All right, turn back with me
to John chapter 12. I want to read the text portion
one more time, verse 20 to 26. John chapter 12, verse 20 says, And there were
certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast. The same came therefore to Philip,
which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir,
we would see Jesus. Philip cometh and telleth Andrew,
and again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus. And Jesus answered them,
saying, The hour is come that the Son of Man should be glorified.
Verily, verily, I say unto 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. 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 honor. I was looking over
where to be. I knew Brother Greg was preaching
the Bible study and the message, the morning message, and I was
searching, searching, searching and going to different places,
Acts. We've been in Acts, Genesis,
Romans. And I read this and I came back
to it. I read this and I went other
places and I came back to it. And when I came back to it and
the Lord opened my eyes to it, I saw something so relaxing. Relaxing. I needed something not complicated.
Sometimes you need something not complicated. And this is
so relaxing. We have a question and we have
an answer. Simple is good. You know that? Simple is good. This is so straightforward. Just so clear and straightforward.
And I'm going to set this up, and I've been praying this afternoon
that the Lord would allow me to just set it up, and that He
would preach this message, and it would be just as clear as
when it went in. I thought of two of my favorite
verses when I saw the relaxing part. Two things, I have a lot
of favorite verses, but I thought of two of them and I want to
show them to you. Go with me over to 2 Corinthians 11. 2nd Corinthians 11 look at verse
3 But I fear lest by any means
as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety I So your minds
should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. You know, this gospel that we
preach and this gospel that we believe is so simple. It cannot be understood unless
God reveals it, unless God opens eyes to it, but it is so simple. It's just so simple. And I do
fear for myself and for us, for those who come. This world of
religion has so many issues and it has so many things that it
gets caught up in and sidetracked on. And I fear that we lose this
simplicity and I don't want to. I do not want to lose this simplicity. I adore simple. Not complicated. I want to show you another one
of my favorite verses. Go to 1 Corinthians 2. 1 Corinthians 2 verse 2 says, For
I determined not to know anything among you. And the longer I go,
the more determined I become. Really. For I determined not to know
anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Paul said, if it's not Christ
and Him crucified, I am not interested. If we're talking about salvation,
if we're talking about the gospel, If it's not Christ and Him crucified,
I'm just not interested. I'm really not. Well, a question
was posed to the Lord over in our text. A question was asked. And He answered them very simply
and very clearly by saying, Christ and Him crucified. That was his
answer. They asked him a question. Turn
back over to John 12 with me. Verse 20. There were certain Greeks among
them that came up to worship at the feast. These were Gentiles. Gentiles who were converted to
the religion of the Jews. They were called proselytes,
okay? not born Jews by nature, they
were Gentiles, but they quit worshipping their own idols and
they started worshipping the God of Israel. And they lived
in their Gentile lands, their own region, and they came to
Jerusalem to worship at the feast. And because they were Gentiles,
they were only allowed to come to the temple as far as the court
of the Gentiles. That's all they were allowed
to go to. There was a court specifically for Gentiles. It was called the
court which is without the temple. All right? So they were allowed
to come worship, but they were still considered strangers. All
right? So they didn't feel comfortable
approaching the Lord. Verse 21 says, The same came
therefore to Philip. That's why they came to Philip.
The same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida, of Galilee,
and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus. Is that not
sweet? Here's the question they posed.
We want to see Jesus. Our desire is to see Jesus Christ. Is there any possible way that
we would be able? I know that we're strangers. I know that we are not allowed
in. But would there be any possible
way that we could see the Lord Jesus Christ? I am a Gentile who finds myself
asking the same question, the very same question, every single
time I come here. I come here an outsider. I'm
outside of his spirit. I'm outside of his presence.
I'm a worldling. And every time I come here, I
have one question. We call on the Lord in prayer,
and this is what I'm asking. I sometimes say the same things
over and over again, and sometimes I don't, but here's what I want
to know every time. Is there any possible way that
I could just see the Lord Jesus Christ? That's why you drove
an hour back over here. You know that? That's why you're
going to have four hours of driving today. Is there any possible
way that I could just see the Lord Jesus Christ? In the midst
of all the ceremony, we have all the ritual, we have all the
religion. Could I just see the Lord? Could
I just see the Lord? You know, what's our position
on this and that? The longer I'm here, the more
calls I'm going to get. You know, somebody asked me not
too long ago, what's my position on Old Testament Israel? I didn't even know what that
question meant. I had no idea. You know, how should we handle
this? How should we handle that? What's tomorrow going to bring?
I don't know. Is there any way I could just
see the Lord? Could I just see the Lord? Do you know what uncomplicates
my mind? Seeing the Lord. I don't care what it is I'm struggling
with. I don't care what I'm... If I can just see the Lord, it
goes away. It just goes away. Well, they
come to Philip, and he's a little bit caught off guard by this,
and I'm going to show you why. Go with me to Matthew 10. Matthew 10, verse 5 says, These
twelve Jesus sent forth and commanded them, saying, Go not into the
way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter
ye not. But go rather to the lost sheep
of the house of Israel." Don't go to the Gentiles. That's what
he said. Turn over to Matthew 15. He said, don't go to the Gentiles,
you go preach to Israel. In Matthew 15, they heard the
Lord Himself say in verse 24, He answered and said, I am not
sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. I'm not
sent to anybody but Israel, the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And now these Gentiles have come
to Philip saying, is there any possible way that we could just
see the Lord Jesus Christ? And what Philip doesn't know
just yet is they are not all Israel, which are of Israel.
And they are not all Gentiles, which are of the Gentiles. God
is going to move on the heart of his sheep. That's what's going
to happen. God is going to move on the heart of His sheep, His
lost sheep, and He's going to cause them to say this. He is
going to bring them to this point. They are going to say, my heart's
desire is that I might see Jesus Christ. That's my heart's desire. I just want to see Him. That's
it. Well, in John 12, back over in John 12, Philip, he's unsure
what to do. So in verse 22, Philip cometh
and telleth Andrew. And again, Andrew and Philip
tell Jesus. He went and told Andrew, and
they both went and told the Lord. And they said, Lord, there are
some strangers out here. We have some pilgrims out here.
They traveled from a far land. There are some sinners out here. And all they want is to see you.
That's what they're asking for. All they're asking for is that
they might see you. And this is how the Lord responded.
Verse 23, And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come
that the Son of Man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I
say unto 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. 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 honor." You know, at first glance, it seems like such
a strange response, doesn't it? such a strange response they
said we would see Jesus and he said except a corn of wheat fall
into the ground and die it abides alone. It seems like such a strange
response but if God has opened our eyes If He has opened our
eyes, that we might see this gospel. That is as clear as it
gets. It really is. That is as clear
as it gets. They said, we want to see Christ. And He said, the hour has come
that the Son of Man should be glorified. You want to see Christ? You want to see God manifest
in the flesh? the God-man, the Messiah, the
Savior, you look to my greatest glory. That's what you do. You know, people in their own
eyes, in their own mind, they see Jesus, don't they? They see Jesus. But if you want
to see the Christ, then you need to see Jesus Christ crucified. If you want to see the Messiah,
you need to see this man, Jesus, crucified. If you want to see
salvation, you need to see Christ crucified. Moses said, Lord, would you show
me your glory? And the Lord said, I will have
mercy. I'll have mercy. How? How is
he going to do that? A corn of wheat is going to fall
into the ground and die. I'm going to have mercy. We want to see the Lord, don't
we? We want to see the Lord. We want to physically see the
Lord. Well, he said in verse 24, Verily, verily, I say unto
you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth
alone. He is that corn of wheat. And except he fall into the ground
and die, no soul is going to be saved. Not one. No soul will live. No soul will ever see him. I
want to see God. I want to see God. I really do. But do you know what the Lord
said? No man can see me and live. You know that? If a sinner sees God, he will
die. He'll die. except a corn of wheat fall in
the ground and die, that corn will abide alone. No soul will
ever see him. Verse 24 says, but if it die, but if it die, Philip, Andrew,
you go tell those strangers, the ones who truly desire to
see me, you tell them to look to my greatest glory. You tell
them to hope in my greatest glory and trust in my greatest glory,
because if I die, it will bring forth much fruit. It's going
to bring forth much fruit. Now, when the Lord opened this up
to me, I saw the gospel again. I mean, I felt like I saw the
gospel for the first time. I really did. The Lord blessed
me. I hope that He will open us up to this. No man can see
God and live. And except this corn of wheat
fall into the ground and die, it's going to abide alone. Turn with me over to John 3. John 3, look at verse 14, it
says, As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even
so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth
in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. They're not
going to perish, they're going to have eternal life. For God
so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For
God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but
that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on
him is not condemned. But he that believeth not is
condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name
of the only begotten Son of God. He said back in John 12 verse
32, If I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men unto
me. All men, Jew, Gentile, male,
female, bond-free, all men. When a sinner truly sees Jesus
Christ, he sees him crucified. He sees why he was crucified. Why was he crucified? That he
might bring forth much fruit. And if we're going to see this
Savior, we're going to have to see Jesus Christ crucified. He said
in verse 24, If it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. What does that mean? Here's what
it means. That kernel of wheat that dies,
it dies in the ground. That kernel brings forth many,
many kernels just like it. I googled wheat. And when one kernel dies, it
brings forth many stalks And on those stalks is many, many
grains of wheat. And the wheat that comes forth
is just as much wheat as the kernel of wheat that died in
the ground. Just like it. I mean, just like
it. The same property. 100% wheat. The truth is, here's the truth
of the matter. In order for a sinner to see
Christ, if he is truly going to see Christ, he has to be just
like Christ. If he's not, he'll die. That's the only way that a man
can see God and live. He's got to be just like Jesus
Christ. When Christ died, every soul
that was in him came forth with him, and they came forth just
like him, exactly like him. Go with me to 1 John chapter
3. 1 John 3 verse 2 says, Beloved,
now are we the sons of God. Have we truly seen Jesus Christ
to be the Son of God? Have we truly seen the Son of
God crucified to be the hope of glory? If we have, the only reason is
because we've been made to be sons just like He is. It says,
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear
what we shall be, but we know that when He shall appear, we
shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. The very first time we physically
see Him as He is, we are going to be just like Him. just like
him. Verse 3 says, And every man that
hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. The same purity. Verse 6 says,
Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not. Whosoever sinneth hath not seen
him. neither known him. Verse 9 says, Whosoever is born
of God doth not commit sin. For his seed, his seed remaineth
in him and he cannot sin because he is born of God. What? Do you know yourself? I mean
really, do you know yourself? Our brother just preached on
this this morning. True sinners. I mean real sinners. That's us. Every saint is a sinner. That's what he said, right? What
do you mean, sineth not? I can't even enter into that. Turn with me to 2 Peter 1. 2 Peter 1 verse 3 says, According
as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain
unto life and godliness through the knowledge of Him that hath
called us to glory and virtue. whereby are given unto us exceeding
great and precious promises that by these you might be partakers
of the divine nature having escaped the corruption that is in the
world through lust." He's saying all the corruption that's in
the world through lust in Christ you have escaped it. What? What? Peter said, Not so, Lord. You
remember whenever the Lord sent a vision to Peter? Unclean animals,
eat them. Not so, Lord. I know me. I know me. Not so. He said, If you're born of God,
you don't sin. When I look to myself, all I
see is lust and corruption and sin. Isn't it the same thing
for you? That's all I see. Every time I look to myself,
that is all I see. Do you know what the gospel says?
I told you I felt like I saw the gospel for the first time.
You know what this gospel says? Stop looking to yourself. That's what the gospel says. That doesn't make sense. All
I do when I look at me is see these things. Stop looking to
yourself. I just see it in there and it
brings me down and it drags me down. Stop looking to yourself. Look to Christ. I just want to
see Christ. You know that? I just want to
see Christ. The Lord told Peter, Don't you
call unclean what I have made clean. We don't want to look to ourselves,
do we? We want to see Christ. Ask this question in your own
heart. Did the blood of Christ put away sin or not? Did it? I mean, did it make it possible?
Did it put a down payment on sin? What did it do? What did the blood of Christ
do? Did it put away sin? Yes. Then sin is put away. It's put away. Look to Christ crucified. And you will see exactly what
happened to your sin. And I'm living them out right
now. I've got however many more days I have, I have to live them
out. Because He paid for all of my
sin from the day I was born until the day I leave this world. He
paid for them all. And I have to live them out.
I'm going to have to go through them. But He's already put them
away and they're gone. Stop looking to yourself, Gabe
Stoniker, and look to Christ. Just look to Christ. If you ever
see that, if God has opened your eyes to see that, what that means
is, as He lives, so do you. That's what it means. 2 Timothy 1. Turn with me to 2
Timothy 1. Verse 8 says, Be not thou therefore
ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner,
but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the
power of God, who hath saved us, and called us with a holy
calling, not according to our works, but according to his own
purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before
the world began, but is now made manifest by the appearing of
our Savior, Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, it's gone,
and hath brought life, it's here, and immortality, to light through
the gospel, whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and
a teacher of the Gentiles." The fact that Christ died means we
live. We live. We are the fruit of His labor.
That's what it is. His sheep, they're the fruit
of His labor. Go back with me to John 12, verse 25 says, He that loveth his life, his
own life, the life he thinks he's earned, his life in this
world, he who loves and lives for this world, the life of this
world, he who is just like this world, verse 25, he that loveth
his life shall lose it, but he that loves Christ He that hates
his life in this world and loves the life of Christ and loves
the death of Christ and loves the salvation that's in Christ,
he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life
eternal. If any man serve me, not self,
not religion, not morality, me, If any man serve me, let him
follow me. Let him look to me. I was thinking
about following somebody. You know, if you get in a car
and they're in their car and you don't know where you're going,
so they say, follow me. The whole time you were looking
at that car. To follow Christ is to look to
Christ. I just want to see the Lord. Let him follow me. Let him not
take his eyes off of me. And where I am, there shall also
my servant be. If any man serve me, him will
my father honor. How will he honor him? If any
man has seen the Christ, he has already honored him. You know
that? He's already been honored. Blessed
are the pure in heart, they're going to see God. He said, where
I am, there shall also my servant be. We just want to see Christ. High and lifted up, that's how
we want to see Christ. Crucified, that's how we want
to see Christ. Glorified, that's how we want
to see Christ. If we've seen that, we have seen
life eternal. We have seen life eternal. They said we would see Jesus.
He said, then look and live. Look and live. Look to me and
be saved. I pray the Lord would help us. You know, we have a few minutes
right here in worship service. Lord, help us to look to Christ
when we leave. Help us tomorrow and Tuesday
and then bring us back and open up the Word and then help us,
help us, help us. Until finally one day the clouds
roll back as a scroll and the Lord shall descend we see Christ. All right, let's stand together.