0304. Roll Ye Away the Stone

Roll Ye Away the Stone

"Jesus said, Take ye away the stone" (Joh_11:39).

1. The stone stands for the things which keep the dead within the tomb. It is the hindrance, between the dead man and the light of life.

The people could not have raised Lazarus from the dead, but they could remove the stone. Why should Christ do, miraculously, what could easily be done, naturally?

2. There are many obstacles which lie between sinners and their entrance into a new life, which we can remove. There are stones which we can roll away.

(1) There is the stone of unchristian conduct. David said: "Create within me a clean heart * * then sinners shall be converted unto Thee." David practically said: "My sin, in the case of Uriah, is a stone that must be rolled away, in order that Lazarus may come forth."

In Rom_2:24, we read these startling words: "For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you."

Illustration: A gentleman in the South land attended our church quite regularly, but he was not a Christian. One day as we sat with him in his office, we said to him, "What is it that hinders you from accepting Christ as your Saviour?" He called us to his desk, and, opening his ledger, he said: "Do you recognize this name?" "Is this man able to pay this account?" We knew the man well enough, for he was prominent in our church, and we knew he could pay his bill.

Our friend then showed us another name, and then another. Each name meant a man who could pay, but who wouldn’t. Then, turning to me, my friend said, "When my heart is touched with your sermon, and you call me to accept your Christ, the heads of these old hypocrites stick up between me and God."

Of course, this man should not have allowed anything to block his way. That is one side of the truth. The other side is, "Take ye away the stone."

(2) There are many other stones besides the above. There is the stone of our indifference, and the stone of our neglect. There is the stone of prayerless life, and there is the stone of "no knowledge of the Word." We cannot discuss these each in turn. All we can do is to urge every believer to see to it that there is nothing in his life that will block the way of sinners as they come to Christ.

If we do block the way our hearts will one day be broken because of that fact.

"O Christian friend, what wouldst thou say,

If on that awful judgment day,

They charge thee for their doom?"

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR