If I could narrow all my ambitions, all my desires to one expression, all the burden of my heart to
one statement, if I could press all my soul's ambitions and longings
into one prayer, if I'm not deceived, this is what it would be. Father,
glorify thy name. I want many things for you. My grandson sitting back there,
oh, I want much for him. You young people, I pray for
you. Call your names before God. Seek his mercy on your behalf.
I want much for you. But if everything could be put
in one expression, this is what I want. Father, glorify thy name. Open your Bibles with me to John
chapter 12. Brother Lindsey has been teaching
from this chapter for the last several weeks. so you're very
familiar with it. The chapter begins with a rather
remarkable event, something that our Savior describes in both
Matthew and in Mark as a good work wrought on me. The only thing ever performed
by any man anywhere that the Lord Jesus says is a good work. is a work here performed by Mary
as she anointed his feet with ointment, washed them with her
tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head and kissed
his feet. He says she hath wrought a good
work on me. Let's read about it beginning
in verse one. Then Jesus, six days before the Passover, came
to Bethany. where Lazarus was, which had
been dead, whom he raised from the dead. There they made him
a supper, and Martha served. But Lazarus was one of them that
sat at the table with him. Then took Mary a pound of ointment,
of spike wood, very costly, and anointed his feet, and wiped
them with her hair. and the house was filled with
the odor of the ointment. Then saith one of his disciples,
Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him, why
was not this ointment sold for 300 pence and given to the poor? This he said, not that he cared
for the poor, but because he was a thief and he had the bag. and bear what was put therein.
Then said Jesus, let her alone. Against the day of my burying
has she kept this. Now all of the disciples, all
of them, followed Judas' suit. You read Matthew's account, Mark's
account, Luke's account, you'll discover that every one of the
disciples join Judas in slandering this woman. Every one of them
joined Judas in belittling her for this thing she had done.
They thought it was out of place. They thought it was a waste.
They thought it was meaningless. And the Lord Jesus says to his
disciples, to you and me and to Judas, let her alone. She hath wrought a good work
on me. Why do you suppose he refers
to this great deed as a good work and doesn't refer to anything
else as such? I have some reasons, I'm confident
or so. First, this was a good work because
it was a work of faith. This woman seemed alone to understand
the Lord's teaching with regard to his death, burial, and resurrection. She had kept this spike and she
had been holding this thing, a very costly ointment. For some
time collecting it, it was worth 300 pence. Judging by the fact that in the
parable, our Lord speaks of men who were called to work and he
paid them a penny a day. David, that's a full year's wages
for a working man. And she poured it all out. It
was an act of faith because she believed him. It was a very costly,
sacrificial work. That which is done for God's
glory, that which is done for God, that which is given to God,
That which honors God will cost you. It will cost you. Preacher wants to honor God,
it'll cost labor and life and relationships and everything
else. I say that for you young men
who are preaching. If God puts you in the ministry,
Frank Hall, if God ever puts you in it, you give your life
to it. You give your life to it. Sacrifice
everything for it. All time, all relationships,
all energies, everything, everything. So Amy walked in a little bit
ago. I said this to you before. If your husband is worth his
salt, and I believe he is, you're going to have to sacrifice a
lot. because he's married to somebody more important than
you. That's what a pastor is. If you who serve God in the place
where God has put you, you who are God's children, if you'd
serve him, don't imagine serving him with leftovers. God won't
have it. God won't have it. I had a friend,
had a friend several years ago. told me, none of you know him,
so you don't need to think about who he is. He said, I'm thinking
that in a few more years I'm going to retire and I'm thinking
maybe I'll go into the ministry then. And I called him by name,
I said, forget it. Forget it. He said, what? I said, God won't have your scraps. God won't have your scraps. All
you will do is delude yourself. No, no. God requires that we
serve Him with our lives, and that requires sacrifice. This
was called a good work because it was a work motivated by nothing
but love for Christ. This woman wasn't doing anything
to be seen of men. She wasn't doing anything to
be of any benefit to anyone else except the Savior. This this
work wasn't for you or me. It wasn't for those disciples
around. It wasn't for the poor. It wasn't for someone who needed
something. It was done just for him. Oh, God. To do what I do just
for him, not for you, not for your approval, not for your applause,
not for your consideration, just for him. is called a good work
because it's a work of faith, a work of love, a work of sacrifice,
a work done just for Him, a work for which she had made deliberate
preparation, a work that she had been planning to do, waiting
for the opportunity, planning to do something just for Him.
Now, this is what our Savior commands. And then the next day,
Our Lord Jesus made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem sitting
on an ass's coat. Mary had anointed him for his
burial in anticipation of his death, his resurrection, his
ascension, and his exaltation as King of Kings and Lord of
Lords. And now the next day, the very
next day, the Lord God compelled the people, those very people
who in just a few hours The very same people running just a few
hours would cry, crucify him, crucify him. The Lord God compelled
them by a marvelous constraint of providence to spread palm
branches before him. call out loudly, crying, Hosanna,
blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the
Lord. These are the very people who in just a few hours would
cry, crucify him, crucify him. Then in verse 20, there were
certain Greeks, certain Gentiles among them that came up to worship
at the feast. The same came, therefore, to
Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him,
saying, Sir, we would see Jesus. Sir, we would see Jesus. I hope that's how you come here
today. Philip cometh and telleth Andrew, and again Andrew and
Philip tell Jesus, Jesus answered them saying the hour is come
That the Son of Man should be glorified The hour for which
the world was made The hour for which I came into this world
the hour has come when the Son of Man must be glorified verse
24 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. He that loveth his life shall
lose it. And he that hateth his life in
this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve
me, let him follow me. And where I am, there shall also
my servant be. If any man serve me, him will
my father honor." Look at verse 27. Hear the Son of God as he speaks
of his heavy, heavy soul trouble. Soul trouble that he feels deep
in his being as he anticipates being made sin for us. Bearing
the furious wrath of an angry God in our place and dying in
our stead upon the cursed tree. Now is my soul troubled, and
what shall I say? Mr. Hawker suggests the text
might better read like this. Now is my soul troubled, and
what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour.
But for this cause came I unto this hour. Glorify thy name. Then came there
a voice from heaven saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify
it again. The people, therefore, that stood
by and heard it said that it thundered. Others said an angel
spake to him. Jesus answered and said, this
voice came not because of me, but for your sakes. This word
from God didn't come so that I would know what the Father
here promises. This word from God came from
heaven for your sakes. So clearly that which is written
here is written by divine inspiration for your benefit and mine, for
your instruction and mine, for your reproof and mine. for your
understanding and mine. This didn't come from heaven
so that the Lord Jesus would know what was about to happen.
It didn't come from heaven to instruct him. It came from heaven
for your sakes. That gives me keen interest in
it. God on this occasion spoke from
heaven for my sake. God on this occasion spoke from
heaven for these ears. for me to hear, to teach me,
to instruct me, and you. You'll find my subject in the
first sentence of verse 28. Father, glorify thy name. I cannot think of a prayer more
suitable for the children of God in all seasons than these
words that fell from our Savior's precious lips. May God the Holy
Spirit truly make it mine and yours. Father, glorify thy name. All right, now before we look
at verse 28, I want us to give thought to the context and learn
what the context of this prayer is and this word from heaven
spoken by our God. First, our Lord Jesus had performed
a remarkable, remarkable miracle. He had raised Lazarus from the
dead. He had raised Lazarus from the
dead. The fame of that miracle, you
can imagine, spread like wildfire. I mean, everybody heard about
it. Hearing about this man who raised Lazarus from the dead,
they heard report of this man who multiplied loaves and fishes.
This man who was able by the mere word of his mouth to cause
blind men to see, deaf men to hear, and lame men to walk. Those miracles caused a great
stir all around the area. And multitudes came, multitudes
came, hearing that this man, Jesus of Nazareth, would surely
be at the feast. The Pharisees wanted to put him
to death, but they dared not do anything openly for fear of
the Jews. Because everybody was there talking
about this one man and the things that he had done here as a man.
who claims to be the Christ of God. He's raised this man from
the dead. So many people were talking about
it. So many people were stirred about
it. The Pharisee said the whole world is going after him. Everybody's
going after him. Following this and the other
miracles performed by our Lord, people wanted to make him king
in Israel. As he rode into the streets of
Jerusalem, A great multitude met him, waving palm branches
and crying, Hosanna, blessed is the King of Israel that cometh
in the name of the Lord. But the Lord Jesus came into
Jerusalem in a most remarkable way. He came in riding an ass's
coach. just like Zechariah said he would,
in great humility, in great lowliness, not riding a mighty steed, but
riding an ass's coat into the streets of Jerusalem. And here
the people proclaimed him king, king of Israel. Now this public
manifestation and these miracles, the resurrection of Lazarus from
the dead and those other miracles cause this general talk to be
stirred among the people And they came and began to raise
questions about this man who is the king of Israel, this man,
Jesus, who claims to be the Christ. Look at verse 21. Certain Greeks
asked Philip to introduce them to the master, saying, Sir, we
would see Jesus. Now, obviously, they were not
asking Philip to let them see the Lord Jesus physically. That
wasn't their desire. They could do that without Philip's
aid. All they had to do was open their eyes and look. That wasn't
what they were asking. They were saying, sir, we would
know Jesus. Here is a man. You obviously
know him. We would know him, too. We would
know all about him, sir. Tell us about him. And Philip
took his brother Andrew and they went and told the Lord Jesus
about it. The sight of these Greeks must have brought joy
to our Savior's heart. Here were men coming out of great
darkness to him who is the light of the world. These Gentiles
were seeking their Savior. No doubt he saw in these men
a reminder of that for which he came into the world to accomplish,
a reminder of his purpose in coming. He had come here to accomplish
the salvation of God's elect through all the world, Jew and
Gentile. To call out God's elect, to save
God's elect, to redeem God's elect out of every nation, kindred,
tribe, and tongue throughout the world. He must have looked
upon these strangers with delight, regarding them as representatives
of the countless multitudes who would come to him from the ends
of the earth. how his heart must have laughed with joy. He sees
these two Greeks. The Jews despised and rejected
him. The Jews wouldn't have him. He
came to his own and his own received him not. But here come these
two Greeks, these two representatives of the whole Gentile world and
God's elect scattered among all the Gentiles. And these, he says,
this is the joy set before me for which I will endure the cross,
despising the shame. And then as he began to address
the crowds before him, A solemn thought seems to have seized
his holy mind. He seems to have thought within
himself. Seems to have thought. I'm saying this is what I think
must have gone through his mind. If somebody wants to argue with
it, let them argue. I won't fuss about it. But this
is what the context seems to me to teach. Our Lord Jesus thought
to himself, multitudes are to be gathered unto me. Jew and
Gentile shall be saved by me, but they cannot be born into
my kingdom without my soul's travail. They cannot be saved
except I satisfy the justice of God for them. These people
cannot live except I die and redeem them with my life's precious
blood. It appears to me that this fact
came vividly before our Savior's heart and mind. He seems to have
had this to come rushing upon him like a raging storm. He saw that he could not become
the seed of great harvest until first he falls into the ground
and dies. The seed must be cast into the
ground. The seed must die or there can
be no fruit from the seed. You take that little grain, that
little grain will give no benefit to anyone except to be cast into
the ground, die and bring forth then much fruit. And so our Savior
says in verse 24, I must die. I must be cast into the ground. Otherwise I will abide alone. There is no salvation for God's
elect, no salvation for anyone except the Son of God be made
sin for us, suffer the wrath of God for us to the full satisfaction
of divine justice as our sin atoning sacrifice and substitute. There is no possibility of anyone
being saved except by his death as our redeemer. Our Lord Jesus
saw the vicarious sufferings he must endure as our substitute
and what that involved. And he says, now is my soul troubled. Now is my soul troubled. Yet we must never imagine that
our Savior feared death. He didn't fear death. He wasn't
afraid to die. I've seen men die and die in
pain with confidence and peace. I've held the hands of dying
saints and watched them leave this world with peace, without
fear. Multitudes have died violent,
painful deaths. Read about the martyrs who counted
it a joy to suffer and die in the name of the Redeemer. Certainly
our Redeemer was not less courageous than they, if I can use such
a term. He was not afraid of death. He didn't fear death,
but his death was a very peculiar death. You see death is the penalty
for sin. Death is the penalty for sin. You're going to die. At God's appointed time, you're
going to die. And nobody's going to prevent
it. Nobody's going to hurry it up, and nobody's going to shorten
the time. We have two doctors here who
spend their lives, medical life, taking care of folks, but they
can't preserve life. They can't preserve life. They
just can't do it. They can't do it. You're going
to die at God's appointed time because of sin. Because of sin. Now you can put on all the cosmetics
you want to and take all the vitamins you want to and eat
all the bales of hay you want to and never eat another piece
of meat if you don't want to. You're still going to die exactly at
the hour God appointed before you took your first breath because
of sin. You understand that? The wages
of sin is death. Death. But he knew no sin. He knew no sin. If you were sinless,
you wouldn't die. The only reason people die is
because of sin. The only reason. Oh, he was such
a good man. He's dead, ain't he? That's the
proof of the pudding. If you were good, you wouldn't
die. Death is the fruit of sin. One of the clearest, most universal
evidences of total depravity. The depravity of all Adam's race
is the fact that babies get sick and die. If you weren't sick, you'd never
had the sniffles. You'd never run a fever. You'd never be sick
and you'd never die if you weren't sinful. I don't know. Death is
the result of sin, but he knew no sin. Death is the curse of
God's broken law. Death is God's curse upon man
who's broken his law. The soul that sinneth, it shall
die. Not just physical death, everlasting
death in hell, whatever that is. Death is God's curse upon
man because of sin. But our Lord Jesus honored the
law. He magnified the law and made
it honorable. He never broke the law at all.
Death is the outpouring of God's wrath upon fallen man. But here
is a man who is the delight of his father's heart. Death had
no claim on him. Death has a claim on me. Death
has a claim on me. I am sin. I am corruption. I am iniquity. Death has a right
claim on me. I have to acknowledge it. If
I got what I deserve, I'd be in hell a long time ago. Death
has a right claim on me and you. But no claim on him. He's wholly
harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners. But the son of
God must die. Or I must die. The son of God must die or you
must die. He must die as the sin bearer. His death was the vindication
of God's holiness, the satisfaction of God's justice. Our Lord Jesus
died voluntarily as our sacrifice and our sin atoning substitute.
He died in the place of sinners, being made sin for us, being
made the object of his father's holy wrath and justice on our
behalf. Now, this is altogether different
from the death we die as justified believers. We have the privilege of passing
out of this world, resting on the atonement of Christ. sustained
with the confidence that were reconciled to God by the blood
of his cross. I went up to see Brother Bob
a couple of weeks ago, and he expressed to me how anxious he
is to leave this world, if he didn't just have to leave Sally.
And he said, I'm ready. I'm ready. You mean you're ready
to meet God? You ready to meet God? Are you ready? Oh yeah, preacher,
I'm ready. I doubt it. I doubt it. Not him. Not him. Folks, I'm
ready to go. Let's see. How come you say so? Our readiness is blood atonement. That's all. I'm ready to meet God, Merle
Hart, because Christ is my Redeemer. That's all. That's all. That's our readiness. Our Lord
Jesus died bearing the enormous load of our guilt. We die bearing
no guilt. He died bearing our sin. We die bearing no sin. He died
forsaken of God. We die embraced of God because
he died in our stead. The dark hue of human corruption,
sin, and guilt must soon blacken his holy soul. Therefore, he
says, my soul is exceeding troubled. My soul is troubled. He must be made sin for us. How his holy, sensitive, sinless
soul must have quaked at the thought of being made
sin for us. Oh, how his soul must have quaked
at the thought of being made sin for us. When he began to anticipate the
horror of bearing our sins, in his own body on the tree. There
was a struggle in his soul. This is the preface to what we
find experienced by him in Gethsemane when he cried, my God, my God. Oh, my father, if it be possible,
let this cup pass from me. Oh, my father, if it be possible,
let this cup pass from me. And again, oh, my father, and
his heart breaks within him, and his sweats drops of blood
fall into the ground. Oh, my father, if it be possible,
let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, thy
will be done. These Greeks wanted to see the
Lord Jesus. and see him they did. But they saw him as no one had
ever seen him before. They saw him in the days of his
flesh, offering up prayers and supplications with strong crying
and tears unto him that was able to save him from death. The Spirit
of God tells us in Hebrews 5, 7 that they saw the Lord Jesus the Son of God in fear. In fear. How can a man comment on that? In fear. He who made the oceans thirsted
for water. He who created all things hungered
when his belly gnawed with hunger. He who rules the universe feared
when anticipated being made sin for us. In all things touched
with the feeling of our infirmities. In all things, in all things,
it behooved him, the Spirit of God says, to be made like unto
his brethren. And so these Greeks came to him,
and this is what they saw. The Savior said, Father, glorify
thy name. And there came a voice from heaven
saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify it yet again. Let me give you three things
very quickly, and I'll wrap this up. First, in verse 28, we see
this prayer of faith. Our Lord Jesus Christ, above
all others, lived in this world by faith. believe in God. His faith in God was exemplified
in his perfect faithfulness to God in all things as a man. Both his faith and his faithfulness
are displayed here. This is a prayer that arose from
our Savior's great trouble of soul as a man. He knew what lay before him. He knew what Judas was about
to do. He knew how Peter would cuss
and deny him. He knew all the disciples would
soon forsake him. He knew that he would soon be
made sin for us. And the weight of it all came
crushing on him. Just came crushing on him. How
many times have you had difficulties, just great difficulties,
and you put them aside, you push them aside, you push them aside,
you put them out of mind, you busy yourself, you put them out
of mind. And then when you're alone, in the middle of the night, maybe
you're laying in bed, been laying there hours, and your wife's
asleep, your husband's asleep, and you're just alone, and suddenly
everything comes crushing like a weight on your soul, and you
cry, I just can't bear it. I just can't bear it. All this
came crushing upon Emmanuel's soul as he anticipated what he
must suffer for us. If the anticipation was such,
imagine what the suffering must have been. He who knew no sin must be made
sin. He must be forsaken of his father. Read the 22nd Psalm and hear
his cries. Is it nothing to you? O ye that
pass by, behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow,
which is upon me. The sorrow done unto me, done
unto me, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his
fierce anger. I find here both deep mystery
and comforting truth. I have no idea, I have no idea,
absolutely no idea what all's involved in Christ being made
sin for us. I have no idea what all that
involves. It's a mystery infinitely. beyond me. And I use the word
infinitely very sparingly. The only thing infinite is God. This is a mystery infinitely
beyond me. Only God knows what God did that
day. Only God knows what His Son endured
that day. Only God knows what transpired
that day. But I know this, there was nothing
pretended about it. There was nothing fake about
it. It is not, it's as though God did. No, no, no, no, no. Don't ever say it's as though
God did. No, no. God made his son sin
for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. Our savior was made to endure
all that I am, that he might make me all that he is, the very
righteousness of God in him. Oh, what comfort that is for
our souls. Bob, there's nothing pretend
about it. It's not as though God made you righteous. He really
did. He really did! We are made to
be the very righteousness of God in Him. And now our Savior is touched with the feeling of
our infirmities and able, able to succor them that are tempted
in all circumstances of life. I often say to someone before
I realize what I've said, I know. Someone going through great pain,
great heartache, great trouble, well, I know what you feel. If I've done that with you or
if I do that with you tomorrow, please forgive me. and understand
I'm just expressing my helplessness to know. How can I know what you feel
when I've not been there? How can I know what you've experienced
when I've not experienced it? How can I be touched with what
touches you unless I am truly one with you? But the Son of
God, He He who sits yonder on heaven's
throne is touched with everything that
touches you. Able to help with passion those
that are tempted because he's touched with the feeling of our
infirmities. Weakness, pain, bereavement,
isolation, slander, bitterness, misunderstandings, even the evil that's in you. Even the evil that's in you. You see, he who knew no sin was
made sin for us. Now is my soul troubled, and
what? I like the way Hawker suggests
that. He suggests the question mark ought to be right there,
and what? And what? Shall I say, Father, save me
from this hour? Shall I say, Father, don't do
this? Shall I say, Father, prevent
this? Oh, no. Oh, no. For this cause
came I unto this hour, and I set my face like a flint. I give
my back to the spiders. I give my cheeks to them that
pluck off the hair. I give myself into the hands
of your holy justice to be crucified and slaughtered in your furious
vengeance in the room of my people. Father, glorify thy name. All right, here's the second
thing in verse 28. A promise from God. Then came their voice from heaven.
This is the third time God spoke from heaven. Once at the Savior's
baptism, once in his transfiguration, and now as his soul is troubled
in the anticipation of being made sin, he says, I have both
glorified it and will glorify it yet again. Two things here. This is talking
about Clearly, the accomplishments of our Redeemer in his death,
that's what the whole context is about. He says to his son, I have glorified
my name in you. I entered into a covenant with
you for my glory. I've glorified my name in you.
I accepted you and my people in you. Before the world was,
I glorified my name in you. I sent you into the world in
human flesh without sin to obey me in the room instead of your
people and you've done it I've glorified my name in you and
now now now I'm about to vindicate my righteousness my justice and
my truth in having mercy upon such wretched worms as Jacob's
are and I will glorify my name in you so that he is saying my
son, and he's saying to all us who hear him speak, by the sacrifice
of my son, my name is glorified. By the sacrifice of my son, in
the person of my son, in the work of my son, in the proclamation
of my son, my name is glorified. And I will yet glorify it again.
My name will be glorified in all things through the sacrifice
of my son, the exaltation of my son, the preeminence of my
son, who rules all things for my glory. You see God's purpose
in everything. God's purpose in everything is
his glory. The Lord has made all things
for himself. Yea, even the wicked for the
day of evil. God's purpose in everything is
his glory and God's going to do his purpose He's going to
glorify himself He will either glorify himself in you in his
mercy Saving you for the glory of his son or he will glorify
himself in you in his justice Casting you off forever into
everlasting darkness and damnation in hell. I Have both glorified
it and will glorify it yet again. One more thing. Look back at
our text. Here is the principle of grace. The principle of grace by which
our Savior lived in this world. The principle we ought to seek. The principle by which we ought
to strive always to live. Father, glorify thy name. Turn back to Proverbs Chapter
3. I'll wrap this up very quickly. Proverbs Chapter 3. Let this ever be the prayer,
desire, ambition, and governing principle of your life in this
world. Father, glorify thy name. Proverbs chapter 3, verse 5. How on earth can I do this? How
can I constantly live for God's glory? Interested? Are you interested? Trust in
the Lord with all thine heart. and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him,
and he shall direct thy paths. Whether therefore you eat or
drink, or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God. Amen.