All right, let's go ahead and
turn to the text. John 13. I entitled this message. The
beginning of the end. For several reasons, number one,
this is the beginning of the end of our Lord's time on this
earth. This is just before he is to
leave this planet. It is the end of the ceremonial
law. It is the end of the ordinances.
It is the end of sacrifices. Judaism. Take it away the first. He's about to take away the first,
establish the second. This is the end of our, the beginning
of the end of our transgressions. He's about to go and put away
our sins on Calvary's tree. And beginning with verse 31 through
chapter 16, all the way through chapter 16 from verse 31 here
in chapter 13. Someone said this is the greatest
sermon ever preached. And I agree. And it's followed by the greatest
prayer ever prayed. John 17. And I most wholeheartedly
agree. One of the brethren, I said,
we are going into the holy place. When we get into these chapters,
we're going into the holy place, you know, the tabernacle of old
had the outer court. And then you walk through the
door of the tabernacle and you go into the inner court. And
in that inner courts, the table of showbread and the candlesticks
and and the labor of water and so forth. And in verses or chapters
14, 15, 16, we'll be in the inner court. like one of the priests, the
high priest. And in chapter 17, we're going
to go right on into Baal, the Holy of Holies. So this is a
marvelous, marvelous portion of God's Word. Starting
with this verse through the end of chapter 16, it also is some
of the sweetest, most comforting, encouraging, and enlightening
portions in all of God's for believers, this is. Well, let's get right into it,
and this is for his disciples on. Look at verse 30. Before we get to 31, we've got
to look at that, who's he talking to? He then having received the
sock went immediately out. There was a traitor in the midst
of devil. An apostate. Says went out. Christ got rid of him, didn't
he, Stan? He said, what you do, do quickly. And he left. Now, he's gone. Now he's going to talk to his
disciple. And it's an intimate conversation between the Lord
and his disciple. This is for a believer. All of
this. Like most of the Word of God.
But this man, Judas, went out. And it says here he was night.
And it was night, man's darkest hour. Christ said, mine hour
is not yet come. Your hour, remember when he said,
your hour is always ready, it's now. Man's darkest hour, sin's
blackest hue. However, and I'm talking about
when man took the Son of God and killed him. That's man's darkest hour. That's
the greatest display, the most horrible display of man's wickedness. However, God purposed all of
that. God purposed all of that, that
horrible event, to bring about his greatest glory. Now look
at verse 31. Do you see the contrast in verse
30 and verse 31? It was night. man's darkest hour,
the almost horrible display of man's depravity. You want to
see man's depravity? Turn him loose to his free will,
that free will we were talking about. Let a free willer, a free
will religionist, let him have the Son of God. What will you
do with Jesus? That's what the songs say. That's
what men, that's what preachers stand up and say. What will you
do with Jesus? This is what they did with him. Oh, Jesus, no. A good work we
don't stone you. But when you go calling this
Jesus of Nazareth the Holy and Sovereign God and Lord and Judge
and we're in his hands, kill him. We will not have this man
reign over us. Well, verse 31, so it was night. Therefore, verse 31, therefore
when he was gone out Jesus said, now is the Son of Man glorified. The contract. Man's darkest hour
is night. What man does, he does his evil
deeds under the cover of darkness. And all of religion is in darkness.
But, Christ said, now is the Son of Man glorified. And God is glorified in him.
Christ's finest hour, his greatest glory, God's greatest glory,
is when Christ went to the cross to put away the sins of his people.
His greatest glory. If I asked you to turn to the
place where God says he's going to show his glory, where would
you turn? Do you know where to turn? Somebody
asked God, show me your glory. Exodus 33. Moses asked him this. Moses asked God to see his glory. Now, this glory, the glory Christ
is talking about here, far exceeds every other display of God's
glory. As a matter of fact, it's the
reason for all other things. The glory of Christ crucified
exceeds God's creative glory. That's when God generated life. generated life. God generated
life when there was none. God just created life. Well,
God's greatest glory is to regenerate. This exceeds God's providential
glory, where God provided all things necessary for life on
this planet. But this, Christ crucified, is
God's salvation provided, the Lamb provided. And Moses, in
spite of all that Moses saw, Moses saw the Red Sea parted,
he saw the serpent on the pole, he saw the smitten rock, he saw
bread fall from heaven, he was given the law. And in spite of
all that, as glorious as those things were, Moses said, look
at verse 18, he said, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. Show me your essential glory,
your person. Show me... Moses is saying, Lord, these
things are wonderful, and these are works of your hand and displays
of your power. I want to see your person. I
want to see your glory. These things are glorious. I
want to see your glory. That's salvation, John. when
a man, when a woman, when a young person sees the glory of God
in a person. Not in things happening. You
see, the world sees miracles. All these things are clearly
seen so that they're without excuse, but that's not God's
glory. Look at it. Exodus 33, 19, and
God said, I will make... He starts you out with His will,
doesn't He? This is God's glory, isn't it,
Rick? OK? I will. He doesn't say, if
you will. He says, all right, here's my
glory. Starts with my will. I will. That's God's essential
glory. That's what makes God, God. That
his will will be done in spite of man's evil will. That's what
made the cross. the chief glory of God. In spite
of man's ill will and wicked will and man's collective will,
everybody got together. Everybody said, killing! And they did what God's predetermined,
predestined, eternal, immutable will said they'd do. You will
do what I will you to do. Read on. I will make all my goodness
pass before thee. Now he's talking to one of his
own here. He's talking to Moses. He's not
talking to everybody. He's talking to Moses. I will
make all my goodness pass before thee. And God's going to have to make
it happen in there. It won't happen. We're not going
to see His goodness. The goodness of God leads us
to repent. We're not going to repent. We're not going to see
His glory unless God makes it to happen. Like Psalm 23, He
maketh me to lie down in green pasture. I will make, I've got
to go on, this is not my task, I will make my goodness pass
before thee." My goodness, the supreme goodness of God is found
in that word, or it's very like unto it. good news. I will make my good news pass
before you. Adam was in the garden, wasn't
he? He saw the wonderful works of God, but didn't he see them?
And God came to him with the good news. and the goodness of
God seen in a person, the gospel concerning God's Son, the gospel
of God. Read on. And I will proclaim
the name of the Lord before thee. Oh, isn't that his name? Isn't Lord his name? No, he has, well yes, that's
his title. Well, who is the Lord? See, the
Lord is his title. Lord means, that's his office,
that's his title. It means ruler, it means king. Well, who is king? At the name
of Jesus. Every knee will bow and every
tongue confess that he's Lord. So it's the Lord Jesus Christ. That's who he is. The name of
the Lord. Read on. He says, I will proclaim
the name of the Lord before thee, and I will be gracious to whom
I will be gracious." See, salvation is by grace. Grace is us getting
what we don't deserve. It has to be sovereign, doesn't
it? You remember that article by
Pastor Charles Pennington where he said, If men really knew what
the word grace meant, you wouldn't have to say sovereign, would
you, Rick? If it's grace, it's got to be
sovereign, right? Grace is an unearned gift. A
gift has to be sovereignly bestowed. In other words, the one who has
it has to will and decide and give it. There's nothing you
can do to get it or earn it. It's sovereign. But we have to
clarify it, don't we, because men have so abused the term.
Men are so in the dark about the term grace. Well, make no
mistake about it. God's glory is His sovereign
grace. Preachers and people will talk
about the grace of God, but the essential glory of God is in
His sovereign grace. Now, it's glorious that God would
be gracious to anybody, isn't it? let alone hell-deserving
sinner, and let alone a whole bunch of them. Sovereign grace. Read on. And I will show mercy
on whom I will show mercy. Folks, if you would ask me for
a verse of Scripture to take people to, to tell them what
you believe, what we believe, I'd say Exodus 33, 19. Take them
there. And you could pray anybody in
here could preach from this. This is what every believer saying
they've seen God's essential glory. It's in his son. It's in his gospel. It's in his
sovereign grace and his sovereign mercy. Sovereign mercy. All right, I wanted to go down
through there, but we don't have time. God's greatest glory, get
back to the text now, God's greatest glory is in his sovereign grace,
sovereign mercy, saving whom he will. And Moses desired to
see God's glory. Moses desired to see it. You
know what? Moses really only heard about
it. Let me read this to you from
1 Peter. Listen. It says that this salvation the
prophets have inquired and searched diligently who prophesied of
the grace that should come unto you. Searching water, what manner
of time, the Spirit of Christ which was in them. That means
the Holy Spirit was around a long time then. The Spirit of Christ was in them
did signify when it testified beforehand the sufferings of
Christ and the glory that should follow. Unto whom, whether it
is unto Moses and these others, David, it was revealed that not
unto themselves. But unto us they did minister
these things, these things which are now reported unto you by
them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost
sent down. And the angels even desire to look into it. So Moses
desired to see God's glory, but he really only heard about it.
And back there in the chapter, I want to just look at it. But
God said, Moses, I'm going to put you in a cliff to the rock.
And he said, you can't see my face and live. Show me your glory."
God said, well, you can't see my face and live. I'm going to put you
in a cliff to the rock. That's the next best thing, seeing
the faith. I'm going to put you in a cliff
to the rock, and God said, I'm going to pass by and you're going
to see my back parts. But now, we've seen his face. We've seen
his face, haven't we? And what 2 Corinthians said?
We've seen the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus. Oh, boy. Show me your glory. It's his son. It's his son. His essential glory. All right,
back to the text. All right, look at verse 31. It says, God
be glorified. Now is the son of man glorified.
and God is glorified in him. God is glorified in Christ because
God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, because
God was manifest in the flesh. How is God glorified in Christ?
Because Christ is God. That's it. And God is glorified
by Christ. Look at verse 32. If God be glorified
in him, God shall also glorify him, Christ,
in himself. Since Christ glorified God as
a man, since Christ glorified God as
the Son of God, the scripture says, therefore, God hath highly
exalted him. That's what that's saying there. Now read it again. If God be
glorified in Christ, or by Christ as a man, as a son of God, and
he was. He glorified the Father in everything
he did, as a man, as an obedient son. And it says, then God shall
also glorify Christ in himself. And that's going to be in the
end, when God sits Christ, and it says, look at that, he shall
straightway glorify him, right away. Right away, he's going
to glorify it. Right early. That right early.
God shall sit his son on his right hand, and it's like Hebrews
says, and Philippians says, that every knee is going to bow to
him. God, since Christ glorified the Father as he did, therefore
God's going to glorify him in himself. God's going to say to
every knee, bow. That's my son. He's Lord now
because of what he did. Unto the Son he'll say, Thy throne,
O God. You see that? He shall glorify him in himself.
Thy throne, O God. God's going to call his Son God. People say Christ never said
he was God. Well, he did. But I tell you
who did say he was God. Loud and clear, didn't he, John?
Hebrews 1.8, is it? God said he was God. Jehovah. And they're the ones,
these so-called witnesses, the ones that said he never said
he was God. Well, I'll tell you who said he was God. Jehovah. Jehovah said he's Jehovah. See, that's what Christ is saying.
God be glorified in him. God shall also glorify him in
himself, and shall straightway, right away, right away glorify
him." Christ began this parting discourse to his disciples with
these glorious words, and there is a message all in itself, isn't
it? A glorious word, a gospel of his glory. Now, from here
on out, he's going to start instructing, comforting, correcting his sheep,
his people. He's going to start revealing
himself as he's never revealed himself before. And you know the verses, particularly
chapter 16, where Thomas said, we don't know where you're going. And you know what Christ said.
I want to jump ahead. If I quote that, Rick, we've
got to preach it to them. John 14.6. And then Philip said,
Show us the Father. And then on and on it goes. He
begins to really reveal himself to them. But he preceded all
that with these words. Glory. I'm going to be glorified. And you're going to be glorified.
and seeing my glory." Isn't that right, John? Whom he did predestinate,
he called. Whom he called, he justified
by faith. And whom he justified, he glorified? Past tense? Yes. Haven't you been glorified? Yes, you have. You have been
glorified in seeing Christ, seeing the glory of God in the face
of Christ, if you have. All right, now, look at verse
33. He says, little children. Oh, little children, who's speaking
here? Little children, who's speaking
here? This is the Father. This is the
Father. Yet a little while, read on.
Yet a little while, I'm with you. Christ is leaving these
poor, weak disciples. He's going to be with his Father. And they're going to be sad,
they're going to be confused. But the Holy Spirit, he's going
to send him. He's going to talk about him
in a little bit. He's going to send the Holy Spirit, same one
he sends to us, to lead, to guide, to teach, to comfort. Same one
Nancy Parks needed when the thought of her husband might not return. Same Holy Spirit to comfort her
in that time. And he did so with the same words.
We look together at the same words that our Lord used to comfort
his disciples when he was leaving. And it read on. He says, a little while and I'm
with you. And you shall seek me. And as
I said, under the Jews, whether I go, you cannot come. And so
now I say to you. Now, every word is significant
here. Christ begins all this with his
God's glory, his glory, the gospel, the glory of the gospel. And
right here, do you see the gospel in this verse? He said, As I said to the Jews,
I'm reminding you that whither I go, you cannot come. Where is he going? What's he
going to do? He's going to do only what, he's
going to do what only he can do. He's going to go where only
he can go. Right? He's about to be made
sin for us. He's about to become, he is become
the great high priest for us. He's about to go into the holy
of holy with our sins on him. and offer up this sacrifice,
this one man. We can't go with him. That's
the reason Peter spoke so hastily. I'll go with you. You can't go.
You see what he's reminding them?
I told the Jews before, you can't go where I'm going. No man can. Only one man can
go into the presence of God. and do what only one man can
do what Christ did. And don't men say hastily and
rashly like Peter said, although I can do it, I can do it. You
can't do anything. You can't go with him. You see
what I'm trying to say? No man can go with Christ to
the cross. Christ must go alone. Only he can go into the Holy
of Holies and offer that sacrifice. Over and over, God declares this,
that there is one man approved, one sacrifice for sin, one mediator,
one Lord, one Savior, one Redeemer. Anybody look at
Newsweek magazine recently? The Catholic Organization. Do you read it? Do you look at
it? The Catholic Organization. The Catholic organization says
they want to now publicly come out with what they have believed
from the beginning. They want to make it public now,
and they're having a big debate about it. They want to publicly declare.
Now read it for yourself. Pope John Paul, this is his agenda
before he dies. They want to publicly declare
Mary as co-redeemer with Jesus Christ. That's what they've always believed,
people. And people wonder why we call
that Antichrist. As I said to the Jews, I'm telling
you now, Mary didn't go in there with him. Mary didn't go to hell
with Christ. Mary didn't go into the Holy
of Holies. She was a sinner at the foot of the cross, like every
sinner, it must be said, at the foot of the cross. She was a
sinner. Didn't she pray, God my Savior? Anybody who needs a Savior is
a sinner. Boils my blood. You think how
what it does to God concerning the blood of his son. And that's the largest religious
organization in the world, Catholicism. And it's sweeping the planet
even more now than ever. Co-redeemer. There's one redeemer. One mediator. They pray to her.
There's one mediator. God only listened to one person,
Jesus Christ. I've got to quote it, Rick. I'm the way, the truth, the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. Do you see how significant Christ
is? I said it to the Jews, and I'm telling you, I'm reminding
you of where I'm going. But you can't come. And the only way anybody's going
to come where he went is if he brings them. Right? No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. Not Mary, not Christopher, whoever
that is. Saint whoever. Me. Well, I read on. I must quit.
Verse thirty-four, a new commandment I give unto you, that ye love
one another as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. A new commandment, love one another
as I have loved you. Read verse thirty-five with it.
By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have
love one to another. John learned this, didn't he? John who wrote who dictated this
gospel, and John who wrote the three epistles, he learned this,
didn't he? You can't read his epistles without him bringing
up this commandment, can you? Love. Yes, he did. A new commandment. As opposed
to the old law, you know, of an eye for an eye. Love your,
hate your enemies. Christ said, I say love your
enemies. But especially the brotherhood, and John says this, John says,
and our Lord said it first, By this shall all men know, you
my disciples, if you have love one to another." It doesn't say,
if you tell one another you love one another. It says, have love
one to another. Peter said that, if you have
fervent love one to another. That's active in them. And John
said this. He said, hereby we know we've
passed from death unto life. We love the brother, the brethren.
Oh, I could, you know, we could spend so much time here. You
know, when the love of God is shed abroad in the hearts of
his people, true love for his people now. I'm talking about loving people
that love the gospel. It's not everybody loves those
that love the gospel. Christ said they'll hate you.
Didn't he say the world will hate you? Isn't that right? I mean, those
who declare the gospel. Christ said, marvel not if the
world hate you. But this is something to marvel
at, that the brethren, we really love one another. And when the love of God is said
abroad, true love of God, is shed abroad in the heart. It's. Well, you just have to experience
it. Person, people of different ages. Backgrounds, walks of life. You
can't. This is something you can't fake.
You can't make yourself love. You cannot make yourself love
someone that's so different from you. You can't do it. You cannot
make yourself Be well. You won't desire and enjoy the
company of people you have nothing humanly in common with. If you'd
have told me... You see, I was one of these young
squirts that thought he was cool. That's how they say it today.
Cool. Except it was a little different back then. It was cool,
man. Cool, man. Right, I was far out, dude. And
just the thought of me being, you know, sitting around associating
with these squares. You know, square, what square
means. Explain what square means. Let
me find one. I better not. Well, Joe Parks
would have been an old square. He's not here. He'd have been
an old square. Just an old, you know. upright,
decent, moral, law-abiding citizen square. For me to run around
and want to be with that fellow, spend all my time with him, love
him? What do I have in common with Joe Parks? Different generation,
different age, different likes and dislikes growing up, come
from a different place. Well, no, I love that man now. And now all my old cronies that
I had everything in common with, I don't even want to, I don't
want to see them again, let alone spend any time with them. I mean,
I don't go to my class reunion, so to speak. After you get over
the, you know, how many kids you got and what are you doing
now? After that, what do you got to say? That's who I desire to be with,
an old square. I guess that'll become square. That's right. That's quite right. That's the love of God, and that's
the only way I can illustrate it. You've experienced it, some
of you. And this is, by this shall all
men, this, hereby we know we've passed from death unto life.
And I'm not faking it. I mean it. I have a flesh and blood brother.
And I'd a whole lot rather be with this brother in Christ than
him." Now, you can't fake that, can you? They say blood's thicker
than water. Well, Christ's blood's thicker
than that blood's. It sure is. You can't fake it.
By this shall all men know you're my disciple. actually make you
want to go be with people that you once thought were fools. And then you become a fool, don't
you? Gladly, you become a fool, for
Christ's sake. And now people are talking about
you, the way you were talking about me. This is the work of
God, isn't it? That's the only way you can describe
it, explain it. I didn't want it, wasn't seeking it. Thank
God he willed it and sought me. Let's stand. Our Heavenly Father, we thank
you for this gospel of John. Thank you for these few words
that are so full of glory. Thank you for manifesting and
showing your glory to us and so many. have not seen it, so
few have seen it, and we feel ourselves supremely blessed of
God to hear the gospel and especially to believe it, to see Christ's
glory, see your glory. Now, Father, glorify yourself
in us, in us, we pray. And in Christ's name we pray,
amen.