It's a wonderful song. Today we'll be in John chapter
12, starting in verse 37. We'll look at our Lord's ministry.
Several commentators have said this is a summary of our Lord's
ministry. This morning in Sunday school,
we looked at the corresponding scripture in Isaiah chapter six, which comes to pass in 37 and
41 of this chapter. John chapter 12, verse 37. Though he had done so many miracles
before them, yet they believed not on him. Here is God in the flesh. God
incarnated in the flesh. Performing miracles before them. And they see the miracles. And He did it right out in the
open, didn't He? He didn't do it in secret. He did it right out in the open. right in their very presence,
so they could neither deny them or disprove them. They couldn't lie and say, well,
they never happened. And he had not just did one or
two, he'd done many. He gave sight to the man born
blind. He healed the lame man at Pisadia. He raised up Lazarus from the
dead. Yet they believe not on him. Now some people think that, well,
if such and such happened, if a miracle happened right in front
of us, that people, they would believe. Well miracles happened right
before these people and they didn't believe. Yet they believed not on Him. Here before us we see God manifest
in the flesh. The Lord Jesus Christ. The King
of kings and the Lord of lords. He's working wondrous miracles
amongst them. And they don't believe him. They don't believe on him. And think of this, beloved of
God, apart from a divine act of grace upon our hearts, we'd
be just like them. No different. I've often heard
folks say, well, if I was at the cross, we wouldn't have crucified. Yeah, you would have yelled just
like everyone else, crucify him, crucify him. To our shame. The only difference in a believer
is the grace of God in Christ. Between a believer and an unbeliever,
we must be born again. We must become new creatures
in Christ. We must be given a new nature
and a new heart. And this is all the work of God
the Holy Spirit. Without this occurring, people
might get excited about things that happen. They might get all
worked up. But without God the Holy Spirit
working on our hearts, these things just fade away. Just fade
away. Why? Because it's not prepared
ground. Remember the sower? Some fell
on stony ground, rocky ground. Some fell on prepared ground,
good ground. Brother Henry Mann has a wonderful
sermon on prepared ground. It's prepared. So with this in mind, let us
not be shocked at the unbelief amongst us here in this nation
and in this world. This is merely evidence that
the Bible is true. And we see it proved by man's
unwillingness to believe in our natural state. The Bible says
we're dead. Why didn't these people believe?
Because they were dead. They had no life spiritually.
They're physically alive, walking around, but dead. Dead to the
things of God. And this is evidence that the
Bible's true. If God has saved you, if you're born again by
the Holy Spirit, give Him all the praise and give
Him all the glory that He did not leave those of us who believe
in that state. Let's continue in the text, John
chapter 12, verse 38, and we'll read to 41. And we looked at
this this morning in Isaiah chapter 6, This was prophesied, that the
saying of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he
spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? And that's Isaiah
53, verse 1. And to whom is the arm of the
Lord being revealed? The report is truth, isn't it? It's not
up for debate. It's truth proclaimed. Therefore they could not believe,
because Isaiah said again, and this was found in Isaiah chapter
6, He hath blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, that
they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their
heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. These things
said Isaiah when he saw His glory and spake of Him. He saw the
glory of the Lord high and lifted up, a King reigning supreme. Isaiah 51, though, says this,
Who hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the
Lord revealed? And then I'll read the, in Isaiah
6, it says this, and he said, go and tell this people. Hear
ye indeed, but understand not. They hear, but they don't hear. And see ye, but perceive not.
They see, but they don't see Christ. Was it not so with us
before the Lord saved us? We heard, but we didn't hear. Oh, when He gave us ears to hear
and eyes to see Christ. Oh my. You don't want to hear
nothing else. Grace preaching ruins you for
everything else. You don't want to hear anything but that. Make the heart of the people
fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes, lest they
see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand
with their heart, and convert, and be healed. Isaiah chapter
6, verse 9 and 10. So we have it coming alive right
before us in John chapter 12 with these Jews. And not just
with them, but others around. We still see it. And the Lord performed these
miracles right in their presence. He preached right in their presence.
God, the one we preach about, preached right in their presence. And what was spoken of Isaiah
comes to pass right there. Who hath believed our report? As I said, this is not up for
debate. The report is truth proclaimed. It's truth. But those who have believed the
report have been born again of the Holy Spirit of God, given
eyes to see Christ, and given ears to hear. And we say, all
glory to Him, praise His mighty name, for He's done it all. He
did it all. Christ, the sinner's substitute. Look at verse 42 and 43 of our
text here. Nevertheless, among the chief
rulers, also many believed on him. Now some folks would say,
look, look, they had faith. We're gonna see these are folks
with head knowledge but no heart knowledge. But because of the Pharisees,
they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the
sin of God. For they loved the praise of man more than the praise
of God. So here before us, we have chief
rulers who, it says, believed on them,
but they would not confess him. Well, turn with me if you would
to Romans chapter 10. We looked at this in Sunday school,
but I think it's good for us to look at this. Here we have people who have
a head knowledge, but not a heart knowledge of Christ. And remember this, the believer
both believes on Christ and he confesses Christ. And remember, we've looked at
before There's people out there who say, well, make Jesus Lord
of your life. Well, God already beat him to it. He's Lord already. We just acknowledge that he's
Lord. We just acknowledge that he's Lord. He's already Lord.
He's already King. Look at Romans chapter 10, verses
8 to 10. But what saith it? The word is
nigh, even in thy mouth and in thy heart. That is the word of
faith which we preach. that if thou shalt confess with
thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart
that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
For with the heart, man believeth unto righteousness, and with
the mouth, confession is made unto salvation. I remember hearing
Brother Scott Richard saying, when the Lord saves you, and
I mentioned this to others, he goes, it'll leak out. It'll leak out. You're
going to tell folks. You're going to confess Christ. A non-confession of Christ and
a denying of Him is interpreted by scripture as the same. To deny Him and to not confess
Him is the same. There are no different. Those
who believe will confess Christ. This gives us help on several
verses, but let's take a look at one in John chapter 2. John
chapter 2. Verse 23 to 25. Now when he was in Jerusalem
at the Passover and in the feast day, many believed in his name
when they saw the miracles which he did. But Jesus did not commit
himself unto them, because he knew all men. And indeed, not
that any should testify of man, for he knew what was in man. He knew what was in man. They
believed, they saw the miracles, so they believed that. They saw
the miracles, right? They had a head knowledge, but
not a heart knowledge. They knew things, they knew.
Brother Newell and I were talking about, we came out of the same thing.
People thought we were saved. We knew we weren't, when God
revealed that to us. I knew doctrine, I knew all kinds
of things, but I didn't know Christ. And then when God showed
me grace, and I confessed Christ, that he's done it all, it all
goes to him. Folks were saying, but Wayne,
you were saved. I said, but, I said, no I wasn't.
I know because I was the one there. I had a head knowledge, but no
heart knowledge. But oh, God had mercy on me. These folks here who believed
in the miracles, they're stony ground hearers. They're stony ground hearers.
They're amazed at the miracles, but they're not born again. It's yet another clear picture
of our Lord's deity, isn't it? Jesus did not commit Himself
on them because He knew all men. And He did not that any should
testify of man, for He knew what was in man. It shows us His deity,
God in the flesh. Who else but God knows all men? Who else but God knows if faith
is but temporary or real? And He did not grant them faith.
They had a head knowledge. And they were amazed at His miracles. But they did not hear the shepherd's
voice. But God's people, when He calls
them by their name and He calls us by our name, He knows every
one of His sheep. And He comes for it. He comes
for it. Look in our text again, verse
42 and 43. So these Pharisees did not confess
Him, lest they be put out of the synagogue. But because of the Pharisees,
they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the
synagogue. They had a fear of man rather
than God. One commentator said this, the
thing they feared was excommunication. We can have little idea perhaps
of the extreme dread when a Jew regarded exclusion from the visible
Jewish church. To him it equaled being shut
out of heaven. They believe that salvation was
in In the church, well, Catholics believe that too. But in all this, they feared
man over God. Look what 43 says, for they love
the praise of man more than the praise of God. They love to be well thought
of. by man. They love to have other
men vault them up. They love the preeminence. We're looking in Colossians on
Wednesday night. It's all about the preeminence of Christ. He
gets it all. These men love the preeminence.
They feared man more than God. They were fearful that they would
lose their position, their power, their wealth, and their prestige. In all this, they feared man
more than God. But the fear of the Lord is the
beginning of knowledge. They fear that they may be laughed
at, or mocked, or detested, and be put out of the synagogue. John 5.44 says this, How can
ye believe which receive honor one of another, and seek not the honor that cometh
from God only? I remember to my shame before
the Lord saved me, mocking Christians and thinking, I don't even really
know how I thought in the sense that, oh, they think they're
holier than thou. Little did I know that they thought
the opposite. until God revealed to me what
I was, like we saw in Isaiah. And the believer says, woe is
me. Woe is me. What would my friends say? What would my relatives say?
What would my coworkers say if I confessed Christ? The believer doesn't care, because
Christ is everything to him. He's my Lord. He's my Savior. He's my all. And we end up praying for our
relatives, and our co-workers, and our friends, and our family,
that they would come to Christ, if he's so pleased to do that.
Turn with me if you go to Proverbs 29, we'll look at one verse,
in verse 25. Proverbs 29. So these men feared man more
than God. Proverbs 29, 25. The fear of
man bringeth a snare. It brings a snare. Snare captures you. It brings a snare. Look at the latter part of this
verse. But whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe. Safe. Oh, what great comfort for the
believer. Doesn't matter what men say about us. or against
us, or even what they think, whoso putteth his trust in the
Lord shall be safe. Oh, that's so comforting. And
those whom the Lord saves, they will confess him and they will
be safe. They'll be safe. Look at verse 44 of John chapter
12. Jesus cried and said, he that believeth on me believeth
not on me but him that sent me. Now faith in Christ is faith
in God. He that trusts the Son trusts
the Father. And this is not just believing
he is a mere man. But believing that he's God in
the flesh. God in the flesh. The king we
looked at this morning upon his throne. In the flesh. And what unity we see here between
the father and the son. Our Lord Jesus Christ declares
that there is a complete oneness between him and the Father, and
he who believes on Christ also believes on him that sent him. There's a union. Father, Son,
and the Holy Spirit. Three distinct, but yet one. We've seen through the weeks
that the whole Trinity is involved in the salvation of a sinner. Our Lord Jesus Christ declares
that there is complete oneness between Him and the Father, so
that he who believes on Christ believes also on Him. Turn with me, if you would, to
John 5, 24. And I'll read 1 Peter 1, 21, which
says, Who by Him do believe in God that raised Him up from the
dead and gave Him glory, that your faith and hope might be
in God? might be in God. And in John 5, 24, it says, verily,
verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth
on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into
condemnation, shall not come into condemnation. Oh, marvelous
words, wonderful words. But has passed from death unto
life, born again of the Holy Spirit of God. The Godhead and the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Spirit is one. In the unity of the Godhead,
there are three persons. And yet, there is such an entire
unity between these three, that he who believes on the Son also
believes on the Father. This is life eternal, that they
might know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou
hast sent. John 17, three. Knowing Christ,
you know the Father. Loving Christ, you love the Father.
The only way to the Father is through Christ. John 14, six, verse we're all
familiar with. Jesus saith unto him, I am the
way. That means there's no other way. I am the truth. He is truth personified. There's no other truth. And the
life. There's only life in Christ.
No man cometh unto the Father, but by me. There's that unity again. The Father and Christ are one.
Turn with me if you would to John chapter 10. Verse 30, small
verse. John chapter 10, verse 30, I
and my Father are one. One. So our next text, our next verse
is 45 of John chapter 12. And he that seeth me, seeth him
that sent me." Here before us, again, the divinity
of the Lord Jesus Christ is unquestionably proved by this
verse, in the verse above it. If to believe in Christ is to
believe in the Father, and to see Christ is to see the Father,
then Christ must be co-equal with the Father. He must be God in the flesh. He must be. He must be the everlasting King
in the flesh. Oh, it's marvelous. And this seeing here is not with
the natural eye. Because many saw Him but didn't
believe. This seeing is with the eye of
faith. Seeing Him is the surety of the
covenant. Surety is defined as this, someone
who agrees to be legally responsible if another person fails to pay
a debt or to perform a duty. I have a dear friend. He listens
through a live stream with us, and he is an accountant for the
Air Force. And I was talking to him this
week about surety. And he said, oh, we have that
all the time in the Air Force. We use sureties all the time.
And he gave me an example of. One guy who started a construction
program or project, but he couldn't finish it. But they had a surety
who came in and finished the work. Think of this. A surety is one
who agrees to be legally responsible if another person fails to pay
a debt or to perform a duty. I owed a debt that I could not
pay. He paid a debt. Christ paid a
debt He did not owe. Debt for all the sins of all
His people, of all the ages. I needed someone to wash my sins
away. I couldn't do it on my own. Christ Jesus paid a debt. that
I could never pay. And he did it for all his people. He died on Calvary's tree before
the law and justice of God in the place of his elect. In a debt that we could never
pay, he cries, it's finished. What a wonderful surety. And if you're given eyes to see,
you'll be convinced and persuaded that this great gospel is founded
in the eternal God, in Him alone. Because we could never think
of anything so wondrous. Good one. John 12, 46 and 47 says,
I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me,
this is Christ speaking, should not abide in darkness. And if
any man hear my words, oh, given ears to hear. And believe not, Well, this is speaking of unsaved
folks, but saved folks are given ears to hear. And if any man
hear my words and believe not, I judge him not, for I'm come
not to judge the world, but to save the world. So Christ Jesus
came into this world, God incarnate in the flesh, right? To save
sinners. To save sinners. That was the true light which
lighteth every man that cometh into the world. Think of the
state of darkness we were in. Think of the state of darkness
man is in when he's born. Man is in such a state of darkness
that he loves the darkness and hates the light. Turn to John
chapter 3. John chapter 3. And oh, beloved,
think of what darkness we were in. We were spiritually blind
to the things of God. John chapter three, verses 18
and 19. He that believeth on him is not condemned. Oh, we
could just let that sink in. If I could live that all the
time. Not condemned. But he that believeth not is
condemned already, because he hath not believed on the name
of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation,
that light has come into the world. And man loved darkness
rather than light, because, here we go, because their deeds were
evil. What darkness we were in before
the Lord saved us. Blind to the Christ of God. Blind to who God was? Blind to
the providential workings of God in our lives even before
He saved us? Blind. Blind to have seen what Christ,
what He did and what He accomplished on Calvary's cross? But think of this, every day
the sun rises on the darkness, doesn't it? Every day. So too, when the light of the
gospel was shed in our hearts, the darkness fled. It fled. And the scales came off our eyes,
and we saw Christ. And we heard the gospel. Turn with me, if you would, to
2 Corinthians chapter 4. Light in the darkness. Light
in the darkness, beloved. 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verse
3 to 6. Whosoever believeth on Christ, believers no longer dwell
in darkness. The glorious light of the gospel
has shined on us. 2 Corinthians 4, verses 3-6, But
if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost. Whom the God of this world hath
blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of
the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should
shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves,
but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus'
sake, for God, for God who commanded the life. to shine out of darkness,
has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. God commanded the light to shine out of darkness.
That's why we say, give Him all the glory. Give it all to Him. Believers no longer dwell in
darkness, but they dwell in the glorious light of the gospel. And think of this, what marvelous
grace has been given to those of us who believe. Marvelous. Look at verse 47 in
John chapter 12. And if any man hear my words
and believe not, I judge him not, for I come not to judge
the world, but to save the world. The Lord Jesus Christ came into
this world to save sinners. Sinners like me. undeserving, unworthy sinners. 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 had not believed
on the name of the only begotten Son of God. John chapter 3, verse
17 and 18. The Lord Jesus Christ is first coming,
He came not as a judge, but as a Savior. He came into this world to save
sinners. And He will come again. He will
come again. And our next verse speaks of
His second coming. Verse 48. He that rejecteth me
and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him. The word
that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day."
Oh, there is a great day coming. There is, there's a great day
coming. People mock and laugh and say all kinds of foolish
things, but there is a great day coming. When righteous judgment shall
take place. Here our great King declares
that the words which he preached publicly to the Jews while he
was here on earth will witness against those who do not believe. They will not be able to deny
that Christ's words were words of mercy. They will not be able
to deny that they were words of wisdom. They will not be able
to deny who he is. They will be left speechless. And they will be condemned. And think on this, we always
say this, the word of God does not return void, right? It doesn't. Men may attack the
Bible. They may despise Christ. They
may despise the gospel. They may hate a sermon. They
may hate the Word of God. They may hate Christians. But the man who rejects Christ's
words needs no other judge than the words of Christ. Isaiah 55 says this, so shall
my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth and it shall not
return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please. And it shall prosper in the thing
wherein I sent it. See, this is the hope, right?
We preach the gospel, knowing that God will save his people. We don't know who they are. But
oh, we put the gospel out, we preach it, we send it out, knowing
that it will accomplish whatever He pleases. I'll have mercy on
whom I'll have mercy. If you're saved, oh, give Him
thanks that He had mercy upon you. Look at verse 49 of John chapter
12. For I have not spoken of myself,
but the Father which sent me. He gave me a commandment, what
I should say and what I should speak. And we looked at it in verse
44 and 45, the union of the Father and the Son, right? Here the intermittent and mysterious
union is expressed again, right before us. Christ's doctrine was not human
doctrine, it was divine. The gospel is of divine origin. Turn a couple chapters over to
John chapter 14 and John chapter 8. John chapter 14 first. So the
gospel is of divine origin. It was planned and purposed by
God. It accomplished by Christ, accomplished
by God. John 14 10, Believest thou not
that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that
I speak unto you, I speak not of myself, but the Father that
dwelleth in me, he doth the works. And in John chapter eight, verses 28 and 29. Then said Jesus unto them, when
ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that
I am he. that I do nothing to myself, but as my Father hath
taught me, I speak these things. He that sent me is with me. The Father hath not left me alone,
for I do always those things which please him. So to reject
the words of Christ is to reject the words of God. And now we see why unbelievers
will be silenced on the great day of judgment. Verse 50, the last verse of our
text. And I know that His commandment
is life everlasting. Whatsoever I speak, therefore
even as the Father said unto me, so I speak. The love of this
commandment is the gospel. The gospel. Which as we looked at today,
It can and does give light where there's darkness. What's our hope as believers?
Christ. That He died in my room instead?
My room and place? That He did it all? Outside of Him, I have no hope. Life comes through the gospel.
Life comes through Christ. The gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ, hearing and believing it. This is why we must preach
it. This is why we say we must preach Christ. We must. If I preach the message, and
I wouldn't hear, and I hope I never will, but if I preach on something
like 25 ways to better your life, That's useless. It's garbage. It can't do anything. It can't
save you. Do you see the fallacy of what's
being preached so much? We have one message, and that's
Christ. Christ and Him crucified. He
is the only hope for sinners. It's nowhere else. Nowhere else. Seek ye the Lord while he may
be found. Call upon him while he is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts,
and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him. He will. Isaiah 55, 6 and 7,
he will. And to our God, for he will abundantly
pardon. Forgiveness is only in Christ.
It's nowhere else. Through this man is preached
unto you the forgiveness of sins. Oh my God, may God give you the
grace to flee to him. Because he is the only hope.
And think this, think this beloved. What a difference we've seen
today. In our texts, we've seen that Christ's words are life
to the believer. Life to the believer. And to the unbeliever, they're
words of condemnation. And we saw the believer is not
condemned. Not at all. Because Christ did
it all. He paid it all. We can rest in this fact. Wednesday night, we looked at
being in Christ. And as I further read it even
more this week, we're in Christ right now, those of us who believe. We're in Christ when we go to
work. We're in Christ when we're at home. We're in Christ when
we're with our neighbors or with our family. The believer's never
outside of Christ. It's amazing. And that's our
hope. And that's our salvation. That
no matter what comes, no matter what trial comes, we have our
hope in Him. And here is the beauty of the
gospel in question. I was talking with Vicki about
this and I'll close with this. The beauty of the gospel in question. Who made you the difference? Who made you different? God. In Him alone. God in His mercy. God in His
mercy had the light of the gospel shine onto you. It's marvelous. Marvelous.