Christ Lifted Up

Q: What does the Bible say about Christ being lifted up?

Christ being lifted up refers to His crucifixion, which serves as the means of redemption for sinners. In John 12:31-33, Jesus indicates that when He is lifted up from the earth, He will draw all men to Himself. This lifting refers to His impending crucifixion, which is the fulfillment of His mission to redeem both Jews and Gentiles. The concept emphasizes the necessity of Christ's death for the establishment of His kingdom. His being lifted up on the cross is not only an act of atonement but also a demonstration of God’s glory and love for sinners, as explained in John 3:14-15, where Jesus parallels His crucifixion to the lifting up of the serpent in the wilderness. This act, therefore, is central to the gospel message.

Q: How do we know Jesus must die for our sins?

Jesus's death is necessary for the redemption of His people, fulfilling God's plan of salvation. The necessity of Jesus's death is rooted in the doctrine of substitutionary atonement, which states that Christ died in the place of His people to atone for their sins. In John 12:24, Jesus illustrates this by saying, 'Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone.' This metaphor highlights that without His death, there can be no resurrection or new life. Furthermore, the prophecies and the sacrificial system of the Old Testament point towards the need for a perfect sacrifice, which Jesus fulfills as the Lamb of God. His death, therefore, is not arbitrary but essential for fulfilling God’s justice while simultaneously providing grace to His chosen ones.

Q: Why is it important that Jesus loves us more than life?

Jesus's love for us motivates His sacrificial death, assuring our redemption and eternal life. The importance of Christ's love is vividly illustrated in John 12:25, where Jesus states, 'He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.' This indicates that Christ's love for His people transcends His own preservation. It illustrates the depth of His commitment, as He willingly chose to face death for our sake. His love is also the foundation of the believer's assurance of salvation, as shown in Romans 5:8, which says, 'But God commendeth His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.' Therefore, understanding Christ's love reaffirms the believer's identity in Him and provides comfort and hope for eternal life.

And the people answered him,
we've heard out of the law, out of the Old Testament, that Christ
abided forever, that Christ abided forever. Now, how sayest thou
the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man? Then Jesus said unto them, yet
a little while is the light with you. while you have the light, lest
darkness come upon you. For he that walketh in darkness
knoweth not whether he goeth. But while you have light, believe
in the light, that you may be children of light. These things
spake Jesus and departed, and did hide himself from them."
Now, if we're going to find out what our Lord is saying here,
we must try to find out what led up to the statement. So I
want us to go back to verse 20 and just look at these verses
preceding what he said there and find out what led up to it.
Now verse 20, John 12, you see the little paragraph sign? That's
where it starts. John 12, verse 20. And there
were certain Greeks, Gentiles, among them that came up to worship
at the feast. This was a special time, special
feast. And these Gentiles, they were
called proselytes, and they had come to Jerusalem to worship.
These Greeks, these Gentiles, had given up their idols, and
they worshipped the one true and living God, according to
the Old Testament pattern. They were allowed to come to
the temple, but they were only allowed to come so far. There
was what they called the court of the Gentiles, and that's where
they could come, to the court of the Gentiles. They couldn't
come where the Jews came, but they were proselytes, and they'd
given up their idols and they came to Jerusalem to worship
God. Now these Gentiles, verse 21, And you know how the Jews
felt about the Gentiles. They called them dogs, Gentile
dogs. And they were not allowed to
marry the Gentiles or have any fellowship with the Gentiles.
They were called uncircumcised. Even Paul said in Ephesians,
we were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers, foreigners,
without God, without hope, without help, without Christ in this
world. That's Gentile. Well, these fellows, these Gentiles,
the same, verse 21, came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethesda,
Bethsaida. They came to Philip, who was
of Bethsaida, of Galilee, and they desired him, saying, Sirs,
we would see Jesus. Well, why didn't they come to
Jesus like the other people did? The throngs, the multitudes of
Jews that were always about him. Well, these men, being Gentiles,
being outsiders, being strangers, being what they were, did not
feel at liberty to approach the Master. They didn't come directly
to Christ. They went to Philip, one of the
disciples. And they said, and somebody suggested,
maybe Philip, maybe the reason they mentioned the town where
he lived, Bethsaida, that he was from the same town with these
fellows, they might have known him, and felt like, well, he
could get them an appointment with the Lord. So they went to
Philip and they said, we want sir, we would see Jesus. Well, this presented a problem
for Philip, a real problem. You see, the Pharisees hated
the Lord enough. Like Bob said, they called him
a drunkard, wine-bibber, they called him a glutton, they called
him a devil, they called him the carpenter, they called him
an imposter. And this presented a problem.
When this group of Gentiles came to Philip, and they said, we
want to see the Lord. We want to talk to Jesus. And Philip
thought, now, if the Pharisees see this bunch of Gentiles around
Jesus, that's going to be it. That's just going to be it. They've
got enough enmity against him now, but when they see him, the
Gentiles talking about him, And when these Jews, even these Jews,
you see the Jews felt like they had a corner on Christ, even
those that followed him. Don't you remember Peter said,
Now when are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel? When are
you going to restore the glories of David? And Philip thought
about this and he couldn't handle it. So he went over to, in verse
22, Philip cometh and telleth Andrew. And then Andrew and Philip
both decided they better go tell the Lord. And so the two of them
came to the Lord Jesus Christ and they said that those Gentiles,
and remember that's what we are, we're Gentiles, foreigners, strangers,
aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel, having no hope without
God in this world. You see, Israel had the ark,
Israel had the mercy seat, Israel had the tabernacle, Israel had
the priesthood. So they told the Lord Jesus,
they said, those Gentiles want to see you. All right, here's
his answer. Now, it leads, this answer is
a long, it's a lengthy answer. Our Lord didn't just come around
and say, well, tell them to come on over. In a sense, he tells us that
he came to redeem Gentiles too, but he gets to it in a few moments.
in verse 23, and Jesus answered them. He did answer them. He
did answer them. And he said, the hour is come
that the Son of Man should be glorified. Here's something in
which the Gentiles have a part. Here's something that not only
is required for redeeming you Jews, but the Gentiles too. The
hour has come. The hours come. How often he
spoke of that hour. When he was down in Cana of Galilee
and performed his first miracle, his mother came to him and said,
they don't have any wine. They've run out of wine. He said,
woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour has not yet come. On another occasion, he said,
father, the hour has come. Glorify thy son, that thy son
may glorify thee. And on this occasion, he said,
shall I say, Father, save me from this hour? For this cause
came out of this hour. The hour has come. This is the
time. This is the time for my death. This is the time for suffering
and agony. This is the time of the redemption
of my people. And Jesus answered them. They
came up to him and they said, these Gentiles want to see you. He said, the hour has come. It's
come. The hour has come when the Son
of Man must be glorified. Now, verse 24. Truly, truly,
I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground
and die, it abideth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth
much fruit. Now here is ordinary farming.
Our Lord said you take a grain of corn, a corn of wheat, the
seed corn, and there it is. Now if it's never put in the
ground, if it never dies, and that's what happens when the
corn is planted, put in the ground, it germinates, it dies, it gives
itself up. A lot of times when I'm gardening
I plant my seed, you know, and the peas or whatever I plant
and you go out there and you see that little stalk coming
up that's going to have all those peas on it and you just got to,
you got to pull one up and see how it started. You pull it up
and there's that seed you planted, but it's rotten. It's busted
open. It's just busted open. And here
this, I planted that seed, that one pea out there, or corn, And
it lay in that ground and rotted and germinated and burst it open. It gave itself. It just gave
itself. And as the stalk grew and the
roots grew, and it disappeared. It gave itself. Now he said,
if that corn of wheat, if it doesn't fall into the ground
and die, it will abide alone. The potential is all there, the
fruit is there, and one grain of corn or one pea There's thousands
of grains of corn, thousands, and hundreds of peas in those
pods, you know, that grow. Have that one little pea. But
not unless it dies. Not unless it gives itself. It's
got to give up itself. Now, if the corn of wheat falls
to the ground and dies, if it doesn't, it'll bite us all. But
if it does die, it'll bring forth much fruit. And this is what
he's saying. Christ in him. In Adam, we die. In Christ, we're made alive. The first man is of earth, earthly.
The second man is the Lord from heaven. But this second man,
this second Adam, if he doesn't die, if he doesn't give himself
for us, if he doesn't submit himself and give himself to death
and agony, to bursting open, then those in him will never
have life. See what he's saying? Never have.
If he abides alone, we don't live. But if he doesn't die,
he's still king. Reigns. But he has no bride. He has no people. He has no kingdom. But if he dies, many people,
much praise from every tribe, kindred, nation, tongue and heaven.
He's answering them. He's answering them. Just stay
with him. You see that? The hours come. When the Son of Man must be,
should be glorified, but I say unto you, except he give himself
like a corn of wheat, except he surrender himself and submit
himself to the death and agony and suffering, and if he's literally
busted open, then he'll abide alone. But if he gives himself,
if he dies, he'll bring forth much fruit. And then he turns
to his disciples, and he said to them, the same thing is true
of those who would follow him. He said, and he that loveth his
life shall lose it. You see, if this Messiah does
not love his people more than life, then he's going to die
alone because his love for them caused him to die. And he said
the same thing with you, if you're going to be my disciple, You're
going to love me more than you love this earthly life. He that
loveth his life is going to lose it. In other words, here's what
he's saying. This natural life, I have natural life. I was born
one time, and I've lived 64 and a half years now on this earth. I've got a natural life. Now,
if I protect it and shield it from being crucified with Christ,
If I protect it, and shield its life, and pacify it, and pamper
it, and refuse to be identified with Christ, and refuse to be
identified with his gospel, and refuse to suffer the reproach,
and harassment, and shame, and persecution, or whatever comes
with the gospel. I refuse to give myself to him. I want to protect my life. I
don't want people to like me. I don't want people to hate me.
I want the easy life, I don't want the hard life. I want to
pamper and I don't care for being disagreeable. So I'm just going
to live and let live. It's that sort of attitude. He
said you're going to lose it. You're going to lose what you
have. You've got natural life and you're not willing to give
it up for Christ, to be crucified with him, to bear his reproach.
to bear the persecution, to stand for the gospel, to believe the
gospel, to be crucified and buried and risen to walk in newness
of life. Well, if you do that, you're just going to lose what
you do have. Because someday you're going to die and go to
the grave anyway, so you haven't retained anything. You haven't
conserved anything. You've lost what you have. But,
listen, he that hateth his life in this world, shall keep it unto life everlasting.
Now then, our Lord's not saying here that we're supposed to get
up and whine and sigh. Life is a bitch. You know, that's
what these people say. I hate my job. I hate life. I wish I was dead. This sort
of... That's not what he's talking about. That's not what he's talking
about. In fact, I enjoy this life. I really do. I enjoy your... I enjoy... Look, Father, come
in here. Meet with those fellas back there. I enjoy the life
out of that. I enjoy this. I enjoy playing golf. I enjoy working in my garden,
don't you? I enjoy fellowship of all kinds. I enjoy my family. I enjoy my
grandchildren. I enjoy going to a ball game. I just, I'm enjoying
life. But now let me tell you something
about this life. I know there's nothing to it. I know it's vanity. I enjoy good food, don't you? I enjoy it. But I know this, there's nothing
to it. I know that every relationship is temporary. I know someday
this crew on the front row here I love so much, and that crew
I love so much, and everybody's going to have, I'm going to have
to tell you goodbye someday. You're going to have to tell me. It's
like Hannah. Paul's little girl, she called
over here and said, Bobo's sick. She said, is he going to die?
Yeah, he is. It's temporary. And some of them
will lose their appetite. Food won't be good. You know,
Ecclesiastes 12 tells us about that, when the strong men tremble,
And the strong men, the legs tremble and the arms won't support
you and the eyes grow feeble and the hearing and the mind
wanders and this life is going. Now that's what he's talking
about. There's nothing to it. It's vanity. Vanity of vanity. It's always vanity. It's brevity. It's just here for a little bit.
It's frailty. We're dust. So that's what he's
talking about, hating this life compared to life everlasting. Let's get our priorities straight.
If a man's going to be my friend in Christ, wonderful. I'll accept
his friendship, love it, will cherish it, will protect it,
and will respond. But now if I've got to have his
friendship and cost me Christ, he can go. If I can live comfortably,
if I have a nice home, and lots of friends, and eat well and
all, and still walk with Christ, fine. But if I've got to choose
between Christ and that, let her go. I'll live in a shack.
You see what I'm saying? That's what he's saying. He that
loveth father and mother more than me is not worthy of me.
He wants us to love our fathers and mothers and respect them
and honor them and care for them, but not more than Christ. If
I've got to compromise the gospel to get along with my dad, my
dad and I got apart. Is that clear what I'm saying?
Just got apart. And that's what he's saying.
Now, if you, he talks about himself. He said the hours come for me
to give myself up. The hours come for me to die.
The hours come for me to perish, to save my people. Now he said
the same thing is true with you. If you love your life, on this
earth to the point that you're going to save it at the expense
of the gospel, you're going to lose what you have. You're going
to come up with nothing anyway. But if you hate this life, and
I think I explained that well enough, as far as where it's
compared with Christ, I despise it. If I've got to choose between
that and Christ, it's like friendship or a job. If I've got to leave
this gospel and move somewhere and work and make ten times what
you're making now, there ain't no decision there. You're not
going to leave Christ for anything. Now, he's going to lose his life
for my sake. He's going to keep it under life
eternal. You see what he's saying? The same thing is true of his
disciples. In other words, if any man serve me, what is a servant? One who serves is a servant.
And in this case, the servant is a bondservant. That's what
Paul called himself. I'm a bondservant of Jesus Christ. I'm not there, I'm not there
by restraint. I'm there because I want to be.
That's the difference. If any man voluntarily, a willing,
loving bond slave. That's what they had in the Old
Testament. You see, they had unwilling slaves. Unloving slaves. They had slaves that were there
because they couldn't pay the debts. Or something, some other
reason. But now every seven years they
had to turn them loose. Set them free. Man had his freedom
every seven years. But if a man who's a servant
and a slave of a certain man, he loves him. That's what he
wants to do. He wants to be his servant, his
slave. So they take him down to the door and bore his ear,
and put something in his ear. I guess from then on, he was
a bond servant. What was a bond servant? Willing,
loving servant. Now he said, if any man is going
to serve me, let him follow me. Let him follow me completely,
all the way. And no dabbling in this thing
now. No dabbling. No wavering. Let not that man
think he's going to receive anything the Lord, that it wavers. You
know, it's this way. It's Christ or nothing. It's all Christ. He's Lord of
all, but he's not Lord at all. Let him follow me completely.
Whatever the cost, let him follow me. Now watch this. And where
I am. Let Him be attached to me. Let Him be joined to me,
like the branch to the vine, like the head to the body. Let
Him follow me. And where I am, where is He? That's not talking about a physical
location. That's talking about where He
is. Where is He? I'll tell you where He is. He's
in the Father's love. And that servant who follows
Him will be in the Father's love. Where is he? On the right hand
of God. Accepted. And that servant is
going to be accepted in Christ. He's following me. Where I am,
exalted, glorified, accepted, loved by the Father, that's where
my servant will be. If any man serve me, him will
my Father honor. I guarantee that. If any man
is committed to Christ Jesus, Whatever the cost. And I think
about our dear missionaries who... Brother Ken Wymer. Did you see
his last letter? I meant to give them out to some
of you tonight. They're on the table. Maybe after service you
can bring them out here. Ken and Bill's letter. He said,
write me sometime. We'd love to hear from you. They're
way over there, you know, in Africa. And he's such a servant
of the Lord. God's going to honor that man.
God's going to honor him. God's going to honor any man
that serves his son, whether he be in Africa or Ashland. Any
woman who honors the Lord Jesus Christ and serves him, God's
going to honor him. All right, let's move on. He's not through. Verse 27, now
he says, is my soul troubled? My soul is troubled. What's he
talking about? When we talk about the death
of Christ, Most of the time we talk about the nails and I hear
preachers, and it's alright I'm sure, I hear preachers talk about
how they slapped his hand on that piece of wood and then took
a spike eight inches long and some say they drove it right
here in the wrist, some say in the hand, but then they'll tell
you how that hammer pounded into that nail and the nail pierced
the flesh and they'll stand up there and do this, you know,
and the blood began to spurt from the wound, you know, and
drove that in there, and then they drove that one over there
into that head and then into his feet. But let me tell you
something. That physical agony of Christ
was horrible, horrible and too extreme to describe. But I'll
tell you an agony greater, greater. a burden under which our Lord
almost collapsed. It wasn't a physical suffering,
it was a soul suffering. Our Lord Jesus Christ, their
God of their God, holiness personified, embodied, righteousness, was
about to have laid on Him all of the rotten thoughts that his
people ever thought, the rotten words they've said, the rotten
deeds they've done, the rotten treason, wickedness, lasciviousness,
murder, rape, all these things were just about to be laid on
his holy soul and separate him from his father. And that agony
was far greater than any physical pain than any man or group of
men ever endured. That's what he said, now my soul
is troubled. You know when he went into that
garden praying that night? When the blood literally came
out of the pores of his skin? He cried, Father, my soul is
exceeding sorrowful even unto death. I'm not going to make
it out of this garden and to that cross if something doesn't
happen. See, so that's what he was saying, don't you? My soul,
the thought of bearing the evil, the thought of being separated
from the Father, and that I can't explain. But that's what he said,
my soul is sorrowful. And the angels came and ministered
to him. I don't know what they did, I just know God sent somebody
to help him. He never leaves him, nor forsakes
him. My soul is troubled. What am I going to say? What
am I going to say? You know, that old apostle's
creed, descending into hell, Christ our Lord, I don't believe,
went actually into the bottomless pit, or into the fires of hell,
or to Gehenna, or Sheol, or any of those places, but He bore
our hell on that cross. Hell. He bore hell on that cross. Now what am I going to say? Father
deliver me from this hour? Now listen. But for this cause
came I to this hour. For this cause came I to this
hour. What cause? Well, they said Gentiles
going to... This cause. I'm going to redeem
you and them. And I'm going to put an end to
that giant. All his popping off. I'm going to put an end. This
cause. came out of this and said, this
is all predestinated. People say, you believe in predestination?
You're a fool not to. I mean, that's a dumb question.
That's a dumb question. All the way through the Word
it tells how Judas is going to deny, sell him for 30 pieces
of silver, be buried in the potter's field, how that Peter would deny
him, how they'd pierce his hands and his feet, how they'd pluck
out his beard, the very things they'd say as they walked around
the cross. It's all predestinated. They did what God determined
before to be done. You think his death was an accident?
I like what that fellow said to Brother Jeff Thornberry one
time. He said, you believe what will be, will be, don't you?
Jeff said, well, I sure do. I don't believe what will be,
won't be. Do you? What will be? If God says it
will be, it will be. If I say it will be, good possibility
it won't be. But he said, for this cause came
out of this hour. for this cause. Is there not
a cause? You see why you read that, Fitz? You don't reckon David just accidentally
stumbled up there on that battlefield, do you? I mean, here's a giant,
and he's threatening the whole nation of Israel, and he's making
mockery of God Almighty, and you think this champion of God
just happened to walk by that day? God seen him. He didn't
have to look for those stones either. They were laying where
God put them. Somebody said, why'd he take five? He thought
that fellow's four brothers might be there with him, you know.
I don't know. But he picked them up. He just
happened to have his sling with him, too, you know. Oh, it's
all in the... He said, for this cause came
I to this hour. And then he lifted his eyes to
heaven, and he said, Father, glorify Thy Name. Glorify thy name. You know how
God is going to glorify his name? Christ is going to do it. Christ
is going to do it. Glorify thy son that thy son
may glorify thee. Help me that I may glorify thee. On that cross, Jesus Christ my
Lord glorified every attribute of God. You go through the, you
buy Pink's attributes of God and go through every one of them,
you'll meet him right there at the cross. God Almighty's holiness,
he came to declare his righteousness. God Almighty's justice, he spared
not his own son. God Almighty's sovereignty, men
did what he determined before to be done. Almighty God's love,
greater love hath no man than this. Almighty God's mercies,
God commended his mercy and love toward us in that while we were
yet sinners, Christ died for us. Almighty God's wisdom, how
he can be just and justify. Almighty God's power, that blood
is the power of God to salvation. Every attribute of God is glorified
in Christ as nowhere else at that cross. And when he said
that, there came a voice from heaven saying, I have Both glorified
it, and he did, he had already. In the covenant of mercy, he
glorified his name. What did Moses ask the Lord in
the tenth meeting? Show me your glory. And he said,
Moses, my glory is inseparably connected with my mercy. And
so that covenant is the mercies of a covenant God. And he glorified
his name, making Christ the Lamb slain before the foundation of
the world. He glorified his name when Christ became a man, a body
hast thou given me. And the angel stood on that hill
and said down there in Bethlehem, glory to God and peace on earth
and good will toward me. They told those shepherds, glory
to God in the highest. This is God's greatest glory.
God came to earth in human flesh. He said, I've already glorified.
I've already glorified. And he said this, listen, and
I'll glorify it again. He's going to glorify it at Calvary,
when Jesus Christ died for sinners. He's going to glorify it when
he raised him from the dead. He's going to glorify it when
he raises you from the dead. He's going to glorify it when
he makes you like Christ, because he said, only as three times
in Ephesians 1, is to the praise of the glory of his grace. Oh, what an exchange. Father,
glorify thy name. I have both glorified it, and
I'll glorify it again. The chief glory is his redemptive
glory, and his redemptive glory is directly related in every
aspect to that man, Jesus Christ. That's where it is. It's in Christ.
God is pleased God that in him should all fullness dwell. And
the chief glory of God, if you and I ever have a part in it
in any shape, form, or fashion, has got to be directly from that
man, Christ Jesus, and our relationship with him. Nowhere else. All right,
so the people, therefore, that stood by and heard it, they said
it thundered. It thundered. And some said,
well, an angel spake to him. Isn't that sad? How blind and
deaf and dumb the sons of Adam are. God Almighty spoke from
heaven, and they said it was thunder. All the signs and the miracles
and the wonders go unheeded, even the raising of Lazarus from
the dead, just a chapter before. Well, Abraham said to the rich
man in hell, he said, they won't believe though one rose from
the dead. You will not come to me that you might have life.
Here God spake and they said, I believe it thundered. I think sometime about Well,
I thought about that funeral this afternoon, and I watched
you who were there, and I knew you were hearing everything that
was said, like sponges soaking up water, responding and enjoying
and rejoicing. And then I looked into the face
of others, and they were thundering. They didn't hear the truth, they
heard thunder. That's all. It's thunder. Or
maybe it was a spirit speaking, you know, or an angel. It wasn't
God. They didn't hear God. Oh, let
me tell you something, my friend. Every one of us, me and you.
If God's been pleased to give us ears to hear this glorious
gospel, we ought to do back flips. Praising isn't it? God's given
us eyes and given you a heart. To enter into, like you seeing
in David, that Christ. Now, you didn't see that 15 years
ago. You wouldn't have seen it if
somebody had shown it to you. You got to have eyes to see and ears
to hear. And blessed are your eyes, they see and your ears
they hear. And if God speak, you hear it. But that man out
there, thunder. You didn't hear anything, thunder.
And Jesus answered, he said, this voice came not because of
me. I know my father always hears
me. I don't need any voice from heaven. I don't need any sign.
I don't need anything to remind me that he's around. He said
it for your sakes. He said it for your sakes. Signs
are not for believers, they're for unbelievers. And that's when
he said, now is the judgment of this world. Now the seed of
woman will crush the head of the serpent. Now shall the prince
of this world be cast out." My friends, I don't know a great
deal about Lucifer and about the devil and about Satan. I
hear these preachers that seem to be on familiar terms with
him. They talk to him all the time
and he talks to them. If you're reading the book of
Jude, verse 9, when Michael, when the devil contended with
Michael over the body of Moses, and different people have different
ideas about that, but it doesn't matter, over the body of Moses,
Michael said, the Lord rebuketh thee. I'm not fooling with you. I got no dealings with you. And
I'm not having anything to do with you. I turn you over to
him. The Lord rebuketh thee. And the
only one who can handle, now let me tell you something about
Lucifer. I do know this. I do know he was son of the morning.
I do know he was a powerful angel. And I do know he fell. Christ
said, I saw him fall from heaven like lightning. And I know he
took some angels with him. The angels that kept not their
first estate. He's reserved in everlasting
change. Some say a third of the heavenly
host. Over that revelation where he took with his tail not a third
of the stars out of the sky. Maybe it. But they followed him. And there's no redemption for
the devil and the fallen angels. But let me tell you something,
he's got some power. We wrestle not against flesh
and blood, but against principalities and powers, rulers of the darkness,
spiritual wickedness in awful high places. And I'll tell you
this, dear friend, don't study demonology. Don't study demons. Don't study Satan. Lead him to
the Lord. You start looking for something,
you might find it. And I warn you, I've known some preachers
to get involved in studying demons and looking for demons. And they
found them. You leave them alone. You've
got no business fooling with them. Ain't that right, Tom?
Turn it over to him. He's our champion. You just skedaddle
over there in the tent and let him fight the battle. The battle's
the Lord, not you. Especially with those fellows.
Now, no other time, now is the judgment of this world, now shall
the prince of this world be cast out. And there's not but one
strong enough to overcome Goliath, and that's Christ. You're not.
He'll stump you. Peter couldn't handle him. Job
couldn't handle him. Michael refused to try to handle
him. And you can't handle him. You're
a babe in swaddling clothes, and I am too. Now, now I'm going
to take care of this business. I'm going out to meet Goliath.
And I tell you this, Satan has great dominion, great power.
Did you hear him when he tempted our Lord? He said, you fall down
and worship me, I'll give you the kingdoms of the world. You
say, think you could? I don't know, that's what he
said. That's what he said. That's what he said. But now it's over. Now it's over. Christ said, I'm going to put
him out of business. Crush his head. Now what? And, ah, you see his death has
a two-fold purpose. Our Lord's death judged his enemies,
justified his people. Isn't that right? Destroyed the kingdom of darkness
and gave birth to the kingdom of light. Destroyed the powers
in wickedness and evil and delivered his elect. Stripped Satan and
clothed me in his righteousness. All by that one day. Cast out
forever all evil and drew into himself all believers. And I,
one mediator between God and men. I, there's none other name
under heaven. I am the way, the truth and the
life. And if I be lifted up, what's that talking about? He
talked about how he was going to die on a cross, as Moses lifted
up the serpent in the wilderness. He said, when you've lifted up
the Son of Man, you'll know that I'm here. If I be lifted up from
this earth on a cross, I'll draw all men unto me, emperors, every
man, no, all sorts of men. Those Gentiles, I'm going to
draw them too. Those Philistines, I'm going
to draw some of them too. I got a people in every tribe,
nation, tongue under heaven. If I'm lifted up, I'll defeat
evil and Satan, and I'll draw my people. I'll draw them. You know how come he draws them?
You know how he draws them? He draws them because he's got
the power to do it. He draws them because he's removed all
obstacles that prevent him from drawing them to God. He draws them because they're
his. God gave them to him. He draws them because he loves
them. And he draws them because they want him to. Thy people
shall be willing in the day of thy power. Yeah. Draw me and
I'll be drawn. Other people have a question.
I'll quit. Verse 34. They got a question. Now then,
they said, we have heard out of the law that the Christ, you
claim to be the Christ. Well, we've heard that the Christ
abided forever. Now, how sayest thou the Son
of Man must be crucified? They knew what lifting up was.
They knew what Moses lifted up. Who's this Son of Man? The Christ. We read in the law where the
Christ lives forever. And they couldn't reconcile an
everlasting Christ and the death of Christ. They couldn't reconcile
an everlasting kingdom and the death of the King. They couldn't
reconcile eternal glory and power with a cross of sin and shame.
They couldn't understand how Christ could die in shame and
the ignominious death of Calvary, the cross, and thereby purchase
a crown. Do you? I do. I understand substitution. I understand what they didn't
understand. They didn't understand their own tabernacle. They didn't
understand their own atonement. They didn't understand their
own sacrifices, did they? Turn to Hebrews chapter 2. I
tell you, before the crown, there's a cross. No cross, no crown. No atonement, no people. Chapter
2, just a moment, we've got to go over that for just a moment.
Hebrews chapter 2, verse 8. Hebrews 2, verse 8. Here's the
king, here's the conqueror, and here's the crucified Christ.
Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he
put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that's not put
under him. But now we see not yet all things
put under him, but we see Jesus who was made a little lower than
the angels, for the suffering of death, crowned with glory
and honor, that he by the grace of God should taste death for
every man. For it became him for whom are
all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons
to glory. See, the corn of wheat's got
to die, got to give himself. to make the captain of their
salvation perfect, and them perfected through his sufferings. For both
he that sanctified and they who are sanctified are all of one
for which cause." He's not ashamed to call them brethren. He went
to that cross and died to purchase for us eternal glory. So he can go into glory, but
you can't. If he's going to take you with
him and his people with him, he's got to go to the cross before
the crown. He's got to go to the valley of death before the
mountain of carnation. Read on. Saying, I will declare
thy name unto my brethren in the midst of the church where
I sing praises unto thee. And again, I put my trust in
him, behold I and the children which God gave me. For as much
then as we, his people, his sheep, his children, are partakers of
flesh and blood, He also himself likewise took part in the same,
that through death he might destroy him, Satan, who has the power
of death, the devil. He's the only one that can. There
he is, Bob. He slew him. And what did he
do? He delivered them out of his
hands, who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject
to bondage. For verily he took not on him
the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham.
Wherefore, in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his
brethren, that he might be a merciful, faithful high priest in things
pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of his people."
Jew and Gentile. Now, one comment, and I'll quit.
Back to John chapter 12. A word of exhortation, John 12,
that our Lord added to all this. Now he says, verse 35, John 12,
Then Jesus said to them, Yet a little while is the light with
you. Now he's the light, his gospel's
the light, his personal work is the light. And he's leaving. You see, these Jews to whom he's
talking in just a short time were judicially blinded. The
veil is over their face when Moses is read. Just a little
while, you're going to have light, he said. Just a little while.
Now he says, listen, walk while you have light, lest darkness
come upon you.

Christ Lifted Up

What does the Bible say about Christ being lifted up?

How do we know Jesus must die for our sins?

Why is it important that Jesus loves us more than life?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

Joshua

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Music

Recent Comments

About

Legal

Subscribe

Account

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Recent Comments

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Collections

Music

About

Legal

Subscribe

Christ Lifted Up

What does the Bible say about Christ being lifted up?

How do we know Jesus must die for our sins?

Why is it important that Jesus loves us more than life?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

More from Henry Mahan

Related Sermons

Same Scripture

Articles by Henry Mahan

Books by Henry Mahan

Joshua

Where this book stands in the tradition

Plato

Augustine

The Western Christian Tradition

This Book