,
then you will see it. Jonah signs a paradox, but
that's what he said and I'm happy.
I told someone on my side. I said God just said to me, my
name is on the list, but I can't see it.
So in 200 level. So then I got into optometry for
that was the first time in my life I was yelling about
optometry. I didn't know there was a cause
called optometry. I only knew about medicine.
So I got in to read optometry 100 level.
So of course, my dream that I've always carried from a child to
be a medical doctor was dead, was dead, but I was in a service
like this and the man of God said someone here, he just said
even that dream that looks dead will come back to life.
It was late for me. God, you should have helped me
while I was praying to get on the list.
Not not now. I'm now doing the course they
I'm now I will have the attack. I have bad optometry.
It's too late. But you know what happened in
200 level they allowed. It's not common in my school
back then, so it's not the usual thing.
They allowed change of course it's not common.
I know some places it's common, but in my school it wasn't.
In 200 level they allowed change of course and I changed from
optometry to 200 level medicine as if I'd never lost a year.
Now the next year they didn't do change of course anymore.
They didn't do it the year I got in, they didn't do it the year
after. So it wasn't the yearly thing.
They did it exactly at that point.
And I remember that story. My name was on the list, but I
couldn't see it. Jesus is in the house and he's
the resurrection and the life and even that which looks dead
he will bring back to life. I just want you to just pray if
you're, if you're standing right here, just just put out your
hand and just begin to declare. Lord, I bring that situation to
you and I show you. Maybe it's a scar, maybe it's a
heart, something that looks dead, a dream that looks dead.
Whatever it is, Lord, I bring it to you and I show you.
You are the resurrection and the life.
You are the resurrection and the life, the one that comes even
after it is dead and done and buried, and you bring it back to
life. Thank you, Lord.
Lord, I speak your word over the situation.
I speak your word over that thing.
I don't know what it is, but they know that's all that
matters. They believe in you.
They may not know how you will bring it to pass.
They don't even have to understand how you will bring
it, but they trust you. They trust you and they bring it
to you. Lord, I ask that your life, that
same life, that same spirit, that same power that came and
raised Jesus from the dead, that same power and life comes into
that situation and brings about wholeness in the name of Jesus,
brings about life in the name of Jesus.
Thank you Father, thank you for healing, thank you for turning
around the situation, thank you for bring changing this
testimony, changing the story. Thank you Heavenly Father, for
in Jesus name we have prayed. Amen.
If you believe, let's put our hands together for Jesus.
The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine
upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord turn his face towards
you and give you peace.