Length: 6 Minutes
As you grow in your knowledge of Jesus, your time spent growing is not in vain. The word of God is a seed that always produces fruit (Luke 8:15), but you need to continue in that word before you see the fullness of the fruit.
Receiving doesn’t take time because God is holding out for some divine purpose. He already paid for it 2,000 years ago. If it takes time, it’s because it takes time for us to grow in the realization of what He’s already done. So continue strong!
When Lazarus died, Jesus told Martha that, for all who believe, He was the Resurrection to raise those who had died, and He was the Life to sustain forever those who are living. But when Jesus got to the tomb, Martha told Jesus not to roll the stone from the door of the tomb because Lazarus had been dead for four days. She was concerned of the stink. But Jesus looked at her and said, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe, you would see the glory of God?”
Jesus spoke to Martha at first, but between that word and their walk to the tomb, Martha was still uncertain and discouraged, but Jesus didn’t have different advice for her. He simply wanted her to continue in what He first told her. That’s why he says “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?”
Those words are a reminder of what He already told her. Those words are a request for continuance in what He already said. Hence, He says “Did I not say to you?” which refers to what He had already spoken. And then a reiteration of that promise, “If you believe, you will see the glory of God.”
Wow! “Did I not say to you?” Those are powerful words. With those words Jesus is unwilling to change His advice. He’s unwilling to change what He told her. Despite her concerns and uncertainty, He was showing that His word had not changed or expired. She said that Lazarus had been dead for four days, but the current circumstance and the time past made no difference to Him. His word stood.
He showed His apathy for how much time had passed. He showed that it wasn’t relevant. He stood His ground on what He had already told her previously. “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” His word stood. He was only asking her for continuance in what He already said. And His words stand with you as well.
Anytime you receive the truth, but you start feeling uncertain in the time between His word and the fruit, Jesus will stand His ground with you as well and say, “Did I not say to you?” It’s the loving correction that brings you back to the good news spoken beforehand, so that you stand firm in it.
We think because time passes that the word of God expires, but the only thing that’s happened is that we have started to forget the intensity of the words that we first heard.
He said that if we would believe, we would see His resurrection and life manifested in our bodies, and in the bodies of people around us. He’s not going to change that advice. So if you start getting discouraged or uncertain, He will not bend to that discouragement. He will simply reply “Did I not say to you?” And that’s your cue to remember, and continue in what He already said.
Many, if not most people, when they hear the word of God, continue only for a while and then stop pursuing it (Luke 8). They don’t continue in what He first told them. Don’t be that kind of person. Don’t be the kind of person that grows weary in well doing, the kind of person who grows weary in hearing the gospel. You SHALL see resurrection manifest in your life if you continue in the truth of Jesus.
Many people hear the gospel, get excited, and then when they don’t see results, they quickly get discouraged, perhaps thinking they’re doing something wrong or that ‘this gospel thing doesn’t work.’ They don’t even realize that the very word that they believed had the power to produce what they needed, if they had just continued in it.
This is exactly described in Luke chapter 8:
Luke 8:13 (KJV) …when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.
These people genuinely believed the word. And many people today hear the good news, and genuinely believe it at first. What they don’t realize is, you don’t get fruit by believing the word of God. You get fruit by CONTINUING in that belief! Your understanding of the gospel needs time to mature and grow. But if that seed in your mind is given time to grow, if you will meditate on it and keep it in your head, that seed always bears fruit. Always!
So many people get discouraged halfway through, so they let go of the word, thinking that it’s not working. All the while, the word of God always bears fruit, when it’s kept in our thinking (that is, as long as it truly is the Gospel). But we need time to grow.
The only way to stop the gospel from bearing fruit in your life is to stop giving attention to it halfway through! That’s the only way! If you just keep it in there, it will produce the results you are seeking. And that goes for raising people from the dead too! You have need of continuance!
Hebrews 10:35-36 (MKJV) Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great recompense of reward. For you have need of patience [continuance], so that after you have done the will of God [believed] you might receive the promise.
Your faith is not in vain. It has great reward! But you have need to continue in what He’s already told you.
Just get your eyes on the truth of Jesus. Don’t worry about the time! Stop counting the days that have passed with the current circumstance. Start counting how much Jesus paid to get us out of it! It’s real and it really works, but it takes time for us to know it.
So, whether someone died 10 years ago or 10 minutes ago, until Jesus comes back, it’s never too late to raise someone from the dead. It’s never too late to receive from God. Jesus finished work is as relevant today as the day He died. You’re not on a time crunch.
Take the time needed to grow in the good news! You have an iron clad guarantee from God (who cannot lie) that you will see the glory of God in your life, if you continue in the gospel that He already spoke to you.
Did He not say to you…?
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