Come back to John chapter 12,
John chapter 12. Title of this message, The Necessity
of the Death of Christ. It is a must that if sinners
are to be saved, having to be populated with the people like
the Son of God, he has to die. He has to die the death of the
cross. He has to suffer because sin
deserves suffering. I was talking to a pastor some
time ago. He and I talk often. I said, why? And I know the answer,
but I wanted to discuss it with him. Why did he have to suffer? Couldn't he not just die? And
we both agree that sin deserves suffering. You see, hell is suffering. It's suffering. It's suffering
under God's wrath. So he has to endure what I deserve. Suffering. And then die. Now our Lord has ridden into
Jerusalem. On the pole of an ass, as the scripture said, he
fulfilled the scriptures, Zechariah 9, 9. He's been anointed by Mary. He says, she anointed me for
my burial that's coming up in preparation for his death. And
here are some proselyte Greeks come to the feast. And they asked
to see Jesus, sir. we would see Jesus. Wouldn't
that be something this morning? If God Almighty enables me and
you to see the Lord, to really, really by faith, see Him. That
would be something. And our Lord takes this opportunity
to tell of the necessity of His death and His hour to be glorified. Verse 20, and there were certain
Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast. These
Greeks were proselytes. They had gone from worshiping
many gods. You remember one place Paul went,
they had an altar to the unknown God, just in case they missed
one. In case one showed up. So they made that altar. They
worshiped many gods. You know, what we call Greek
mythology was not mythology to them. They believed that. The goddess Diana, they had a
statue of her. They had all these different
gods. But these Greeks here had become
proselytes to Judaism. They had become proselytes to
one God, to worship one God, not many, one. And when they
came to town, they asked Philip, they said to him, they said,
Sir, we would see Jesus. They had heard about him. And
no doubt they probably heard about Him raising Lazarus from
the dead. You know, that went far and wide. You know, if someone
were raised from the dead here in Beatable, it would go all
over the world. It would. And they heard about
this. And they wanted to see this one
Jesus, who He is. Maybe they heard about Him being
the Messiah. I don't know. But they wanted to see him. They
were definitely curious to see him. And I think it was a problem,
though, for his disciples because they knew that the Jews would
be upset if these Greeks had a meeting with the Lord. They
knew the Pharisees would be upset because they said that to Philip.
Then Philip went to Andrew. And I think he went to Andrew
and said, Why are we going to handle this? These Greeks want
to see Jesus. They want to see the Lord. And
so both of them together, they go in and they say, Lord, there
are some Greeks out here that want to see you. They want to
see you. And our Lord answers them. But
at first, the answer seems not to fit the question, doesn't
it? So often when you read the Gospels, the question is asked,
then he answers with a, he answers in a spiritual way. He answers
this question in a spiritual way, not in our natural way of
thinking. And he speaks of his hour to
be glorified. They say, the Greeks want to
see you. And they said, now is the hour
come that the Son of Man should be glorified. He's speaking of
his redemptive glory, but he's also speaking here of the Gentiles
seeing his glory. seeing who he is they said we
would see jesus well there's gonna be a lot of gentiles gonna
see the lord jesus but it's gonna be in a spiritual sense you see
he's speaking in a spiritual sense they're speaking in a natural
sense they want to see him physically but christ is saying that um
now is the hour now the hour has come that the son of man
should be glorified four thousand years the gentile
world sat in darkness the word of god the types the
pictures was given to that little nation called israel all that
was given to them and the rest of the world that in darkness
scripture says those who sat in darkness have seen a great
light when the gospel came And they are about to see, the Gentile
world is about to see a great light. The gospel is going to
go out from Jerusalem, and it's going to go throughout the whole
world. The good news of salvation is going to go throughout the
whole world. And God's going to save a people out of every
kindred, tribe, tongue, and nation under heaven. And Jesus Christ is going to
be glorified. I believe he's glorified here every week, isn't
he? In the preaching of the gospel, the reading of his word, Christ
is glorified every week. Now it's time, he said, the hour
has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. And he makes this
point here. His death is a part of it. We ought to see, let me put it
this way, we ought to see, as believers, we ought to see death,
our death, the day we come and die and leave this world, as
glorification. We ought to see it as it's the
day of, it's the graduation day. That we get to go and be with
the Lord and experience the full glory that we have in the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's how we ought to look at
death. We don't look at it as the end of something. It's the
beginning of something. As one man said to an old preacher,
I can't remember his name, but he said, sir, you're about to
die. He said, no, I'm about to live.
It was back in the 1800s, I believe it was. He said, I'm about to
live. I'm not about to die. I'm about
to live. Now, our Lord speaks of his death. It's his death, burial, resurrection
as his glorification. Redemption. He's speaking of
his redemptive glory is what he's talking about. And he says
here in verse 24, and he takes something so, so easy to understand,
so easy to grasp. He takes something that's so
natural and gives us a spiritual truth out of it. And he says
in verse 24, Verily, verily, truly, truly, give attention
to this. I say to you, except a corn of
wheat fall to the ground and die, it abideth alone. But if
it die, it brings forth much fruit. Corn of wheat on the shelf
will produce no fruit like itself. You take a corn of wheat or take
a kernel of corn, put it on a shelf, put it in a jar and see what
happens. Nothing. He says, it abides alone. Here's the glory of his death,
that through his death, many will come out of it like him.
Many will come out of it. When you plant a garden this
spring, and you put a kernel of corn in the ground, and another
one, and another one, it brings up a corn stalk, and then it
brings this ear of corn, and on that ear of corn, there's
a lot of kernels of corn just like that one you planted. This is what He's saying. Corn
of wheat, if it does not die, if it's not buried in the ground
and germinate and come back up, it abides alone. It's alone. Nothing's going to happen. It
cannot produce fruit like itself. And our Lord takes this natural
process of planting a grain of wheat and He applies it to His
death, burial and resurrection. The necessity, the necessity
of it. If He does not suffer and die
and rise again. There will be no salvation for
sinners. There's no salvation if he doesn't
die. There's no other way. He said in the Garden of Gethsemane,
Father, if it be thy will, let this cup pass from me. Did it? If it be possible. for you who believe, for you
to be saved. If it be possible for them to
be saved, the whole elect of God, the whole, that whole host
of heaven, if it possible for them to be saved any other way,
let this cup pass from me. Did it? No, no. He didn't just say that for himself.
He said that for us to show us there's no other way to be saved.
except by the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord.
The shedding of His blood? No other way. There's no other
way. Heaven will not be populated
with the people just like Him if He does not die, be buried,
and rise again. No more than you'll have a garden
or a fruit if you don't bury that grain of corn, you're not
going to have a harvest. It's not even possible. That's
so simple that you understand. I tell you, our Lord spoke in
such simple language, simple language, the wisdom of God using
such simple language. I've learned this over the years.
If it's simple, it's wise. If it's complicated, there's
no wisdom in it. There isn't. There's no wisdom in it. Wisdom
doesn't complicate anything. You go and read the book of Proverbs.
It's so simple, isn't it? And our Lord takes the most simple
instruction and gives us such a heavenly meaning out of it. He must pour out his soul unto
death before he can divide the spoiled with the strong, as it
says over in Isaiah 53. And then he applies the same
principle to those who would be saved, to those who would
follow him. Sir, we would see Jesus. Well,
he's not a circus act. Jesus Christ is not the circus
act they turned him into today. He's the almighty God. And he
gives us a spiritual meaning here. But then he also applies
this, this spiritual meaning of the corn falling into the
ground and dying. He applies it to those who serve him, those
who would follow him. You know, they make this thing
of Christianity, being saved, look fun. They've turned it into
this thing of looking fun, exciting. I tell you, it's a struggle.
It's a warfare. It's not easy. It's not easy. He that loveth
his life shall lose it. If our Lord loved his life on
this earth, his earthly life, we'd all perish. He would have
lost his and we wouldn't have any salvation. He that loveth
his life shall lose it. And he that hateth his life in
this world, he's talking about this earthly life, shall keep
it unto life eternal. If you'll remember the corn of
wheat, it must die or it abides alone. If you are not willing,
this is what our Lord's saying. You see, He doesn't con anybody
into following Him. He doesn't sugarcoat it and then
all of a sudden he's like, this is not what I signed up for. If you're not willing, he says,
to lose your life, this earthly life, as our Lord lost his, gave
it up. He didn't just lose, he gave
it up. I give up my life. If you're not willing to do that,
he says, you'll abide alone. You will abide alone. under God's
wrath. If you cling to this life as
Lot, as Lot's wife, remember Lot's wife? You know what it
says in the scriptures? Remember Lot's wife. That's all
it says. Remember Lot's wife. Remember
what happened to her? She looked back to Sodom. Now,
I don't think there's If she had just turned around and looked
and saw that smoke rolling, you know, no, she looked back in
her heart. In her heart, her heart, let's
say, her heart was back there in Sodom. That's where her heart
was. Her heart was not with Lot and
it was not with the Lord, it was not in getting out of that
place, it was back there in Sodom. Her body was with Lot, but her
heart was inside him. And God turned her into a pillar
of salt. And he's saying this, if you
cling to this life as Lot's wife clung to it, you'll have the
same end. You'll meet the same end. We
cannot, he's telling us, we cannot love this world, this life, and
God too, and Him also. He says, if a man or woman hates
this life, now what does he mean? What does he mean? You're not
going around in a spirit of hatred. Oh, I hate this, I hate that.
He's not talking here so much about the attitude you carry
day by day, but he's saying this. He that hates this, the principles
The principles of this life, the principles by which men and
women operate in this life. It's me and mine. It's get all
you can and can all you get. That's what it is. It is a self-motivated
life. And that's so against human nature. It is. It's against human nature. But our Lord said, except you
hate the principles of this life, the sin of this life, the evil
of this life, he said, you're gonna abide alone. You're not
gonna be with me. You're gonna be without God,
without Christ, and without hope in this world. Our affections, here's what he's
saying, those who serve him, those who follow him and this
what this is one of the very things that keeps people from
really following christ confessing christ because our affections
are to be set on things above and that's so contrary to us
by nature god almighty has to give us a new heart that does
that that seeks those things above that loves those that loves
the one that's above Our affections are to be set
on things above, and that person, he says, shall keep his life
or her life until life everlasting. Do you realize how short this
life is? I mean, I've been to funerals of
infants, and I've been to funerals of the elderly. And everything in between, I've
been there. it's so short it's so short and
the next one is so long and it's very real very real if any man
see he says here he that loves his life shall lose it he that
hates his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal
if any man serve me you see he's this is uh this is serious business
it's not a circus Now selling tickets to this is
an all-out commitment to Jesus Christ. It's an all-out commitment that
wherever he is, his servant is. Whatever he has me to do, that's
what I'm saying. I'm happy with that. Are you
happy with what the Lord's put you? Are you? His servants are. Now sometimes it takes some growing
up to get there. I'm not going to say it's automatic.
Sometimes it takes some growing up. It does take some growing
up, spiritual growing up to get to that place where you're content,
where the Lord has put you and what he's doing with you. You
say, it's the Lord, let him do as he will. It takes a little
growing up to get there. But if any man serve me, let him follow me. Let him follow
me. and where i am there shall also
my servant be if any man serve me him will my father honor you
see we not only believe on the lord jesus christ but we serve
christ and his kingdom we are in his service we are his servants you see we're not just recipients
of a blessing but we are his servants We serve in His Kingdom,
we serve His Kingdom, we serve His people, we serve His interests. We pray, Thy Kingdom come. We
pray for the advancement of His Kingdom. Wouldn't it be great if God Almighty
just gave us a great revival throughout
this world and just raised up Gospel preachers and sheep all
over this world. I mean far more than there are
right now Can you imagine? And here's a promise he says
he that serves me he said let him follow me Remember that young
man He said he wanted to follow the Lord and the Lord said follow
me. He said well, let me go bury my father first. I The Lord said,
let the dead bury the dead. You come follow me. You come follow me. What it is,
it's an all out commitment to Jesus Christ. He is my life. He is my all in
all. People will make a decision.
They'll do whatever they need to do to keep from going to hell.
But they will not give up this life. They won't give up their
life. If the Lord says to move here,
to move North Carolina, we packed up. And I'm not using myself
as an example, but it's an experience that I've gone through. And it's
not easy. It's not easy. When you pack
everything up, and you say goodbye to everybody, and you move away,
You know, Vicki and I have often said, what would it be like to
have actually stayed where you grew up at? You know, your whole
family there, that would be so different. That would be so different. But that wouldn't be in God's
will. I couldn't call myself his servant. No, he says here, he says where
I am, my servant is, my servant is. Where is he? Well, I believe he's here in
North Carolina. And I believe he's right here
in Spring Lake. I do. I believe that. I believe that
with all my heart. I believe he's in Lexington.
I believe he's in Rocky Mountain, Virginia. And I believe his servant's
there. And his servants are there, just
like you here. And where is he? He's in heaven. That's where his servants, I'm
there now, you know that? That's true, that's true. I know
I'm standing here physically, but there is a reality to me
that's very real. I'm there right now. You know,
the whole church is there right now in Christ. The whole church
is there before God. Some of it's still here on earth.
Part of it's in heaven with him now. Where is he? He's in heaven.
So are you. So are you. And him will my father honor.
You'll honor him with eternal life, forgiveness, justification. That verse has never struck me
till I was reading it like now. I mean, I was reading it this
week. If any man serve me, him will
my father honor. I thought, you cannot look at
anything and say, I gave it up. In comparison to being honored
of God, in comparison to having salvation, forgiveness, acceptance,
and in a short while, to be standing in His presence. Listen to this in Proverbs 27,
18. Whoso keepeth the fig tree shall eat the fruit thereof.
So he that waiteth on his master shall be honored. You shall be
honored. And then he says here, verse
27, Now is my soul troubled. He let his soul be troubled.
He'd opened his self up to trouble. My trouble, your trouble. He's not talking about the Pharisees
here now. Now my soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father,
save me from this hour. But for this cause came I unto
this hour. This is the reason I came to
die. None of us were born into this world with the purpose of
dying. We all try to live. We go to the doctor constantly.
And go. Go. Because me dying is not going
to save anybody. But he came to die. He came for
the sole purpose of suffering and dying. Now is my sole trouble. He's about to be made sin. He's
about to be made what I am, that I might be made what He is, the
righteousness of God. He's going to stand before God
guilty. Because it's an abomination,
it says in the Old Testament, it's an abomination for an innocent
man to be put to death. I'm paraphrasing. It's an abomination. He had to take my guilt and make
it his. So he could say in the Psalms,
my sins have gone over my head. How in the world can Christ say
that? That's the Lamb of God. That's the spotless Lamb of God.
Because as I substitute, and this is for everyone whom He
saves, He made their sins His and stood before God's justice
and gave account for them to the very John 10. That's what He did. It says in Isaiah 53, when thou
shalt make his soul an offering for sin. Now he says, shall I ask the
father to save me from this hour? No, this is why I'm here. I came
to die. I came for this purpose. All
other hours revolve around this. Here's what I say. He says, here's
what I say. Father, glorify thy name. don't
say save me from this hour I say glorify thy name then there came
a voice from heaven say I've both glorified it and I'll glorify
it again and he's doing it again this morning isn't it he does
it again and again and again and he'll do it throughout eternity
and I tell you this when you and I go through we undergo a
trial a difficult trial you know what we ought to this is how
we ought to pray In the trials we go through, the hardships
God puts us through, here's our prayer. Glorify thy name. In
this trial, Lord, get glory out of it. Get glory out of this. And he said here, look here in
verse 29, after he said this, After the Father spoke from Heaven
on behalf of His Son, the people stood by and they said, It thundered! It thundered! You know, to some
people this morning, in God's service throughout this world
of preaching the Gospel, to some, they just hear thunder, they
just hear noise, just hear a loud noise. That's all you hear. That's all they hear. Some said
of thunder, the other said, no, an angel spoke to him, had to
be an angel, had to be. But the Lord said, my sheep hear
my voice, everyone else hears thunder, but you hear him. You're
not hearing thunder this morning, some of you, you hear him. He'd been glorified in Jesus,
and he said, this voice came not because of me, it didn't
come for my sake, it came for yours. The preaching this morning
is for your sakes. It's for your sakes that you
might believe. Now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this
world be cast down. Judgment is going to fall on
those Jewish people for rejecting him for what they did. Seventy
years, 70 AD. In 70 AD that place was level. Judgment is still on them. It's
still there. Let His blood, they said, let
His blood, and you've got to stay with the Scriptures. You
can't back down from the Scriptures. They said, let His blood be on
us and our children, and it has been. Now is the judgment of this world.
Now shall the Prince of this world be cast out. Judgment is
going to fall on Christ. Judgment is going to fall on
Christ. Judgment is going to fall on this world because they
believe not that he is the son of God. And the prince of this
world is cast out. This is what happened at Calvary.
Judgment happened at Calvary. Now, there's going to be a final
judgment, but judgment happened at Calvary. That word judgment
there means crisis. what it means in this particular
verse it means crisis there's a crisis here but judgment for
our sins fell on christ judgment on satan his power the prince
of darkness he said is cast out his power is broken his head
is crushed his head is crushed it hit me this morning It hit
me this morning, in John 19, 17, he took the cross. He took the cross and he carried
it to Golgotha. You know what that means? You
know what that word means? Place of the skull. John 19, 17, place of a skull. What did God tell Satan in the
Garden of Eden? You'll bruise his heel, he's
gonna crush your head. And it's as if they took that
cross and jammed it right down in the top of Satan's head. I
thought, what a visionary it was for me to see that place
of a skull and the scripture saying he's gonna crush Satan's
head and that cross driven right down in the top of that skull.
Krusty's power. Krusty's power. Death has lost
its sting. Grave has lost its victory. Isn't
that good? Because that's exactly where
we're going. But the grave can't keep us. Death has no sting to
it. There's no sting in death. We're
the believer. And this is what he's going to
give us here, how all this is going to be accomplished. And
I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all unto me.
That is all it says, all men, it's all sorts of men, all sorts
of men and women. He's going to draw to him through
the preaching of Christ and him crucified. If I be lifted up,
that's happening this morning. Somebody throughout this world,
when the gospel is preached, is going to be drawn to him.
Somebody is going to be drawn to him. This, he says, signifying what
death he should die. And then the people answered,
We've heard out of the law that Christ abides forever. Now how
sayest thou the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who's this Son
of Man? Here's the subtlety of Satan. Here's a subtle tip Satan. They're crying. They were crying.
Hosanna. Blessed is he the king of Israel
comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna. And then they said,
but the scripture says that Christ will live forever.
And you're saying the son of man is going to die. And then
they knew he called himself the son of man. And they knew the
son of man was the Messiah. And they said, how can this be? The scriptures are never against
each other. They're never against each other.
And that's why the Lord said, walk in the light while you have
the light. He's the light. I don't understand everything
I read, but I believe God. I believe God. I don't understand
a lot of things, but I believe God. And if I see something in
the word of God, it seems contrary to something else in the word
of God. I know I have the problem. It's not the word of God. And
I wait until he gives me an understanding and through preaching. I don't
know how many times I sat there and Henry preached and I said,
I see it. I see it. That's why he says,
believe in the walk in the light, believe in the light. It's the
same thing. Walking in it is believing in
it. That you may be the children of light. These things spake
Jesus and departed and listen. And did hide himself from them. He hid himself. He told them
the truth. For the most part, they didn't
believe it. For the most part, because they said crucify him,
crucify him later. And he went out and he hid himself. I pray that the Lord will reveal
himself this morning. While you have light, the Lord
is saying this, now He's saying this, it's not me, I'm just reading
what He said. He said, while you have the light,
believe in it, walk in it, and you'll be the children of light.