CHAPTER I: LAZARUS THE SICK MAN

Lazarus is a type of the whole human family. No other man in the New Testament covers as much ground as the man Lazarus; he is a type of the sinner in every stage of life, and also a type of the Christian from the young convert to the old saint, as he passeth through the pearly gates into the beautiful city. The first mention that is made of Lazarus is in the eleventh chapter of St. John’s gospel and the first verse. We read: “Now a certain man was sick named Lazarus.”
The reader will notice that the first mention that is made of Lazarus is that he is a sick man. We read nothing of his parents; we suppose that he was an orphan boy. There is not one word about his mother or father in the New Testament. If he had a brother he is not referred to; we only hear of his two sisters, Mary and Martha. The first time that we hear of Lazarus he is sick. The Book says nothing of his boyhood days, and in fact, we hear but little of Lazarus himself. We read nothing of his standing in the community; not a word about his education or his political or religious views, but we suppose he was a very religious man from the fact that the Master loved to go to and abide in his little home in the village of Bethany. This was one of the homes of the Master, as He trod through the earth a homeless man in search of an opportunity to do something for the other fellow. Bless His dear name forever and ever. How I love Him and how good He has been to me!
Now, in the first place Lazarus, as a sick man, is the type of the newborn babe. When the child is born into this world it comes to see us with the carnal mind in its heart and is unwell morally. Lazarus was unwell physically and the child is unwell spiritually, so the first glimpse that we get of Lazarus and the newborn babe is that they are both unwell, and if we will look at them for a few minutes we will see that the disease proves fatal in each case. We know that Lazarus died and if we will look we will see that the child dies also. For a little while let’s take a look at the moral condition of the child and see if he isn’t born into this world with the disease of sin in him. We will notice first Isaiah 1:2-6: “Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the Lord has spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel, unto anger, they are gone away backward. Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart is faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.”
Now, reader, I submit to your honest judgment the above description of the unregenerated human heart. Does it not look like the human family is in a depraved state? If that is not total depravity what would you call it? They are put down below the ox and the ass, two of the dullest dumb brutes in the field, and they are both ahead of the children of Israel. Oh, yes, my friend, the human family is born with the old man in the heart and he begins his work as soon as the child is born; he doesn’t wait until the child is grown to put him at the thing that he knows is contrary to the will of God; but as soon as the child is born the devil is ready to give him a job, and it is not long until he has him on the way to destruction.
I feel sure that King David wrote under the inspiration of the blessed Holy Ghost. See what he says about the child, Psalms 51:5: “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother canceive me.” Again, before we pass from the Psalmist, we will notice the 58th Psalm and the third verse: “The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.” This doesn’t look like they waited to be grown to go into sin. I have said it a number of times, and you may have said it before I ever thought of it, that every child that was ever born in Texas lied before it could talk and stole before it could walk. The Psalmist said that he was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did his mother conceive him. Well, that is the way they are all born into this world.
I have known children to be born into the homes of good, religious parents and these children were never conquered in the lives. I have known some good Methodist mothers to name their baby boy for one of the bishops and consecrate him to the Lord to be made bishop, and he was elected before he was two years old. You could go to the home and the two-year-old boy was making all of the appointments; he commanded and his mother had to obey; he screamed and whooped and yelled, turned over chairs and slammed the doors, and would get up and throw the teacups, and the knives and forks off the table, and his mother and all of the other children had to obey him or have one of the biggest rackets that you have ever heard in all of your life. So you see, my friend, that Lazarus as a sick man is a pretty good representative of the child when it is born into the world with the old man in its heart. Lazarus was sick and the child is not well by any means.
Now for a little while we want to look at some Scriptures over in the New Testament. First, we want to look at the third verse of the second chapter of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, and just see for ourselves: “Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath even as others.” The apostle says here that we are by nature the children of wrath even as others. Notice first that he doesn’t say we are the children of wrath by choice nor does he say that we are the children of wrath by practice; but notice what he does say; he says that we are the children of wrath by nature. Now reader, if you had a tree that was by nature a tree of wrath, what kind of fruit do you think would grow on it? Well, we can find out by going to Gallatians 5:19. Just see for yourself, and oh my, it almost takes your breath. “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which the these: Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, varience, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like.” I submit to your intelligence as an honest man or woman, don’t you think that the above crowd is in a state of total, yes in a state of teetotal depravity. That crowd of people is qualified to commit any sin that is known to the human family, and yet I have heard much about our beautiful human nature; but just look children and see for yourself. I don’t suppose that a man could find a harder crowd this side of the pit than the above.
But before we leave Paul’s letter to the Galatians, we want to notice the 17th verse of the 5th chapter: “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.” The reader will notice here that the word flesh refers to the carnal mind, or the old man or inbred sin, whichever you would rather call it. Of course the word flesh there could not refer to your bones and blood, for the Spirit of God and your bones could not be contrary the one to the other; but there is something in man that is contrary to the Spirit of God, and of course it is the carnal mind, for St. Paul says in Romans 8:7 that, “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” So you see at a glance that Romans 8:7 explains Gal. 5:17, where Paul says that the flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are contrary the one to the other, so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. If the child doesn’t bring the carnal mind into this world with him when he is born of the flesh, then he must receive it when he is born of the Spirit, and you could not think of a thing of that kind. But at the same time we see a man here with two minds in him and each one wants to rule and each one wants to sit on the throne and hold the reins of your life and do the driving.
Now reader, the only way to make these Scriptures plain is to see them in their true light. The child is born into the world with the carnal mind in him and when he is born of the Spirit he receives the spiritual mind; he already had the carnal mind and now he becomes a double-minded man, both carnal and spiritual, and the war is between the carnal mind and the spiritual mind. When we are born of the Spirit we receive the spiritual mind and when we are baptized with the Holy Ghost and fire we get rid of the carnal mind and that leaves the mind of Christ in our heart to reign without a rival. If you will look, you will see that Lazarus as a sick man is a type of the child that is born into this world with the old man in its heart and if you are not satisfied with the above Scriptures, at your leisure you might read St. Mark 7:21, 22, and when you get through with that lesson you might read Romans 3:10-20. By that time you will be convinced that the human family is born out of gear and out of harmony with God, out of harmony with itself, and out of harmony with the world round about it.
Is it not a fact that two old sinners can’t hardly live in the same community, and get along with each other; sometimes they don’t do it, but fall out and fight and go to law with each other. Again I have seen boys not ten years old meet and fight every Sunday for nearly a year and almost kill each other, and nobody think anything of it at all. Again I have seen small children two or three years old fall out and fight just like beasts, and I have seen their mothers pull them apart and whip them and it seemed to do no good. Now the question naturally arises in the mind of a fellow if the child is not a depraved being, what is the matter with it? Don’t you see a sick Lazarus there, and don’t you see that the disease has proven fatal and that Lazarus is dangerously ill?

THE AUTHOR’S PREFACE

Dear Readers: I am not going to beg your pardon for sending out another book, but I am going to ask you to please overlook my mistakes and blunders, and be just as patient with me as you possibly can. I want to thank all of the dear brethren in the field who have given me any light and help on this remarkable man called Lazarus. I heard one sermon preached on Lazarus, by a Methodist pastor at Omaha, Ill., a few years ago; that is the only sermon I ever heard preached on Lazarus. I also read a little sketch in one of Dr. Carradine’s books on Lazarus, but the man who gave me more help on Lazarus than any other man was Dr. McAmmons, a Methodist pastor in Chicago, Ill. Apart from these three men I never heard a man in my life say anthing about Lazarus; but to me he is one of the most interesting characters that is discussed in the New Testament, and for the past three or four years I have been studying Lazarus as a type of the whole human family, and to my mind he comes nearer being a type of the whole human family than any other one character that is found between the lids of the Bible. There is no condition in life but what Lazarus cover the ground. As a sick man he is a type of the newborn babe with the carnal mind in its heart, and as a dead man he is a type of the child when it comes to the years of accountability, and chooses sin and dies, and is now dead in trespasses and in sins; and as a bound man he is a type of the child when he has gone into sin and has been bound by the devil; as an entombed man he is a type of the sinner when he gives up all hope, and goes into the tomb of despair; as a putrified man he is a type of the old sinner when he becomes sin-hardened and corrupted in his whole moral nature. Lazarus called out of the tomb is a type of the new birth; Lazarus set free is a type of the experience of sanctification; Lazarus feasting with his Lord is one of the most beautiful types of the life of holiness that can be found in the old Book; Lazarus persecuted by the high priest is one of the most striking incidents in the life of every holiness man. Just as sure as you get sanctified you are sure to have the high priest on your trail. It never fails. Just as sure as you get filled with the Holy Ghost and go to feasting with your Lord your testimonies will stir up the carnal mind in the man that has not got a clean heart, and he will become jealous of you, and the fight will be on, O Christian soldier. Lazarus, the soul winner, is a beautiful type of the holiness evangelist of the present day. A Spirit-filled man is a soul winner. It cannot be otherwise. It must be so in spite of men and devils. BUD ROBINSON

Just because

During my pastoring days, I sought to amass a library, that would inspire and educate me in the Christian way. Fortunately, I was able to obtain some books that were printed years ago, and share some really good insights. One of those books is one I would like to reproduce here, not all at once, but over a period of time. I think one chapter at a time should suffice. I will begin with the Author's dedication.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The Story of Lazarus
Bud Robinson
Pentecostal Publishing Company
Louisville, KY
1909

DEDICATION

When I wrote my first book, Sunshine and Smiles, I lovingly dedicated it to the whole human family. What a poor, silly goose I was, for as I stood by the wayside with the book under my arm, I cried to the passing throng, Ho! everyone that wants reading matter, come buy Sunshine and Smiles with money, and the price is fifty cents; but the whole human family seemed to pass me by like the wind and never even stopped to see what I had for sale; but I was not disheartened at all.

I went to work and wrote another book and called it A Pitcher of Cream, and I lovingly dedicated it to old Jessie, a lovely old Jersey cow which had been a good friend to me and my family. I told the reading public that there was no buttermilk or clabber, or blue-john or skimmed milk, in the book; but to my surprise old Jessie joined the Prohibition Party and voted the Prohibition ticket and went dry by a large majority; there I stood by the public highway with Sunshine and Smiles under one arm and A Pitcher of Cream under the other with a grinning world on one side and a dry cow on the other. Ho! reader, reader, you must indeed be very stupid, to allow Sunshine and Smiles and A Pitcher of Cream to pass you by; but I have read that a fortune knocks at every man’s door once in a lifetime and if he fails to open she goes on never to return.

As I have just completed the story of Lazarus, I lovingly dedicate this book to Miss Sallie, and if she doesn’t beat the whole human family and old Jessie, I will be the worst deceived boy above ground.

Methinks

So, if you voted for B Hussein for President, to prove you were not racist; then you will need to vote for Sarah Palin for President to prove you are not a misogynist!

Pinheads and Patriots

As I have stated over and over again, I own a TV but do not have a subscription to any televised service...I have a library of DVDs that watch, over and over again. On occasion, I may stop in at a sports bar and grill, and perhaps catch some program; therefore, I am not totally ignorant of what is going on. I also tend to prefer reading to watching. Currently I am reading Bill O’Reilly’s book, Pinheads and Patriots; Where You Stand in the Age of Obama.

On page 63, beginning at line 12, Mr. O’Reilly states: By contrast, my analysis of Barack Obama and everything else in the public arena is fact-based, not ideological. The President, as I’ve suggested, cannot be accurately branded a “socialist” until he starts messing around with private property. You can rightly call some of his policies “socialistic”–and I have–but saying Obama is the El Norte version of Hugo Chavez is absurd. Are not the policies of an administration reflective of the leader of the administration?

Only 6 pages later, Mr. O’Reilly states: President Obama and his team want to pass laws that put even more power and money in the hands of the federal government; that, very simply, is my primary beef with them. The more shots are called from Washington, the fewer options we the people have in our own lives. Rugged individualism made this country great, not entitlement programs rigged to provide “income redistribution.” Is not the bedrock of personal property ownership, the ability to earn a day’s wage, and to keep it? Additionally, owning personal property, inherently involves the “freedom” to do with the day’s wages, as I please?

So, I am wondering, the war we fought with Great Britain, the great Tea Party, were embodied with the understanding that we were through with oppressive taxation. We were through with not being able to own personal property; to do with what we have made, as we see appropriate. A lot of the “old money” we find in America today, was earned while this country was not “socialistic” in ideology...a lot of that money was earned before there was much in the way of income tax. Fact is, wealth comes only from being able to earn, and do with the earnings as the individual deems appropriate.

Is it not educational to recognize that one of the basic tenets of Marxist-Leninist ideology is a progressive taxation? And are we not currently utilizing “progressive taxation” in this country? Soak the rich? Make the rich pay their fair share? Until we scrap the “progressive taxation” method, and replace it with perhaps a wealth tax...we are not going to be the land of the free. The rich are not affected by the laws that get passed regarding taxation, simply because, they have the money to circumvent the law. OK, we tax income, but we allow deductions for mortgage interest, charity work, and investment. Pure income tax, would tax every penny a person receives for a day’s work. You want to make the rich pay? Remove all income deductions, and tax every cotton-pickin penny a person gets. Does that sound, uncaring, unChristian? Well, any taxation is actually uncaring, unChristian!

So, let me get this straight...I spent twenty-nine years on active duty in the US Naval Service. Every penny I made I paid income tax on; and social security tax. Except for the thirteen months I was identified as being in a combat zone, which con-gress said income was tax exempt. Now, I am retired from the military, and I am paying income tax on the retainer pay I receive. Are you surprised I call it “retainer pay” rather than “retirement pay”? It really is “retainer”; I am still subject to recall to active duty, and I am under the auspices of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Funny, military personnel are paid from “public funds” (taxes), but do not have the right of collective bargaining. Get over it! The average military person is the true “public servant” and serves the public, not for what he/she can get out of the public, but because it is the right thing to do, and because there is national pride there.

So, I am labeled a “veteran”, yet, because I receive a retainer pay that I pay taxes on, and it is greater than the “means testing” amount allowed, I am put at the back of the line in utilizing VA medical benefits. OK, I don’t use medical much anyway, so, I can live with that. I am also labeled as a “senior citizen”; and I am drawing on sosh security benefits...that I have paid into for most of my adult life, and I am getting my socks taxed off because of the benefit. I should have saved for my old age??? Most of the time I was on active duty, I didn’t make enough money to do a lot of saving. But guess what? Today, we are being taxed oppressively on savings, because of interest earned. GIVE ME A BREAK!!! Oh, and didn’t I hear something being said about Obama’s administration wanting to convert 401K, and IRA accounts into government accounts, administered by IRS? GIVE ME A BREAK!!!

Bottom line, I guess is still, if it walks like a duck, if it talks like a duck, if it smells like a duck, if it looks like a duck, it sure ain’t a lamb!

my two cents

I been cogitating on “The Tea Party”.

If we were to revisit the “Tea Party” held in Boston bay, we would find the rebellion centered around taxation, and onerous government. What happened? Did the people band together in groups and wave signs and listen to speakers talk about how mad we are? I don’t think so. What they did do, was to dump the British tea...taxed to the hilt...into the sea, to tell the king, we are tired of your ways, and this is what we think of it.

So, here we are, a couple of hundred years later, and we are attempting to resurrect the efficacy of the Boston Tea Party. Symbolism does nothing; it takes substance to get anything done. We have had Tea Party get togethers, and even had the Tea Party Express traveling across the country to demonstrate our solidarity. But where did that get us? The government looks at the effort and makes jokes, they libel the name by which we are attempting to have a say. The government knows we are not a threat, because they have all the media supporting them, and assisting them in denigrating grass root activism.

The dirty little secret??? They know we may gather in groups and talk and listen, but when it comes down to the rubber meeting the road, they know we ain’t gonna do anything.

So, me thinks, what would approximate a Tea Party today? Indulge me a moment while my mind wanders and looks at possibilities.

How much impact could we have, in the say of things, if everyone who claims to be a supporter of the Tea Party, smaller government, less taxation, less discretionary spending, and less social spending by government were to take a stand?

What statement could we make, if everyone would, say, all in one month, cancel all subscriptions to newspapers, newsmagazines, and cable/dish/satellite television? Would that not be a dumping of the “tea” in the harbor? All these media people shill for the socialist government thugs, because they realize how stupid the average munchkin in flyover country is. They know that we will continue to pay for their slanted stenography and they have nothing to worry about. What would they do if all of a sudden twenty or fifty million people cancelled their subscriptions?

Think about it! That’s all I am asking...THINK ABOUT IT!!!!

Shirt Come And Take It

Shirt Come And Take It