Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the gospel according to John chapter 12. John chapter
12. Starting in verse 27, I'd like
to look at verses 27 to 30. The Scripture says, Now is my
soul troubled. And what shall I say? Father,
save me from this hour, but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from
heaven saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. The people therefore that stood
by and heard it said that it thundered. Others said an angel
spake to him. Jesus answered and said, This
voice came not because of me, but for your sakes. Now, a blessed conversation had
just taken place between the Lord, between the Father, and
the Lord's people. Here we see the Lord Jesus Christ,
the glorious mediator between God and his people, setting himself
forth to be their peacemaker. The peacemaker for a people that
he had everlastingly loved. He was here to save his sheep. The Father gave him a people. Gave him some sheep. And he came into this world to save them. He's going to save them. Every
one of them. Every one of them, they're going
to be saved. I don't know who they are, but
I know how God's going to call them. He's going to call them
through the preaching of this gospel. I know that. That gospel that sets forth the
glorious God of all grace. That's that God that has a free
will. That God that's able. The God
that's omnipotent. All-powerful. Now, our Lord started off in
that conversation in verse 27. He was speaking to the people
that stood around Him. Remember, there were some Greeks
that came up. That's what the Scripture says. It said in verse
20, there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship
at the feast. And they went over and they talked
to Philip. And Philip went to say something
to Andrew. And then they brought these Greeks
to the Lord. And the Lord began to teach them.
And He spoke to them. And He told them about how corn
or wheat must fall to the ground and die if it doesn't go into
the ground and die. It abides alone. And He's still
talking to them. And here's what he says to them
now. And as I often do, I try to look
these words up. Because if you don't know exactly
what he's saying, you miss the meaning, you miss the message.
He said now. It meant immediately. Just now
is what it meant. Just now. is my soul troubled, stirred,
agitated, in a respectful, not angry, not that, but just stirred. And what shall I say? Father,
save, preserve, deliver, protect me from this hour, from this
time, but for this cause, Now there was an interesting
word right there. For this cause, the channel of the act. For this
cause, in this way, in this way, for him to give himself upon
the cross, to lay down his life, and to be made what his people
are. Sin, for Him to take all of their guilt and for God Almighty
to absolutely put it away. For this cause, for the channel
of this act, came I unto this hour. The hour had come. The hour has come. That's where
verse 23 says, that the Son of Man should be glorified. This is the hour. This is the
time. It's now that his soul should
be made an offering for sin. That's what Isaiah 53.10 says.
That his soul made an offering. Truly human. Here is God Almighty. You're looking. They were, we
see by faith, the Lord Jesus Christ. is the fullness of the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit. There's the fullness of the Godhead
bodily. They were looking at God. They were looking at God. The
Lord Jesus Christ is God. He's God. The same One that said
to His bride, In Song of Solomon, you've ravished my heart. You've
just stolen my heart. Why? Because God always looked
at her in Christ, in the obedient Son of Man. The One that was ever before
the Father. He's always been. He was made
flesh in time, but He's always been. Great mystery. Great is the mystery of godliness.
God was manifest in the flesh. And here, Almighty God says, Now is my soul stirred. God said this. For this cause, for this reason,
I came into this world to seek and to save that which was lost,
that which was lost in the fall. God's elect. Who's he getting ready to die
for? All that the Father's given him. Not dying for everybody. You say that God died for everybody.
You say that the blood of God was shed for everybody, and there's
one man, one woman found in hell that God died for? You're saying
God's a failure. You say, well, they didn't accept
it. Well, now you're saying that salvation was of man. That's
a dead-end street. Don't even go there. Now it's my soul stirred trouble. This was the reason He came. And what shall I say? Father
saved me from this hour? Now He's declaring His faithfulness.
Faithful. Now He's confirmed again His
purpose in coming to this earth to redeem His people For this
cause, this is the reason, this is the reason that I came. This is the Father's will. For
Him to redeem all of His bride. He's got a bride. His sheep. To be with Him. To be with Him
eternally. to be saved from the bondage
of their guilt and sin, he must die. He must die. He must be made sin. Sin must
be dealt with. The law must be honored. The
soul that sinned is going to die. That broken body, mysteriously,
mysteriously. That precious body. That body that was prepared Him. His people is His body. And here
He is. Their federal head. Paul said,
I was crucified with Him. Every believer was. Every one
of His elect were. They all died in Him. With Him. Died with Him. God Almighty sent
Him into this world. God Himself, the fullness of
the Godhead bodily. God was the Lamb. Where's the Lamb, Dad? Here's
the fire, here's the knife, here's the wood, where's the Lamb? God
will provide Himself. A Lamb. Here's the Lamb. Here's
God Himself. Now is this hour. My hour. Eternally
prepared. And then our Lord speaks to His
Father. Verse 28, Father, glorify Thy
Name Then came there a voice from heaven saying, I have both
glorified it and will glorify it again. Father, glorify. Let me just read you exactly
what it means. Render glorious your mind, thoughts
in exhibiting your name or character. Father, render your will. Make manifest. Show openly, Lord,
what you have eternally purposed. Lord, Father, glorify thy name. Do exactly Glorify your character. Glorify yourself. Show your power. Father, show your mercy to these
that you've chosen. Show your power and your mercy
to them through the sacrifice that I must suffer. Father, show Your glory. Show Your justice. Show Your
wrath. Show Your faults concerning sin. Glorify Thyself. Show me Your glory. Show Yourself to be God. And deal with sin in me. That's what He said in John 17,
Father, glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son may glorify Thee.
Lord, do what has to be done. Show yourself to be the mighty
God. Display your thoughts. concerning
the deservingness of rebellion against you. Pour out upon me
that which is deserving to them, but they shall never suffer.
Glorify thy name." And then came a voice from heaven saying, I
have both glorified it and will glorify it again. When the Father sent His precious Son into this
world, He glorified His name in exhibiting
His purpose according to that everlasting covenant of grace
to show mercy to His people. There's the promised Messiah. It had been prophesied. It was
prophesied, a virgin shall conceive. And there was a virgin conceived
of the Holy Spirit, a wretched sinner, a rebel against God,
a rebel against God. Mary, all have sinned. There is none good, not one. Here in the womb of a virgin,
God glorified Himself, glorified His name, sending the Lord Jesus
Christ. When He walked on this earth,
He glorified His name through the Lord Jesus Christ in the
working of miracles whenever the Lord Jesus Christ fed 5,000
men plus the women and children, whenever He walked on the water,
when He raised the dead, when He gave the eyes of blind men
to see. Listen to this, Acts 2.22. You men of Israel, hear these
words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God. I looked up
the word approved. Accredited. Set forth. A man approved of God among you
by miracles and wonders and signs which God did by him. I thought the Lord Jesus Christ
did those. He did. God did. That God did. By him and in him. There's no
separation. He said, God, the Father's attributes
of mercy have been set forth. I have glorified. You shall glorify
it again. In three days, you destroy this
temple. He's talking about his body.
Three days. Destroy this temple. He said,
I'll build it again. Who raised the Lord Jesus Christ
from the dead? The Father did. Christ did. The Holy Spirit did. God did. The Lord said, I have power to
lay down my life and I have power to take it back. Father, glorify
thy name. I have. And I will. Fifty days. Ascending into heaven. Standing right there on the Mount
of Olives. Was it the Mount of Olives? He ascended from wherever
he was. While he was talking to those
disciples. Scripture says he ascended into heaven. And they
stood there and watched him. There he was going. The next
thing you know, the clouds hit him. He was gone. And the angels that were standing
by said, you men of Galilee, why stand you here gazing into
the heavens, into these clouds? This same Jesus that you saw
ascended to heaven, shall in like manner return. Father, glorify
your name. I have, and I will. The people, verse 29 and 30,
therefore that stood by, and heard it, said he thundered. Others said an angel spake to
him. Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of
me, but for your sakes. Just like when Saul of Tarsus
was on his way to Damascus, and the Lord spoke to him, Saul,
Saul, Why persecutest thou me?" Who are you, Lord? Bright lights
shone around him. Some said that they heard something,
just couldn't discern what it was. But God's sheep hear his
voice. God's people. He said, this that
you heard, he said, that wasn't for my sake. He said, that was
for your sake. Setting forth. Wasn't a thunder. Wasn't a clap of lightning. I mean, lightning and the sound
of that thunder. What an angel God spoke. God Almighty that sees and knows
right now, knows the hearts, the intents, the thoughts, He
knows what's going on. He sees. In this very place right
now, two or three gathered together, He said, I am in the midst of
you. I'm there. Oh, His unceasing care for His
people. Three times the Scriptures reveal
that the Father spoke to the Son at His baptism on the Mount
of Transfiguration. And God speaks today, not audibly, but He speaks through His Word
and His people. The Scripture uses this terminology,
the seeing eye, the hearing ear. That's a new heart. That's a
new will. That's a new mind. It's a new
man. Born from above. It's not this. It's not even this beating piece
of muscle. It's a new beating. It hears. And God speaks. And when God's
people hear God's Word, blessed by God's Spirit, it's alive to
them. It's real to them. His voice. Hidden from the world. That was
thunder. I think it thundered. Did you all hear the thunder?
That must have been an angel. The world does not discern it.
But for all that He's eternally loved, they hear the voice of
God. They hear it. It's real to them. They truly fellowship with Him. They discern. His voice. The unbeliever says, that doesn't
even make sense to me. I was talking to people that
hear. I was talking to people that hear. He calls by His Holy Spirit when
it pleases Him through the preaching of this gospel. And when it pleases
Him, when He says, come to me. It's like Matthew. Matthew's
sitting at that seat of customs. The Lord walked by him and the
Lord said, follow me. You know what Matthew did? He
got up. What about all the stuff he had
there? What about the money? He left it. He left it. The Master
called. If you hear his voice today,
And He calls you, I'll tell you exactly what you're going to
do. You're going to come. How do you come? I've said before,
10 feet, 20 feet, 30 feet. Ain't no difference between right
here and back there, but just some carpet. You come in your
heart. You come with a new desire. And you hear. You say, I hear
that. I believe that. When I say here,
that's what I mean. I believe it. I believe it. If
the Lord calls you, you confess Him and baptize Him. For His
honor and for your eternal good. Amen.