Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening. And
now for today's program. Welcome to our program. I'm glad
you could join us today. And if you'd like to follow along
in your Bibles, I'm going to be preaching from the Book of
John, the Gospel of John, chapter 13, concluding this chapter with
this message, this title, The Son of Man Glorified. The Son of Man Glorified. And
I'm taking the title from verse 31. I'll be talking about some
of the verses before this. But verse 31, where the Lord
Jesus Christ teaching his disciples in the upper room, in fact, John
13 and a few chapters on, they're called the upper room discourses. It's where Christ had finished
his public ministry to the people as a whole, and he began teaching
his disciples privately in the upper room. And this was right
before he was to be arrested and taken and go to the cross
to die for the sins of his people. This is where he instituted the
Lord's Supper for the church, the ordinance of the Lord's Supper,
that memorial ordinance. It's just two ordinances that
Christ gave to the church to be kept. And the first one was
Believer's Baptism That's baptism by immersion for believers, not
infants. And then he gave them the Lord's
Supper as a memorial ordinance. Do this in remembrance of me.
And so he says here in verse 31, therefore when he was, or
John writes of him, Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said,
now, this is, Judas is the one who's gone out, I'll explain
that in just a moment. But Jesus said, this is the Lord speaking,
now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. And then in verse 32, he says,
if God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him, glorify
him in himself and shall straightway, which means now or you might
say immediately, glorify him. Now he's speaking of the glory
of the Father and the glory of the Son that would be manifest
in his cross death, which we look at his whole experience,
his obedience unto death, wherein he died, he suffered, he bled,
he died on the cross, and he was buried, and then he arose
again the third day. And that glory was made manifest
in all of that experience that Christ went through as the surety,
the substitute, the redeemer of his people. That great act
in time, the cross work of Christ, is the crux of redemptive history. And the success of it, it wasn't
a failure. There's absolutely no sense,
if you know the Bible, if you know the gospel, that you can
say that any part of what Christ experienced on the cross was
a failure. It was all determined before
the foundation of the world. The Bible speaks of the elect
of God and describes them as those whose names were written
in the Lamb's Book of Life. And that's the Lamb that was
slain. That's Christ, the Lamb of God. He came into the world to be
slain, to die on the cross. And it was all in fulfillment
of God's purpose, God's will, God's sovereign will. And you
can see that in the Scriptures over in the book of Acts chapter
2. Listen to this. Listen to what
the Bible says. Peter at Pentecost, this is after
the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. This is after his
ascension unto glory. And listen to how Peter relates
this. And he says in verse 22 of Acts
2, chapter 2, verse 22, He says, you men of Israel, hear
these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you
by miracles and wonders and signs. In other words, God was obviously
approving of this person because he is God, manifest in the flesh,
the Son of God, which God did by him in the midst of you as
you yourselves also know. Now listen to verse 23. Him being
delivered by the determinant counsel and foreknowledge of
God. And that word foreknowledge means
foreordination of God. It's not just God looking down
through time and finding out what was going to happen. As
if there's some kind of a fate or a kismet or something like
that, no. Or karma, as people say today. God, He was delivered, Christ
was delivered by the determinate. This was a determination out
of the counsel of God who works all things after the counsel
of His own will. The determinate counsel, God's
foreordination and foreknowledge of God, you have taken and by
wicked hands have crucified and slain In verse 24, whom God hath
raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was
not possible that he should be holding of it. The grave could
not hold him. It wasn't even possible. Why? Because he's God manifest in
the flesh. This was the determinate counsel
and foreordination of God. That's the death of Christ. He
was put on this earth and came to this earth, the Son of God,
the second person of the Trinity, and united Himself with a perfect
sinless humanity, human nature, body and soul, created for Him
by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and walked
this earth and obeyed the law perfectly unto death. even the
death of the cross, to satisfy the justice of God, to put away
sin, to make an end of sin, to finish the transgression, to
bring in everlasting righteousness. And that's the righteousness
of God, the merits of Christ, obedience unto death as the surety,
the substitute, and the redeemer of his people. And there was
no possibility that this was not going to happen. Every facet
of it, Nothing was left to chance. And even if you go back to John
13, when Christ is sitting here with His disciples, and He's
speaking to them, you know, this is when He washed their feet
and He showed them the humility that He would, the depths of
humility that He would go to to save His people. And He told
them to follow Him in this humility. Because that's what believers
are to do, humble ourselves before God, and that's a grace of the
Spirit. And he says, he talked to them
about how happy they would be if they would do these things.
And look at verse 18 of John 13. He says, I speak not of you
all. Now at this time, there were
12 men there. They're called the 12 disciples. One of them was a false disciple,
and you know that. And you know who it was, it was
Judas. And so when he says, I speak not of you all, who is exempted
from the blessings that he's been pronouncing, it's Judas. He said, I know whom I have chosen,
but that the scripture may be fulfilled. Now that says, he
that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me.
Most scholars think that's a prophecy that's found in Psalm 41, and
it is found there. But this was all determined before
by God, even Judas. And I know people today are so
opposed to the sovereignty of the will of God. and God's electing
grace, God's predeterminate plan and purpose, predestination.
And I'll admit to you that it is a mind-boggling truth. You've
heard the song, God works in mysterious ways, His wonders
to perform. But you see, God is so high above
us He knows all because He's determined all. He is the determinate
God. This is the God of the Bible,
whether you want to believe it or not. And you can look at it
and say, well, that's not fair. And this is not fair. And why
would God do this? And why would God do that? And
the book of Romans chapter 9 gives you your answers, but most people
don't like that. Basically, what it tells us,
in essence, is God is God, and He's so high above us in wisdom. and in every way, and justice
in every way, and we're the creature. And who are we to argue with
God? Who are we to debate God? You remember, God asked Job that
when Job was trying to justify himself because of his trial.
And he asked Job, he said, Job, where were you when I created
the heavens and the earth? Where were you when I put Leviathan
in the sea? And what he was telling Job there
is, Job, you're a human being, you're a creature. In fact, you're
a sinful human being. You're just not equipped to climb
in to the eternal mind of a all-wise, all-knowing God. and debate with
him and tell him what's wrong and what's right. You don't have
that position. He's the potter, we're the clay. But here it is, right here, he
says that this one who's going to betray him, Judas, he was
determined before the foundation of the world. Now, like I said,
you might go away and say, well, that's just not, God just didn't
treat him right. God gave Judas what he deserved.
And that's why in the gospel, One of my prayers, one of the
prayers of God's people, I don't want what I deserve. I don't
want what I've earned. You see, the gospel is salvation
by grace. And Judas was just as responsible
as any of the other disciples, Peter, James, or John, to hear
and believe the word of God, yet we know that no sinner of
his own will will believe. It takes a miracle of God's grace
to bring a sinner to faith in Christ. Again, I quoted almost
every program, Ephesians 2, 8, 9, for by grace are you saved,
through faith, that not of yourselves, it's the gift of God. Not of
works, lest any man should boast. But you see, you don't live in
the eternal realm of God. You're a human being, you're
a sinful human being, so am I. We live on this earth. And we
can only operate and make our decisions based upon what we
know and what we see. And I quote this verse out of
Deuteronomy 29, 29, quite often, the secret things belong to God,
the revealed things belong to us, that we might do His revealed
will. You know, in the Bible, you can
distinguish between God's sovereign will, which cannot be broken,
He said, read Isaiah 46 sometime. He said, I have purposed it,
I will do it. Nothing's gonna stop it. In Daniel
chapter four, none can stay his hand or say unto him, what do
you think you're doing? That's God's sovereign will,
cannot be broken. Ephesians 1 11, he's the God
who works all things after the counsel of his own will. But
then there's the revealed will of God by way of commandment,
which is broken all the time. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt
not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
We break those commandments all the time because we're sinners. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. Well, the gospel is a command.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. Now God
knows who his people are. He's determined that. But you
don't know, and if you try to operate, acting upon the eternal
mind of God, well, if I'm not elect, I won't do this, or if
I'm not, if God hadn't chosen me, you're actually trying to
play God. And you don't need to do that. That's pride. But here's Judas. Look back here
at John 13, verse 19. He says, now I tell you before
it come, that when it is come to pass, that you may believe
that I am. Now, what he's talking about
is the wheels of God's providence. And you know what providence
is? That's God's control. God's government
of all things. He's in control. Nothing's out
of God's control. Nothing takes God by surprise.
And what he's telling them is the wheels of God's providence bringing Christ to the point
of the cross. Those wheels have begun turning
now. And he says, you'll know that I am. That's literally what
it is. You see the he there, if you've
got a King James Bible, that's in italics. Well, the I am, that's
one of the I am statements of Christ. that proves him to be
God, manifest in the flesh. So in verse 20, he says, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, he that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth
me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. Now
there's the connection of God's people with God the Father through
God the Son incarnate. He says, He that receiveth whomsoever
I send. Well, who does he send? He sends
his preachers to preach the gospel. He sends his witnesses. And what
do his preachers do? They point to Christ for all
salvation. They preach the righteousness
of God in Christ. They don't preach salvation by
works. They don't preach salvation conditioned on sinners at any
stage, to any degree, in any way. It's all of salvation, conditioned
on Christ, who by Himself, as the surety, substitute, and redeemer
of His people, who finished it, kept it, met every condition
that was required to ensure their eternal life unto glory. So that
not one person for whom Christ died, was buried, and rose again
will perish. He died for his sheep. We've
talked about that in John 10. And he said, my sheep hear my
voice. So he sends his preachers, and he says, he that receiveth
whomsoever I send receiveth me. To receive the word of the gospel,
which is the word of Christ, is to receive him. And how can
we receive him? You know, back over in John chapter
1, it speaks of receiving Christ. It first talks about those who
would not receive it. And you need to understand now
again, by nature, as we are naturally born in dead in trespasses and
sins, fallen in Adam, we fell into a state of sin and death
in Adam. When Adam fell, we fell. And
when we're born into this world, we're born spiritually dead,
That is, no spiritual heart, no spiritual desires, no spiritual
ears and eyes. Eyes to see the glory of God,
ears to hear the truth. And we're totally depraved, which
means we will not believe on our own free will. Our wills
aren't free anyway. They're subject to what we know
and what we want. You know, why does one person
like this particular food and another person doesn't like it
at all? It tastes the same to each one. One likes it, one doesn't. So that's the desires. So he
says in verse 11 of John 1, he says, he came into his own and
his own received him not. Now, many people say, well, that's
talking about his own nation, the Jews, who did not as a whole,
as the majority of the people, they did not receive Christ,
they rejected him. But it's really speaking of the
whole human race by nature, even his elect by nature would not
receive him. But then in verse 12, he says,
but as many as received him. Now there are some who receive
him. And who are they? Well, they're the elect. They're
the children of God. They're believers. And he says
that many has received him, received him, to them gave he power, or
authority, or the right. See that word power there is
not ability. That word power is the authority and the right
to become the sons of God. In other words, if I tell you
I'm saved, And I tell you, I'm a child of God, a son of God. What right do I have to make
that claim? What authority gives me any confidence
that I truly am saved? And He says, even to them that
believe on His name. Do you believe on His name? His
name is His glory. His name is who He is, so that
He is distinguished and identified as the Lord of glory. There's
no one like Christ. That's what He said. His name
identifies Him in the Word. Who is Jesus Christ? God, manifest
in the flesh. What did He accomplish on Calvary? That's His name. the Lord our
righteousness. And it says, but as many as received
Him, to them gave He power, even to them that believe on His name.
And look at verse 13. Which were born, not of blood,
it's not our natural birth, nor the will of the flesh, or the
works of the flesh, nor of the will of man. You're not born
again because you make the right choice, but you're born but of
God. Born again. Born from above,
as he described in John 3. Well, back over here in John
13, he says, if you receive those who sent me, you receive me,
and receive him that sent me, you receive the Father. The only
way to get to the Father and have a right relationship with
God is through Christ, based upon His shed blood, His righteousness
imputed. In verse 21, it says, when Jesus
had thus said He was troubled in spirit and testified and said,
verily, verily, I say unto you that one of you shall betray
me. And it troubled Him. That's His human nature. Now,
it wasn't like our being troubled. Our human nature is sinful. And
we were full of doubts and fears and misgivings and complaints
and all of that. But Jesus was, he was getting
ready to go into something he had never experienced in his
humanity. And that's the suffering of the
cross. And it troubled him. And he says, somebody here's
gonna betray me. Verse 22, then the disciples
looked one on another, doubting of whom he spoke. Doubting. Read on, verse 23, Now there
was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus
loved. That is how John identified himself. And Simon Peter therefore
beckoned to him that he should ask who it should be of whom
he spake. And he then lying on Jesus' breast,
saith unto him, Lord, who is it? And Jesus answered, verse
26, he it is to whom I shall give a sop or a morsel to dip,
to eat, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop,
he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. Judas revealed
himself. Now one significant thing here
that you need to notice is the disciples, Before this, they
saw nothing specific in Judas that would bring them to doubt,
to identify Judas as the betrayer. Judas was just like the rest
of them. And so, they didn't know who it was until Christ
revealed him. And it says in verse 27, and
after the sop, Satan entered into him. Satan entered into
Judas. That's the problem with man. We are naturally totally
depraved, and then when Satan works on us to deceive us, we're
doubly damned. And that's why we need salvation
by God's grace, who can defeat ourselves and defeat Satan. And
Jesus then said, Jesus unto him, that thou doest, do quickly.
Now no man at the table knew for what intent he spoke this
unto him. They didn't understand yet why
he said that to Judas. For some of them thought because
Judas had the bag, that is the money bag, the treasury, that
Jesus had said unto him, buy those things that we have need
of against the feast or that he should give something to the
poor. They thought he was telling Judas, well go buy some things
for us to eat or give some money to the poor. And so verse 30
says, he then having received the sop went immediately out
and it was night. Now, leading up to that comes
our text. Therefore, verse 31, when he
was gone out, Jesus said, now is the son of man glorified and
God is glorified in him. What he's talking about, he's
speaking in anticipation of the cross. As I said before, the
wheels of God's providence began rolling. And he said, if God
be glorified, verse 32, in him, God shall also glorify him in
himself and shall straightway glorify him. Verse 33, little
children, yet a little while I'm with you. The time's coming
near, He's going to the cross. Yet a little while I'm with you,
you shall seek me. And as I said unto the Jews,
whither I go, you cannot come. So now I say to you." Christ
went to the cross to die for the sins of His people, and He
did it by Himself. He had no help from man, not
even his disciples. And you know, later on, they
all fled. Peter betrayed him. So this was a work that only
one person could do by himself, the Lord God of glory, God the
Son incarnate. And by that one offering, he
accomplished the salvation of the whole election of grace.
Every sinner throughout time who God would bring to faith
in Christ and repentance of dead works. This is the glorification
of God as both a just God and a Savior. He is a just God and
a Savior. That means he can be both a righteous
judge and a merciful redeemer. all based upon the death of Christ,
His blood shed, His righteousness accomplished, that God has imputed
to every one of His people. That's the glory of God. That's
the glory of Christ. And it's the glory of His people.
Paul wrote, God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Do you understand that? That's
the whole issue there. Hope you'll join us next week
for another message from God's Word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
a copy of today's program or to learn more about Reign of
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at 1-1-0-2 Eager Drive, Albany, Georgia. 317-07. Contact us by
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today and may the Lord be with you.