(John 12:1-2)-"LOOK WHO’S COMING TO DINNER"
In this text, we are allowed see what Jesus did for Lazarus when He raised him from the dead.  This passage shows us how Jesus can take you from the deathbed of your sins and give you a seat at His table. If a person doesn’t know the Lord, this passage can show them what He can dowhen He is approached by faith. If you do know Him, these verses will help you remember what He did for you when He saved you.  Lazerus was a walking, breathing miracle!  Gideon said in the old testiment while the enemy oppressed him.....(Judges 6:13-"where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of?")...I'll tell you where they are!  They are in this building!!!!
 (1)-(v. 32-42)- LAZARUS AND THE TOMB
A. V. 32, 39 -He Was Dead – He was not sick, he was dead!....Oblivious to his surroundings. Oblivious to the presence of the Lord. Unable to respond to his surroundings. Eph. 2:1 says that the sinner is lost in trespasses and sins. In that lost condition, the sinner cannot sense the presence of the Lord. 
B. V. 39 -He Was Decayed - According to Martha, Lazarus has been dead long enough for the decay process to have set in!  He was just as dead as he had ever been, but his death was far more apparent. Dead is dead! In the New Testament, Jesus resuscitates three people. Ill. The daughter of Jairus, Luke 8; the widow of Nain’s son, Luke 7; and Lazarus. All of these have one thing in common: they were all dead! None any more or less than the other. What a picture of sinners! There aren’t degrees of dead, just degrees of decay!
C. V. 21, 32, 36 -He Was Doomed – In the minds of all the people at that tomb, Lazarus is dead and gone and nothing more can be done about it. Had this been any other cemetery, I might have agreed with them, but there was one subtle difference that day: Jesus Christ was there! The others may have been ready to leave Lazarus in the grave, but Jesus wasn’t!
We may give up on folks like this crowd did with Lazarus, but thank God; Jesus doesn’t operate like we do! When it looked like there was no hope, the Lord came to where Lazarus lay in darkness and He changed everything for Him!
(2)-(v. 43-44)- LAZARUS AND THE TRANSFORMATION
A. He Received A Personal Call - When the Lord Jesus called out at that tomb, He issued a very personal call. He called specifically for Lazarus to come out of that tomb! That call was for no one else that day, but it was for Lazarus alone.  The Gospel call is not a general call to all men! It is a call to individuals from a holy God, John 6:44. 
B. He Received A Precise Call - The call was very clear that day “Come forth!” Jesus told Lazarus exactly what he was supposed to do!  When He comes calling, there will be no doubt as to what He wants you to do! 
C. He Received A Powerful Call - This call was a powerful call for Lazarus. It brought him out of death and darkness into light and life! 

(3)-(v. 44, 12:1)- LAZARUS AND THE TABLE
A. He Had Life - Here is a man who has been dead for four days, but at the command of Jesus, He is alive! He is able to meet with and embrace his family and friends. He is able to have fellowship with those he loves again! He is alive! 
B. He Had Liberty - When Lazarus come out of that tomb, he was still bound up in the grave clothes in which they had buried him. Jesus issues the command that he is to be set free from those bindings.
C. He Had Light - The Bible says that the face of Lazarus was covered with a napkin. Because of that covering, Lazarus was in darkness. When Lazarus was brought to life, Jesus commanded that all the things that were binding him be removed. when a lost person comes to Jesus for salvation, they come to Him in darkness...then Christ comes in and brings His light with Him. 
D. He Had Luxury - Lazarus had spent four days sealed up in a tomb, totally oblivious to his condition. Now that he is alive, he is seen sitting at a table, fellowshipping with the Lord Jesus Christ! 
*People say, “How can they folks live without Jesus?” The answer is easy! They simply don’t know they don’t have Him. They have never been with Him and do not know what they are missing!