John chapter 12, I was so blessed
to have a pastor, preacher, teacher who preached the Word of God
verse by verse, line upon line, precept upon precept, all the
counsel, the whole counsel of God. And I heard him preach from
this. Listen very carefully. We will miss the meaning of scripture
if we take it out of context. I know we can take one line and
preach from it, the truth. However, the scriptures were
written in context. before it, everything after it,
it all goes together. All that our Lord said and did
goes together. The Lord had just raised Lazarus
from the grave. And everybody all over the world
heard this. All over the then known world
heard this. News travels fast, doesn't it? Alright? Are you with me? The
Lord had just raised Lazarus. And the Jews and all the people
were excited about this. They were excited over this Jesus. And they were all calling Him
the Messiah, the Christ. All of them. And look at verse
13. He came into Jerusalem. He has
come to Jerusalem. Okay? And the people took palm
branches of trees and cried, Hosanna, blessed is the King
of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. And our Lord
Jesus found an ass, a young ass, and sat there on, as it is written,
Zechariah 9, 9, Fear not, daughter of Zion, behold thy King cometh. And the rest of that verse is,
He is meek and lowly, having salvation. He is just and lowly,
having salvation. That's why he came. He didn't
come as an earthly king. He didn't come to set up an earthly
kingdom. He said that, that my kingdom
is not of this world. Never was, and never will be. That's key, alright? All right? And the reason he sat on that
colt is to fulfill scripture, to tell us plainly, this is him
of whom the prophets bore witness. And the people cried out, Hosanna,
this is in the scripture. But they weren't crying out,
Hosanna means, oh, save us. That's not what they were crying
for. They were not crying for salvation from sin. They wanted
deliverance from Roman tyranny. They wanted the kingdom restored
to Israel in its former glory. They wanted health and wealth
and prosperity and peace and so on, freedom. That's what they
were all about. That's what they wanted. They
wanted an earthly kingdom where everybody's happy and healthy
and wealthy. They weren't crying out for salvation from sin, and
they saw Jesus as their earthly Messiah. It's the same today. Men haven't changed. The Jews are still waiting on
Messiah. They know the story of Jesus'
name. The Jews know that. He was crucified
on a cross, so they believe That he died, he's dead. They don't
believe he rose from the dead. Today. So the Jews are still
waiting on an earthly Messiah. All right? Our Lord said, My kingdom is
not of this world. The disciples didn't even understand. Verse
16. The disciples, these things understood not His disciples
at first, but when He was glorified. That's key. Because in a little bit, we're
going to see how He said, the Son of Man is going to be glorified. Verse 23, the hour has come that
the Son of Man should be glorified. The hour has come, the hour for
which He came. He's going to be glorified. And very few people knew why
He came. Even His disciples did not fully
understand. He was telling them. over and
over again, wasn't it? But it so disturbed them at the
thought of Him going and dying, and they did not hear Him say,
in three days, I'm going to rise again. After He's glorified, verse 16,
it says, they knew. After that, now they know. They
know. Now, I know the disciples knew
who He was. The disciples knew that he is
God manifest in the flesh. They knew that. Simon Peter,
all the disciples knew they were sinners and they needed saving. They knew that. That's the first
thing Simon Peter learned, didn't he, when he fell at his feet
in that boat. Remember when he found out that Christ is master
of the sea and all those fish in the net, he fell at his knees,
on his knees at the Lord's feet and said, depart from me, Lord.
I'm a sinful man. And from that day forward, the
Lord began to reveal himself to them. He knew, they knew.
But they still thought, like in Luke 24, remember those two
disciples walking on the road, they said, we thought he would
restore the kingdom to Israel. Remember that? One time when
he came into Jerusalem, they said, Lord, will you at this
time restore the kingdom to Israel? When is your coming? When are
you coming back? They just didn't understand.
They just didn't understand completely. I look at these Greeks that came. Verse 19, the Pharisees, well,
look at verse 17 and 18. The people, therefore, that was
with him when he called Lazarus out of the grave and raised him
from the dead, they bear record. For this cause the people met
him. You see that? That's why they came. Lazarus
was raised from the grave, and everybody was excited. And this is not the first time. You remember all the way back
in chapter 2, it says that people followed him because of the miracles.
When he made the water into wine and bread, he fed them. And in
another place, John 6 says they wanted to make him king. Remember
that? They all wanted to make him king. He wouldn't do it. Because he always has been king. He was king right then. He always
will be king. And it says he did not need that
man should confess it. He didn't need them. Why would
he want to sit on a little throne in Jerusalem, in that little
dusty, hot town, when he left the throne of glory The right
hand of the majesty on high, sitting on the circle of the
earth. Why would he want to sit on it? He always has been king.
That's what Psalm 2 says. I have set my king on my holy
heavens high. That was long before he came.
Peter preached that at Pentecost. You men of Israel, hear these
words. God hath made this same Jesus, whom you crucify, Lord
and Christ. Not won't you make him lord,
not won't you let him be your lord, he wants to be. Make him
your king, king of your life. That's not salvation. Salvation is to find out that
he always has been and he is right now and always will be
and he chose you to bring you into this kingdom. To find out.
He chooses his people to let them know I'm your king. Now that's the king's, sovereign
king never asked anybody anything, the true sovereign. David, when
he sent from Amphibishep, did he ask him, would you please
come? No. He sent those men and said, you
fetch him. I've determined to have mercy
on him. You bring him to me. And verse 19, it says, The Pharisees
said among themselves, Perceive ye how you prevail on nothing.
We can't do anything to stop this. The whole world's gone
out. Jew and Gentile. All right, now here come the
Greeks. Verses 20 and 21. There were
certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feet.
The same came, therefore, to Philip, which was a best savior
of Galilee. Apparently, Philip was close
by. And they desired him, saying,
Sir, we would see Jesus. And Philip cometh and telleth
Andrew, and again, Andrew and Philip tell Jesus. Now, I've
heard messages preached from this. I've seen this slogan put
on pulpits and in bulletins and so forth. And I heard my pastor preach
from this, and he rightly, he preached it right, in context. These Greeks have come to see
Jesus like everybody else. I know the Greeks. I know what
the scriptures say. I rejoice that he's a covenant
head to the Gentiles. The Gentiles shall come and see
his glory. Every tribe, kindred, nation,
tongue under heaven shall see his glory. They shall come to
him, but not until he's Crucify. Not until he's glorified. Not
until he's lifted up. Everybody, here he is, Jesus,
King, and all that. And the Gentiles now, the Greeks,
we want to see this Jesus. The miracle worker, we want to
see him. Twelve hours later, everyone is crying out. Crucify Him. Crucify Him. Why? Because that's what the
scripture says. Psalm 2. The heathen rage of
people imagine a vain thing. The rulers of this world, the
people, all of them together against Christ, against His anointing,
against the Lord and against His anointing. This is what they
prayed at, this is what Peter preached at Pentecost. Humane
of Israel, every one of them rejected the cry. Everybody,
Jew and Gentile. Acts chapter 4, they quoted that
Psalm 2. of a truth against thy holy child
Jesus, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, and the Jews and the
Gentiles were gathered together against him." Now, it's true that all people
come for the wrong reasons at first. It's true. We've looked
at that. I did. I came for the wrong reason.
You came for the wrong reason. Every one of us came for the
wrong reason. We did not know the Lord, but
the Lord brought us. The Lord in his sovereign providence,
sovereign elect and great, brought us to hear the truth. He didn't
know the truth. It's like the disciples of old.
They were fishermen, and the Lord went and called them, and
they didn't know him until he revealed himself to them. He
chose them. Perhaps these Greeks are His chosen. Perhaps they
are His elect. If they are, they're going to
see His glory. They're going to know Him. And you know what
they're going to be asking after that? Not, show me Jesus. We want to see this Jesus. They're
going to be like, Moses, Lord, show me Your glory. None of the disciples ever called
Him Jesus. They called Him the Lord. time. Look it up. He said to them one
time, you call me master and Lord. Talking to his disciples,
he said, you say what? For so I am. I am. Remember that. I am. Now, our Lord, our Lord came
and he has a people that he's chosen that he will bring to
himself and they're going to see his glory. Our Lord Jesus
Christ came to reveal the true God, came to reveal himself as
the Christ of God, the Son of Righteousness. Look at verse
32. Verse 31, we're going to reserve
a whole message for this one verse. Just listen to the weight
of this one verse. John 12, 31, now is the judgment
of this world. You think there's a future judgment
of this world? Right there, the Lord said, it's now. I'm going
to the cross. Do you know what that means?
We're going to find out. But our Lord said, now, I'm going
to the cross, and the world is, the whole judgment is right there. Now shall the prince of this
world be cast out, Satan. Do you know what that means?
Well, we're going to find out. There's a whole lot in that verse
in it. And, verse 32, if I, I, and I,
if I be lifted up from the earth will draw all unto me. The word man is an italic, it
means he was added, but every eye shall see him, that's for
sure. Every eye shall behold Him. All men and women, all human
beings, all mankind shall stand before Him sometime in the judgment. But at Calvary is where the world
was judged, where His people were judged. Now you can understand
a little bit. They said, these Greeks
though said, Sir, we would see Jesus. But look at Hebrews 2,
Hebrews chapter 2, go over there. We would see Jesus. And this
whole religious world today comes to religious services to see
Jesus, to hear about Jesus. There's a lot of talk about Jesus,
isn't there? I'm not diminishing his name. That's a wonderful
name. We're going to look at it in the next half hour. But look at this, in Hebrews
2, It said in verse 7, this is quoting Psalm 8, which Brother
John, John, you read this Wednesday night, didn't you? John Cheesley.
So he's quoting Psalm 8, in verse 7, thou hast made him a little
lower than the angels. Thou crownest him with glory
and honor. He was made lower than the angel.
He was made in the likeness of sinful flesh. He was made a man.
Why? Is that a good example? No. or he don't. Thou made him a
little lower than the angel, but crownest him with glory and
honor. This set him over the works of
thy hand. Thou has put all things in subjection
under his feet. What's that mean? That means
right now, everybody and everything is under his feet, under his
dominion. Let Jesus He's put all things, our Lord
said this to his disciples right before he left, he said, all
power is given unto me in heaven and earth. In his prayer to the Father in
John 17, as thou hast given him power over all flesh. This is the Christ of Scripture.
This is the Lord Jesus Christ. This is who he is. This is why
he came. This is what he did. This is
where he is. And this world, this religious
world, all they know is Jesus. He's the Lord Jesus. Brother
Barnard split Southern Baptist religion right down the middle. Sixty-some years ago, he stood
up and said, two biggest lies ever been told. One, God loves
everybody. He said, it ain't so. There's
people in hell. Number two, Jesus died for everybody. He said, it's not so. He died
for his sheep. He died for his people. And Martin
said, Jesus doesn't save. The Lord, Jesus says, salvation's
of the Lord. If he's just a man, he can't
save. The Pharisees said this while
he was hanging on the cross. He saved others, himself he can't
save. Religion's saying the same thing
today. God wants to save you, he can't. Isaiah prophesied of that. He
said they're praying to a God that can't save. This is the Lord Jesus Christ
who came to save His people from their sins. And He did it. This is good news. If you're
a sinner, a self-righteous religious people, they don't like this.
They like their decision. They like their work. They like
their church membership. They like their baptism. They
like how God leads them. They like that. Look at the Hebrews 2, verse
9. But we see Jesus, who was made
a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death. I have to holler this. You're
hearing me, aren't you? Why did he come? Why was his
name Jesus? That's his earthly name. Call
his name Jesus. The angel said that to Mary. To Mary. Because his name means Joshua,
Savior, Captain of our salvation. That's his name of humiliation.
That's his name of manhood. That's his earthly name. But
he said, after he died, he said, now, in the name of Jesus, bow
your knee, and your tongue better confess, he's Lord. Now you call him what he really
is. If you've seen him as he is,
this is what you call him. There's the salvation, people.
It's not accepting some Jesus as your personal Savior. Those that have done that and
think they've been saved, they don't know the Lord Jesus Christ. They have not yet, he has not
revealed himself to them. My prayer today is that somebody
Me, I think I'm seeing Him now, seeing something of His glory.
Look at, we see Jesus, verse 9, made a little lower than the
angel for the suffering of death. Where is He now? Crowned with
glory and honor. He's not Jesus anymore. He's
not just Jesus. He's not a baby in a manger.
He was that way briefly. Remember Simeon? I remember his
name, Simeon, in the temple. The Lord told him he wouldn't
die until he saw the consolation of Israel, until he saw the Christ,
until he saw God's salvation. And when that young maiden came
in, Mary of Joseph, with that child in her arm, Simeon didn't
say, oh, give me the baby. Look at the baby. What a sweet
child. What's his name? Jesus. He just held him in his
arms. He just said, Lord, now let thy
servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. He didn't see a baby. He didn't
see sweet little Jesus in his arms, helpless. He saw with the
eye of faith. He saw with clarified vision,
with what God shows all of his people. That baby in Mary's arm,
actually she was in His. I didn't plan on hollering like
this, but I'm telling you, we've got to know who He is. We've
got to know who He is. Everybody wants Jesus. Everybody's
interested in Jesus, the miracle worker. Feed us, house us, clothe
us, love us. Jesus loves you. Oh, I need love
and somebody to love me. I need a savior from my sins.
Anybody? Anybody need mercy at the hands
of a holy, thrice holy God? Anybody need a lamb? Anybody
need a blood atonement? Who needs a covenant head? Who
needs a messiah to take us out of the bondage of Satan? Huh?
Who needs a deliverer? We're the Rahabs. We're the thieves. I got good news for you. This
is the Lord who has come to save His people and to be a man, yes,
for the suffering of death. But now he's glorified, seated
on a throne, expecting his enemies to be made his foe, expecting
every child he died for to come to him. That's what the scripture
says. Behold, I and the children that thou hast given me, none
missing, none lost, all saved, because that's who I came for.
This is who he is. Do you know him? Do you know him? Sure we would see Jesus. Oh,
after this, if the Lord did reveal himself to them, they're saying
to the preacher, we would see the Lord Jesus Christ. We would
see his glory. We would see his salvation. We
would see Christ crucified, risen, ascended, returning, reigning,
and ruling. That's what you're saying. And our Lord answered this way
in verse 23. Philip came, I don't know why.
Philip came and told Andrew, and Andrew and Philip came and
told the Lord. I don't know. There's much speculation
about that. But they did, didn't they? Maybe they're Jews, you know,
and they don't think. One time the Lord was talking
to that Samaritan woman, and they thought, does he know who
he's talking to? They kind of thought salvation
was just for the Jews. They heard him say that. But
they didn't understand. Well, our Lord answered them. Who? Who did He answer? Not the
Greeks. He's talking to Philip and Andrew.
Them. And it doesn't seem to have any
connection with what these men came to see. We would see Jesus. It's almost like He ignored what
they said. Lord, there's some Greeks out
here that want to see you. There's some fellas here from
Syropoenicia that want to see you, or wherever they're from.
They want to see you. It's almost as if he ignored
them. But no, he didn't. He answered this. They want to
see Jesus. Now, here's what he said. The
hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. This
is my glory. This is why I came. This is what
I've been saying leading up to that. This is why He came. That's what He did. And what
I hope we marvel at, those of us in here that know Him, I hope
you marvel that you do see His glory now. You do know why He
came. You do know His purpose in coming. These men didn't, they didn't
want to see Jesus, but he said, the hour has come, this is his
answer, that the Son of Man should be glorified. And he said in verse 32, if I
be lifted up, that's why I came, be crucified. And here in verse 24, look at
this. He said, barely, barely, I say unto thee, you, except
the corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth
much fruit. What's that got to do with what
those Greeks said? Everything. He came to die. Christ is that Corn. You know
the meaning of this parable, don't you? We've looked at it
many times. Christ is that corn or seed. The word is seed. He
is that seed of wheat. That's bread, isn't it? That's
what you make bread from. He's the seed. He's the bread.
He's the woman's seed. Why'd He came? Why'd He come? To die. To be put in the ground. Why? The ground's cursed. The
ground's cursed. Remember Adam? Cursed is the
ground for your sake. The ground is cursed. Cursed
is everyone that hangeth on a tree. Christ hung on a tree. And he
made a curse for us. He's put in the ground. That's
the curse of man. He's going to die from the dust
you were made, the dust you shall return. The ground is cursed
and you're going to, that's all you're going to, you're going
to end up in it. No, not if Christ died for you. The cicada just died alone. It abided alone, but it came
to die like a corn of wheat. Some of you planted corn. And
have you ever kept some over in storage for two or three years? It'll last for years. This brother
Henry was here. He was an expert. But I've had
some for years. had beans for years, Kentucky
pole beans on the kind I plant. Anyway, I've had them for years.
Now, you think they're dead, don't you? You plant them, you watch. If
the Lord gives the increment. But Christ came to die, and he
died at that seed of woman, that corn of wheat, for his people,
not the world, but for his people, not everybody in the world, but
everyone, the people out of the world. And he died and he brought
forth much fruit. That's what old Hosea said. Our
Lord said, from me is thy fruit found. His life by his death. And then he says, in closing,
Verse 25 and 6, 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 will serve me, any
man serve me, let him follow me, and where I am, there shall
also my servant be. That's where they'll be found.
If any man serve me, him will my Father honor. What's he saying
there? Well, lots of people followed
him, but not for the right reason. And they quit following him after
a while. Lots of people said this and said that. Only his
true followers stayed with him. Where he is, that's where they'll
be found. Always. Always. Always. They're like
branches. They abide in the vine. That's
where you'll find them. Wherever he is, that's where
you'll find them. And that's who the Lord will
honor somebody. Call him, Blessed are ye of the
Father, my Father. Enter into the kingdom prepared
for you, the true kingdom. These Jews, these Greeks, they
wanted an earthly kingdom. So about you, do you love this
world? Do you want, do you love this
world? Our Lord said that he that loves
this world, loved with his life, this is what his life is all
about. Jesus, oh Jesus is part of your life, but he, oh this
is a good life. The Lord calls it this present
evil world. Peter said to all those people
who are convicted of sin, righteousness and judgment, he said to all
of them, save yourselves from this untoward generation. Christ is either our life or
He's not. We love anybody or anything more than Him. He's
not in us. The love of God, shared abroad
in God's people, is a love for Christ. Preeminently. Chiefly. Foremost. Wherever he
is, that's where you'll find him. Worshipping him. They're his bride. They live
for him like a woman and a man. They live for each other. That's
the way it is. This is a great mystery, but
I speak of Christ at the church. It's either there or it's not.
And they serve his cause. They serve his glory. They don't
serve themselves. They serve his cause. And if so, whoever that is, our
Lord said, my father will honor him. You honor me. See, Christ
came for one reason. He lived in this world for 33
years, put himself through great trouble and misery and sorrow
and sadness and grief. And he came to die. And you know
what? We're coming to die. We're coming to our our death,
and it might be any moment now for any of us, doesn't matter
how young you are, it might be any moment. I told you about
my friends and family growing up, my 15-year-old best friend,
I held him in my arms, he was dead. I pulled him out of a basement,
a fixity, a place where I slept many times. Held him in my arms,
tried to resuscitate him, my best, best friend I grew up with,
dead. A 21-year-old brother, your 25-year-old
daughter. There's a point at which a man
wants to die. That's the judgment. So what's
all this about? What's this world about? It's vanity. It's vanity. It's vanity. Paul
said, for me to live is Christ. Oh, that I might win Christ to
make family. Not win things. Oh, may the Lord reveal unto
us his glory, reveal his son in us, create this true life
in us, Christ our life. Because when he comes, then when
he comes, then life begins, Nancy, then life begins, life more abundant,
exceedingly abundant, full of glory. And this old place, I'll
fold it up like a biscuit and cast it away. God's people are
going to be so happy. That's what we're doing this
morning. That's what this is all about. That's why this building
stands here. That Christ may be lit.