Turn with me this morning to
the Gospel of John Chapter 12. Chapter 12 of John's Gospel records
some events which begin to lead up to the crucifixion of Christ.
It begins with his visit to Bethany. Bethany, the house of Mary and
Martha, And Lazarus had just recently been raised from the
dead. And our Lord goes to visit with
them in Bethany. And then Mary took a pound, that's
a lot, of spikenard, very precious, very costly perfume. And she anointed the feet of
her savior against the day of his burial. And from that moment
that she anointed his feet for the burial, Satan began to work
in the hearts of his enemies. Judas had something to say about
Mary's anointing. He said, what a waste. What a
waste. That could have been taken. and
sold for so much money, and that money, and then to cover up that,
he said, and be given to the poor. And then the scripture said he
didn't say this because he carried anything for the poor. He said
this because he was a thief and he carried the bag. It would
have been a few more Few more cents in the bag that he could
have stole from. He was a thief and carried the
bag. And then the chief priests sought
to put Lazarus to death. They wanted to put Lazarus to
death because many of the Jews believed on Christ after he raised
Lazarus from the dead. And they heard he was in Bethany
and they came over to Bethany hoping to not only see Christ
who raised him from the dead, but to see Lazarus who was raised
from the dead. And so much so were these priests
stirred up that the following day, I mean the people, that
they took palm branches and began to spread them out in the road.
And cry unto the Lord, blessed is the King of Israel that cometh
in the name of the Lord. You can see that down in verse
13. And then Jesus finding a young ass's coat, never been rolled,
never been sat on, I hear people talk about salvation, the Lord
sitting on that wild-ass's coat and riding him to a standstill.
He didn't ride this thing to a standstill. It never bucked.
He just sat down on a wild-ass's coat that had never been rode,
and that thing gently carried him through the street. And I
tell you, that's exactly the way he saves sinners, too. That's
exactly how he does it. And amazing as some of these
things were, none of His disciples understood fully what was taking
place until after our Lord was raised from the dead. They didn't
understand the anointing. They didn't understand the palm
branches. They didn't understand the people
doing what they did. They didn't understand anything
that was going on until after our Lord was raised from the
dead. And the Jews, these Jews, they
were absolutely convinced that Jesus was a fraud. He was a fraud. And they began to get desperate.
They said, if we let him go, I mean, he's done a notable miracle.
He raised a dead man that we all knew was dead. He's out of
control. If we let him go, everybody's
going to believe on him. We got to do something about
this. Our captors are going to come
along and take our place away from us. They ain't going to
have any need of us. They ain't going to need a priest. Huh? They're not going to need a high
priest. They're not going to need a master
of theology. They're not going to need rabbis.
Our place is going to be taken from us. It ought to be. It ought to be. And it was. We got to do something about
this man. They said among themselves, nothing we say or do has any
effect on his ministry, and the whole world gone after him. And
then there was some Greek proselytes, evidently converted to the Jewish
faith, and they come to see this one called Jesus. And then our Lord, after all
these things, He looked at him and here's what He said. He said,
The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. The hour is here. This is that
hour for which creation was given its being. This hour. There's no other reason for creation,
no other reason for the sun and the moon and the stars and the
years and the age and time and trees and grass and jobs and
people and all, everything in creation. This is the hour for
which creation was given its being. This is the hour prophesied throughout
the Old Testament scriptures, talked about the day of the Lord,
the day of the Lord, the day of the Lord. This is the hour
when the eternal God shall unveil his heart and manifest his glory
in the face of his own son. And the people looked at Jesus,
many who had witnessed his great miracles and yet believed not
on him. And to cover their sin of unbelief,
they quoted some scriptures and says Moses wrote, Ain't that
what religious folks do? They grab my Bible to justify
their lies and they'll say, Moses said. And our Lord said, Moses
didn't say that. Jeremiah didn't say that. Isaiah
didn't say that. They rest the scriptures to their
own destruction. They grab the scriptures up real
quick and misquote it or partially quote it or misapply it. And
to cover their sin of unbelief, they quoted some scriptures.
And they said, Moses wrote that Christ abideth forever. And how
sayest thou the Son of Man should be lifted up? And then they asked this question,
who is this Son of Man? What in the world are you talking
about? What is the Son of Man? Why must
He come? Why must He die? Why must He
be lifted up before all men? Well, let me ask you something.
Where do you stand in all this? Huh? You're hearing the same
thing they're hearing. Where do you stand in all this? Are you one who has heard and
believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, or are you one trying to find
evidence to justify your unbelief? Where do we stand in this thing? The person and work of Jesus
Christ is as much an issue in this world right now as it was
2,016 years ago there in Bethany. Your soul is under siege the
same as theirs was. And we're as much deceived by
anti-Christ religion as they were in our day. In the third chapter of Peter's
second epistle, he speaks to the church of the end of all
things. I hope you young people listen
to what I'm telling you here this morning. He tells us that
the heavens and the earth, which are right now, that God destroyed
them back yonder in that flood, Wiped it out. Killed everybody
on this earth except for eight souls. And he put them in an
ark. He tells us that the heavens
and the earth, which are now by the word of the Lord, the
same word, are kept in store, reserved under fire against the
day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. Now, mankind
would have destroyed himself a long time ago if God let him.
He would. He'd destroy himself. God wouldn't
have to destroy him. He'd destroy himself. He'd kill
you over a sack of flour. He'd kill you over 50 bucks. He'd kill you over anything.
Man would have destroyed himself long ago had not the Lord intervened. And God Himself would have destroyed
him utterly in the garden had not God chosen a remnant in Christ
to save for the glory of His name. And Peter speaks of this
day, this end time. This great day, He speaks of
that day coming as a thief in the night. Coming unawares, coming
to take what you think you own. And then He said, the heavens
shall pass away with a great noise. They'll be gone. I'm not talking about over a
long period of time. I'm not talking about something
gets out of kilter and and goes on and on and on and
on and on until finally the earth just dries up and blows away. He said it'll come as a thief
in the night, it'll come suddenly and the heavens shall pass away
with a great noise and the elements shall melt with a fervent heat. And the earth and all its works
shall be burned up. Do you believe that? Do you believe that? Do you believe
that day is coming? This was written 2016 years ago. A lot of water went under the
bridge since then. And this scripture was written
because a bunch of men, after just a few years, after about
50 years, said, where is the promise of His coming? What do men say? How much more
did they say that today? Ain't nothing going to happen.
It was 2,000 years ago. And then Peter asked this question.
Seeing that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner
of persons ought you to be? You ought to be at least interested
in hearing the gospel, shouldn't you? Huh? You ought to at least be interested
to some degree To serve, if you're a believer in whatever capacity
the Lord's called you. What manner of persons ought
we to be in all holy conversation and godliness? What are you saying,
preacher? I'm saying that I'm a dying man.
I'm dying. And I'm preaching to dying men.
And the end ain't very far. I don't know about the end of
time, but the end of my time ain't very far. The end of your
time ain't very far. James said it was like steam
on a tea kettle. You watch it go up, it's gone.
Gone, just that fast. And I guarantee you, the older
I get, the faster it goes. It's Monday, and then it's Sunday,
and then it's Monday, and then it's Sunday again. This world was not created to
go on forever, but as a stage upon which God will manifest
his glory in the salvation of his people through the person
and work of his son. Listen to these scriptures. The
earnest expectation of creation waiteth for the manifestation
of the sons of God. That's the only thing it's waiting
on. As soon as that's over, it's gone. It was made subject to
vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who subjected to
shame and hope. And this world and all of its
empty promises and all of its shining treasures is doomed. That's what I'm saying. It's
doomed. It's just fuel for the fire. This world is in the midst of
the judgment of God, and they're totally ignorant of it, the same
as these men were who stood there in Bethany and talked to him,
who is this son of man? God's doing a work as he did
back then. He's doing it right now before
our eyes, and men don't see it. They don't see it at all. untold
millions this very day are crying out, and had not we made a covenant
with death, and with hell were at agreement, when that overflowing
scourge you're talking about, when that comes, it won't come
nigh to me. You're talking about the Moheathans
down there at the barn. You're not talking about me.
You're talking about thieves and robbers and harlots. You're
not talking about me. When the overflowing scourge
shall pass through, it won't come down to us, for we made
lies our refuge. I remember the day and the hour.
How many times you heard that? We've made lies our refuge and
hid ourselves in falsehood, but God's judgment's laid to the
line and righteousness to the plummet. And the hailstorm of
God's judgment shall sweep away that refuge of lies, and the
water shall overflow your hiding place. You know, I was watching
this, and I have a nephew who lives right out, right on the
coast, right where that hurricane came in. And I don't know how
many times the head guy on the weather channel and this one
and that one and governors and all of this stuff is standing
up and mandatory evacuation. Get out of there. There's going
to be a huge storm surge possibly can come in here. My nephew boarded
up his house and said he was safe because he put boards on
the windows and crawled back in his house. We made lies our refuge. Huh? And what's worse, he got away
with it. So the next time, when it does
come in, he won't think twice about staying there. He said this, God's judgment's
going to sweep away your refuge, your lies. You put a few sandbags
out, nailed some boards on the windows, and you think you're
going to be okay. You ain't going to be okay. God's judgment's
going to sweep it away. Sweep it away. And your covenant
with death will be disannulled, and your agreement with hell
shall not stand. I tell you, in this day, I study
and I stand up here to preach, but I can't find a desperate
sinner anywhere. I can't find one. I find men
wanting to play religion. I find men wanting to make professions
of faith to soothe that old guilty conscience. I'm telling you something,
I can't find a desperate sinner. If I could find one, I could
tell him something about the Lord Jesus Christ, but I can't
find one. I can't find one anywhere. Desperate, lost. bound for hell,
being swallowed up by this world and swallowed up by religion.
I can't find one. If I could, I've got good news
for him. Who is this son of man? Oh, that the Lord would be pleased
to work in this message today and open somebody's eyes to see
the reality of the day. The hour has come, our Lord said.
It's come. It's here. We're not talking
about the day that's going to come. We're talking about the
day that's here. That's what He told them. You
want to know something about the Son of Man? The hour has
come that the Son of Man is going to be glorified. The hour is
here. It's now. It's right now. And
I can say that exact same thing to you today. This is the hour. It may be the only hour God gives
you. It's all He gave them. Here's the hour. The Holy Ghost
says today, if you hear His voice, don't harden your hearts as in
the day of temptation in the wilderness. Harden through the
deceitfulness of sin, and harden in the day of provocation, and
harden by unbelief. It's a hard heart that says,
who is this Son of Man, and says it through His teeth. Tired of
hearing about him. Who is he? Well, let's see what the Son
of Man has to say about all this. John chapter 12, verse 24. He said, the hour has come. The
Son of Man is going to be glorified. Now listen to this. He gives
them what the old writers called a simile. It's something to teach
you. Something to teach you. It's
an illustration. He said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, except
a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth
much fruit. Now let's consider some things
here in this simile. First of all, Christ sets the
Son of Man before us as a corn of wheat. What in the world has
that got to do with the Son of Man? Here's what it has to do. He plainly declares to hearing
ears that He's the heavenly seed. That's what He's telling you.
He's the heavenly seed. Is there going to be fruit of
His coming? Is anybody going to be saved? My Father's the husband man.
This is His field. I'm the heavenly seed. Isn't
that what he's telling them here? I'm the grain of wheat. Now,
if you take this grain and it just is alone as it has been
in all eternity, then it abides alone. There's no fruit. But
you take that grain and you put it in the prepared ground and
you bury it in the ground, cover it up. The stalk's going to come
up. The top's going to form. And
a full thing of seed is going to be on there. You're going
to have fruit. He said, I'm the seed. Except I be planted, except
I die and fall into the ground, there's not going to be any fruit.
Can you hear what I'm telling you? This whole world is doomed. This whole world is under God's
wrath and judgment. He that believeth not, the wrath
of God abideth on him. He's not going to see life. That
man who turns his back on the gospel and turns his back on
all this work that God has done in his son, he's never going
to see any light. The wrath of God abideth on him. And Christ told them that now
the son of man is going to be glorified. And here's how he's
going to be glorified. Just like that wheat planted
in the ground. All the heavenly seed, all the
promises, thy seed, he told Abraham, thy seed is going to be like
the stars of heaven. He said, look up there and see
if you can count. Your seed is going to be just like that. You
go down on the seashore and see if you can count the sand. Your
seed is going to be like that. Now to Abraham and his seed were
the promises made. He saith not unto seeds as of
many, but of thy seed, which is Christ. You hear what he's
telling these men? Here's the glory of God. I'm
the heavenly seed. And if I don't come, and I don't
do what God sent me to do, there's not going to be any fruit. Who
is the Son of Man? That's who the Son of Man is.
He's the heavenly seat. In Ephesians 1, verse 10, he
said, making known unto us the mystery of God's redemptive will
in the dispensation of the fullness of times, He might gather together
in one all things in Christ. All things. Things in heaven,
things in earth, everything's in Him. in whom also we have obtained
an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him
who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will."
Paul wrote to the Galatians and he said, this seed, which is
Christ, this heavenly seed, Christ is the heavenly seed, contains
in himself all future production of those who will be like unto
himself. Listen to this over in Romans
chapter 8. He said, We know all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to His purpose. For whom He did foreknow, them
did He also predestinate. Now listen. To be conformed to
the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn of many
brethren. Here's the seed. Here's the fruit. The same seed that was planted,
the fruit is going to be just like it. Just like it. He is the heavenly seed. Alright, here is the next thing.
He said, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die,
it abideth alone. In order for this heavenly seed
to produce its fruit, it must die and be buried in the earth.
I read one time that They dug up this old pharaoh. I forget
which one it was. They was over there digging up
these tombs, and all these men were, and finding this and that.
And they opened up this sarcophagus, or whatever they call it, had
this pharaoh in it, and in his hand was a grain of wheat. And
I don't know how true this is, but they said they took that
grain and planted it, and it grew. 2,000 years old. in the hand of a Pharaoh, and
it grew. I said 2,000, probably closer
to 3,000. According to those scientists,
it had full capability to grow and produce fruit. Apply this
thought to the Redeemer, who had all things in himself and
that from the very beginning, yet he was alone. except He die. He had to die. He had to go to
the cross. He had to suffer for our sins. He had to do that to redeem. And that's not to say that there
was ever any doubt on God's part, but He speaks in eternal confidence
of His rejoicing way back yonder in the beginning, rejoicing with
the sons of men. That's in God's eternal confidence. But in all that time, he's alone
until he goes into this earth. And so that corn of wheat abides
alone. All right, thirdly, but if it
die, it bringeth forth much fruit. In 1 Corinthians chapter 15,
speaking of the two federal heads or the two seeds, if you will,
of mankind, Adam and Christ, it said, for as in Adam, all
die. Even so, in Christ shall all
be made alive. Every man that God purposed to
save in his son is going to receive life. And everything that pertains
to that life, the providential crossing of paths, the preaching
of the gospel, the word of God. Think how much has went into
the printing of this book. just into the printing of this
book to make it available for you. You can go down here to
any Baptist bookstore, any bookstore, religious bookstore, and buy
your Bible. Go online, type in the word Bible. It'll come up
there, give you all the different editions and all this stuff.
And you go on there and buy your Bible. Think of make the Word
of God at your access so you can pick it up. Here it is. Here
it is, the Word of God. Think of the providence involved
in bringing you to hear the gospel. All the things that took place
in your life. He said, but every man in his
own order Christ the firstfruits. Afterward they that are Christ's
at His coming. It's the death of our heavenly
seed that gives hope to the promised fruit. Think about that. You know, we want to think about
situations and buildings, and we want to think about this and
that, and we do have to consider all those things. But none of
those things have to do with the certainty of that fruit.
The certainty of that fruit depended on the death of Christ, the bearing
of that seed. He must die because all his elect
are represented in him. God's justice demands their execution,
God's law demands their condemnation, and God's righteousness demands
their eternal separation from God. And as our representative,
the son of man must suffer under the wrath of God until perfect
justice is satisfied and righteousness is established by his own hand. He must willingly, lovingly,
and voluntarily give himself over to the judgment of God.
He must die and be buried. And must be raised up in full
view of heaven and earth on a cross. Now listen to this. Here's the
fourth thing. If it die and fall into the earth,
it bringeth forth much fruit. Has to. It has to. The resurrection of Christ is
the full stock and promise of the great harvest. That's why
they had Feast of the Firstfruits. That's what that was all about.
He was delivered for our offenses, raised again for our justification.
You know, in the early part of my youth, I lived up in northern
Ohio. I was just a young, just a baby,
actually, when we moved up there from Kentucky. And then I spent
quite a few years there in northern Ohio, and we had ten acres of
ground up there, which is nothing compared to those big farms up
there. But we had a lot of ground we didn't use and we didn't want
to mow it, so we let it out. And those bigger farmers who
farmed around us would rent that ground off of us and share in
whatever they reaped from the crop. And I can still remember, I can
still remember that man planting that seed in the field. I'd ride
on the tractor. It just fascinated me to no end.
I'd ride on there, and I'd watch him. He'd pour that seed all
down in that old-timey planter, and he'd go along, and he'd turn,
and he'd plant that seed. It was something to watch. And
then I'd go out there and look, and I'd look, and pretty soon
you'd see these little things coming up, come up in the ground. And after a while, up there in
that prime weather for wheat, that wheat would be about this
high. And just gold and yellow and loaded with grain. Just loaded. And they'd bring that big combine
in and harvest the fruit. Christ, that holy and heavenly
seed, has not only been planted in God's garden, but He's risen
The stalks come up, it's sat down at the right hand of God,
and God's gathering in the fruit. That's what the gospel preaching
is all about. It's God gathering into His barn,
gathering that weed into His barn. I don't have to worry about whether
or not anybody's going to believe. There's nothing in heaven, earth,
and hell that can keep you from believing. That faith that's given to believers
was secured by the death of Christ. That heavenly fruit is secured,
it's sure, because the stock has already risen. He didn't just purchase the right
for you to hear, but the absolute guarantee that you will hear.
They said, if thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. Are you the
heavenly seed? Are you this son of man we're talking about? Won't
you just tell us plainly? He said, I told you. I told you. I told you plainly. But he said,
you didn't hear because you're not of my sheep. Isn't that what
he said? That's exactly what he said. He said, as I said unto you,
my sheep, hear my voice. This stalk, when God raises it
from the dead, is going to bear its fruit. And heaven, earth,
and hell can't prevent it. Can't prevent it. When last he
met with his disciples before he ascended up into glory, he
looked at them and he said, all power in heaven and earth is
given unto me. Now you go preach. Huh? You go preach. Fruit will be
there. Fruit will be there. He has by right of his life and
death the authority to settle all the affairs of his church,
to establish them where he will, to call men out of darkness,
to appoint officers and officers in it, to intercede for them
in glory, to institute and appoint ordinances. to order their ministering
angels to whatever situations he sees fit, to order providence
in their favor, and dispense the gifts of his spirit according
to his sovereign will. Authority over all flesh, not
just saints who serve him, but kings and princes, offices he
establishes among men. Power to reign till all enemies
be put under his feet. That's the heavenly fruit. Who
is this Son of Man? This Son of Man is the heavenly
seed. He's the only hope there is for
fallen sinners. There's no other hope. No other
hope. Everything depended on Him. But
now let me tell you something. If everything depended on Him,
And God justified him and raised him from the dead and glorified
him and set him down at the right hand of God. Why do we get so
upset over stuff? Huh? My soul, it's a done deal. It's already been secured. My
hope's sitting at the right hand of God. Who's going to separate you now
from the love of God, Paul said? Things present, things past,
things to come. Life or death or any other... I'd take my wife down to the
hospital a little scared with her heart. She's got nothing to fear. To
die is gain, is it not? It'd just be God ushering her
into glory. What we got to fear? It's a done
deal. The stock's already raised. The fruit's already in the ear.
Huh? He's just gathering it in now.
He's just gathering it in.