"Is Jesus Groaning Over You?" 
Pastor Carter Conlon, preaches from John 11 on Jesus's response to the grief of Lazurus's family and His own will for us.
Transcript 

It's so good to be back home I've been on the road for a little while and for those that are online tonight welcome to you it's so good to know that you're with us those that are with us real time and those that will be with us in the days ahead or in the hours ahead on your time zone we look forward to having you here and to be part of this prayer meeting that has really gone worldwide and up to we get requests from up to 211 different countries and dependencies and if ever there was a time to pray this is the time to pray now we're living in a generation that are desperately needing a touch of God we're desperately needing the spiritual Revival and Awakening in our time and I happen to believe that God is more than willing to do that as we cry out to him so father I want to thank you tonight God for the touch of Heaven Lord Jesus Christ on your word the touch of Heaven in this Sanctuary Lord how you are meeting each one of us right where we are at and as the young lady shared tonight we think we're pursuing you but you are the one holding on to us you are the one who came for us we didn't come for you and you found us we didn't find you you were never lost we were lost and so God I want to just thank you in Jesus name for giving an anointing to your word tonight enabling me God to speak into the deepest recesses of the human heart God Almighty we ask you tonight to bring people out of captivity bring them out of Darkness bring them out of weakness into the strength of our God Lord Jesus Christ do a work God that only you can do at this time and we give you praise and give you glory for it in your Mighty and holy name amen so I have a question on my heart and that's what the sharing is about tonight is Jesus groaning over you is Jesus groaning Over You John chapter 11 if you go there with me John 11 we're going to begin at verse 32 in a very very familiar story in the Bible the scripture says then when Mary came where Jesus was and saw him she fell down at his feet saying to him Lord if you had been here my brother would not have died therefore when Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who came with her weeping he groaned in the spirit and was troubled so it must have been an audible groan that the people who were witness to this event actually heard and he said where have you laid him they said to him Lord come and see Jesus wept then the Jews said see how he loved him and some of some of them said could not this man who opened the eyes of the blind also have kept this man from dying then Jesus again groaning in himself came to the tomb it was a cave and a stone lay upon it Jesus said take away the stone Martha the sister of him who was dead said to him Lord by this time there's a stench for he's been dead four days and Jesus said to her did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God now the scripture tells us that there was a particular man called Lazarus who became sick and when he was sick his family sent for Christ for they knew at this point that Jesus Christ had the power to heal just as we do tonight we know he has the power to heal we know he can deliver we know he can set the oppressed free we know he can give sight to those who can't see a way forward we know that God can do all things and we we we come to him and we're we come with an expectancy in a sense he has told us that he loves us when they sent to Jesus they said Jesus the man that you love is sick so there's no other way they could have known that Jesus loved him other than perhaps at the table one night it's only my conjecture but Jesus must have said Lazarus I just love you I love the way you are I love I love the kind of a heart you have I love that you're my friend he somehow that love was conveyed so it was it was a natural thing in a sense when Mary and Martha the Two Sisters of this man knew he was very very Gravely ill to send for Jesus saying the man that you love is sick supposing that he was going to come immediately but he didn't come immediately as a matter of fact he tarried for a certain amount of time just enough time that this man Lazarus could die and you know when the the scripture tells us he said to his disciples in chapter 11 and verse 11 our friend Lazarus sleeps but I go then I may wake him that the disciples said Lord if he sleeps you will get well however Jesus spoke of his death but they thought he was speaking about taking rest in sleep then Jesus said to them plainly Lazarus is dead and I'm glad for your sakes that I was not there that you may believe nevertheless let us go to him the first person he encounters when he gets there is one of the sisters of this man who had just died called Martha said when she approached Jesus he said to him Lord if you had been here my brother would not have died how many people in our society today are feeling that way how many people online tonight are feeling that way there was a time Jesus that we called out to you and when we called out to you we believed that you loved us we were told in church that you loved us we believe that we were the apple of your eyes the scripture says and that you went to a cross just for us just to get us and you loved us but when we called to you you didn't come because if you had come our families would be intact how many people online tonight you're you're listening to these words and you're saying if he had come when I called my family could have been salvaged my situation could have been a whole lot different than it is this day if you had come Jesus our futures would not be filled with sorrow here they are in the cemetery they've just buried their brother he's been dead for four days and and that most likely meant even their security was gone because it in that culture of course the the brother if he was the eldest in the family would would in a sense be their security for the future our futures look like they're gone our futures are filled with sorrow we we had such hope especially because we once had you with us in our home dining at our table and now you didn't come you ever felt that way anybody here ever felt that way you prayed and he didn't come he didn't come when you called to him he didn't come seemingly when you needed him the most he didn't he didn't come to you when you were sick and you knew you were dying and you knew there was no other way out and and you you assumed he was going to come on your timetable but he didn't show up when you called and then when he does the thought is in our hearts if only he would have come sooner if only you would have come when we needed you our present would not be looking as hopeless as it now does and many many people are sitting in church all over the or maybe just sitting in your living room tonight listening to this message and your present looks hopeless to you because you don't even know why you're at a prayer meeting tonight let me be honest with you let me just speak right into your situation you're looking at the screen tonight and you don't even know why you're looking at it you say I tried this before it didn't work I called out nobody came things are just getting worse I've called out to Jesus you told me he loves me you told me he died you told me when he rose from the dead that he took my captivity captive and yet here I am filled with sorrow and looking so hopeless now verses 20 to 27 she said if you'd been here my brother would not have died but even now I know whatever you ask of God you he will give it to you in other words Martha is saying we neither trust you nor your ways of doing things but we will continue with you in a relationship that doesn't require Faith anymore oh come on now there's so many people like that all over the church world now that in a relationship with God that requires no faith I'll I'll take my broom and I'll do my thing for the kingdom of God but don't ask me to believe for miracles anymore don't ask me to believe for the impossible because when I did call out you didn't come you see people are like that because they don't want to get disappointed again we don't want to get our hopes up one more time we don't want to listen you don't even want to listen to me tonight if you're if you're honest about it you say preacher don't get my hopes up one more time just to be disappointed once again and then Martha of course goes on and she just he's trying to tell her he says she says but I know that even now whatever you ask of God God will give it to you and then he responds says your brother will rise again and she says I know that he will rise again in the resurrection and the last day in other words you fooled me once before but you're not going to get me this time I do believe you but I don't believe for now I believe for the future I believe that you are the Son of God I believe you're the Messiah and I believe one day every everyone will rise from the grave everyone will stand at your throne but not now the victory is not now so don't get my hopes up I do believe that he will rise again in the resurrection and the last day Jesus is speaking about now but Martha is speaking about the future and it can actually be a cover-up for unbelief I believe but not for now I believe for some time we in the future and Jesus said I am the resurrection and the life not just I will bring resurrection and life I am the resurrection and the life I am the Son of God I have the power to bring death back to life again it is my voice that will open the graves at the end of time I will be the judge of the living and the dead I was there in the beginning with god without me was nothing created that God created in the beginning I am the word of God who was with God I am God I am the resurrection and the life and he who believes in me though he die he shall live and whoever lives and Believes In Me shall never die do you believe this and Martha says yes I believe that you're the Christ the son of God who's come into the world she's not willing to deny him she's not willing to say no you are the hope that we've always looked for but not now you had your chance and you didn't come that's essentially what she was saying she's very very angry with Jesus at this point in her life she's covering it all up with religion she's covering it up with scripture but realistically she says when we called you didn't come so don't make any promises to me now in other words she's the type of of a person that says God your your promises may have worked for somebody else at some other time but not for me not now not here not ever except maybe on the day of the Resurrection and when she had said these things she went and called her sister and and when Mary came verse 32 and saw him she fell down at his feet saying Lord if you'd been here my brother would not have died you see when even those who loved him the most were weeping you know we can get that way in society can't we we might be that way today when people are looking around they're looking around at drag shows for children in our schools are looking around at gender confusion deliberate gender confusion and in our grade schools they're looking at a a perversion that's taking over our society destroying our marriages our homes our bodies Our Minds looking at the the feeble people who are getting into leadership that don't even have a soundness of mind they're saying God what's happening to us where are you we have been how many people have been in permit he's calling out for the nation calling out for the future saying God you have to do something for us come to us our nation is sick we've we're becoming reprehensible in our thinking we we're becoming reprobates in our practice oh Jesus our homes are under attack we're sick as a society we're dying in our streets our children don't know the way forward come Lord Jesus and it's met with silence and we get to the point where even those who who loved him the most those who you read you read your Bible in the morning you cried hot tears when God started speaking to your heart you love to worship Him in church but now you're among the disappointed the Weeping where were you you we thought you loved us and when Jesus saw Mary weeping and the Jews who came with their weeping the the Jews the the promised people of God the people who had a history of miraculous deliverances and power the people that Jesus was now doing Miracles among the stories of him were everywhere this man could walk on water this man could give sight to the blind this man was Fearless in his proclamation of Truth and yet even they are Weeping and when he saw them all weeping it's the scripture says he groaned in the spirit and was trouble and said where where where have you laid him where where did you where did you put your hopes where did you lay down your future or your vision of what the future should be or how you once thought God would answer your prayers and he was groaning and then the scripture says in verse 35 Jesus wept he wept because it was in his heart to do what only God can do it was in his heart to do it his way his work and in his time and among the people you see I think sometimes if Jesus shows up before everything is dead before there's no hope of resurrecting it in the natural we will touch the glory we will take the glory we will share the glory we will talk about we called him and he came at our calling it will be about us and if Jesus but us and Jesus but the situation as there isn't now in this graveyard where it's not about us anymore because there's nobody there that believes he'd come on time and not a single person believed that he was capable of raising something which had died in their sight and he wept and I think that Jesus was looking into the future my friend online tonight I think he saw you I think he saw people in their living rooms that just could not Rouse themselves at certain stages in their life to believe that he is the Son of God and that he can do things that only God can do and that his coming to you is not late as a matter of fact he's right on time he's right on time when you can't raise yourself out of your situation he's right on time when your situation is here irreparable in the natural he's right on time when it looks hopeless and there's no go forward strategy anymore now he's right on time I've learned that about God over the years he's not on my time he's on his time and his time is right on time he's never late we think he's late but he's not late he knew when he was coming to that graveyard he knew the day he was going to show up and he groaned inside and I I feel this groaning of God for people now I feel this groaning of God for a nation I I feel this groaning of God for his people in God's house all over the country I feel this groaning it's the same groaning that was in the garden because so many people have put their hopes way into the future they've given up on the nation they've given up on families and marriage and children in government and all the rest of it they've given up hope even for the future and there's a groan inside his heart and he says to those that were gathered around did I did I not tell you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God the glory of God in the Greek is the jokes of God which means it's the it's it's it's that which is of god that brings his own name to reputation not not God in us God Alone only him nobody else the glory did I not say that if you would believe you'd see the glory of God I believe that we're going to see a spiritual awakening in our generation I believe it with all my heart I believe God's going to do something in this time that only God can do because we've run out of gas we've hit the wall we don't know where to go we don't have a strategy for the future we are losing the battle that's in front of us but God is still God and he shows up in his own time Hallelujah and when he speaks death has to give way when he speaks circumstances must change when he speaks hopelessness turns to hope when he speaks captivity becomes Freedom when he speaks addiction break marriages are healed children's minds are said right when he speaks evil is put out of authority in the nation and righteousness begins to exalt the nation one more time Hallelujah to the Lamb of God did I not tell you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God and then he said take away the stone take away that that thought process that where you took this area of your life and you you rolled a gravestone in front of it and said it will never change I will never be free there was a chance a little while back that I could have been set free but you see I died My Hope died my my sense of well-being died my my future died and I just rolled a stone and I'm just going to be content to try to write it out until the last day Jesus said no take the stone away take the stone and for you and me that means be willing to be vulnerable one more time be willing to trust me one more time enroll that stone away that that whatever thought it is that you placed in front of that area of your life where you say it'll never be it's too late it's been too long I called Jesus you didn't answer Jesus says to you roll the stone away I'm speaking to somebody tonight online more than one person you're sitting there and you have a thought in your heart and you're saying could it be could it can can I trust one more time I trusted in the past but he never showed but here tonight I'm feeling this this strange stirring in my heart to move the stone away no matter what people say about me you know Martha said no we can't do that he's been dead for four days and he stinks maybe that's your testimony maybe that's what people have said about you you've been you've been so long paralyzed in the situation that there's there's no Aroma of life left only a smell of death all over your spiritual death but Jesus said roll away the Stone May I encourage you sir ma'am tonight young person may I encourage you to roll the stone away even if you have to do it by faith this this thing you've placed in front of your life this this this this this thought that nothing will ever change push it away and open your heart one more time and be willing to be vulnerable one more time he said if if you believe you'll see the glory of God you'll see God raise you as only God can and they took away the Stone from the place where the dead man was lying and Jesus lift up his eyes and said father I thank you that you've heard me and I know you always hear me but because of the people who are standing by I said this that they may believe that you sent me and we had said these things he cried with a loud voice Lazarus come forth and so I'm speaking tonight on behalf of the Lord Jesus Christ and I speak to somebody tonight that's listening come forth you know what your name is and God is able to say a thousand names without at one time come out of that place of Darkness come out of that place of captivity come out of that place of death admit you can't save yourself that's where it all begins you've done as a matter of fact I think if you're dead you have a you have more of an advantage than somebody that still has some strength left in them I always found it ironic that in this whole scenario that only the dead man could hear his voice nobody alive could hear him but the dead man heard him and you see sometimes he waits till you're dead because that's when you can hear him that's when it becomes him and him alone it's his voice coming through the clamor call may I call it the the cacophony or whatever you call that word that of all of voices around you all the voices in your head and all the voices that are saying there's no hope for you and suddenly one voice comes and cuts right through the middle of them and calls your name and says come forth come forth out of your addiction come forth out of your confusion come forth out of your broken life your broken home your broken marriage your broken body come forth out of whatever it is that's holding you captive and I'm going to give you life that's the promise that came to Lazarus I am the resurrection and the life I have the power to raise you that's what God would say to you tonight if you would believe you will see the glory of God so that's your part your part is no more than lazarus's was when he heard the voice of God he had to get up and move towards that voice that's your part tonight you get up from where you are and move towards the voice of the Son of God move out of your captivity move away from the smell of death move away from the practice of sin move away from everything that holds you captive and move towards the one who loves you enough to come to where you are tonight and call your name he did love Lazarus he loved him enough to go where he was and call him out of that place of death and call him into life that's who Christ is and that's what he's speaking to you in his calling to you believe that he's the son of God believe that he's the Messiah he's everything you've ever needed to be free from the penalty of sin believe that he came to you and died on a cross so that your sin might be forgiven and when you get up call him Lord and walk towards him and say you are the Lord of my life from this day forward I confess you as the god of my salvation I confess you as my only hope I confess you as the way the truth and the life there is no other way to eternal life but through you so ironic because later on in the Bible Lazarus was sitting at the table with Jesus and people were coming not just because of Jesus but because of Lazarus and you know the interesting thing is like when you have a miracle people will come to God because of your testimony they'll come to him because of you maybe I put it that way they came to Christ because of Lazarus God Waits until the story is only about him oh Hallelujah oh hallelujah oh Hallelujah so my message to everybody here tonight he's not late he's right on time he's calling your name he's calling you Hallelujah there's a song I wrote years and years and years ago it's on the CD called quiet times don't try to play it because you don't know it okay but it's on a CD called quiet times and it's I called it calling my name it goes like this I went back to the last place I'd known him to be every promise he'd once spoken seemed only for me I don't know just how it happened but in the midst of all my pain softly sweetly I heard Jesus Calling My Name calling my name calling my name never I'd heard it with such sweet rephrase through the tears all Darkness vanished and I'll never be the same since the morning I heard Jesus Calling My Name 

PRAYER
Father tonight in Jesus name God you are calling a whole generation out of death and into life you're calling children because you said let them come to me and don't forbid them for the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to these ones you're calling teenagers and middle schoolers you're calling high schoolers and college kids moms dads young people you're calling the depressed the addicted The Afflicted the nobody's the nothings of this world you're calling people who have given up on themselves and you would say to them tonight you may have given up on yourself but I have never given up on you I have loved you with an everlasting love a nursing mother could forget her children but I cannot forget you because I engraved you on the palms of my hands Jesus pray this prayer with me everybody here and people online tonight that are listening Lord Jesus Christ I hear you I hear you calling me by by your grace and with your strength I'm going to get up and I'm going to trust that in believing you I will see and know the glory of God thank you for not forgetting me and for coming to get me where I am in this lonely dark place from this day forward [Music] I call you the Lord Of My Life [Music] and I will follow you all of my days it will be such a privilege to sit at your table I love you Jesus and thank you for loving me in your precious name amen and amen praise God father I do pray that for those that have prayed that from a sincere heart tonight God you you are a god of Miracles we believe you raised the Dead we believe that you call it of Darkness we believe that you go to Impossible places where all the devices of man and have failed We Believe Lord because you've taken us and God thank you for giving us a testimony that through the testimony of what you've done for each of us God others will come to you Jesus as Lord and savior oh God you you said that we're a people to be set upon a hill whose testimony cannot be hidden from this world this is what we long to be and we're just so thankful that we're hearing your voice again we're thankful Lord that we're hearing you calling us God almighty in the midst of all of the clamor and the confusion and the evil of this time we hear your voice cutting through all of it calling us into life and so God we're believing you for miracles Jesus we're believing that you are a miracle-working god Lord Jesus Christ thank you for touching people tonight thank you God for testimonies that we will hear in the future of tonight was the night that today was the day that I was raised out of doctors and brought into new life through Christ father we give you praise and we give you glory in Jesus name amen and amen we're going to take a moment we're going to come to communion together and as we do we're going to sing a song as we do every week and then we're going to celebrate this great great victory that Christ won for us on the cross 2000 years ago 30:49 NOW PLAYING Are We In The Last Days? | Carter Conlon Times Square Church 248K views 6 months ago NOW PLAYING Mix - Times Square Church More from this channel for you 2:00:58 NOW PLAYING Beautiful Instrumental Hymns, Peaceful Music, Piano & Flute "Holy Holy Holy" Tim Janis Tim Janis 4.4M views 2 years ago 47:54 NOW PLAYING IDAHO Four| Did The Killer Know the Victims? 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