Ralph Barnard used to often talk
about preaching for a verdict. What he meant by that was that
we should preach not so much to inform the mind or even edify
the soul and comfort the heart, though certainly preaching ought
to have those objects in mind, all true preaching. informs the
mind, edifies the soul, gives comfort to the heart. But there's
more to preaching than that. Preaching of necessity calls
for men and women to make a decision, to make a choice. It presses
the hearer with the urgency of the hour and the message declared. All true preaching is intended
to push you into a corner, push you into a corner and force you
to do something. I had a professor who used to
say to us preacher boys frequently, he said, where there is no summons,
there is no sermon. And about that, he was exactly
right. where there's no summons, there's no sermon. If all I do
is inform you, I haven't preached to you. If all I do is instruct
you, I haven't preached to you. I've come here tonight with a
summons, a summons that I hope will comfort and edify and instruct,
but a summons. In the words of Jonathan Edwards,
he said, every time I go out to preach, I have two determinations. I'm determined that it is every
man's responsibility to give himself entirely to Christ. It is your responsibility to
give yourself entirely to Christ. And I am determined, Edwards
wrote, that if no one else does, I will give myself to my Lord. So I try to preach to myself
and preach to you. pressing us to utter devotion
to the Son of God. I keep pressing myself, Don Fortner,
give yourself to the Savior. Give yourself to your Redeemer. Devote yourself, consecrate yourself
to the Son of God. And my intention this hour is
to press you and me to do so. I'm calling for us to give ourselves
to our blessed Redeemer in the devotion, commitment, and consecration
of true faith. For indeed, true faith involves
devotion, commitment, and consecration. It's not just deciding to become
a Baptist or deciding to join the church or deciding to Quit
your mean ways and act religious. Faith is not just receiving facts
and accepting them. It is not just embracing doctrine
and confessing it. Faith involves the deliberate
devotion, commitment, and consecration of your life to the Son of God. Now let's see if I can make good
on that. Turn with me to John chapter 12. I've entitled this
message, A Passover Sermon. Our Lord Jesus Christ, the true
Passover. Christ, our Passover, who now
is sacrificed for us, gave this sermon to his hearers just before
he laid down his life in the room instead of his people. We'll
begin at verse 20. And there were certain Greeks
among them that came up to worship at the feast. Now remember this
is during the Passover week. The Jews were all assembled at
Jerusalem to celebrate this week of Passover. And among the Jews
there were Greeks, Gentile converts, who had been proselyted and brought
into the faith of Judaism. Gentiles who were brought into
the faith of the gospel, many of them, during the days of our
Lord's earthly ministry, believing the Old Testament prophets, looking
for the Messiah. Gentiles like Cornelius, Gentiles
like Lydia, Gentiles who were converted like that Ethiopian
eunuch was later in Acts chapter 8. These are folks who were the
evidences that our Lord's intention was always to include in his
kingdom not just Jews, but Gentiles as well. Not just one group of
people, but that God has his elect scattered throughout the
earth. During those days, however, the Gentiles, even though they
were converted to the Jews' religion, were never allowed to go into
the temple. They were just allowed to come
up and celebrate the feast. They were not allowed to defile
the temple with their feet. Thank God in Christ Jesus, in
his spiritual kingdom, in the church of the Lord Jesus, in
the Israel of God, there are no such barriers. In the Israel
of God, there are no racial, or sexual, or economic, or social
divisions at all. Not in the church of God. Not
in the kingdom of God. In the scriptures we read, there
is neither Jew nor Gentiles. Neither is there bond nor free.
There's neither male nor female. Now that doesn't mean that when
a person is born of God he ceases to be a white man or ceases to
be a black man. Or you ladies cease to be women and men cease
to be men. It doesn't mean that we don't have definite office
capacities that men alone must fill in the church. It doesn't
mean that women act like men and men act like women in the
church. What it means is it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. Doesn't
matter whether you're rich or poor. I never could convince
my mother of this. She was always convinced that
money rules everywhere. I said, if you ever knew what
goes on around here, you'd find out otherwise. Doesn't matter
whether you're rich or poor. Doesn't matter whether you're
educated or uneducated. Doesn't matter whether you're black or
white. Doesn't matter whether you're male or female. Not in
the kingdom of God, because Christ is all. and in all. He's all to Bobby Estes, and
he's all to Don Fortner, and he's in you, just like he's in
me. We're one in him. One in the new creation of grace. There's neither Greek nor Jew.
Circumcision or uncircumcision. Barbarian, Scythian, bond and
they're free. But Christ is all and in all.
These Greeks came to Jerusalem to worship God. And while they
were there, they heard the rumor They heard the rumor. That's
how folks witness, you know. It's rumor. It's gossiping about
the Savior. Gossiping about the Son of God.
It's telling out what you know about Him. Telling out what you've
heard somebody else tell you about Him. They heard the rumor
that there was a man. A man from Nazareth called Jesus
of Nazareth. A poor man. A man really insignificant
in his rearing. A man insignificant in his background. A man who had no credentials. A man who has no academic qualifications. A man who has no background that
would cause anyone to prefer him to another man. But rather
a poor man from Nazareth who was a laboring man's boy. And this man, folks are telling,
is the Messiah. In fact, the man himself has
declared it. Not only is it told that he is
the Christ, the son of David, but he himself declares that
he's the Christ, the son of David. Men worship him as such, and
he accepts their worship. He accepts men calling him the
son of God. Accepts their worship. And proves
that he is. by the things he does. He raised
a man from the dead who'd been in the grave for four days. He
calls the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the lame to walk, just
as the prophet said the Messiah would do. Verse 21, these Gentiles
heard about this carpenter's son who called a few fishermen
to worship him. Verse 21, The same came, therefore,
because they had heard these things. The same came, therefore,
to Philip, which was our Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him,
saying, Sir, we would see Jesus. These Greeks came to Philip and
requested an audience with the Lord Jesus. We would see Jesus. They had heard about the Savior's
many miracles. Most notably, they obviously
had heard about the resurrection of this man Lazarus. This man
whose resurrection was typical of every regenerate soul. He
was dead. Dead. But then he was called
to life by the power of God. And there was such power in the
call of the man who spoke that Lazarus, being dead, came out
of the grave. And the Lord Jesus commanded
that that one who came out in his grave clothes, that they
loosen and let him go. And this man, Lazarus, then was
found sitting at the table when they made a feast for the Savior.
sitting as one who sat there in sweet communion with the Son
of God. Oh, can't you picture Lazarus just, just sitting there,
speechless, just sitting there, overwhelmed, sitting and listening
and watching. And the Jews wanted to murder
him because he'd been raised from the dead. Not because he
was picketing to get them to quit selling beer on Sunday.
Not because he was picketing to get him to close down the
theater. No, he was just sitting there. He had just been raised
from the dead. And the fact that he was there,
a man altogether altered by God's sovereign power, altogether made
new by the voice of this man they despised, they decided that
Lazarus only reminded folks of what Jesus claimed, so they're
going to murder him too. And so Lazarus, in his resurrection,
and all they heard about him, despite their interest in being
Gentiles, these men were reluctant to approach the Master personally.
So they took their request to Philip. This man from Bethsaida,
who perhaps was one of their neighbors, perhaps a close acquaintance,
but at least they appeared to have known Philip. And Philip,
verse 22, Philip cometh and telleth Andrew. And again, Andrew and
Philip tell Jesus. They talked the matter over,
and Andrew and Philip said, well, we'd better tell him about it.
And they brought the matter to the Lord Jesus. Why do you suppose
such a simple request presented such a problem? We would say Jesus is not as
though the Lord Jesus was Standoffish or too busy to deal with people. No, he he commonly took children
upset him on his lap He was he was available for pilots to come
and touch him He was available for that woman in the crowd to
come and touch him He was available for that woman who was a notorious
woman to come and anoint him in his in Simon the leper's house
and Simon the Pharisee's house He was always available to men
Why then did they have to discuss this thing about bringing these
Gentiles to him at this particular time? Let me give you two or
three answers. First, it's obvious things were
in turmoil in Jerusalem. The chief priests and the Pharisees
were talking about killing the Savior. The people talked about
making Jesus of Nazareth their king. And the Pharisees were
worried to death. They were worried they couldn't
ignore him. They couldn't ignore these few fishermen because people
were beginning to pay attention. They were being heard and so
the Pharisees were scared to death they were going to lose
their position and their power and their influence with men.
They said the whole world's going after him. We've got to do something. Second, these disciples simply
didn't understand yet the necessity of our Lord's death and resurrection
as their substitute. They didn't understand as yet
the true spiritual nature of the Lord's Kingdom. They trusted
the Lord Jesus. They knew Him. They confessed
with Peter, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. But
they simply were blinded by tradition and prejudice and their own thoughts
so that their blindness, not being yet convinced of the spirit
of those very things the Master had taught them, their blindness
caused them not to see and hear the things the Master said. They
knew He was their Savior, but they didn't appear to know at
all how He went about saving. You see, they wanted Christ to
live, not die, because they wanted a king to come deliver them from
Roman bondage and make them rulers of the world. These disciples wanted an earthly
Jewish kingdom. They said, we trusted that it
had been he which should have redeemed Israel. Imagine that. Remember where that's found,
Luke 24? Those two disciples on the Emmaus Road are talking
to the risen Savior. David, he's closer to them than
I am to you right now. Walking right beside them. And
they said, don't you know what's been going on? Haven't you heard
what happened at Jerusalem? And we trusted that it had been
He which should have redeemed Israel. Didn't have a clue He
had. They just didn't have a clue.
They wanted the Lord Jesus to be loved and accepted, not hated
and despised. And they knew that bringing these
Gentiles weren't going to help any matters. They wanted the
friendship and the support of the Jews and their families and
their friends. And I'm going to tell you something.
That will always cost you knowledge and understanding and commitment. You start to weigh the approval
of family and friends and religious people around you, you'll start
to bend over backwards to find a way to get along with them. These disciples couldn't see
because they wanted others to see them. They couldn't hear
because they wanted somebody else to hear them. They were
blind to the very plainest elementary truths revealed by the Savior. because of their desire of acceptance,
among many other things. Third, perhaps Philip thought
that if the master received these Gentiles, that would surely be
the last straw. That, he thought, would give
the Pharisees just the excuse they were looking for. I can
almost hear his reasoning in his own mind, Lord, these Greeks
are asking for an audience with you. Andrew and I have discussed
this thing, and well, we just don't think it would be wise
to receive them right now. The priests, you know, and the
Pharisees, they're talking about killing you. They're talking
about killing Lazarus. The Pharisees are worried sick. They're afraid that they're going
to lose their hold and their influence over people. But the
people, they're for you. They want to make you king. They
want what we want. They want you to be the king. But to receive these Gentiles,
that's going to turn the tide. That's going to turn the opinion
of others. That's going to spoil everything. Now, let's pick up
again in verse 23. And I want to show you five things
that our Master here sets before these disciples. He seizes this
opportunity to instruct and challenge his disciples. These men and women like you and me, who
were true believers, our Lord told them that their names were
written in heaven. He told them that their sins were forgiven.
No question they were true believers. But like you and me, they had
a lot to learn. And the Master teaches them these
five things. First, look at verse 23. Here
our Savior shows us again the purpose of his incarnation. Jesus
answered them saying, the hour is come that the Son of Man should
be glorified. The hour is come. Turn over to
Hebrews chapter 10 for a minute. Hebrews 10. He says the crisis I've been
telling you about is here. You've heard me speak of the
hour. I told you when we turned the water into wine, my hour
is not yet come. I told you when I spoke of the
Spirit coming, my hour is not yet come. You wanted me to go
up to Jerusalem and show myself king, but I told you no, my hour
is not yet come. Well, the hour is come! The hour
for which I came into this world has now arrived. This is the
hour when the Son of Man must be glorified. That is, when the
Son of Man shall reveal His glory and shall be glorified in those
things that transpire this hour. So that the Lord Jesus is declaring
to us that that which is about to take place is execution upon
the cursed tree by which the Jews heaped shame upon Him. by which the Lord God identifies
him distinctly as one who is cursed, for it is written, Cursed
is everyone that hangeth on a tree. This hour, when he's put to death
as our substitute, that's my glory. That's my glory. When Paul speaks
and says, God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ, We just sang that hymn, Jesus Keep Me Near
the Cross. I have no idea what the intention was of the writer.
I won't attempt to judge. If they were talking about, or
you think about, the physical cross, don't ever sing the hymn
again. The word cross, as it's used in the New Testament, doesn't
refer to that piece of wood on which the Son of God died, except
when it speaks of the historical context of our Lord's crucifixion. Rather, it refers to the gospel
revealed in the sacrifice of God's Son, in His death upon
the cursed tree, His death upon the cross. In fact, in all likelihood,
In all likelihood, our Lord probably was not even crucified on what's
commonly referred to as a cross piece. He was probably crucified
on a post with his nails, his hands nailed above his head rather
than stretched out on a cross piece as you commonly see in
Roman influence in our media and everywhere else. More than
likely, because that was the most common form of crucifixion
that men used in that day. But our Lord Jesus says that
this hour When he is thus hung up on a tree to die, when he
is thus crucified, this is the hour of his glory and of his
glorification. This is the hour of the Son of
Man, the last Adam. The hour in which redemption
is accomplished. He says, this is the hour for
which I came into this world. Are you there at Hebrews 10?
For the law having a shadow of good things to come. And not
the very image of those things can never, with those sacrifices
which they offered year by year continually, make the comers
thereunto perfect. Those many sacrifices offered
on Jewish altars could never change a man's heart, could never
put away sin, could never make a sinner perfect before God.
For then, would they not have ceased to be offered? If somebody offers a sacrifice
that makes you perfect, why are you going to bring another sacrifice?
they would have ceased to be offered. If somebody offers a
sacrifice that makes them perfect before God, atones for sin, makes
them without sin before God, there's no need to bring another
sacrifice. They would have ceased to be offered. Read on. Verse
2. For then would they not cease
to be offered? Because that the worshippers
once purged should have had no more conscience of sin. But in
those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.
For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should
take away sin. Wherefore, when he cometh into
the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not,
but a body hast thou prepared me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices
for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come, in the
volume of the book it is written of me, to do thy will, O God. And then in verse 9, it tells
us, by the which will, by the which will, we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. That's verse 10, I'm sorry, verse
11. And every priest standeth daily, ministering and offering
oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.
But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever,
this man who offered one sacrifice by which he took away sin, by
which he purged us from all guilt and makes the conscience clean
before God. He sat down on the right hand
of God from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his
footstool. Now watch this. For by one offering he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. That's the purpose of our Lord's
incarnation. Look at verse 24. Here our Savior
shows us the meaning of his death. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
except a corn of wheat, or a grain of wheat, fall into the ground
and die, it abideth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth
much fruit. Here's a grain of wheat. It has
great potential. In that one little grain, there
are hundreds of grains. hundreds of grains of wheat in
that one little grain. This one grain of wheat abides
alone, however, unless it dies. You sow it in the ground and
it brings forth fruit. But the only way it can bring
forth any fruit is by dying. If it dies, it brings forth fruit. If it doesn't, it abides alone. And our Lord says, that's me.
He's talking about Himself. In Him there are untold, multiplied,
10,000 times 10,000 of the souls of men and women who've been
in Him from everlasting, in Him as our covenant surety, in Him
as our blessed Savior. He must die, however, or He must
abide alone. So that can't happen because
the purpose of God is sure, you're right. But purpose of God is
that which makes certain his death. Yet he must die. There's no way, James Jordan,
he could have you without dying. Otherwise he died in vain. So
what Paul said, if righteousness comes by the law, then Christ
is dead in vain. If there was some other way by which justice
could be satisfied, sin put away, and God remain God, Christ wouldn't
have died. He didn't die for nothing. Except
He died, He abide alone. But if He dies, all who are in
Him will come to life and shall be like Him. We just planted
some peas the other day. I say we. That's because we're
married together. Whatever she does, I do. Shall
be planting some peas in the garden the other day. And you
know what she planted? She planted little, green, sweet
peas. Little English peas. I'm expecting
in just a few weeks to go out there and pick some black-eyed
peas. No, I'm not. I'm expecting, forgive me, I
don't pick peas. I'm expecting her to go out in
just a few weeks and pick some little, sweet, green peas. And you know what they're going
to look like? Every one of them is going to look just like the
one I put in the ground. Every one of them. How come? Because
they are. They all came from the same seed.
And that which is produced by the seed sown is exactly what's
sown in the ground. Christ our Redeemer is the seed
sown in the ground. And all who come forth from Him
shall be exactly as He is. even to the extent that when
he comes again, he shall change our vile body, that it may be
made like unto his glorious body. The Son of Man then will be glorified
in the redemption of his people. He shall see his seed. He shall
prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in
his head. All right, look at the text again.
Except the corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth
alone, but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." Oh, what a
blessed picture of redemption. But it doesn't stop there. He
had a certain death to die, and all who would be his disciples
also have a death to die. The same principles involved.
Look at verses 25 and 26. And here's the third thing. Our Lord shows us here the way
of life. and salvation in Him. I wouldn't place any obstacle
before men. I wouldn't put any stumbling
stone before you. I wouldn't place anything to
keep you from Christ. But I must warn you, and warn
you repeatedly of the religious deception of our day. People
talk about getting saved, and I went to the church and I got
saved. No. No, it doesn't happen. I decided
to accept Jesus. No. It doesn't happen. It doesn't
happen. Life, eternal life, salvation,
involves death. The Lord killeth, and the Lord
maketh the life. Wonder why every time those words
are found, Rex, he never says the Lord makes alive and the
Lord kills. Because he's talking about eternal life. And the Lord
killeth and maketh alive. Never the reverse. Our Lord Jesus
answers this question people constantly ask, or not constantly,
but now and then you'll find folks ask, well how can I be
saved? Here's the answer. If you would be saved, if you
would save your life, you got to lose it. Verse 25. 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. For if a man serve me, him will
my Father honour. Let's see if I can show you what
this means. A farmer has a bushel of wheat.
Good wheat. Good wheat. It's his. He can do with it whatever he
wants to. He can keep it for a little while. He can eat it. Or he can feed it to his hogs.
Or he can throw it away. He can sell it, put some money
in the bank. But if he keeps it, if he uses it to satisfy
his carnal appetite, if he uses it only for passing momentary
purposes and pleasures, he only wastes it, and he will lose it,
and lose it real soon. But if that man with an eye to
the future takes that corn, that wheat, and casts it away from
himself, throws it in the ground, just takes every, I mean every
bit of it, Just save back just what he has to have to eat and
throws it in the ground. He will soon have an abundant
harvest of wheat or of corn, indescribable. Because he threw
it away. He threw it away. I have a life. God's given me a life in this
world. Mine's nearly spent. Yours is just starting. Just
starting. Maybe. Maybe. But I have a life. What am I going to do with it?
Keep it? Love it? Protect it? Shield it from danger? Avoid
difficulties? Pamper it? Cater to it? I can. I can. It's my life. You too. You can do what you
want to with it. You can do what you want to with
it. But if I keep it, if I keep my life, I'll lose it forever. You too. Is that not the teaching of this
book? Salvation is the giving over of your life to the Son
of God. No more and no less. It's the
giving over of your life to the Son of God. The fact is, no man
can have two masters. No man can both love Christ and
the world. No man can walk in two directions
at the same time. If you love this world and this
life, you're going to lose your life. If you lose your life to
Christ, love and trust and follow Him. Just throw it away into
His hands. Throw it away to his care. Throw
it away to his protection. Throw it away to his provision.
Lose it altogether. You'll save it forever. That's
what he said. That's what he said. But you
can't do both. Joe, you're as old as I am. You
can't save it and keep it. You've got to lose it to keep
it. I can't save my life and keep
it. I've got to lose it to keep it. I hope I pressed you into a corner. That's where I want you. You
remember when Abraham sent his servant Eliezer back to find
a bride for his son? He told him, said, you go and
find a wife for my son. And just one thing matters. When you find that woman, you
ask her if she'll have my son. And Eliezer went and he found
this beautiful maid and her brothers interfered and he said, you got
one thing I've got to ask and I'll be on my way. Will you have
my master's son? Will you have my master's son?
That's all. Will you have Him or will you
not? I'll be on my way. Now look at verse 26 again. If a man serve me, let him follow
me. To believe on the Son of God
is to follow Him. His Word, His Will, His Spirit,
His Doctrine. To follow Him. To walk in His
path. To walk in His steps. To follow
Him. John says, who are these? These
are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. Caleb. You remember what Caleb's name
is? The name Caleb means faithful dog. Oh, God make me, Caleb. He followed
the Lord fully. And when he was 80 years old,
He was following him just like he was when he was a boy. He
followed the Lord fully. This is more than leaving tradition
and religion. It's more than learning right
doctrine. It's more than not following
a false prophet. This is literally, actually following
the Lord Jesus. Where you go, I'll go. Your people
shall be my people. Where you die, I'll die. Following
Him. Turn to Proverbs chapter 3. Proverbs
chapter 3. My son, forget not my law. Don't forget my word. Don't forget
my instruction. Don't forget what I've taught
you. Let thine heart keep my commandment. Cherish them. Guard
them. Do them. For length of days and
long life and peace shall they add to thee. You'll live forever. Let not mercy and truth forsake
thee. Bind them about thy neck, the
gospel of your grace, by mercy and truth, iniquities, purge.
Bind it about your neck. Write this on the table of your
heart. So shalt thou find favor and
good understanding in the sight of God and man. Now watch this. Trust in the Lord with all thine
heart. Lean not into thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him,
and he shall direct thy paths. Put your hand to the plow and
don't look back. Our Master says, where I am,
there shall also my servant be. Where is the Lord Jesus? He's
about His Father's business. He's seeking His sheep. He's
ministering to the needs of men. He's among His people. He's washing
His disciples' feet. He's over there in the private
place in prayer. He's in His house. He's despised and hated by the
world. He's without the gate nailed
to the cross. He's risen and he's seated in
heaven. And where I am, there shall also my disciple be. If
any man serve me, him will my Father honor. I keep praying, Lord, make me
like Jephthah. Lifted his hand to God, and he
said, I've lifted my hand to the Lord, and I can't go back. I can't go back. No matter the pain, no matter
the cost, no matter the consequence, no matter who goes with me or
who chooses not to, I can't go back. I've lifted my hand to
God. All right, look at verses 27
and 28. And here we see our Lord's object, the object of His heart,
the object of His life, the object of His soul. Now is my soul troubled. He's come to the hour when He
must be made sin for us and put to death for us, forsaken that
we might never be forsaken. Now is my soul troubled, not
because of what the Jews are about to do to me. He's in complete
control of that. Not because he's about to be
mocked and derided and led through streets and nailed to a Roman
cross. He's the one who made the wood on which they nailed
him. He's the one who gave the soldiers the strength to nail
him to the tree. My soul's troubled because of that. by which I must
redeem my people. I must be made what you are to
make you what I am. I must become the curse that
you are. I must be made the sin that you
are. I must be separated from God
justly as you would be justly separated from God if you would
be made righteous and reconciled to God. Now is my soul troubled,
and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? It's not written this way, but
you can read a real long pause there. What shall I say? Father, save
me from this hour? Oh, no. Oh, no, I shall not say
that. But for this cause came I unto
this hour. Glorify thy name. This is what I came here for. This is the object of my life.
This is the passion of my heart. This is the ambition of my soul.
The Savior says, Father, glorify thy name. Oh God, make that the
object of my heart. the passion of my life, the ambition
of my soul. Then came there a voice from
heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and
will glorify it yet again. Now, look at verses 31 through
33. I'll wrap this up. We'll come
back to these verses again, Lord willing. But here our Lord tells
us the accomplishments of his death. The people, therefore,
that stood by and heard it said that it thundered, and others
said an angel spake to him. Jesus answered and said, this
voice came not because of me. That is, it didn't come because
I needed to hear it. It came because you needed to hear it,
for your sakes. Now is the judgment of this world. the judgment of this world. The
Lord Jesus now says, I'm about to bear the judgment of God for
the sins of my people scattered throughout this world. Now is
the judgment of this world, the crisis of this world. You have
a serious situation in the doctor's room or in the hospital room,
and you've had surgery, And the surgeon comes out and talks to
your family and they tell them, the next few hours are critical.
This is the critical hour. That means everything hinges
on what happens in just this next few minutes, this next little
while. It's a critical hour. That's
the word judgment here. Now is the crisis. This is the
turning point of history. This is the turning point of
everything. This is that on which all the
purpose of God, all the will of God, all the purpose of this
world, all the purpose of creation hinges. The sacrifice of God's
Son. Now is the judgment of this world.
Now shall the prince of this world be cast out. That mighty
angel come down from heaven long mighty strong chain in his hand
binds the prince of darkness and cast out the accuser of the
brethren. And then he says, and I, if I
be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said signifying what
death he should die. If I be Lift it up like Moses
lifted up that serpent on a tree. Lift it up as the cursed one. Lift it up as a sacrifice to
God. Lift it up to God in heaven. Lift it up from the earth. I
will be the magnet that draws men unto me. all men unto me."
They sang one of the hymns this morning speaking about Christ
dying for all. Certainly, in a sense, that's
true. The Lord Jesus died for all who were in Him. All who
were represented by Him. All kinds of men scattered through
all the earth. Red, yellow, black, and white,
we say. All men, male and female, learned
and unlearned, Jew and Gentile. Men from every rank and cline.
Men of every kind. He will draw to Himself. He will
effectually, irresistibly, with the force of omnipotent mercy,
draw them to Me, if I be lifted up from the earth. That, He signified,
by the death He should die. The substitute cannot fail. And we, it is our business, mine
as a preacher, you who preach, yours as preachers, you who are
God's witnesses in this world, yours as the Church of God, to
lift Him up. Lift up the crucified Son of
God. Lift Him up. Would to God I could convince
every preacher I know, young and old, every person who knows God, I
wish I could convince everybody, There's no other issue. There's
just no other issue of any significance. Now, I get letters every day,
folks want to fuss with me about some aspect of millennialism,
some aspect of church doctrine, some aspect of baptism, something
concerning law, and I just, I quit. Unless it's somebody who appears
to earnestly, sincerely be wanting to be instructed about something
they've been confused about, I just blow it off. I mean literally,
blow it off. How can you do that? Because
it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. It's insignificant. The only thing that really matters
is Jesus Christ crucified. I couldn't bear the thought.
I couldn't bear the thought of not seeing your faces again.
Get a call. Lost my son tonight. My daughter
was killed. And I failed this last time to
preach Jesus Christ crucified to you. I couldn't bear the thought. Couldn't bear it. The Master
said, if I'd be lifted up from the earth, I'll draw all men
unto me. And it is the preaching of Jesus
Christ crucified by which God draws sinners to himself and
gives instruction in his word, edifies and comforts and strengthens
and reproves and directs his people in this world. Amen.