Would you turn to John chapter
12? And tonight we're going to observe the Lord's table together.
And Brian DeFore is going to speak on the bread and Andy Davis
is going to speak on the wine. And the Lord commanded us this
do in remembrance of me. And so I'm very much looking
forward to that. John chapter 12. Verse. 21. The same came, therefore, to
Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee. And desired him saying,
Sir, We would see Jesus. Question, would you see Jesus? Is that your desire? And to see him means more than
a physical sight. They didn't mean they simply
wanted to get a glimpse of him. To see means you want to understand
who he really is. That he was and is a great and
influential man, nobody would deny that. But do you want to
see him so as to know him? Sirs, we would see Jesus. I'm not asking you if you want
to live a better life. I'm sure you do. I'm not asking
you if you want to have your problem solved. Everybody wants
to have their problem solved. I'm not asking you if you want
your questions answered. Do you want to see Jesus? These people did. Look in verse
20. And there were certain Greeks
among them that came up to worship at the feast. These were not
Jews. They were not raised up in biblical
religion. They were Gentiles, Greeks, and
they came up to worship at the feast. Now the same came, therefore,
to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him,
saying, Sir, we would see Jesus. Now, remember what had been taking
place. The Lord Jesus Christ had raised
a man from the dead. And I'm not talking about one
of those things where you read, people read, you know, they write
books, you know, they died on the operating table, and they
were hovering around for about 10 or 15 seconds, and they come
back, and they say they died, and all that kind of foolishness,
because that's what that is, that's foolishness. We're talking
about somebody that had been dead for four days and the process
of decay had already began. The scripture said by this time
he even stank and Christ raised him from the dead. Now, can you
imagine what that must have been like? He was raised from the
dead. And can you imagine that the
stir that that had created people to look in verse 17, The people, therefore, that was
with him when he called Lazarus out of his grave and raised him
from the dead bear record. There were some people with him.
This wasn't a hearsay. There were people standing there
and heard the Lord say, Lazarus, come forth. And they saw this
dead man live and walk out of the grave, bound in his grave
clothes. They witnessed this. Verse 18, for this cause, the
people also met him for that they had heard that he'd done
this miracle. There were some people who heard
about this and they were very interested. They wanted to hear
more. And there were some people that actually resented it. Look
in verse 19. The Pharisees therefore said
among themselves, perceive you how you prevail nothing. Behold,
the world's gone after him. They resented this. Look back
in chapter 11, verse 47. Then gathered the chief priests
and the Pharisees, a council, and said, what do we for this
man do with many miracles? I mean, he'd raised Lazarus from
the dead. They couldn't deny it. There he is. There he is. He's done many miracles, but
they were upset. They said, if we let him thus
alone, if we don't do something to stop him, all men will believe
on him. And the Romans shall come and
take away both our place and our nation. They'll take away
our position in society. They'll take away life as we
know it and everything will get messed up. We need to do something
about this. So they actually resented the
fact that he raised this man from the dead, even though they
knew it happened, they did not believe. Now, the public ministry
of the Lord is drawing to a close in John chapter 12. As a matter
of fact, in John chapter 13, we have the beginning of the
last sermon our Lord gave his disciples. I'm looking forward
to getting into that, his last message before he dies. But his
public ministry is drawing to a close. Within just a few days,
he would be crucified. And then we read where these
Gentiles, in verse 20 of John chapter 12, then there were certain
Greeks or Gentiles among them that came up to worship at the
feast. And they'd heard all about Christ raising somebody from
the dead. The same came, therefore, to Philip, which was of Bethsaida,
of Galilee, and desired him, saying, sir, we would see Jesus. Now they came with respect, not
in a critical way, but they came with respect. Sir, sirs, we,
we would see Jesus. That's our desire to see him.
They were very much like Zacchaeus. Remember what said of Zacchaeus?
He sought to see Jesus, who he was. That's what he wanted. He
wanted to see who the Lord Jesus Christ really was. Now, when someone wants to see
the Lord Jesus, I'm encouraged. It's more than religion. You
know, everybody's religious. Everybody's religious. Everybody
has religious experiences. That doesn't encourage me. Just
somebody's getting religious. But I am encouraged when I see
this. Someone actually wants to see,
wants to perceive, wants to know the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
what these fellows wanted. Sirs, we would see Jesus. This is a genuine interest. in
the things of God, when someone wants to see who Jesus Christ
really is. Now, is that in your heart right
now? I repeat, I'm not asking you
if you want your life better, everybody does. I'm not asking
you if you want all your problems solved. I'm asking you, do you
want to see Jesus Christ? Do you want to know who he really
is? Well, if I ever see Jesus, this is how I will see Him. Look
in verse 22, Philip cometh and telleth Andrew,
and again, Andrew and Philip tell Jesus. And Jesus answered
them. Now remember, these fellows wanted
to see the Lord Jesus Christ. And here's the answer of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And Jesus answered them saying,
the hour is come that the Son of Man should be glorified. If I ever see Jesus, I will see Him glorified. If I ever see Him, I mean a true
spiritual sight with some true understanding. If I ever see
Jesus, I will see Him glorified. Now, what's that all about? Well, look back in verse 16 of
John chapter 12. These things understood not as
disciples at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered
that these things were written of him and that they'd done these
things to him. When was he glorified? They didn't
understand at first, but they understood after he was glorified.
He was glorified when he was raised from the dead. Jesus Christ
was raised from the dead, and being raised from the dead, He
was glorified. Now, what's this thing of Him
being glorified? Well, obviously, there's glory in somebody being
raised from the dead. But the point behind His glorification
is that He finished the work the Father gave Him to do. Look
over in John chapter 17. And remember, if I ever have
a spiritual sight of Him and understand who He really is,
the first thing I'm going to see is Jesus Christ glorified. Look at John chapter 17, verse
1. These words spake Jesus and lifted up His eyes to heaven.
and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify thy son, that thy
son also may glorify thee, as thou hast given him power over
all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou
hast given him. And this is life eternal, that
they might know thee, the only true God in Jesus Christ, whom
thou hast sent. I have glorified thee on the
earth, I have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do, and
now, O Father, glorify Thou me with Thine own self, with the
glory which I had with Thee before the world was." Now, when we
talk about Jesus Christ being glorified, we're not just talking
about brightness emanating from His person or something like
that. We're talking about Him coming with a definite mission. He says, I've glorified thee
on the earth. I finished the work thou gavest me to do. The father gave him a work. The
father gave him something to do. Now the question is, did
he do it? Was he successful in finishing
the work the father gave him to do? What were his last words
from the cross? It is finished. There's no more sweet words to
me than those words. It is finished. Whatever the
Father gave Him to do, He finished it. And He was raised from the
dead glorified, successful. Now here's the point I want to
make. If you see a Jesus who is anything less than utterly
successful, you've not seen the Jesus Christ of the Bible. He's
glorified. He's successful. Whatever He
did, He did. It's accomplished. And I see
Him as glorified when I see Him as utterly successful. If you
see Him, you see Him in this light as a ruling, reigning,
sovereign, successful, glorified Savior whose will must be done. You've not seen Him at all if
you don't see Him in this light. He's glorified. That's the first
thing he says. We want to see Jesus. The son
of the hour has come that the son of man should be glorified. A Jesus whose will can be thwarted,
who can want to save you and you not end up being saved. That's
a false Jesus. That is not the Jesus Christ
of the Bible. Now, if you and I ever see him,
we'll see one who is glorified. Now let's go on reading. This
is our Lord's answer to these fellows. Look back in John chapter
12. Verse 23, Jesus answered them
saying, the hours come that the son of man should be glorified.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into
the ground and die, it abides alone. But if it die, it bringeth
forth much fruit. Now, when you see the Lord Jesus
Christ, you see what his death accomplished. There's no seeing
of him without seeing something regarding what his death accomplished. And our Lord gives such a simple
illustration If you take a seed, a corn of wheat, whatever the
seed he's talking about, if you hold it in your hand, what fruit
will it bring? None. It's only when you put
it into the ground and it dies, whatever that means, I don't
understand how seeds die, but somehow they do, they die, you
bury them, they put them under the ground, and then they bring
forth fruit. Now, what good would it do you
if the Lord Jesus Christ came here and lived a perfect life
and went back to heaven? Would it do you any good? Oh,
you'd see a perfect life, no doubt, but it wouldn't do you
any good. The only thing that can do us any good is if the
Lord Jesus Christ dies. And if He dies, what happens
as a result of His death? He brings forth much fruit. Salvation comes, and this is
what you'll see if you see the Lord Jesus Christ. You'll see
because of who died, salvation comes from his death. It's his death that saves and
brings forth much fruit. Now, how can death save? How
can death save? Well, first of all, who died?
It's not like me dying or you dying. This is the Son of God.
The God-Man, Jesus Christ, the eternal, uncreated Son of God. That's who died. Why did he die? Well, look at verse 27 of our
text. Now is my soul troubled, and
what shall I say? Father saved me from this hour,
but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy
name. Now our Lord is troubled. at this time. Why was he troubled? Because his hour was come. What
hour? The hour for him to die. Well,
why is he dying? What is God's purpose in him
dying? Why did he die? Well, he's dying
obviously because it's God's purpose. That's the first thing
I have to understand about the death of Christ. Christ died
because God willed for it to happen. You know, you think of
him in the Garden of Gethsemane and he says, Father, if it be
possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will,
but thine be done. This is the purpose I came into
this world. To die. Why did he die? Because God purposed
it. It pleads the Lord to bruise him. But why did God purpose
it? What's going on? I mean, you think of the Son
of God being troubled? You know, that Scripture is troubling,
isn't it? The Son of God being troubled. And if you go on and
look into the same thing that was going on here, was going
on in Gethsemane, when the Scripture says He sweat great drops of
blood. Why was He troubled? Well, let me back up and ask
another question. Now, He did die. You know that.
Why does somebody die? There's only one reason for death.
And what's that one reason? Sin. That's the only reason. The soul that sinneth shall surely
die. If you had no sin, you'd never
die. The only reason for death is
sin. Now would you turn to 2 Corinthians
chapter 5. Verse 21, For he, God, hath made him, the
Lord Jesus Christ, sin. He made him sin. For us who knew no sin, he did
no sin, he knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God. in him. Now, remember the question
we're asking. What does somebody see when they see Jesus? First,
they see him glorified as a successful reigning Savior because of who
he is. And then they see the results of his death. Well, why
did he die? He was made sin. The sins of
God's people were placed upon him. That's why he came. He came
as a representative man. The sins of God's people became
his. He became guilty before God.
God killed him because he was guilty. And that perfect righteousness
that he worked out, that perfect obedience that he worked out,
his law keeping is given to everybody he died for. Now here's the accomplishments
of his death. For He hath made Him to be sin
for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God." Do you hear what that's saying? That we, everybody He died for,
everybody He died for, that we might be made the very righteousness
of God in Him. What did He accomplish by His
death? Well, you're looking right now
at one of his accomplishments, and I'm looking at his accomplishments.
Now, it takes faith to see this. Can you look at me and tell I'm
the righteousness of God? You can't look at it. As a matter
of fact, if you're around me, you'll say, how can he say something like that? My sin became Christ's. He was made to be odious to God. Sin. And God killed him. He must punish wherever he sees
sin. My sin became his. But just as truly as my sin became
his, his righteousness, the righteousness of God, becomes mine. And this is what you see. When
you see the Lord Jesus Christ, you see the accomplishments of
His death. You see because of who died,
it must be successful. He must be glorified. If He dies,
everybody He died for must be saved. Now, let me back back
a little bit. I'm not backing back. I want
to give an explanation of this. Have you noticed how I said everybody
he died for must be saved? Well, didn't he die for everybody? Nope. No, he didn't. If he died for everybody, everybody
would be saved. And I have to make this point. I have to. Why
do I have to? Because this is my hope of salvation.
If you would tell me that he could die for somebody and they
might wind up in hell anyway, you've taken away the only hope
I have. Because the only hope I have is that what he did is
enough to save me. Is that your hope? Really, is that your hope? Everybody he died for must be
saved. You see that. You see that. Verse 25 of our text, John 12.
Turn back to John 12. Remember, what does somebody
see when they see the Lord Jesus Christ? These fellows said, we
want to see Christ. He said, well, first of all, in verse 23, you'll
see him as glorified. Verse 24 says, except a corn
of wheat falling to the ground and die, it abides alone. But
if it die, it brings forth much fruit. You see that his death
is successful, that it brings forth much fruit. Look in verse
25. He says, he that loveth his life, shall lose it. And he that hates his life in
this world shall keep it unto life eternal. When you see Christ,
now you listen to me real carefully, when you see the Lord Jesus Christ,
you see such glory in him that you are willing to lose your
life for his sake. And you don't count it a sacrifice.
Now when you see him, this is how you see him. You see such
glory in his person, such glory in his accomplishments that you
are willing, you are willing to lose your life for his sake
and not even count it as a sacrifice. Now if I save my life, if I refuse
to deny myself to take up my cross and follow him, it's because
I've never really seen him. If I've seen him, I'll count
all things, but loss. Turn with me to Philippians chapter
three. Philippians chapter three, verse seven. But what things were gained to
me, I counted them as advantageous and positives in my life. Things
that I thought were good for me and that were for my benefit.
What things were gained to me, those I counted loss for Christ. I count those things garbage.
I didn't used to see him that way, but I do now. He says, verse 8, yea, doubtless.
And I count all things but loss, but garbage, but rubbish, for
the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for
whom I suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but
dung, that I may win Christ and be found in Him. They used to
be gain to me, now I see them as nothing more than dung. Everybody
here knows what dung is. I'm not going to be crying over
the loss of dung. I count all things but loss for
the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord." Now,
if you ever see Christ, if you ever see Him glorified, if you
ever see the achievements of His death, you'll see such glory
in Him that you will be happy to lose your life. If it takes your death, okay.
Here's another way to put this. The Lord said, what would it
profit a man if he would gain the whole world and lose his
soul? If you were given everything
this world has, what would it profit you if you missed Christ? You see, I really believe this.
If I have everything, riches, health, wealth, influence in
this world, if I have everything and I don't have Jesus Christ,
I have nothing. And if I have nothing, if I'm
so sick I can't even open my eyes, if I don't have a friend
in this world, if I have no material things, no influence, nothing.
If I have nothing and I have Jesus Christ, I have everything. You see, if you see Him, you'll
believe that. You surely will. Look what he says next in verse
26. If any man serve me, let him
follow me. John 12, 26. If any man serve
me, let him follow me. And where I am there shall my
servant also be. If any man serve me, him will
my father honor. You see, if I see him, I will
serve him. I will. I love that song. You've
got to serve somebody. And you do. You've got to serve
somebody. And if you see Him, you will serve Him. You will
follow Him. If any man serve me, let him
follow me. And a twofold blessing is pronounced
upon that one who serves and follows Christ. If any man serve
me, let him follow me. And here's the twofold blessing
where I am. Dare shall also my servant be.
And this is not talking about in the future. Talking about
right now. Talking about right now, where
is Jesus Christ? He's at the right hand of the
father. Accepted, perfected, secure. You know who else is? Everybody who follows Him. Where
He is, that's where I am right now. And look what He says next. And if any man serve Me, him
will My Father honor. Honored. Honored. God the Father
honors everybody who serves the Son of God. I'm interested in
that, aren't you? If I see him, I will follow him. Now let's go on reading verse
27. He says, now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? Father
saved me from this hour, but for this cause came I into this
hour. When we see him, we will see
his purpose. He's not like these politicians.
You hear what they say, but you can't really tell what their
purpose is. I can't stand hearing somebody when I don't really
know what, what do they stand for? What do they say? What do
they, what do they mean by, you know, what I want to, I want
to know real clearly what somebody is saying. Now, if I see the
Lord Jesus Christ, I'll see his purpose. He said, now is my soul
troubled. What shall I say? Father saved
me for this hour, but for this cause, for this purpose, came
I into this hour. He came to die and He came to
accomplish everything the Father gave Him to do. And you'll see
that. You'll see that. You can't see Him and not see
that. You see His purpose. Well, what was His purpose? Turn
to Luke 22. I've quoted this several times.
I want you to see this though. Luke 22. Verse 39. This is before his death in the Garden
of Gethsemane. And he came out and went as he
was want to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples also followed
him. And when he was at the place, he said unto them, pray that
you enter not into temptation. And he was withdrawn from them
about a stone's cast, and he kneeled down and prayed, saying,
Father, If thou be willing, remove this cup from me. This cup of agony, being made
sin. And the Lord's human nature wilted
under this. I don't understand that. Nobody
does. But the Lord's human nature wilted
under this pressure. And he said, if it be possible,
let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but
thine be done. That's the essence of holiness.
Not my will, but thine be done and be in verse 43. And there
appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him and
being in agony. He prayed more earnestly. And
I don't know what all he was praying when he was praying more.
And he said again, father, if it be possible, just the thought
of what he was going through. And yet he said again, not my
will. but thine be done. And being
agony, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was as it were
great drops of blood falling down to the ground. And when
he rose up from the prayer and was come to his disciples, he
found them sleeping for sorrow. Oh, what our Lord went through.
He came for a purpose. Now turn over to Acts chapter
two. Acts chapter two. Now you'll
see this if you see him. Verse 22, ye men of Israel, hear
these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved
of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, like raising
the dead and controlling the weather and all those things,
which God did by him in the midst of you, as you yourselves also
know, you can't deny this, him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God. you have taken, and with
wicked hands have crucified and slain." Look in chapter 4, beginning
in verse 26. The kings of the earth stood
up and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord. Acts
4, 26. And against his Christ, for a truth against thy holy
child Jesus, whom thou has anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate
with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together
for to do. He drove nails in his hands and
his feet. They took a crown of thorns and
pressed them upon his brow. They beat him with a cat of nine
tails. They put him to death. Oh, the
way our Lord was treated. But what does it say about that?
For the truth, it gives the holy child Jesus, whom thou has anointed
both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people
of Israel were gathered together for to do whatsoever. Thy hand and thy counsel determined
before to be done. Remember, it pleased the Lord
to bruise him. Now go back to our text in John
chapter 12. He says in verse 27, now is my
soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this
hour. But for this cause, this purpose, came I into this hour.
Father, glorify thy name. Here was his purpose in all of
this. To glorify his father's name. Now, his name is his attributes. It's the person behind the name.
It's not just talking about the name, like, my name's Todd. It
means much more than that. His name is the person behind
the name. And when Jesus Christ died on
the cross and was raised from the dead, he glorified his father's
name, didn't he? Every attribute of God. is glorified. His wisdom is glorified. That
He could make a way to be just and justify somebody like me.
Oh, what wisdom. What power that He could put
away sin. What justice that He must punish
all sin. What love that He'd give His
Son for sinners. Every attribute of God is glorified
in the death of Christ. And when you see Christ, you
see that. You agree with that? Don't you see how in the death
of Christ, God is glorified? Let's go on reading verse 28.
Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from
heaven saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. Now when you see Jesus, you hear
a voice from heaven. Does that mean an audible voice?
Have you ever heard God speak audibly? I haven't. As a matter of fact, in the New
Testament, there's three times when God the Father spoke audibly.
Once at the baptism of Christ. This is my beloved Son in whom
I'm well pleased, hear ye Him. Once on the Mount of Transfiguration,
He said the same thing. This is my beloved Son. Hear
ye Him. And right here, the Father spake
from heaven. I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.
If you see Christ, you will hear a voice from heaven in this sense.
You see the divine authority behind everything that's said.
You see, this is the gospel of God. This is God's word. This is God's gospel. It's not
just hearing a voice from heaven. It's seeing the divine authority
behind what's being said. If you see Jesus Christ, you'll
see that everything he says is the word of God. And you really
believe that. You really believe that everything
that comes from this book is nothing less than the Word of
God. There's a divine authority behind this. Now, I can't convince
you of that. I really can't. I'm not even
going to try to. Because if you hear, you'll be convinced. I
won't have to talk you into it. You'll know this is God's Gospel.
This is the truth. This is the truth. You know this? This is God's Gospel. When you
hear from Him, you know it's the gospel of God. Then came
there a voice from heaven, saying, I both glorified it and will
glorify it again. Verse 29. The people, therefore, that stood
by and heard said that it thundered. Others, an angel spake to him. You know, those who do not hear
it as God's voice always have another explanation, don't they?
Well, it was a thunder or an angel spoke or something like
that. They got some other explanation. But those who hear it as God's
voice, they know it's the voice of God. Now, verse 30, Jesus
answered and said, this voice came not because of me. I don't
need any affirmation. I know who I am and I know who
I am to the father. But for your sakes, you know, I need affirmation,
don't you? I always do. I need to hear over and over
again that this is the gospel of God. He said, now this voice
didn't come to me, but for your sakes, now, now here's what else
you'll see when you see Jesus. Now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the Prince of this
world be judged. Now, when you see the Lord Jesus
Christ, you see that judgment has already taken place in the
cross. Now is the judgment of this world.
Now, the prince of this world is cast out. And here's what
you see when you see Jesus. You see that on the cross of
Calvary, judgment took place. I've already been judged. When Christ died, my sin was
judged. My guilt was dealt with. When
Christ died, I was justified. When Christ died, everybody who
doesn't believe was condemned. They're already condemned. All
judgment took place on the cross. All judgment took place. He was
delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification.
Judgment's taken place. And I love the way he says, the
prince of this world is judged. This is a glorious thought. The
prince of this world's the devil. And I don't even like to talk
about the devil. I mean, it's scary even, but there is a devil.
And I know that the devil thought, can you imagine, he thought when
Jesus Christ died, he thought, I've whipped him. I've whipped
him. I've defeated him. And he didn't
know that when Christ died, his death sentence was sealed and
his head was crushed and he was defeated. Satan is a defeated
devil. He's already been defeated. He's
on God's chain and he can't do anything without God. He's God's
devil defeated. And you see that. You see that
there's not this struggle going on between good and evil. You
know, we hope God wins. We hope, you know, we hope Satan,
and no, Satan's defeated. And you see that when you see
the Lord Jesus Christ and His cross. Now let's go and read
it. Now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of
this world be cast out, verse 32, 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. Now, when he's talking about
being lifted up from the earth, he's talking about his death, isn't
he? This, he said, signifying what death he should die. Now, he says, if I be crucified,
if I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to me. Now, do you notice in verse 32
that that word men is in italics? You know what that means? It means it was not in the original,
it's supplied by the translators. And I really think it, I know
it should read this way. I mean, and the King James, I
love the King James because of this. It's honest enough to when
it's supplying a word to help make it sensible, it puts it
in italics to let you know it wasn't in the original. Pull
this out, and I, if I be lifted up from the earth, shall draw
the all to me. I'll draw every single person
I died for. I'm going to draw them to me. Now, here's the point I want
to make. If you see Jesus Christ, if you
see Him glorified, if you see the accomplishments of His death,
how He saved everybody the Father gave Him to save, if you see
His purpose in coming, if you see these things that are brought
out in this passage of Scripture, you know what you're going to
do? You're going to find Him irresistible. You're going to
be drawn to Him. You can't not come. You must
come. You find Him altogether irresistible. If you can resist Him, you've
never seen Him. You see anybody who sees Him,
they can't resist. He's altogether lovely. You must come to Him. You're drawn to Him, and you
can't keep from coming. You have this thing of coming
to Christ. Somebody says, well, how do I come? If you see Him, you will. I don't
have to tell you how. You'll get there. You see Him
and you come. Preacher, give me some help.
What's it mean to come to the Lord Jesus Christ? To come to
Christ is to believe on Him. Let me show you that in Scripture.
Look back in John chapter 6. Verse 35. And Jesus said unto them, I am
the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never
hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. To
come to Christ is to believe on Christ. And you know what
you do when you believe on Christ? You stop hungering and thirsting
in this sense. You are satisfied that you don't
need anything but Him. You're satisfied that His precious
blood is enough to make you perfect before God. That His righteousness
is all you need. You're not looking for anything
else. Somebody says, I'm still looking for something, then you ain't
found. You see Him, you'll be satisfied believing on Him. Back to John 12. And I, if I be lifted up from
the earth, will draw All unto me. This, he said, signifying
what death he should die. Verse 34. The people. Answered him. Now, I don't know
who all these people. Were, but I know that this is
the answer of unbelief. We've heard, they say, out of
the law, they say the scriptures behind what they're saying. We've
heard out of the law that Christ abides forever. And how sayest
thou the Son of Man must be crucified or lifted up? Who is this Son
of Man? Now this was an insincere question
because they knew he was referring to himself. He called himself
earlier the Son of Man and they knew exactly who the Son of Man
was. But they were saying this death stuff, this being crucified.
We don't understand this because the Bible says you'll abide forever.
Who is this son of man? Insincere question. Verse 35,
then Jesus said unto them, yet a little while is the light with
you. Walk while you have the light. And he knows he's the
light. He says, the light's with you,
walk while you have the light, lest darkness come upon you,
for he that walketh in darkness knows not where he's going. While
you have the light, believe in the light, that you may be children
of the light. These things spake Jesus and
departed and did, what's that say? He hid himself. He hid himself so they couldn't
see him. He hid himself from them. Now, if you don't see, it's because
you don't want to see. If somebody doesn't believe this
message, it's because they don't want to believe. That's the only
reason. And he hid himself. That's his act of judicial blindness. He hid himself. Boy, I don't
want him hiding from me, do you? I want him to make himself known
to me. Don't play around with this thing.
He may hide himself. And if he hides himself, you
can't see. Let's go on reading verse 37.
I just, I'm not gonna make much comment on this, but though he
had done so many miracles before then, yet they believe not on
him. All the evidence pointed to the
fact that he is who he says he is, yet they believe not on him
that the saying of Isaiah, the prophet might be fulfilled, which
he spake, Lord, Who has believed our report? And to whom is the
arm of the Lord revealed? Therefore, they could not believe. Because that Isaiah said also,
he hath blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, that they
should not see with their eyes nor understand with their heart,
and be converted, and I should heal them. These things said
Isaiah when he saw his glory and spake of him. You know, the
truth's dangerous. Truth's dangerous. Believe. And I know the only way you will
believe, and I will believe, is if God gives us the grace
to believe. I realize that. But the truth's dangerous. These
people rejected the light God gave them, and the Lord hid Himself
from them, and He blinded their eyes. And if I leave this place
unbelieving, that's what the Lord's done to me. May God give
us the grace to believe. Now, we would see Jesus Let me
say this in closing. We would see Jesus. There is
never in the history of the universe been anybody who wanted to see
Jesus that didn't see him. If you want to see Jesus, you
will see Jesus. You do see Jesus and you see
him as this passage reveals. This is who he is. May God give
us all this sight of Him. Let's pray together.