So Lord may graciously help me.
I would turn your prayerful attention to the chapter that we read in
John's gospel. That's John chapter 12 and reading
for a text, uh, verses 23 and 24 and 25, 23, 24 and 25. John
12. and verses 23 to 25. And Jesus saith unto them, answered
them saying, the hour is come, that the son of man should be
glorified. Verily, verily, I sound to you,
except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth
alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth
much fruit. He that loveth his life shall
lose it, and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep
it unto life eternal. In this chapter in John's Gospel,
as I mentioned earlier, that we have this entry into Jerusalem
of the Lord Jesus on that Asses Colt with the people crying Hosanna. This was within days, as it were,
of his being offered up on Calvary's tree. And if we think of the
Passover week, it was the 10th day that the lamb was separated,
and it was the 14th day that the lamb was offered up. So really
we think of this as obviously as often a thought of as Palm
Sunday when that time happened, when he rode into Jerusalem.
But then we have these Greeks that were there and they come
and talk to Philip and Andrew. They talked to Philip and saying,
see Jesus, there was the desire. And this is interesting, this
is with the Greeks, showing that there was not just an interest
from the Jews, but it was also from the Gentiles. And how you
see the Lord Jesus is going to be that saviour, or is that saviour
of both Jew and Gentile. Obviously in the Old Testament
it was much more specific to the Jews, although there were
some Gentiles as well, but for the most part it was the Jews,
but in the the New Testament, it was going to be opened up
so it would be for the Gentiles as well as for the Jews. And
what a mercy that is for us today, because probably most of us here
and listening online, perhaps, I don't know, are probably from
the Gentile camp rather than the Jewish camp. So there was this desire to see
Jesus. He just rode into Jerusalem.
there had been these hosannas spoken towards, of him, and the
rulers were trying to play it down, they were trying to ridicule
it, and yet they said, the Pharisees therefore said among themselves,
perceive ye how ye prevail nothing, behold the world is gone after
him. And so they were trying to ridicule
this, And yet in the providence of God, there was this, in prophecy,
in fulfillment of prophecy, he came into Jerusalem with this
great praise being sung to him as the king comes. But then as we come to our text
really here, Jesus then responds. They want to see Jesus, and Jesus
doesn't directly speak to them, but he gives a prophecy of what
he's going to do. We think of Isaiah's prophecy,
Isaiah 52 and Isaiah 53, so much a prophecy written some 700 years
before this took place, that he would be there as that suffering
Lamb of God, But here we have Jesus within a few days of his entering into those sufferings,
a few days of him being at Calvary, he tells what is gonna happen. He prophesies of exactly what
is going to take place. And Jesus does it in a type,
in a, a parable really in a way, or a, just like we think often
as Jesus speaks of himself as the good shepherd and his people
as a sheep, we are very familiar with that imagery. Well, Jesus
here uses a different imagery as he comes to speak, but that's
what he speaks about in verse 24. But in verse 23, he said,
and Jesus answered them saying, the hour is come. Now, it's interesting, a number
of places we read in John's gospel that the people wanted to kill
him when he spoke and they took him to the hill and wanted to
throw him down. His time had not yet come. His
hour was not yet come. Many times we read of that, if
you look in, let me just refer to them, John chapter two. John two and verse four. This was at Cana of Galilee.
And Jesus saith unto her, to his mother, that is, woman, what
have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not, yet come but
also in John 8 we read again John 8 and verse 20. These words spake Jesus in the
treasury as he taught in the temple and no man laid hold on
him for his hour was not yet come. This idea that in John's
gospel that There was a specific time for
the Lord Jesus to be offered up as the acceptable sacrifice. It wasn't just any time in his
life. There was a specific time, the hour. I don't take that to
mean necessarily a 60 minute hour, but this period, this time
that he was about to enter into, the time that we think of his
Passion Week, at this time when he was going to go to Gethsemane,
he was going to be falsely accused, he was going to be, all those things that were going
to happen to him are going to be scourged, are going to be
crucified, all those things, the hour is come. Jesus recognised that now was
the hour now it was going to come and really when we look
at that, it's really a central hour, a central time in the whole
of the history of the world. Because this is the hour that
was spoken of as it were back in the Garden of Eden, that there
would be a time when the serpent's head would be bruised. If you
look at that in Genesis 3.16, And to the woman he said, I will,
sorry, verse 15, so Genesis 3, verse 15, and I will put enmity
between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed,
it shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel. And
this was the first, as it were, reference to this hour. and right
from the Garden of Eden, this hour was talked about. And all
the Old Testament patriarchs and all the prophets and all
the Lord's people were looking forward to Christ coming. And
then when this hour had taken place, then the New Testament
looked back to this hour. Paul said in his preaching, I
determined to know nothing among men, save Jesus Christ and him
crucified. He didn't say Jesus Christ and
him born at Bethlehem, although he was born at Bethlehem, but
that was not the central hour. The central hour of history was
when the Lord Jesus would be offered as that acceptable sacrifice,
a sacrifice which was ready to be offered. Earlier when they
wanted to take him, it was not his hour. His hour had not yet
come. But there was this time when
he was ready to be offered. I think of that with the building
of the Ark. The Lord Jesus, when God commanded
Noah to build the Ark, if that flood had come, as it were when
Noah had half finished the ark. Well, it wouldn't have been suitable,
would it? It wouldn't have been suitable
to withstand the storm. But there was a time, you see,
when that ark was ready, was complete. And then was that time
when it was ready to endure, as it were, the storm of the
wrath of God. And so it was with our Lord Jesus
Christ. There was an hour come when he
was ready. He'd fulfilled everything that
he needed to do in his earthly ministry, and he's working out
a righteousness for his people. His hour had come. He'd completed
all of that. And so here, that Jesus recognizes
this hour, and he speaks then of what this hour is going to
accomplish. The sufferings, the death, the
resurrection. What is this going to accomplish? And Jesus tells us here, the
hour is come. And how does he describe it? That the son of man should be
glorified. It's interesting that he speaks
of it in this terms, that the son of man should be glorified. But you say this was Days before
he was going to be so ridiculed. Days before he was going to be
scourged, falsely accused. He was going to be crucified. He was going to endure the wrath
of God. But here we are told that the
Son of Man should be glorified. We might think this is just looking
beyond all the difficulties he went to, to that time when he
would be lifted up, when he'd be raised up in glory, given
a name which is above every name, the name of Jesus, every knee
will bow. I'm sure there is a reference
to that. But I also think there's a reference here to the fact
of the sufferings of Christ, the cross of Christ, the crucifixion, was such a glory. You see, Paul
the Apostle said, God forbid that I should glory save in the
cross of Christ. There was a glory in Calvary
that the disciples didn't see at the time. And the Lord needs
to lead us into the glories. As we trace it, we see that that
was a place of where justice and mercy met together, there
was a glory there that there had never been before. There
was something, a centrality of glory, and indeed, when you have
the scenes in revelation of heaven, and we think of all those that
got to heaven, got in this same way, through the blood of the
Lamb, and yet what happens when they're in heaven? We read, you
see, that the lamb, this is Revelations
chapter five, verse six, and behold, and lo, in the midst
of the throne of the four beasts, in the midst of the elders, stood
a lamb as it had been slain. You see, even in glory, the fact of what was about to
take place in this hour was very much present. It wasn't
just, well, this is the way we get to glory and then we think
about something else when we're in glory. No, the death and resurrection
of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the sufferings of Christ
are remembered, as it were, and part of that glory of Christ,
that one who was exalted, who made himself of no reputation.
All these things redound to God's glory, and as we seek to preach
Christ and Him crucified, He is the glory. It is not just
the route to glory, but there is a glory in it. And you see,
as we seek to preach Christ, then it is to seek to preach
the glory of these things which to the disciples and to our natural
understanding seems not to be glory. You think of the two on
the road to Emmaus, discussing all the things that have happened
at Jerusalem. And Jesus draws near and says,
what things? Why are you upset? And what things
have happened in Jerusalem? and they pour out all the events
that had taken place that Jesus, the one that they thought had
been the saviour, had now been taken and by wicked men had been
crucified and slain. And there was reports that he'd
raised from the dead, but they hadn't actually seen them themselves. But then you see the Lord Jesus
comes and preaches. Ought not Christ to have suffered
these things? This is the way of salvation. It's not your idea of salvation. It wasn't the disciples didn't
want this. The disciples opposed it. But you see, it's wonderful when
those who opposed it, like Peter, this shall not be unto thee.
The very ones in their gospel, as Peter wrote in the gospel,
in his epistle, sorry, He wrote that you're not redeemed with
corruptible things, but with the precious blood of Christ. Peter, you see, had come to embrace
these truths, not to say, this shall not be unto thee. And may
we, as we are led into the truth of the wonders of these things,
as Paul says, having fellowship with his sufferings, to be able
to see that there's a glory in these things, that the world,
say, is no glory, see no beauty in these things, and yet the
hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Yes, ultimately, given a name
which is above every name in heaven, the right hand of the
Father, but the whole hour and all that was involved, there
was a glory in it. and we need the Lord to open
our eyes to see something of that glory. Well, Jesus then
goes on to use a imagery, a picture from nature to describe what's
going to happen to him. And as I said, sometimes he uses
the picture of the sheep and the shepherd as a picture of
his love for his people and his care for his people. But here
he uses a different example and he uses it of a corn of wheat. Verily, verily, I sound to you,
except corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth
alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth
much fruit. I was speaking yesterday at the
the Sunday school anniversary at Luton, and I was using this
verse as the basis of what I was speaking on, of how in nature
there's a productivity as the seed is sown, and yet there's
only that productivity if the seed is sown. You think of that
farmer that says, I've got all this corn, but I don't want to
lose it. I want to keep it in my barn.
Well, there'll be no multiplication of the grain then. The amount
of grain will just be the same in that barn, year on year. There
won't be any growth. There won't be any multiplication.
And you see, the Lord Jesus could have stayed with his Father in
glory, and yet there would have been no church. There would have been no multiplication. The grain would have still been
there, but there wouldn't have been the blessing and the producing of
much fruit. And so Jesus, you see, likens
this as you put a corn of wheat in the ground. You put it in
the ground and it seems it's lost. And in a sense, it needs
faith in the farm. The farmer needs faith to put
that corn in the ground and believe that he isn't losing it. He's
trusting that God would give him another harvest, that this
grain that seems to have been lost, it's now spread across
the ground. He can't gather it back up straight
away. It's hidden in the earth. It
seems lost. And so Christ with what he did
at Calvary to his disciples seemed lost. We thought that it should
have been he that should have redeemed Israel, but now he's
lost. We've lost him, he's died. He's
been taken by wicked hands and cruel and everything's lost. But you see, Jesus is using this
imagery, verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat
fall into the ground and die. You see, that corn that you put
in the ground, when you plant it, the corn then, when it germinates,
in a sense, that grain of corn spends itself. And then out comes,
you see, the new shoots and the growth of the next wheat harvest. And we're told, you see, it's
interesting how the Lord can bless that wheat harvest. In
Genesis 26, we're told, How when Isaac, in Genesis 26 verse 12,
then Isaac sowed in that land, that was in the land of Gera
after the famine, time of famine, and received in the same year
a hundredfold, and the Lord blessed him. You see, Isaac sowed in
a time of famine. You say, well, if you're in a
time of famine, if you put your, you really need to eat all your
corn because you're so short of corn. But if you eat all your
corn, you'll never have any more corn. You need, as it were, by
faith to lay that corn into the ground and seek that the Lord
would grant a harvest. And well, you see, in Isaac's
day, there was a hundredfold. It's interesting to look at the
productivity in our country. Actually, the UK hold the Guinness
Book of Records at the moment for the most production of wheat
per acre, 7.25 tons to the acre. But if you look at the multiplication
there, it's actually something like 95, a factor of 95. So that
means you put one grain in, you get 95 grains back for every
grain you put in. Our farmers normally would sit
more like 40 or 50 times, would normally be more of the crops
that we would get, generally in England, on a good harvest. But you see here, when the Lord
blesses, there was a hundredfold. A hundredfold. More than the
Guinness Book of Records, Isaac received as he sowed that seed. But the point here is that if
you don't put the seed in the ground, and as it were, that
seed doesn't spend itself, there will not then be the multiplication. There will not be the blessing.
And so, you see, the Lord Jesus was going to sow himself. And
he was going to die to self. He was going to lay down his
life. But, oh, it was not a wasted laying down of his life. It was
a laying down of his life. And I contrasted yesterday the
wheat harvest with this factor of 100 that Isaac got. You look
at the sugar beet harvest. you may plant something like
1.5 kilograms to the acre of the sweet sugar beet Seed, very
small amount you sow of sugar beet seed, very small seeds.
And out of that you might get 40 tons to the acre. A tremendous
multiplication that God has put in the earth and that's how we
can feed ourselves. And this is a great provision
that God has put in the earth. But you see here, Jesus is liking
himself. If it die, bringeth forth much
fruit. Well, we saw that Isaac received
a hundredfold. The sugar beet perhaps something
like more like 25,000 fold or 30,000 fold. 30,000 times as
much out as you put in. As I said before, the central
place is the cross of Christ. What was the productivity of
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ as he laid down his life? Well,
you see, in Revelation, we're told that. In Revelation 7, we're
told in verse 9, after this, I beheld a great multitude, which
no man could number, of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues,
stood before the throne and before the lamb, clothed in white robes
and palms in their hands. See these people, the great multitude,
which no man could number. This was the productivity of
Christ. This was what happened when he
laid down his life. There was a multiplication. There
was this life given, you see, to all his church. a number that
no man could number of every kindred, nation, tribe, and tongue. Verily, verily, I sound to you,
except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth
alone. All the time you keep it in your
barn, and you keep it in, and they have had corn, I understand,
in the pyramids they found, which is thousands of years old, and
it will, when you put it in the ground, it will grow again, amazing. That life has been able to stay
dormant for so long. But all the time it stayed in the
pyramid just waiting, it didn't produce anything. See, Jesus
is saying, we need to lay down our lives. All the time we're
trying to grasp, and this is what he, expounds, you see, in
the next verse. He makes it personal to God's
people as well. This is not just about Christ.
It is about Christ. But he's saying this is about
his followers too. Except a corn of wheat fall into
the ground and die, it abideth alone. And you see, the Lord
Jesus, he was saying to his disciples, they didn't want him to die.
They didn't want him to lay down his life. They didn't want him
to be that corn of wheat that fell into the ground and died.
No, they didn't want that. But he's saying, well, if you're
a farmer and you don't want to plant anything in your fields,
you'll never be a farmer that makes any food. You'll never
beat the increase, but God has put in this very nature, in the
way that we work in the farming community, there is a sowing
of the seed, and then there is a growing, and the seed that
is sown, you see that corn of wheat that you sow in the barn,
that very corn doesn't come back into the barn again. No, it's
spent itself. We have that, if you look at
the potato harvest, and you put potatoes in the ground, and they
grow other potatoes, and sometimes when you're harvesting them,
you see coming up from the harvester, the old seed potato, all shriveled
and rotten. And you pick those out, you see
the harvester perhaps puts them and thinks they're just another
potato to put in the sack. But if they are, and nobody would
want them, they've spent themselves. They're no good. You see that
potato, that seed potato has spent itself as that corn of
wheat has spent itself to give that new life and that multiplication. But you see here there's another,
there's also a difference in nature. I've just said that the
corn of wheat that dies, it never returns to the barn. The seed
potato that it gives that life, that multiplication, perhaps
of 20 times. If you sow potatoes, you get
20 times back. 20 tons to the acre, you sow
one ton to the acre. 20 times as much back. But those
potatoes that you seed never come back into the barn. And
if you do come back in the barn, you throw them out. You don't
need them. They're of no value. They're shriveled up. They're
rotten. They're spent. They're no good for eating. But
here you see there's a difference. The Lord Jesus, when he laid
down his life, there was that productivity in his life that
outstrips all nature. Not 100 factor or 25,000 factors
in sugar beet. It was a number that no man could
number. But also, that corn of wheat
that fell in the ground, and died, it rose again. See, this doesn't happen in nature.
The corn of wheat spends itself and it's finished, but not so
with our Saviour. That corn of wheat, you see,
in all ways, when Jesus uses a type, there's similarities,
but there's always differences. There's always, with the differences
being the Lord Jesus being so much more glorious. And this
corn of wheat, you see, it didn't lay dormant. You see, Psalm 16 tells us that. Psalm 16, verse 9, it says, Therefore
my heart is glad and my glory rejoiceth. My flesh also shall
rest in hope, for thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, or the
grave, that is. Neither will I suffer thine holy
one to seek corruption. For thou wilt show me the path
of life. In thy presence is fullness of joy. At thy right hand there
are pleasures for evermore. You see, the Lord Jesus, when
he spent himself, he poured out his life unto death, we read
in Isaiah 53. He poured out his life, he spent
himself, and yet, you see, God raised him again. He was raised
again, and he became then the firstfruits the firstfruits of
them that slept. You say, but there are others
that have been raised from the dead before the Lord Jesus. Why
is he called the firstfruits? Well, think of Lazarus. Lazarus was raised from the dead,
wasn't he? Only a short time before this
happened. You can read it earlier in John's
Gospel. But you see, Lazarus was raised
from the dead, then died again, didn't he? He's not around today. Lazarus didn't live forever.
So, but you see, when Jesus rose from the dead, he rose to die
no more. And so therefore, Jesus, you
see, is the firstfruits. There is this abundant harvest.
There is all this blessing that has flowed from him laying down
his life. And yet he is raised again. So
they haven't lost that original gain, but all the productivity
of this doing his father's will. And what is that? And then in
verse 25, it says, he that loveth his life shall lose it. And he
that hated his life in this world shall keep it unto eternal life.
And here, I think we need to clarify this in verse 25. This love and hatred is a relative
term. It's not necessarily that we
are against our life here below, but our love to God is greater
than our love to these things of this world. So yes, we are
to, God has given us all things richly here to enjoy, and yet
our love to God has got to be greater than that love to those
things. And you see, if we are so keen
on our own lives, we're saying, well, we won't, we won't We won't
lose that. We won't lay down that. No, no,
no, we're not giving that away. That's like casting seed into
the ground. We'll lose it. But you see, God is saying here
that when we lay down our lives in obedience, we turn away from
doing our own will. You see Jesus in that Gethsemane
garden, didn't he say, not my will, but thine be done. He wanted
to do his father's will. And yet it was a difficult way.
It was a way that was opposite to his human nature. It was a way of suffering. It
was a way of difficulty, a way of great difficulty to know the
hidings of his father's face. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
except, this is the only way, except a corn of wheat fall into
the ground and die, it abideth alone. There's no productivity. And you see for us, you see,
all the time we're living to self. We're living to the things
of this life. We're living to do our own will. You see Saul of Tarsus, all the
time he was busy doing his own thing in religion. He was producing
no fruit. But you see, when the Lord touched
his heart, on that road to Damascus and showed him what he was really
like, showed him that actually he was not as touching the Lord
blameless, that he was a sinner that needed salvation and he
needed to have an interest in the Lord Jesus Christ. Then you
see suddenly there was a change. Suddenly he said, Lord, what
will thou have me to do? A change. no longer doing his
own will, seeking his own glory, seeking to do his own thinking,
the self-promotion. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth
alone. And you see, if we, there'll
be no productivity if we live to sell. There'll be no gain. There'll be no profit. There'll
be nothing substantial. And we read that in John 16,
it says something very similar. John 16, after Peter had just
said that this shall not be unto thee, the fact that he should
be, should suffer, perhaps I'll read it because it's so applicable.
Matthew 16 and verse 21, from that time forth began Jesus to
show unto his disciples how that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer
many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and
be killed, and raised again the third day. Then Peter took him
and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord, this
shall not be unto thee. But he turned and said unto Peter,
Get thee behind me, Satan, thou art an offence unto me. For thy
Saviour is not the things that be of God, but those that be
of men. Then said Jesus unto his disciples,
If any man will come after me, we are to be Christ's followers.
If any man will come after me, let him deny himself. Jesus had to deny himself in
the garden of Gethsemane. He denied himself in the sense
that he said, not my will, but thine be done. He said, if it
be possible, let this cup pass from thee. But it wasn't possible.
There was no other way that the church could be set free. There
was no other way that there would be a multitude that no man can
number of every kindred, tribe and tongue in heaven. Was it
not for this way? Then said Jesus unto his disciples,
if any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take
up his cross and follow me." Take up his cross. You see, for
Jesus, it was the cross before the crown. And he had to lay
down his life and then he was going to know that blessing,
that multiplication. Let him deny himself, take up
his cross and follow me. For whosoever shall save his
life shall lose it. And there's such a temptation
there, isn't there? Oh, if only I keep my grain.
I'm not going to lose my grain. I don't want to put it out on
the... I don't want to use myself in
that way. I want to keep it for myself.
Then I've got it all for me. Oh, but to sow it, to, as it
were, seemingly lose it. The farmer, you see, when there's
a famine and you so much want to eat grain, to drop it in the
ground seems a foolish thing to do. Surely we want to eat
it, we're hungry. Ah, but if you don't, in faith,
put it in the ground, there'll never be a harvest, and you'll
always be in famine. And so you see, there is this,
for whosoever shall save his life shall lose it. Seeking to
save our lives by living to self, we're gonna lose our lives. Whosoever
shall lose his life for my sake shall find it. And you see, this
is why it's so important for us. He that loveth his life shall
lose it. He that hated his life in this
world shall keep it unto eternal life. You see, Jesus was the
first roots. This is very important. We might
say, well, you see, if we give out our life and suffer and do
what God tells us to do in our lives and it ends up that we're
in difficulties and we don't have the glory of this world
that we would wish. You see, the Lord is able to raise us again. You see, the
Lord's people are looking for a glorious resurrection. You
see, this is not our rest, it is polluted. And just as the
Lord Jesus, that corn of wheat, died, as it were, and was buried
in the earth, and it seemed to all his enemies that that was
the end, and it seemed that to his friends too, for many of
them. It seemed that for Mary and... Mary, as she wept at that tomb,
the one that had cast out seven devils, it seemed that it was
a very negative thing that happened to their Lord and Saviour. But
actually, if he hadn't have done this, Mary Magdalene would never
have been saved. If he had not laid down his life,
there would never been a harvest of living souls. There would
never have been a multiplication. There would have never been life.
See, it's living out of his death. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
except, there's only one way, except a corn of wheat fall into
the ground and die. The natural man says, that's
no good. And that's wasted. You won't
be able to recover it. It's all lost. It abideth alone,
but if it die, if it's spent as it were, and if it's used
in this way, it bringeth forth much fruit. You see, as we seek
to lay down our lives, the world may say, that's foolishness.
Oh, you want to live for self. You will need to put yourself
first. You need to promote yourself. You need to be looking out for
number one, as they say, looking out for yourself. That's the
way to protect yourself. And Jesus says, no. Way to true
happiness is to is to seek to follow Christ. and to be obedient
to what He tells us to do. Lord, what will Thou have us
to do? No longer doing our own will, no longer seeking our own
ends, our own fame. Lord, where will Thou have me
to be? Where will Thou have me to live? What will Thou have
me to do? How will Thou have me to handle
my financial affairs? How will Thou have me to handle
my family affairs? How will Thou have me to help
to handle the things in the church? Die to self, live to God. This is the way to fruitfulness,
to be like Christ. You see, Paul speaks of that,
doesn't he? That I may know him and the power
of his resurrection. Paul recognized that the resurrection
power was not unique to Christ. It was not just a resurrection
power that resurrected Christ from the grave. He will resurrect
his people too. And you see, we can forget that,
and we can live as if that isn't the case. We can live as if,
well, death is final, and if we don't get things righted in
this life, as it were, if we don't see everything righted
in our own lifetime, then it's never righted, you might think.
But no, the Lord says, no, you see, there's a resurrection.
There's a time when God will vindicate his people. And those
who have laid down their life, they may not have received the
accolades of this world. They may not have received the
praise of men. They may not have been great
in the eyes of the world. But if they've done what God
has asked them to do, they've been faithful unto death, and
they receive a crown of life. And so in Jesus is using this. And Jesus answered them saying,
the hour has come. This is our Lord and Master. He was going to show us the way.
He was going to, by doing this, he was going to work out a way
of salvation for his people. But he was also an example. This
is what he did. He laid down his life. He was
obedient to his father. He was not seeking his own kingdom.
He was not seeking his own glory. He was seeking the glory of his
father, and he was doing it for the benefit of others. Oh, this
is such a unselfish way of living. You see, by nature, we're selfish
and self-centered. It's what we are in Adam. But
we read love, charity, seeketh not her own. Seeketh not her
own. It's very different. Very different
than that selfish, me first attitude that we're encouraged to have
in this world. Verily, verily, I sound to you,
except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth
alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth
much fruit. He was speaking prophetically
of his own death. He was speaking prophetically
of what he was going to do. He didn't just talk about this
and then not do it. He was about to do it. And he
was about to show us the way. If any man serve me, let him
follow me. And where I am, there shall also
my servant be. If any man serve me, him will
my father honour. Oh, you might say, I know people
that have walked rightly and they were never honoured. They
died without honour. Ah, but you see, if any man serve
me, him will my father honor. God is faithful to his word.
There is a resurrection. There is a time when there will
be an ultimate judgment of those who feared God and those who
feared him not. There is a judgment day. And Jesus was speaking here of
his own laying down his life. And as we come shortly to that
time of the year when we remember all that took place, the sufferings
of Christ, we're not too far away from that now, five weeks
away from what we would refer to as Easter. But this is Jesus
preparing himself, speaking of his own decease and what he would
accomplish at Jerusalem, how laying down his life meant that
he gave life. You see, this is so opposite
to the way we think and the way we walk by nature. Oh, but, and
it was opposite to what the disciples thought. And yet this is the
way, verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall
into the ground and die, it abideth alone. Empty, you see, yes. Ah, well, I've kept my, I've
kept everything for myself. Oh, this is the way to live,
self first. But you see, Christ showed a
different way, a way of love, and therefore his followers,
you see, are commanded to walk Christ-centered lives, cross-centered
lives, not living to self, not tooting our own horn all the
time, but seeking to glorify God, seeking to live to his glory,
who has done so much for him, for them. He that loveth his
life shall lose it. In that sense, loveth it, grabs
onto it, that this is everything to me, my life, what I do, my
interest, that's the most important. He that loveth his life shall
lose it. You see, if we grab everything
here below, it is only for a time. But you see, if we leave it in
God's hand, there can be a laying down, you see, and there can
be then that productivity that comes, and a productivity unto
eternal life. There may be that done in our
lives that brings fruit to God's honour and glory. Herein is my
Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit. How is this done?
Not walking in pride, but laying down our lives. seeking to be
a blessing to others, seeking to serve God, seeking to say,
Lord, what will thou have me to do? Seeking where it says,
humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that
he may exhort you in due season. That was true of Christ, wasn't
it? He humbled himself under the mighty hand of God in the
garden of Gethsemane. He was exhorted in due season.
May that be for each of us, that we might see the beauty of Christ,
the centrality of Christ and Him crucified as the central
hour in history that the whole of history looked forward to
and the whole of history now looks back to, the whole of this
time since it came, the central hour. Jesus was speaking of this
to those, they said, sirs, we would see Jesus. This is Jesus.
This is Jesus. So opposite to what they thought
it would be, a humble, lowly, laying down his life, seeking
not his own, but seeking to be a blessing, in love to his father,
in love to his people, to bring many sons unto glory. May the Lord have his blessing,
amen.