The Greek word for presently means "instantly; immediately; soon." The disciples didn't realize that the fig tree had died until the next day. If the tree died instantly, why didn't they notice it until the next morning? The answer to this question is found in Mark 11:20. The tree was dead from the roots up. The tree did die instantly just as the Word declared, but what had happened to the roots wasn't visible until the next morning.

There is a spiritual lesson here that applies to us receiving things from God. When we ask, we do receive, but it may take a period of time before we perceive it in the natural realm. God's answer comes before we see the manifestation of what we have believed the Lord for when we prayed. Just as with this fig tree, the answer lies beneath the surface, and we don't "see" what God is doing until the answer manifests.

Not all answers to prayer are manifested instantly. Satan can hinder God's power even after it has been released. In Daniel 10:1-13, God answered Daniel's prayer instantly, yet it took 21 days for Daniel to see God's answer manifest, because the prince of Persia (a demonic power) withheld the manifestation.

Prayer that meets the requirements outlined in God's Word is always answered.

Many times we don't sense the answer because it always comes in the spiritual realm first then is manifested in the physical realm. If we waver from our confident faith, then we abort the manifestation of our answer to prayer. But God did answer. Everyone that asks receives.

John 12:39-40 could be interpreted as the ultimate teaching in predestination. That interpretation would be that these people were never given the opportunity to believe because of Isaiah's prophecies. 

The Word of God makes it clear that "whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13); "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me" (Revelation 3:20); and "whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely" (Revelation 22:17). No one has ever been denied the opportunity to accept salvation (Timothy 2:11).

Mark 6:5 says that "he (Jesus) could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them." In that instance, it is evident that the reason Jesus couldn't do any mighty work was not because He didn't possess the power, but because He chose not to use that power against a person's will. He couldn't perform the mighty works because of His decision to uphold our freedom of choice.

These Jews could not believe because of their choice to reject Jesus. They could not believe because they chose not to believe. "They stumbled at the stumblingstone" (Romans 9:32), which was Jesus.

Isaiah did not predestine them to this fate. Rather he saw that very few would receive the report (Isaiah 53:1) about the Messiah, and therefore would be kept from the knowledge of salvation because they rejected Him in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are found (Colossians 2:3). This is what Isaiah prophesied, and it came to pass. Choose carefully!

The only reason satan ever had any right to become a prince or rule over us was because we yielded ourselves to him through sin (Romans 6:16). Since Jesus "bore our sins in His own body on the tree" (1 Peter 2:24), satan no longer has power or authority over those who accept Jesus' gift of salvation. 

Satan has been "cast out" stripped of any power he had. Now he can only deceive, and if we fall for his lies, we stop God's blessings from flowing in our lives.

The reason why a believer must live a holy life, is to avoid satan's bondage. When we obey sin, we yield ourselves to satan, the author of that sin.Yielding to sin is yielding to a person, satan. God doesn't impute the sin to us but the devil does. Our actions either release the power of satan or the power of God in us.

God is not imputing our sins unto us, so we cannot afford the luxury of sin because it allows satan to have access to us. When a Christian does sin and gives the devil an opportunity to produce death in his life, the way to stop him is to confess the sin. God is faithful and just to take the forgiveness that is already present in our born-again spirit and release it in our flesh, thereby removing satan and his strongholds.

A person who abandons himself to sin is actually becoming a slave to the devil while a person who obeys righteousness is yielding himself to the Lord. This is why a Christian should live a holy life.

There is still a future judgment of the world coming, where the wicked will be separated from the righteous and cast into the lake of fire. This verse refers to the sins of the world that were about to be placed on Jesus and that He would suffer our punishment.

Jesus suffered the punishment for our sins, so there is no reason why we should suffer for them too. The price for sin has already been paid by the only one who could fully pay it and that is Jesus. All Jesus asks of us to make His redemption ours, is faith in Him as our Lord.

Sin has a wage it must pay and no one can avoid payday without faith in Jesus. Anyone who does not receive the new birth will be held liable for all the wrong they committed as a result of their sinful nature. Those who receive the new birth through faith in Jesus, don't have a sin nature and will not receive the payment of death.

Physical death as well as every result of the sin nature (i.e. sickness, depression, fear, etc.) is only a by-product of the spiritual death that was already inside of us. The Lord told Adam that in the day he ate of the forbidden tree, he would surely die (Genesis 2:17). Adam didn't die physically that day but he did die spiritually. Physical death came 930 years later for Adam (Genesis 5:5) as a by-product of his spiritual death.

Eternal life is a gift. The dictionary defines a gift as "something that is bestowed voluntarily and without compensation; a present." We have nothing to do with earning this gift. All we have to do is receive it by faith.

This is the third time recorded in the gospels that the Father spoke in an audible voice to or about Jesus (First, at Jesus' baptism in the Jordan River and second, at the transfiguration of Jesus).

This verse makes it clear that it was a voice that the Father spoke in; however, there were different reports of the same event. Some people heard a voice and thought it was an angel who spoke. Others thought it was thunder.

John 12:20-28 shows "the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Corinthians 2:14). A carnal man with a hardened heart will always find some natural explanation for the supernatural even if he heard an audible voice from God.

A hard heart keeps us from perceiving spiritual truths and stops us from understanding. When a person doesn't understand God's Word, satan finds no resistance when he comes to steal it away. A hard heart keeps us from remembering. This isn't to say that facts or scriptures can't be recalled, it's the spiritual lessons learned that have been forgotten. 

Some people can quote scripture or remember what the sermon was about, but they can't perceive the spiritual life in it or retain what they did perceive, because of a hardened heart.

Jesus didn't need to hear this audible voice of God because he had a more sure word of prophecy than the audible voice of God from heaven (2 Peter 1:18-20). Jesus knew the "voice" of the Old Testament scriptures that spoke of the Christ being glorified and He could also hear the Father's voice in His heart as He had on so many other occasions. This audible voice didn't come to reassure Jesus, but it came to those who had ears to hear, so that they might believe.

Philip and Andrew had just brought word to Jesus that certain Greeks or Gentiles were seeking Him at the feast. He had ministered to other Gentiles, but this is the first time that the Gentiles came specifically to seek Him instead of what He could do. 

Apparently, this was an added signal to Jesus that His time had come and that He could no longer confine His ministry to only the Jews. He made statements about His death and glorification, that would break down the middle wall of partition between the Jew and the Gentile.

There was a physical wall of partition that symbolized this division in the Jerusalem temple. The Gentiles could come into a designated area of the temple known as the court of the Gentiles, but a stone wall, about five feet high, stopped them from going further. A sign standing before the wall stated, "No man of another nation is to enter, and whosoever is caught will have himself to blame for his death!"

Many regulations and rules separated Jews and Gentiles for centuries. Christ's work on the cross abolished that separation by removing the law and so removing the barrier between these two groups. Instead of changing the Gentiles into Jews or the Jews into Gentiles, God made a brand new creation.

In the New Testament church there is no such thing as Jew or Gentile, bond or free, for God has created something absolutely new. It's the "one new man," the new creation in Christ Jesus, the church, Christ's body, the fullness of Him, that filleth all in all (Ephesians 1:23). Remember who we are "in Him."

There is nothing wrong with praising God. It is encouraged and commanded thousands of times in the bible. The reason the Pharisees were so upset was because they didn't accept Jesus as God. It would be blasphemy for Jesus to accept worship if He wasn't God. This is another confirmation of the deity of Christ.

Only Luke in 19:29-40 records this instance of the Pharisees' objection and Jesus' answer. This was the triumphant entry of Israel's King that was prophesied and anticipated for centuries. The excitement could not be contained. If people refused to praise Him, the creation would have broken out in praise. No rock should have to do what God created us to do.

By compiling all of the writers' accounts of what the multitudes were saying, we have this record: "Hosanna to the Son of David" (Matthew only). "Blessed is he" ("the King"--Luke "the King of Israel"--John.) "that cometh in the name of the Lord. Blessed be the kingdom of our father David that cometh in the name of the Lord" (Mark. only). "Hosanna in the highest" (Matthew and Mark only). "Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest" (Luke only).

Pride was what caused satan's original sin according to Isaiah 14:12-14. He wanted to be like the most High. One thing reserved for God alone is worship, and the devil has always sought that. If he can't be the one to receive worship, then he seeks to turn others away from giving true worship to the most High God. This is the reason why praise and worship to the Lord are such powerful tools against Satan. He can't stand to see God worshiped.

The gifts of the Spirit are not meant to be a substitute for our own faith in the Lord. We are not to depend so  on some individual with a spiritual gift that we neglect our own spiritual growth and maturity. 

We can receive anything we need from the Lord without a gift of the Spirit operating through another individual, if we know how to believe. Dependence on the Lord directly is superior to dependence on the Lord indirectly through someone operating in one of the spiritual gifts.

What if there were no gifts of the Spirit and the Lord established that the only way we could receive from Him was through our own faith? There would be some individuals who would get born again who already had terminal diseases but didn't have enough time left to mature in their faith and receive healing. They would die if it wasn't for others interceding for them or someone with the gift of healing praying for them. That's why the Lord gave these gifts--to keep us encouraged and alive so we can mature.

It is also wrong for an individual not to mature in his personal faith in the Lord and become dependent on the gifts. It is not right for someone to receive a miracle through someone with the gift of miracles and then just struggle along until the next time that gifted minister comes through town.

The Lord wants us to receive His power through these gifts, but then we must mature so that we can walk in God's best on our own.

We are able to mature beyond a total dependency on the gifts to where we can hear and receive from God directly. But none of us will ever reach such a level of maturity in the Lord where there is nothing left to learn or receive. Receive His teachings through His Word.

John 12:14-15 is the fulfillment of Zechariah's prophecy in Zechariah 9:9. Zechariah's prophecy is specific and how exactly it was fulfilled. 

Zechariah prophesied Jesus not only riding an donkey, but also a colt (unbroken), the foal of an donkey. Zechariah also mentioned the people rejoicing greatly and shouting which certainly came to pass on this day.

All four gospels include a triumphal entry, but only Matthew records a donkey with a colt. A simple explanation to a so-called "contradiction" is that Jesus rode the colt while the other donkey went along. No doubt, He rode each animal part of the way.

Not only was it a miracle that Jesus knew about the donkey and its colt, but also where they would be. God also worked some kind of miracle in the owner of these animals so that he would be willing to release them. It is possible that the Lord also revealed to this man that Jesus would need his animals.

Perhaps he was just a devoted follower of Jesus who gladly surrendered them when he knew Jesus was the one wanting them. Either way, it was just as much a miracle that the owner was willing to surrender them as it was that Jesus knew exactly where they would be.

Jesus hadn't been in Jerusalem in quite a while and there is no indication that He had made previous arrangements with anyone there to obtain this dinkey and its colt. This was nothing less than supernatural knowledge imparted to Jesus through the Holy Spirit. As Jesus did, let God's gifts flow through us.

What was it that the wicked servant didn't have that caused his master to take back the money he had given him? It wasn't the money that he had been given. He had kept that laid up in a napkin and he still possessed it. What he was missing and what the other servant had that caused the lord to give this pound to him was faithfulness. 

Those who are faithful with what God has given them will be given more, and those who are wasteful will have what God has given them taken away and given to another.

Christians will one day stand before the Lord for the purpose of receiving rewards, and all our actions will be revealed, whether they were our own doings or directed by the Spirit of God. 

Those who were not lead by the Holy Spirit in their actions will see all their good works burned up in that day when we stand before the Lord and He tries our works. Those who acted only under the guidance of the Holy Spirit will find that their works will endure the test and they will receive a reward.

Many people choose to do good things thinking that God will be pleased. But our positive response to God's direction (faith) is what pleases God (Hebrews 11:6). 

We were created with a purpose and every individual has a God-given plan for his life. We need to let God work in and through us and faithfully fulfill what He has called us to do.

 The Greek word for "usury" means primarily "a bringing forth, birth, or offsprings." It is used  for the profit received by a lender.

The Law of Moses attempted to protect both borrower and lender. In Israel, borrowing and lending was not for big, commercial enterprises but rather to help the poor and needy who lacked everyday necessities. 

In lending, the lender had the opportunity to help the poor in need. It was an act of love in which the lender actually lifted a burden by helping his fellow Israelite through a crisis, but was forbidden to charge usury. To relieve the burden of the poor, debts were released every seven years and property restored during the year of Jubilee.

In the New Testament, the practice of lending money at interest seemed to be accepted as normal business procedure. Although Jesus never condemned interest directly, in general, He was hard on the improper attitude toward riches and on the oppression of the poor, just as was the Old Testament. 

The principle of making money from someone else's hardship is not really a godly way of doing business.   But Deuteronomy 23:19-20 makes it clear that interest was never to be charged to a fellow Israelite. Today, that would be equivalent to never loaning money with interest to a fellow Christian. 

Borrowing money is not condemned in scripture unless you interpret Romans 13:8 as speaking of borrowing.  The bible makes it clear that borrowing is not God's best. Deuteronomy 28:12 lists never having to borrow as a blessing, while Deuteronomy 28:44 lists borrowing as a part of the curse of the law. Proverbs 22:7 says, "The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender."

The main purpose of  Luke 19:11-27's parable is to show that there would be a long period when Jesus would go away before returning to fulfill the prophecy about a physical kingdom on earth.

The nobleman's servants were called to give an account for what they had done with their lord's money that was delivered unto them. The servants were commanded to "occupy till I come." These servants represent the followers of Jesus. 

Being a follower of Jesus is more than simply not rejecting Him. It is an active commitment to serve Him. One of the ten servants had served himself and not His master. He did nothing with what his lord had given him. This wicked servant was stripped of what he had and it was given to the servant who had used his lord's money wisely.

This tells us that the Lord expects us to grow. This is made very clear in the parables of the kingdom which Jesus taught. In nearly every parable, growth or increase is expected. This servant who did nothing with what his lord gave him represents a believer who never grows or brings increase to God's kingdom.

What was it that this wicked servant didn't have that caused his master to take back the money he had given him? It wasn't the tangible money that he received. He had kept that laid up in a napkin and still possessed it. 

What he was missing and what the other servant had that caused the lord to give this pound to him was faithfulness. Those who are faithful with what God has given them will be given more, and those who are wasteful will have what God has given them taken away and given to another. 

In Luke 19:1-8 Zacchaeus was rich but Jesus made no demands for him to give away all his goods to the poor as He did with the rich young ruler. Zacchaeus had already repented and money was no longer his god, as was revealed by his actions. 

It seems that Zacchaeus was going above and beyond the requirement of restitution as stated in Mosaic law by offering to give half of his goods to the poor and to repay fourfold for his theft.

Publicans were hated by the Jews. They were especially despised by the religious Jews as the epitome of sinners and Jewish religious laws prevented devout Jews from keeping company with any of them. 

To eat with a publican was unthinkable as the Jews considered this actually partaking of the publican's sins. This is why the people reacted so adversely to Jesus eating with Zacchaeus.

Jesus did not eat at Zacchaeus' house to participate in his sin but to extend mercy and forgiveness to him. This is always the standard we can judge whether or not we should be involved in a certain situation. 

We must not participate in other men's sins, but the Lord doesn't want us to retreat to monasteries either. We are the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13), and to do any good, we have to get out of the "salt shaker." If we can be in control and minister the love of God, then we are right to associate with sinners. 

But when we are being controlled by the ungodliness of sinners, we need to take control or withdraw.

The devil will always have someone to tell us we shouldn't expect to get results when praying to God. Most people would rather stay with the crowd and not do anything to draw attention to themselves even if that means not getting their needs met. They will try to make us conform. 

If the man in Mark 10:43-48 would have listened to the crowd, he would not have received his healing. "Ye have not, because ye ask not" (Jas. 4:2).

This blind man is a good example of an active kind of faith. He was not passive in his approach toward healing. He boldly cried out to Jesus for mercy. When the crowd ridiculed him and told him to be quiet, he cried out even louder.

Many people believe that God can perform the miracle they need but relatively few are willing to actively pursue it until they get results. They are afraid of what others will think of them. This man had his attention focused only on Jesus. Nothing else mattered and that is why he got healed.

An important part of faith is seeking God with your whole heart. If we are concerned about what people think so that we can gain their approval, we will never take a stand in faith for anything that we might be criticized for. 

This one thing has probably stopped as many people from receiving from God as anything else. You cannot be a "man-pleaser" and please God at the same time. Satan uses persecutions to steal away God's Word and stop our faith. To see faith work, we must say with Paul, "let God be true, but every man a liar" (Romans 3:4).

Jesus told His disciples many times of His death but Matthew 10:45 is the first time He indicated the reason for His death. Now it is clear that His death would be a "ransom", defined in the Greek as a means of loosing by paying a price.

The words "ransom" and "redeem" were used interchangeably in scripture.

Not only would Jesus pay the price for sin but also His death would be in place of us. In 1 Timothy 2:6, the word "ransom" is taken from the Greek word which means "a redemption-price."  In other words, the ransom avails for all who will accept it (John 3:16; Romans 10:13).

The price paid for our redemption is the life of Jesus, that is, Jesus' blood (Colossians 1:14). This redemption, according to Hebrews 9:12, is eternal and is intended to purify us from all iniquity (Timothy 2:14), and bring us to serve the living God (Hebrews 9:14).

The purchase for our total salvation has already been made with the blood of Jesus, but our bodies have not been redeemed yet. That is to say that we have not received yet, all the benefits of this in our physical bodies. This will take place at the second coming of the Lord when we receive our new glorified bodies.

Our spirits are the only part of us that have experienced total redemption.

Thank God for the redemption He has provided!

In Matthew 20:1-16 this parable begins with Jesus' statement that the kingdom of heaven is likened to a man who is a householder (owner of an estate). He went out early in the morning to hire workers to work in his vineyard for the day. 

A wage was set at a penny, the normal wage paid daily for a laborer. Around 9 a.m., the landowner encouraged others, standing idle in the marketplace, to work in the vineyard, not for a set wage but for "whatsoever is right." The landowner employed more laborers at noon, at 3 p.m. and even some at 5 p.m. when there was only one hour left to work.

According to Jewish law, wages must be paid each evening before the sun sets. When it came time for the steward to pay the laborers, he began with those working the shortest amount of time and paid each man a penny (a full day's wage). Those working the entire day murmured, for they supposed they would have received more. They agreed, however, to work for a penny, the stipulated wage agreed upon.

The context of this parable supports the teaching that it is impossible to earn the generosity of the Master. This is a lesson on grace. Regardless of whether or not our performance is better than someone else's, we all need God's grace because we have all come short of God's standard. 

The landowner gave freely, making all equal. Jesus is saying that the benefits of the kingdom are the same for all who have become subject to its King, regardless of what they have done. Therefore, those who are last (or least) in the sense that they have not served the Lord as long or as well as others, will truly become "first" when they share equally of the Lord's goodness with those who "have borne the burden and heat of the day" (Matthew 20:12).

The scripture makes special mention of Jesus loving this rich young ruler. This is after this young man said he had kept all of God's commands, which wasn't the truth. Jesus was showing him that he had broken the very first commandment that states, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" (Exodus 20:3), and also the tenth commandment that says, "Thou shalt not covet..." (Exodus. 20:17). 

Jesus' tough answer of "sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor" was not intended to hurt this young man. It was said from a heart of love and intended for his own good. This man's money had become his god and it had to be dethroned before Jesus could become Lord.

The one thing this young man lacked was faith in Jesus as his Savior. He was trusting in his goodness and not in the salvation that Jesus offered as a gift. Millions of people are making the same mistake. They trust in themselves instead of God.

Jesus only came to save sinners. Unless an individual acknowledges that he is a sinner, he cannot be saved. Because the whole world is guilty before God, He has provided one way of salvation for everyone. In the same way that everyone is guilty, everyone also has been justified freely by God's grace.

That doesn't mean everyone is saved. Everyone has had the sacrificial offering of Jesus made for their sins by grace but grace alone doesn't save.

We have to put faith in what God has provided for us by grace. Although the price has been paid for the sins of the whole world, only those who receive it by faith will benefit from the salvation that Jesus offers.

It appeared that this a rich young ruler was "right on" in the way he approached Jesus and sought salvation. He ran, kneeled down to Jesus, and openly professed Him as a Good Master. What could be wrong with that?

First, he acknowledged Jesus as good but not as God. This is the main thing.

Every major religion of the world acknowledges that Jesus lived and will even admit that He definitely was a good man, but they won't recognize Him as God. If Jesus was only a good man, He couldn't save anybody. Jesus didn't just come to show us the way to God. He was the way, the only way unto the Father.

No man could come unto the Father, but by Him (John 14:6). Jesus had made this point publicly many times. This is the reason that Jesus responded to this young man's question the way He did. Jesus was saying, "God is the only one who is good. You must accept me as God or not at all." 

Jesus was either who He claimed to be or He was the biggest fraud that ever lived. He has to be one or the other. He cannot be both.

The ruler asked what he could do to produce salvation. He trusted in himself and believed he could accomplish whatever good work Jesus might request. This is completely opposed to the plan of salvation that Jesus came to bring.

Jesus obtained salvation for us through His substitution and He offers it to us as a free gift. All we must do is believe and receive. 

This rich young ruler wasn't looking for a Savior. He was trying to be his own savior. This is the reason Jesus referred him back to the commandments. He either needed to keep all of the law perfectly or he needed a Savior. 

Jesus desired to turn this man from trusting in himself by showing him God's perfect standard, which no one could keep, so that then he would trust in a Savior.

People who are self-righteous often despise others. No one can compare himself with God's perfect standard and feel good about himself. To trust in ourselves, we have to constantly compare ourselves with others. This causes a critical attitude towards others that exalts self by dishonoring others.

No one can ever be righteous in the sight of God through his own righteousness. Our actions benefit us in relationships with people and prevent Satan from having an opportunity against us, but they cannot make us right (righteous) with God. 

We must trust in God and receive His gift of righteousness completely on the basis of faith in what Christ did for us. This is the truth that this parable is presenting.

Most people are unaware that there are two kinds of righteousness. Only one type of righteousness is acceptable to God. One form of righteousness is our own righteousness. These are the acts of holiness that we do in an attempt to fulfill the commands of the Old Testament law. This is an imperfect righteousness because human nature is imperfect and incapable of fulfilling the law.

God's righteousness is not something that we do, but something that we receive as a gift through faith in Christ. It's not possible to trust in our own righteousness and in God's righteousness. A person who believes that he must earn God's acceptance by his holy actions must not believe in God's righteousness, which is a gift. It has to be one or the other; we cannot mix the two. 

Righteousness is not what Jesus has done for us plus some minimum standard of holiness that we have to accomplish. God's righteousness is perfect. <

Luke 18:1-8 is not an exact comparison of God to this unjust judge, teaching us that we should badger God until we weary Him and He grants us our request.

Jesus is contrasting His willingness to answer our prayers with this unjust judge's unwillingness. The parable is a contrast, not a representation.

Not only do we have God who is a just judge who will avenge His elect speedily, but we also have Jesus as our advocate or attorney who is always making intercession for us. 

We have an adversary (the devil) who is constantly accusing us and misrepresenting God (the judge). This causes men to give up (faint) and not even plead their case with God because they doubt that He will answer them anyway.

Jesus is saying that our Father is not an unjust judge that we have to pressure into doing what is right. Many times we put more faith in people and their willingness to do what is right than we do in God. 

Satan has deceived us about the willingness of God to answer our prayers and Jesus is countering that deception with this parable. Jesus is encouraging us to pray (petition God) and not doubt His willingness to grant our requests. To teach that we must pester God until He gives in to our pressure is not good theology.

This widow's actions were commendable. She knew what was rightfully hers and she refused to take "no" for an answer. If we can be that confident and determined when dealing with unjust men, how much more should we persist, despite the devil's delays, when dealing with our faithful Father. 

We can trust Him to always come through for us.

Luke 17:24-31 and Matthew 24:27 makes it clear that the second return of Jesus will be no secret to anyone. In Matthew, it is especially clear that this statement about the lightning was made so that we wouldn't be deceived by false Christs. Just as lightning is visible to everyone, so the second return of Jesus will be witnessed by the whole world. That's the reason we don't have to be fearful about missing His second coming and anxiously follow every report that Christ has come.

These verses completely destroy the claims of the religions who claim that Jesus has secretly come back the second time.

Just as Jesus had warned His disciples not to be deceived by false Christs because His second coming would be visible to everyone, He also explains that until the very day of His coming, the world will continue on its present course. 

People will not discern the signs of His coming just as the people during Noah's day didn't realize their impending judgment. 

This corresponds exactly with Jesus' prophecies about His coming being like the appearance of a thief in the night. Jesus is emphasizing that the unbelievers will not recognize that He is coming until it is too late. He is stressing that His coming will take the world by surprise.

The Lord is pointing out the urgent need to be ready for His return. In the same way that a thief comes when people are the least prepared, so our Lord will return in a time when people are not looking for Him. 

There will be a condition of apathy in the latter days that will tend to lull even the faithful to sleep if they don't take heed to His words. He urges us to be watchful so we will be prepared.

Very few people who receive the goodness of the Lord return to give Him thanks for what He has done. That doesn't keep the Lord from doing what is right for us. In Luke 17:11-18, He healed all ten of the lepers according to their request, not just the one who was thankful. However, there was only one out of the ten that was made "whole."

The Lord desires that we prosper in spirit, soul, and body. He wants us to be whole, not just healed. Part of the reason God meets our physical needs is to prove to us His willingness and ability to meet our emotional and spiritual needs. 

The Lord is concerned about our temporal needs (Matthew 6:30), but He is even more concerned about our eternal needs. All of these lepers needed physical healing and the Lord was moved with compassion and met their need.

He was also desiring to meet their spiritual needs, but only one out of the ten came back for that.

Being unthankful is always a sign that self is exalting itself above God. A selfless person can be content with very little. A self-centered person cannot be satisfied. Thankfulness is a sign of humility and cultivating a life of thankfulness will help keep "self" in its proper place.

Thankfulness to the Lord for what He is and what He has done is a very important part of the Christian life. One of the many benefits of thanksgiving and praise is that they keep us from being "self" oriented.

Giving thanks is a totally unselfish action and is a key to relationship with the Father that makes us "whole" and not just "healed."

Symbolically, Lazarus is like many Christians. The Bible speaks of us passing from death unto new life when we get born again. But it is also true that in the physical and emotional realm, we bring our "graveclothes" from our old life with us (habits, attitudes, etc.), and we need to be "loosed" to fully enjoy our new life.

Our emotions and attitudes follow what we think. When we focus our attention on our problems, they are magnified out of proportion. When we neglect our problems and think on God's provision, the answer is magnified and the problem shrinks. 

Whatever we think upon is going to dominate us. If we think on depressing things, we'll be depressed. If we think on uplifting things, we'll be uplifted. If we think, "by His stripes, we are healed", we'll be healed. If we think on sickness, we'll be sick.

Godly contentment isn't dependent on our circumstances. That is totally opposite of the way most people think. No one really desires depression but very few feel any responsibility or authority to maintain positive emotions in the face of negative circumstances. 

They think emotions follow circumstances. That's not true. Emotions follow the way we think, and we can choose to think on things that are lovely, true, of good report, and so on regardless of our circumstances. As we think, is how we respond emotionally.

We must focus our attention on the invisible truths of the spiritual realm that are eternal, instead of the visible things of this physical world that will pass away.

The Greek word that is translated "groaned" expresses that Jesus was deeply moved, but not necessarily with sorrow. It was more a groan of anger at Satan who had caused all the grief Jesus was seeing around Him. Jesus came to "destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil" (Hebrews 2:14), and He was grieved to see the pain that His enemy had inflicted on those He loved.

This is the type of groaning that the Holy Spirit does for us. It is not just the Holy Spirit sympathizing with us, but it is the Holy Spirit doing battle for us when we don't know how to pray. In this case, it was the Holy Spirit doing battle through Jesus against death and the doubt of those present, that would have kept Lazarus in the grave.

Everyone who has the indwelling of the Holy Spirit has or will have this happen to them. This groaning of the Holy Spirit is not just grief but a groan of anger and resistance against Satan's devices in our lives. 

Many times Christians don't discern this because they think it is just them grieved with their situation. But this is the Holy Spirit desiring to get into intercession with us against our problems.

Although the groaning is unutterable, we can discern it, and many times people react with audible groans or other outward acts. This has led to religious doctrines and traditions that are unscriptural and offensive to many people. There is nothing wrong with us reacting to the inner working of the Holy Spirit as long as we don't confuse our reactions with the Holy Spirit's actions. This intercession cannot be uttered. Any counterfeits that religion may have produced only shows that there has to be a genuine. 

The genuine groaning in the Spirit is priceless.

Some people have interpreted John 11:26 as saying that it is possible to never die. There are people who are believing that they will live physically until the second coming of Jesus, even if that is thousands of years away. It's understandable how someone could interpret this verse in that way, it's very doubtful that this is what Jesus truly meant.

A doctrine as profound as this would certainly be well documented in other parts of the bible. Other passages may sometimes be quoted as supporting this claim but they would not lead a person to this conclusion by themselves.

That is not a sound method of Bible interpretation. There isn't a single example of anyone who obtained this. That should make anyone suspect of this teaching. Enoch or Elijah might be cited as examples, but they were translated so that they didn't die. They are not still in their physical bodies on this earth.

There have been times in church history where certain truths were suppressed, such as the Baptism of the Holy Spirit or healing, and then revived through a move of God. But there was always a remnant of the church that continually experienced these blessings of God. 

It cannot be shown to be true with the belief that a believer can remain on the earth in his physical body until Jesus comes. 

This passage of scripture concerning never dying is generally accepted as referring to our eternal life that we receive at salvation. The promise of never dying spiritually is made many times in scripture and it is promised to every believer.

Jesus spoke of Lazarus being asleep instead of dead because that is really a much better description. Death, to their carnal minds, would be final; whereas the word "sleep" wouldn't. 

When the disciples misunderstood what He was saying, He made the situation clear by saying plainly, "Lazarus is dead."

This looks like a contrary statement to what Jesus was going to do (raise Lazarus from the dead) and it would have been if He had left it at that. But He went on to say, "I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe." 

This was referring to Lazarus being raised from the dead and it turned Jesus' statement of a negative fact into a positive confession of faith.

Many people have been confused over this very issue. Many times people will refuse to speak of or acknowledge any situation that is contrary to a promise that God has given them. It is certainly desirable to avoid talking about our problems and there is scriptural precedent for this (2 Kings 4:20, 26). 

Jesus avoided using a word to describe Lazarus' situation that would have instilled fear into His disciples' hearts. But when dealing with people who didn't understand, He didn't deny the natural facts.

A true, positive confession doesn't deny natural truth. It just refuses to stop at the natural realm and speaks the greater spiritual truth. This is what Jesus did and we should follow His example. 

It is not wrong to acknowledge a physical problem such as sickness just as long as we acknowledge to an equal or greater degree the spiritual truth, "by whose stripes ye were healed" (1 Peter 2:24). 

Don't deny that problems exist, just deny those problems the right to continue to exist in your life by confessing your faith in God.

There are many scriptures where death is spoken of as sleep. The disciples thought Jesus was speaking of Lazarus simply resting. 

Jesus clarifies their misunderstanding by using the word "death," but that was not His first choice. This is because God's perspective is different than ours. Death is final to natural man but not to God. There will be a resurrection.

In 2 Corinthians Paul uses natural illustrations to explain the resurrection. He speaks of seeds that are buried in the ground and "die." Then they are resurrected as a plant. 

The plant and the seed bear no resemblance but they are actually the same. The plant is just in a resurrected state. Our physical bodies will die but they will be resurrected just as seeds produce plants.

In the same way that a seed is different than the plant that it produces, our resurrected bodies will be different. Our glorified bodies will be very similar to our physical bodies in appearance. 

This can be said because of what the bible reveals about Jesus' glorified body. He still looked human, He ate food, had the print of the nails in His hands and feet, and He said He had flesh and bones. 

He could appear and disappear. Our resurrected bodies will be immortal (not subject to death). Our resurrected bodies will be like Jesus' resurrected body.

Our present physical bodies are a miraculous creation, our glorified resurrected bodies will have their own glory. 

If this physical body is wonderful, our resurrected body will be even better.