Alright, if you'll open your
Bibles now, you'll find our lesson in the last few verses of John
12. I'm going to begin reading with
verse 42. Nevertheless, among the chief
rulers also many believed on him. But because of the Pharisees,
they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the
synagogue. For they loved the praise of men more than the praise
of God. Jesus cried and said, He that
believeth on me believeth not on me, but on him that sent me. And he that seeth him that sent
me, I am come a light into the world,
and whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. And if any man hear my words
and believe not, I judge him not. For I came not to judge
the world, but to save the world. He that rejecteth me and receiveth
not my word, hath one that judgeth him the word that I have spoken. The same shall judge him in the
last day. For I have not spoken of myself,
but the Father which sent me. He gave me a commandment of what
I should say and what I should speak. And I know that His commandment
is life everlasting. Whatsoever I speak, therefore,
even as the Father said unto me, so I speak. Last week we talked a little
bit about Christ, the Light. The Light. All other lights come
from Him. He is the Light. The Light. I want you to listen to these
Scriptures. They are very important. They are key to understanding
what it is that he says here. John said, all things were made
by him, and without him was not anything made that was made. Paul put it this way over in
Colossians. He is the firstborn of every
creature, for by Him were all things created that are in heaven
and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether they be
thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created
by Him and for Him. He is before all things, and
by Him all things consist. Everything that has shape and
everything that doesn't. Everything that has its being.
The great oceans of the world, the endless space of the universe. All things, mineral, physical,
spiritual, everything that is, has its being. Here's what he
said. Has its being, its shape, its
existence for His purpose and His glory. There's no other reason
for these things to be. God didn't have in His mind a
picture of something that would bring Him joy, and then create
it, and then somebody come along and mess it up, and then He makes
attempt after attempt after attempt to redeem what they messed up.
These things from the get-go, from the very beginning, had
their purpose and their end in Him. in Him. Everything you see, the sun,
the moon, the stars, the planet, everything. God first appointed
the Mediator, the Christ, and everything else found its purpose
in Him. Are you aware of that? Have you
ever thought about that? Have you ever thought, Why? Why am I in this world? What
am I doing here? What is this whole thing all
about? Floods and catastrophes and all these things. What's
going on? What's this whole thing all about? Colossians 1 chapter 17. Listen
to this. And He is before all things. All things. And by Him, all things
consist. He holds them together. He rules
them. He dictates the order. He arranges. He does all these things. All
the principalities, all powers, all thrones, all dominions, all
created by Him and for Him. All the workings of creation
declare His power in Godhead. And by Him, all things consist.
Providence is in his hand. Listen to these words. The Lord
spoke to Job out of the whirlwind. Spoke to him out of a, I guess,
out of a tornado. Just began to speak to Job out
of the whirlwind. And here's what he said. Gird
up now thy loins like a man, for I will demand of thee, and
answer thou me. Job 38. Where was thou when I
laid the foundations of the earth? Declare if thou hast understanding.
Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? Or who hath
stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations
thereof fashioned? Or who hath laid the cornerstone
thereof? When the morning stars sang together,
and all the sons of God shouted for joy, or who shut up the sea
with doors when it break forth as if it had issued out of the
womb? When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness
a swaddling cloth for it, and break up for it my decreed place,
and set bars and doors, and said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but
no further, and here shalt thou proud ways bestate. As thou commanded
the morning since thy days, cause the day spring to know his place,
that it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked
might be shaken out of it. It is turned as clay to the seal,
and they stand as a garment. And from the wicked their light
is withholding, and the high arm shall be broken. As thou
entered into the springs of the sea, Hast thou walked in the
search of the depths? Have the gates of death been
opened unto thee? Or hast thou seen the doors of
the shadow of death? Hast thou perceived the breadth
of the earth? Declareth thou knowest it all?
Where is the way where light dwelleth? And as for darkness,
where is the place thereof, that thou shouldest take it to the
bound thereof, that thou shouldest know the path to the house thereof? Knowest thou it because thou
wast then born, or because the number of thy days is great?
Now what I'm laboring to point out to you this morning, the
key to the understanding of what's taking place here in the Word
of God, is something of the power and glory and majesty of Him
who stood before these men. This is He whom God first appointed
and everything, everything from that point in eternity revolved
around Him. They stood before Him who was
the brightness of the Father's glory, the express image of His
person. And who was that very instant
upholding all things by the word of His power? And they listened
to Him speak. And they had the audacity to
take His words and apply them to their religious, traditional
understanding. And made judgment on Him who
is the center of all things. You see what's going on here?
They stood before Him who is everything. took what he said and judged
it by what they thought. Now that's what goes on every
time men and women hear the gospel. Every time we read from this
book, and they just ignore it. They just shut it out. Push it
out of their mind. Or they'll read it, and here
it says something very plainly, very clearly. And just one or
two syllable words, easy to understand. But they'll take it and try to
make it fit according to their fallen, depraved
mind. And then hold judgment on what
was said. Now this is what's taking place
here. This is what's taking place here. God in human flesh stood
before them Proved by His miracles? Who else but God could call Lazarus
to have atonement? Who else but God could raise
the dead? Heal the lepers? Give sight to
the blind? That blind man said, herein is
something. Here is the miracle. It has never
been known since the beginning of time that any man born blind
has ever received His sight. And this man gave me sight. You
don't know who he is. This is God. Don't you think it more important
than your church covenant that a man is able to give sight to
the blind that's never received sight before? Wouldn't you give
that a little preeminence over your thoughts? A little preeminence
over what you feel and what you think? I get, when I read this, I get
the idea that they wanted to believe. It says here that many
of them believed. Many of them believed among the
rulers. Many believed on him to a point. To a point. All unbelievers have
a point. They will allow some compromise
to a point. They allow him to be sovereign
to a point. They will allow him to make decisions
and eternal counsels to a point. They will allow him to be holy
and just to a point. But when you get to that point,
they divide. They divide. And even though
he warned them about the consequences of unbelief and gave them Isaiah's
warning, nevertheless, some of them believed on him, but because
of the Pharisees, they would not confess him unless they should
be put out of the synagogue. They were going to be excommunicated,
going to be taken out of that religious society and sent away,
parted from the worship of God. And it said, verse 43 of John
chapter 12, Here's what the problem was.
They loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. Now listen to what the Lord tells
these men here in verse 44. Jesus cried. He's not talking
about He stood up with tears and cried. He's talking about
He elevated His voice above their voice. He broke the They were
going back and forth about this matter and murmuring and arguing
and all this stuff back and forth. He broke the silence. He elevated
His voice above them and He cried and He said, He that believeth
on Me, believeth not on Me, but on him that sent Me. On him that sent Me. And he that
seeth Me, seeth him that sent Me. Now, the grand declaration
of the gospel is that Jesus of Nazareth has come into the flesh. He's God come into the flesh. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. We began this study in the book
of John in the very first chapter. And after he had summed up what
this whole thing was about, And the faith of those throughout
time from the beginning all the way up to this coming. And then
he declares this gospel of which he's about to write, and he said,
and the Word was made flesh and dwell among us, and we saw His
glory. We beheld His glory. We didn't
behold just Jesus of Nazareth. We beheld His glory. We saw past
the man. We saw past the man. Thou shalt call his name Emmanuel,
God with us. He that seeth me seeth him that
sent me. But now, everybody that saw him
didn't see him. Is that a fair statement? Huh? Everybody that saw him did not
see him. Everybody there did not see in
Him the Father. Everybody there did not see Him
as God with man. And this book plainly declares
that Jesus of Nazareth, born of Mary, raised in Joseph's carpenter
shop, was none other than the virgin born, long foretold, long
prophesied of, Son of God. who came into this world to save
his people from their sins. And there's no other alternatives. There's no other alternatives.
Well, I don't like that. I don't know what to tell you. There's no other options. Well,
I'll just go down here. Well, now you're going to another
Jesus. You're going to another gospel.
You're going to another Christ. There's just one Christ. Just
one Christ. He said, He that seeth me, seeth
him that sent me. But you have to see in Him more
than the Son of Mary. You're going to have to see God
come into the flesh. You're going to have to see the
virgin-born Son of God, promised of God, foretold of God, manifested
of God. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians
chapter 1. Throughout the four Gospels,
there are numerous accounts of people who embraced the concept
of Christ, believed that Jesus of Nazareth was that Christ,
but never believed on Him as God. He confronts them time and
again. Would not believe on Him as set
forth of God who foretold His coming. They believed on Him
and perceived His person and work. And the things that he
did, the good things that he did, they looked on those things
and perceived in him according to the light of their own traditional
religion, a form of Christ. I'll give you an example. Up
on the mountain, he had all the people sat down and he fed 5,000
of them with a few fishes and a few loaves. And it said, that
this multitude, after they saw what He did, after they ate those
fishes, ate that bread, sat there on the ground, after that thing
was over, they got together and by force was going to make Him
the Messiah. They were going to make Him the
King of Israel. They were going to set Him up. They were dead
sure that this is David's son. He's the Messiah. We're convinced
of it. We're going to, by force, whether
He wants to or not, we're going to set Him on the throne. And
the Lord passed right through the midst. Crossed the sea and
didn't invite them to come. And the next day when they did
come, what did He tell them? He said, You're not here because
you heard what I said. You're here because you want
to get fed. You're here for the benefits. The only reason you're
here. And left them behind. Now they
believed on Him as the Christ. Didn't they? But not the Christ
as God describes Him. Not the Christ as God set Him
forth. Have you found your place there
in 1 Corinthians 1? I want you to listen to this
Scripture, verse 30. But of Him, of Him, talking about
God, are ye in Christ Jesus? Now, I recommend that you read
this Scripture. I know it's familiar to you,
but go back and read it again this afternoon. And when you
read this chapter, do not dismiss the means that God has been pleased
to use to bring this to pass. Back in verse 2, he tells these
same people, the same people that he's talking about here
in verse 30, he talked about back in the opening verses of
this chapter. And I'm paraphrasing now, but
you read the verses if you like. Verse 2, they were sanctified
in Christ Jesus and called to be saints. Verse 4, the grace of God was
given to them in Christ. Verse 5, enriched by Him both
in the utterance they heard and also in the knowledge God gave
them. Verse 6, God's testimony was confirmed in them. Sealed
by the Holy Spirit of promise is the way Paul puts it. Verse
7, they waited for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. In
other words, this was their hope. This was their consolation. This
was their desire. And verse 8, that He would confirm
Himself in them. And he that did confirm himself
in them would continue that confirmation until the end, until they died.
Now that's the kind of people he's talking about here. And
all of these things were the result of God's gospel being
preached to them. They found a hope in this gospel
that Paul preached. And that's what he reminds them
of. The hope is not In man's wisdom, in man's talent, in this
individual or that individual, this hope is in the gospel these
men preached. These men preached. Verse 21, God in His infinite wisdom, and
again, I'm paraphrasing, has allowed this world to be in such
a condition that they cannot by their own wisdom come to know
the living God. Is that not what that says? Let me read it to you exactly
as it's stated in the Scripture. For after that, in the wisdom
of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. I don't care how wise he is or how dumb
he is. He's never going to come to know
the living God if God leaves him to himself. It ain't going
to happen. It ain't going to happen. He
may get religion. He may build him an idol. either
on the ground or out of a stick or in his mind. But he'll come
up with something, but he won't even begin to know the living
God. Eternal life is to know God. Huh? Well then, if God leaves him
alone, leaves him to himself, leaves him to his wisdom, I don't
care if he has a library full of books. He's never going to
come to know the living God until God lays it on the heart of his
minister to write a book, write a pamphlet, stand up before men
and preach this gospel. He's not going to come to know
the living God. Just hold your place there in
1 Corinthians. I want to read a passage out
of 1 John chapter 5. Paul said, and we know. Everybody don't know this. Now
he's already spent an entire book talking about the we, so
that there be no mistaking this we, but basically he says this,
those who know they are of God in the rest of the world life
in wickedness. And we know that the Son of God
has come and has given us an understanding that we may know
Him that is true, that we are in Him that is true, even in
His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal
life. Everything else is just religion.
It's just religion. The gospel is the means whereby
an ignorant, depraved, evil world can receive the gracious wisdom
of God. And they receive it through an
understanding of the person and work of Jesus Christ. You just
have to keep pointing. Just keep pointing. Keep pointing.
Keep pointing. Because that's where it's at.
In Him is life. Life. Now go back there and let
me read the rest of 1 Corinthians 1. But of Him are you in Christ
Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. This is why He came. This is
what He accomplished. This is where the gospel light
shines. There is no wisdom of God outside
of Christ that can benefit a sinner. What am I saying? I'm saying
that there is no wisdom outside Christ crucified that can benefit
the soul of a seeking sinner. It can make him happy. It can
make him religious. It can make him feel good. There's
a lot of things that it can do. But it can't benefit his soul.
And it doesn't gain one inch toward God. No wisdom of God outside of Christ
that can benefit the sinner. And although it's true, you look
over here and, well, I'd rather this man be in church than be
in the bar. Well, I don't know. I don't know.
I'm not going to be real quick to answer that. I'll tell you
what the Lord said about the Pharisees. He said they were
in worse shape than the people in Sodom and Gomorrah. Huh? Looks to me like False religion
is a step down, not a step up. Religion can make you a better
dad, they can make you a better mother, they can make you a better
employer, a better employee, maybe a better citizen. But they
can't make you acceptable with God. And that's who we have to stand
before. That's who we stand before this
morning. That's what we're concerned about. Paul said when these things
happened to him, he said, I didn't even ask men. I didn't even ask
for their opinion. He said, I saw this thing between
me and God. Righteousness. I must be given
a righteousness in order to be reconciled of God. God must maintain
a righteousness in His dealings with me. I must have one. One is required of me, but it's
also required of Him because He is righteous. So I can't deal
with Him and He can't deal with me apart from this righteousness.
I have to have this righteousness. And then sanctification. Hebrews
10 teaches us that Christ was given a body. A body of a man
to represent men in things pertaining to God. A body of a man, a representative
man, to do for men what they could not do for themselves.
A sacrificial body to pay that debt they could not pay. He said, I come to do thy will,
O God. And the volume of the book is
written of him. He came to do God's will. All of the things testified throughout
the book, all of these things, and then down in Hebrews 10.10,
by the witch will, the doing of that will, the accomplishing
of that will. Listen, we are sanctified through
the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. There's my sanctification. Now
ain't that what he's telling us over here in 1 Corinthians
1 verse 30? Here's the wisdom. The gospel is set forth in a
mystery. The only way you can unscramble
the mystery is through this wisdom. You have to have this knowledge
of Christ. When you receive that wisdom,
receive that knowledge, it shows you that you must have a righteousness,
and this righteousness is in Christ. I must have a sanctification. That sanctification is in Christ.
You see what I'm saying? Of God are you in Him. That He
has made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. What's redemption? That means
He bought back everything that was forfeited. In Adam. Everything. Complete, free restoration
of all things in Christ. And these men heard that. They
heard what he was preaching. But they weighed what he was
preaching by their own understanding. By their own understanding. And
they said, yeah, but, yeah, but, yeah, but.