Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening. And
now for today's program. Welcome to our program today.
I'm glad you could join us. And if you'd like to follow along
in your Bibles, I'll be preaching from John chapter 12, beginning
at verse 37. This is the gospel of John chapter
12. And the verses that we'll deal
with today are the last words of the Lord Jesus Christ in his
public ministry on earth before going to the cross. Because in
chapter 13, it begins what we call the upper room messages,
the upper room dealings where he dealt only with his disciples
in the upper room as they went in to Jerusalem for the Passover. So this is the last words that
he gave publicly before he going to the cross. And the title of
the message is, A Sight of the Father and the Son. a saving
sight. What I'm talking about is when
the Holy Spirit gives a sinner a saving sight. In other words,
He enables that sinner to see Christ as the only way to the
Father. And I took that title from verse
45 here, where the Lord said, he that seeth me, seeth him that
sent me. Talking about seeing Christ,
not just with physical eyes, but with spiritual eyes. And
that's what the Holy Spirit does in the new birth. He gives us
spiritual eyes to see the realities of the glorious person and finished
work of Christ, so that we see that Christ, in the glory of
His person, and in the success and power of His finished work,
the righteousness of God, His blood and righteousness, that
He is the only way to have a saving sight of the Father. It comes together. So let's look
up at verse 37, and we'll go through these verses. It says
in verse 37, but though he had done so many miracles before
them, before the people, Christ had performed so many miracles
among the people, yet they believed not on him. And that's a telling
verse there because it shows the inability of the natural
man, the unregenerate person, man or woman, to believe in the
Lord Jesus Christ. And miracles will not give a
person a saving sight of Christ. Many times you see in his earthly
walk when he performed miracles, people would follow him, but
not because they saw their need of salvation by the grace of
God to be saved from their sins. They followed him just because
of the miracles. They didn't follow him because
of who he is and what he had done or what he was about to
do. in accomplishing redemption for his people. They just want,
well, one time he turned to him, he said, the only reason you're
following me is because of the loaves and the fishes. You just
want to get your hunger fed. Now, I understand people wanting
miracles. I mean, I pray for miracles all
the time, you know, miracles of healing. And certainly people
who are hungry, I understand them wanting to be fed physically. But that is not salvation. Salvation is the salvation that
God provides for His people freely and fully to save them from their
sins, to save us from our sins by the blood and righteousness
of the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's the issues
of salvation. Over in John 16, we'll read about
this later on, where the Holy Spirit comes and in conviction,
He convinces us of sin and of righteousness and of judgment.
And these are the issues of salvation. But the natural man, the unregenerate,
as we are born naturally, we will not receive the things of
the Spirit of God. And look at verse 38, it says,
that the saying of Esaias, or Isaiah, that's the prophet he's
talking about, Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he
spake, Lord, who hath believed our report, and to whom hath
the arm of the Lord been revealed. That's quoted from Isaiah 53,
where Isaiah began a prophecy of the suffering Messiah, the
servant of God who would come and die in the place of his people
as their surety, their substitute and their redeemer. And the Lord
told Isaiah, he said, you're gonna go out and preach this,
but they won't hear you. Now that's the foreordination of
God. He says, who hath believed our report, our doctrine, our
preaching. Our message, and to whom is the
arm of the Lord been revealed? The arm of the Lord there in
Isaiah 53-1 is Christ. Because Christ is the power of
God unto salvation, the gospel. To everyone that believeth, the
Jew first, the Greek also, for therein is the righteousness
of God revealed. And it says in verse 39 here,
therefore they could not believe because that Isaiah said again,
he hath blinded their eyes and hardened their heart. Now who
did that hardening and that blinding? It was God that did it. And why
did he do it? for His glory and in judgment
against those who would not receive Him. It says that they should
not see with their eyes nor understand with their ears and with their
heart and be converted and I should heal them. That's quoted from
Isaiah 6. They don't want to be converted.
You know, think about that. What is conversion? Most people
today will look at conversion as a change of behavior. Like
a person who's an alcoholic, putting down the bottle, never
drinking again. Or a person who's a drug addict,
getting off drugs. Or a person who's a thief, stop
stealing. In other words, it's a reformation
of character and conduct. But that's not what conversion
is. There are a lot of people who need that change in their
lives. Granted. Not saying, you know,
that that's okay. They need to change. They need
a reformation. But that's not conversion. Because
conversion takes place in the heart and the mind concerning
the issues of how God saves sinners. And that's what brings a sinner
to faith in Christ and repentance of dead works. It's a change
of mind and a change of heart concerning who God is. That God
is the God of absolute sovereign grace, mercy. that he doesn't
save sinners conditioned on what that sinner does, but he saves
sinners according to his mercy. He said, I will have mercy on
whom I will have mercy. I'll be gracious to whom I will
be gracious. It's not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. And
conversion is a change of mind about who we are. when we come
to realize our sinfulness, our spiritual deadness, and our depravity. And that if left to ourselves,
we would not choose the true and living God in Christ. As
one old theologian put it, if God came down here and just simply
offered himself to the natural, to people who are spiritually
dead, said, will you receive me? Nobody would. There's none
that seeketh after God, none that doeth good, no, not one,
in God's eyes, according to God's standard. And so that's what
he's saying here. The arm of the Lord has to be
revealed, the power of God to save me from my sins by his grace
that's undeserved and unearned based upon the righteousness
of God found in Christ. His obedience unto death is my
surety, my substitute, my redeemer, and my preserver. Now to whom
is the arm of the Lord revealed? Verse 35 says, therefore they
could not believe because that Isaiah said again, he has blinded
their eyes and hardened their heart that they should not see
with their eyes nor understand with their heart and be converted
and I should heal them. Verse 41 says, these things said
Isaiah when he saw his glory and spoke of him. Over in Isaiah
chapter six. Isaiah was given a vision of
the glory of God. It says his train filled the
temple. Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty. And the way of salvation was
presented in a live burning coal that touched Isaiah's lips, taken
from off the altar, which all is a picture of the sacrifice
of Christ for the sins of his people in which he went under
the wrath of God for our sins imputed to him, charged to him. And he drank damnation dry. He
took the cup of God's wrath and drank it dry. went under the
wrath of God, not for sins that He had done, not for sins that
had contaminated Him. He was the sinless sacrifice,
the just for the unjust, the perfect, pure Lamb of God. But the sin that He died for
was my sin. The sins of God's elect, imputed,
charged, accounted to Him. And out of that, he brought forth
an everlasting righteousness of infinite value, whereby God
could be just to justify sinners. He can be both a just God and
a loving, merciful father, a righteous judge and a heavenly father.
Well, look at verse 42. It says, nevertheless, among
the chief rulers, also many believed on him. This is the Jewish Sanhedrin.
the chief rulers, and they claim they believed on Christ, but
they didn't really believe. How do you know? Well, look at
the rest of the verse, verse 42. But because of the Pharisees,
they did not confess, they didn't confess Christ, lest they should
be put out of the synagogue, for they loved the praise of
men more than the praise of God. In other words, their hearts,
they claim to believe but they revealed the state of their hearts
because they would not confess Christ before men. You remember
Christ said, he that confesses me before my father, him will
I confess before the father. And he that will not confess
me, I won't confess him before the father. The confession of
Christ was a declaration, a pronouncement, that all the religious deeds
of men and women aimed at salvation, aimed at earning a right way
with God, that they were all dead works, works of idolatry,
evil deeds. If you look over in Romans chapter
three in verse 19, where it talks about light has come into the
world. It says, this is the condemnation that light has come into the
world. And men loved darkness and hated the light because their
deeds were evil. The deeds there that it's talking
about is their efforts to be made right with God, their efforts
to be righteous, their efforts to cleanse themselves from sin.
That's all futile. It's all a denial of God's glory.
It's a denial of Christ. It's an exaltation of a sinner
who has no room or ground to boast. Paul wrote, God forbid
that I should boast, I should glory, save in the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ. That's Galatians 6, 14. In Galatians
2, he made this statement. He said, if righteousness come
by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. And so the confession
of Christ is a declaration that all that men and women naturally
hold dear and value as making them right with God, that it's
actually evil and idolatry. And that's why they would have
gotten thrown out of the synagogue. You're not saved by your works. The Bible says in Luke 16, 15
that that which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination to
God. Walking into a synagogue and
declaring that all their works are an abomination, they deny
God. And they said they loved the
praise of men more than the praise of God. Well, verse 44 says,
Jesus cried and said, he that believeth on me, believeth not
on me, but on him that sent me. Now the construction of that
verse may sound a little difficult. What does he mean? He that believeth
on me, believeth not on me. He's not contradicting himself
here. What he's saying is here, is
this. You see, the unbelieving Jews
claimed to believe in God, Jehovah or Yahweh, as they would say
it. But they didn't believe in Christ.
They rejected the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, and Jesus
of Nazareth. And of course, the Bible is clear
that if you reject the son, you reject the father. Over in John
chapter 16, the Lord would tell them that they would be thrown
out of the synagogues. And he said they would do this
because they neither know me nor my father. They neither know
God nor the father. You cannot know the sovereign
true God of the Bible apart from knowing Christ. To reject Christ
is to reject the Father. And obviously to reject the Father
is to reject Christ. So these unbelieving Jews claimed
to believe in God, but they rejected Jesus of Nazareth as being the
Savior, the one and only Savior. And so when he makes this statement,
he that believeth on me believeth not on me, but on him that sent
me, He's saying, he that believeth on me, believeth on Christ, not
only believes in Christ, they believe in God. Christ is the
way to God. In other words, believing on
Jesus, believing on Christ as the Lord our righteousness, doesn't
stop there. That carries us all the way to
God. God the Father, God the Son,
God the Holy Ghost. For in Christ dwelleth all the
fullness of the Godhead bodily. So to believe on Christ is to
believe on God because God's glory is revealed in the person
and work of Christ. Second Corinthians 4.6 states
that, that the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness
has shined in our hearts to give us the glory of God revealed
in the face of Jesus Christ. So you cannot know the Father
apart from the Son. Without Christ, all you can know
of God is something that you don't want to know. And that
is this, if you don't know Christ, all you can know of God is a
righteous judge who must punish you unto eternal damnation for
your sins. Now that's right. Without Christ,
we're doomed. Without a right, and why? Well,
because without a righteousness, we cannot be justified. Without
His blood, we cannot be washed clean from our sins. Christ is
the only way. He said, I am the way, the truth,
and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. So understand that. So to see
Christ is to see God in the fullness of His glory. the glory of God
revealed in the face of Jesus Christ. And so, verse 45, he
says that, And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me. Now, you can't see God physically
because He's a spirit. He's often called the invisible
God. That's why there should be no pictures or paintings or
images of God. That's why he told Israel before
he issued the Ten Commandments, he said that God is someone who
you cannot make an image of. There's nothing to compare him
with or there's no image to be given. How do we know God? How do we see God? We see him
in his word as he defines and describes and reveals himself
in the glory of his person as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
the Trinity, one God in three persons, and the connection that
sinners have with God can only come through Christ where we
see his glory as both a just God and a Savior. How can he
be both a righteous judge as well as a loving, merciful father
and still be true to his justice? He must punish sin. He cannot
look over it. He cannot deny it. He cannot
let it go. He's a just God. He's holy. And
so how can sinners like us ever come to God? and see Him in His
glory, be accepted with Him, have fellowship with Him. How
can that be? Only through the Son, the Lord
Jesus Christ, based upon His righteousness imputed to us,
which was accomplished by His bloody death on the cross. He
is obedience unto death. That's the key. It's the merit
of his obedience unto death, his righteousness. And so, he
said, he that seeth me, seeth him that sent me. Verse 46, he
says, I am come, a light into the world, that whosoever believeth
on me should not abide in darkness. Now, who's going to believe on
him? Well, the Bible tells us, only His elect, only His sheep,
His brethren to whom He reveals Himself. And whosoever believeth
on Him does not abide in the darkness of unbelief and deception. We're born into this world spiritually
blind in darkness. What does God do when He saves
us from our sins in the way of the new birth? He gives us eyes
to see and ears to hear. The things that we didn't see
were spiritually blind, spiritually deaf, and that's in spiritual
death until the Holy Spirit comes forth from the Father and the
Son to give us life, give us a new heart, new eyes, new ears. And when He does, He shines a
light that if left to ourselves, we hate and reject. If the light just shines without
God doing a work of grace in us by Christ through the Spirit
in the new birth, you must be born again. That light is the
light that is, according to John 3, 19 and 20, that we hate and
we'll reject. You remember Christ said in John
6, 44, no man can come to me except the Father which has sent
me draw him. And how does the Father draw
him? He reveals himself, he teaches us who he is and who we are and
who Christ is, why we need salvation, and what Christ has fully and
freely provided for us in salvation. And then he turns the light on
and we can say it just like the blind man in John chapter 9.
I was blind, now I see. And here's what's tragic about
it. People can read their Bibles
and they can memorize scripture, they can study and still not
know Christ. And that's why I tell you, if
you claim to be a Christian, And if you claim to read your
Bible and study your Bible, pray that God the Holy Spirit will
shine the light, give you eyes to see Christ in these scriptures.
Not just here in John, but in Genesis and Exodus and Leviticus
and Numbers and Deuteronomy and all the way through Old Testament
and New. This is a book of Christ. And
all of it is to be seen through the light of the glory of God
revealed in the face of Christ. The glory of His person, who
He is. He is God manifest in the flesh. Perfectly God, perfect man without
sin, united together in one person. That's who He is. That's the
kind of person that it takes to save us from our sins. Man
cannot give life, but God who is man does give life. God cannot
die, but this person who is God did die. That's Christ. And that's
what the wages of sin is death. Somebody had to die. Either I've
got to die for my sins eternally, or someone who is qualified has
to die in my place. And the only one who's qualified
is the one whom God appointed the one who willingly accepted
the task, and the one who is able. And he's able because of
who he is, God, man. And then what did he accomplish
on the cross? This Bible from Genesis to Revelation
speaks of salvation by the grace of God based upon a finished
work, the finished work of Christ. It's not based on a work that
you or I finish. It's not that he died for everybody,
now the rest is up to you. That's not in this Bible. Now
we must believe, but even that belief is the gift of God, for
by grace are you saved, through faith, that not of yourselves,
it's the gift of God. Not of works, lest any should
boast. We have no room to boast. But
this is a book of Christ, so I don't care how long you've
been studying the Bible. how long you've been reading,
pray that God the Holy Spirit will open your eyes, give you
eyes to see Christ in the glory of his person and his righteousness. And then it says, here he says
in verse 46 as I read, he said, I'm come a light into the world
that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness,
verse 47, and if any man hear my words and believe not, I judge
him not, for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. Christ ultimately is the judge
of all. But what he's saying here is
he did not come into the world as the light to judge men and
women at this time. because he came to save his sheep.
That's why he came into the world. And he says in verse 48, he that
rejecteth me and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth
him the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the
last day. Judgment by the word of God.
And what does the word of God say? That those who stand before
God without Christ, shall be doomed forever. And so he says,
for I've not spoken of myself, but the father which sent me,
he gave me a commandment, what I should say and what I should
speak. And I know that his commandment is life everlasting. Whosoever
I speak, therefore, even as the father said unto me, so I speak."
The father and the son together in the word, the word of God.
which reveals His glory in every way. I hope you'll join us next
week for another Word from God's Word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
a copy of today's program or to learn more about Reign of
Grace Media Ministries or Eager Avenue Grace Church, write us
at 1-1-0-2-3. Eager Drive, Albany, Georgia
31707. Contact us by phone at 229-432-6969
or email us through our website at www.theletterofgrace.com. Thank you again for listening
today and may the Lord be with you.