In 1819, in the country of Ireland, there was a young man, young
boy born by the name of Joseph Scriven. And he graduated from the preparatory
schools and then went to the university and studied to be
an engineer. and graduated and was to be married. He was 20, going on 21. Very much in love with a young
lady, his childhood sweetheart. And they were out boating in
a lake. This was 1840, 41. And the boat capsized and she
was drowned. And so he broken-hearted left
Ireland and came to Canada. And he lived in Canada, never
took a job. He lived in a small village in
Canada and just made his living by doing odd jobs here and there
and yonder. He did a lot of work for The
people of the community, most everybody loved him and appreciated
him. He was a believer, loved Christ, loved the gospel, always
in church. But he lived in a little one-room
building. And folks just looked after his
needs and he looked after theirs. That's the way he lived. And
when he was sort of up in years, he was sick. And one of the ladies
of the community brought him some soup one day. She was lying
there in the bed, and she brought the soup in and said, Joseph,
I brought you something to eat, and he told her he was grateful.
And she put it down on the table, and there was a piece of paper
laying there on the table with some writing on it, and she picked
it up, and she started reading it, and
what she read was what you just sang, What a Friend We Have in
Jesus. all our sins and griefs to bear.
What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer. Oh, what peace
we often forfeit. Oh, what needless pain we bear,
all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer. She said, Joseph,
where did you get this? He said, the Lord and I wrote
it. She said, well, it's beautiful.
May I have it? He said, you can. And it wasn't long after that
they found him in the lake, face down, drowned. They don't know
whether he took his life or what happened, but they found him
out on a lake, drowned. As far as I know, that's the
only song he wrote. What a friend we have in Jesus. So you just don't know, do you?
And it's become, I suppose, the most loved I hate to say popular,
but best loved hymn of all the hymns that have been written
in the last hundred, hundred and fifty years. Now if you want
to open your Bibles to the twelfth chapter of John, I'm going to
read the text again. John chapter twelve, verse twenty
and twenty-one. John twelve, twenty and twenty-one.
And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship
at the feast of the Passover. And there were certain Greeks
among them. The same came, therefore, to Philip. These Greeks, these
Gentiles, came to Philip, which was of Bethsaida, of Galilee,
and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus. Now, many
sermons have been preach from this text. And in more than one
church where I've held meetings and preached, I've seen this
inscription on the pulpit. Sometimes the pulpit will be
built like this, and then there'll be a board up in front. And I've
seen written inside the board there, Sir, we would see Jesus. I've seen that on more than one
pulpit. And it's a very good suggestion But I want to see
what I can do with this by backing up a little bit. Backing up a
little bit. I've found in the last several
years that the best way to preach on any text is to back up a little
bit. And see what goes before and
what follows after. Now what had taken place in these
chapters here, the 11 and 12, is that our Lord had raised Lazarus
from the dead. Lazarus was from a home in Bethany,
Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. A well-known family. Influential
family. And many believe a family of
means. And people knew them. And our
Lord had come down there and raised Lazarus from the grave.
He'd been in the grave for four days. And shortly after that,
the Lord came back to Bethany and they had a big feast for
him. Some say it was in the home of Simon. Some say it was in
the home of Lazarus, but we believe it was in the home of Simon.
And that's when Mary came in and broke this box of ointment
worth quite a bit of money. And Matthew and Mark say she
anointed the whole body of Christ. John says his feet. And then
dried them with the hair of her head. And much people knew that
Christ was down here in Alaska. The news had spread. This was
a special time in Jerusalem. They were coming from everywhere
to the Passover feast. And Bethany was only two miles
outside Jerusalem, just two miles. That's 24, 25 blocks. So you
know, he'd raised people before. He raised Jairus' daughter, but
she had just been dead, just a short time. And then when our
Lord met the widow of Names, that funeral procession where
her son had been put in a coffin, our Lord walked over and touched
the coffin, and he arose. But he wasn't yet buried. Jairus'
daughter was just dead, and this man wasn't buried. Lazarus had
been in the grave four days, and they knew it. And they knew
it. Here was a man dead, rotting,
corrupted. And the Lord Jesus, with extraordinary
power from heaven, raised him from the dead, and they sat down
at a feast in the home of Simon, and ate lunch with this man Lazarus,
who'd been laid in the grave for four days. Now, this created
quite a stir. It was known everywhere. It was
just everywhere, all over the place. Everybody was talking
about this. So down here in verse... In the
Pharisees, verse 10, The chief priests consulted that they might
not only put Christ to death, but Lazarus too. They not only
wanted to get rid of Christ, but get rid of the evidence.
What they thought is this, that if they could put Christ to death
and Lazarus to death, that this whole thing would soon be forgotten.
At least people wouldn't be looking at him everywhere they went.
And so they were really getting serious about this matter of
putting Christ to death and Lazarus too. Verse 12, on the next day,
much people, multitudes of people, that would come to the feast
when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. Now remember,
just two miles away. He was down there in Bethany.
Just two miles away. And these people had gathered
from everywhere here in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of the
Passover. And the word just spread like
wildfire that this man Jesus, this one who had raised Lazarus
from the dead, It was coming to Jerusalem. And so it said
in verse 13 that they took branches of palm trees. Now what significance
does this have? Well, palm branches were a symbol
of joy and victory. When they weighed the palm branches
and cast them before the parade, it was a sign of joy and great
victory. So they took palm all these Jews
from everywhere. And they went out to meet him,
coming into town, into Jerusalem. And they began to cry. Now watch
it, Hosanna! Blessed is the King! Blessed
is the King of Israel, the King Messiah. That's what they were
talking about. Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in
the name of the Lord. Now, what was this Passover?
this feast to which they had all come and gathered here in
Jerusalem. Well, this Passover was in commemoration
of the deliverance of the people of Israel from Egypt, from the
bondage and slavery of Egypt where they had been 400 years.
They went down to Egypt, about 70 of them, and now there were
two or three million of them after 400 years, and they were
in slavery and bondage to the Egyptians. And Almighty God gave
them the Passover, and I say the blood of Passover to you,
and this Passover feast was in commemoration of the deliverance
from Egypt. Now, what they had in mind was
another Moses. That's what they had in mind,
was another Moses, whom God would raise up. Moses said, God will
raise up from among you a prophet like unto me, and him you shall
hear. And when Jesus Christ raised Lazarus, Now, he raised Jairus,
his daughter, he got a lot of attention. When he raised the
widow's son, he got a lot of attention. But when he raised
Lazarus, who had been dead four days, this was it as far as he
was concerned. He was the king Messiah. He was
the king Messiah. He was the one God had sent to
deliver them from the slavery and bondage of the Roman Empire.
That's exactly what they had in mind. And all of this talk
of believing on him and their interest in him was not believing
on him as savior, spiritual messiah. But this believing on him was
believing on him as a king messiah. And they were ready to make him
king. They went, multitudes went out
to meet him. Here was a man with power over
death. With power over death. Here was
a man that could feed people with five loaves and two fishes.
Here's a man who could make the blind to see. They just knew
they had on their hands that King Messiah that would restore
the glory to Israel, which they enjoyed in the days of David
and Solomon, and they were ecstatic about it. And they ran out there
and started throwing these palms of victory and joy, these palm
branches in front of them, taking off their clothes and throwing
their clothes in front of him as he rode into town, hollering,
Hosanna, blessed is the He's the King of Israel, the King
Messiah, that cometh in the name of the Lord. Now watch verse
14. And Jesus, when he had found a young ass, the foal of an ass,
a donkey, when he found it, well, he found it because he sent his
disciples to where they would find it. That's where he found
it, Luke 19, he sent them to get it. And he sat there on. He came in riding on a donkey.
Now why did he do that? Well, there's several reasons.
Number one, maybe this isn't number one, just one of them. Number one, to emphasize the
peaceful character of his coming. He wasn't riding into Israel,
into Jerusalem as a warlord on a horse or a stageon. He was
riding in as a spiritual messiah, as a prince of peace. on a donkey. He comes as a lamb. He comes
as a sacrifice. He comes as a prince of peace,
riding on a donkey. And I'll tell you another reason
turned to Zechariah, the book of Zechariah in the Old Testament.
And let me show you something here. Zechariah, this was a clear
fulfillment. Now what he's doing here, the
Lord publicly is placing himself before Israel. Now you have to
remember, Jerusalem is the religious capital of the Jews. This is
the High Feast, this is the Passover Feast. All the chief priests,
Pharisees, scribes, Sadducees, Jewish men were required to be
here at this time for the Passover. They were required to be here,
and they were here from everywhere. And his name had been spread
over. This was his final Passover.
This was his final Passover. Our Lord was suffering himself
as the Passover lamb. Christ, our Passover sacrifice
for us. And so here our Lord publicly
places himself before Israel. in a public way, in a prominent
way. He had hidden here and gone there,
and he said, don't tell anybody this, don't tell anybody that.
When I was not yet come, when I was not yet come, don't force
this issue. When they would make him king,
he slipped away. When they would stone him, he
slipped away. Now here he is, riding into town. Openly, publicly,
knowing the hatred of the Pharisees, knowing their claim of the people,
knowing the pain that it spread about, knowing all these things.
Here he is, every eye in Jerusalem was on him, from the temple clear
down to the last beggar. Why is he doing this? Our Lord
is coming in before Israel on a donkey fulfilling all of the
Old Testament prophecies which they ought to have been aware
of. Now look at Zechariah 9, verse 9. Rejoice greatly, O daughter
of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, thy King cometh unto thee! He is just, having salvation
lowly. and riding upon an ace, upon
a coat and a foal of an ace. Looks like they would have seen
that, doesn't it? Look at Zechariah chapter 13,
same book, and these were pages they read like we read the New
Testament, like we read the book of Psalms. In that day there
shall be a fountain open to the house of David. and to the inhabitants
of Jerusalem for sin. Not for political power, for
sin. And for salvation, and for uncleanness. And our Lord Jesus Christ publicly
placed himself before them in a direct, complete fulfillment
of the messianic prophecy of how he would come into Jerusalem.
What did they do? Well, they rejected him. Came
into his own, his own received him not. They were willing to
receive him in the character of political saviour, but not
saviour from sin. They were willing to receive
him even as a king, to deliver them from the power of the Romans,
but not a saviour and a spiritual messiah to redeem them from sin. Now look at verse 16. John even
confesses his ignorance of what was going on. Don't you imagine
the disciples were pretty caught up in this thing? Don't you know
they were? You know James and John. Their
mother came to Christ one day and their mother said, Lord,
when you come into your kingdom, would you let James and John
sit on your right hand and left hand? And I tell you, I just
imagine they were pretty taken up with this thing. They'd been
to that feast. that they had down there in Simon's
house in Bethany. And then they went out and got
the coat, and our Lord got on it, and they started approaching
Jerusalem. They heard the cheers and the
crying, and they saw the people. And here were the multitudes,
thousands and thousands. They were throwing palm branches
in front of the Lord Jesus. They weren't picking up rocks,
they were throwing palm branches. Joy and victory. They weren't
crying for His death, they were crying to make Him king. Hosanna
to the King of Israel! Come into the name of the Lord.
I know they must have been overjoyed. Overjoyed. But they didn't understand
what was going on. John confesses that in verse
16. These things understood not his
disciples at the first. But when Jesus was glorified,
when our Lord had died and was buried and rose again, then remembered
they that these things were written of him. and that they had done
these things unto him. And Peter brings it out over
here in Acts chapter 2. Turn over there, in the second
chapter of Acts. Peter understood, and at Pentecost,
he declared the truth of it. Look at Acts 2 verse 32. Acts 2 verse 32. This Jesus hath
God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses, therefore being
by the right hand of God exalted, And having received of the Father
the promise of the Holy Ghost, he has shed forth this which
you now see and hear. Dave is not ascended to the heavens.
He said himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my
right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore
let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made
that same Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." Oh, Peter
understands now. But John said when this was going
on, we didn't understand it either. We didn't understand it either.
Or look at verse 17. The people, therefore, that were
with him when he called Lazarus out of the grave and raised him
from the dead, they bear record. What did they do? They went around
and told everybody. They went around and told everybody. They
flat, but wouldn't you? They told everybody. And for
this cause, verse 18, for this cause the people met him. For
they heard he had done this miracle. This was the trigger that set
it off. This was the trigger that set
it off when he raised Lazarus from the dead. You see, you remember
in our Sunday school lesson a few weeks ago that our Lord was down
there in a certain place and a messenger came down and said,
to our Lord, he whom thou lovest is sick." Lazarus is sick. And our Lord
didn't move, he didn't budge. He told his disciples, said,
this sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God. All
of this was in his own purpose. He knew about this Passover,
he knew about all these people from everywhere, he knew he was
going to raise Lazarus, he knew that was the trigger that would
set off all this celebration, this acclaim. He knew that that
would bring all the people around him when he rode into Jerusalem
on that donkey. And lay upon Israel their responsibility. Here comes your king. Here comes
your king. And there they were, the chief
priests, the scribes, the Pharisees, these people who had these scriptures,
there they were. The whole, he had through the
raising of Lazarus, the purpose of God, the glory of God, the
responsibility laid on Israel and their priests and their Pharisees
and their teachers, the public acclaim, the public appearance.
Israel made their decision right here. Right here. You see this? And this is what
I need to learn, and you do too, about these things in our lives,
in the province of God, which we don't understand, which we
just don't understand. It's like I was down at the hospital,
Miss Platt was lying there, her leg was broken, peeing on it,
cast now for three months. She said, it's all right, it's
all right, but she said, sometimes we just don't understand why
these things happen. I just don't understand, and
I just use that as an example. There's so many things going
on right now in your lives, in your family, in your children,
in this church, in the kingdom of God, in things that go on
in meetings and all these things, the islands where I just came
from, Richard down there, what Randy and Stu down there. I don't
understand those things. But I do know, God knows. And
the greater glory of God will be accomplished out there. the
greater glory of God. And now I look back to see when
he rides into this city on that donkey full of, here comes your
king, lowly, meek, humble, riding on an ass. He brings salvation. There's a fountain open for sin
and uncleanness. We don't want that! We want a
king! We want political freedom and political power and political
deliverance and finance and homes and happiness and for me and
heal our bodies, that's what we want. We don't want salvation.
That's exactly, and that's today's gospel. They'll take him as the king
messiah. They'll take him to reign in Jerusalem in a millennium.
They'll take him to make America a Christian nation, but they
won't, do not want him as the lowly, meek prince of peace that
comes to die for sinners. In verse 18, the Pharisees got
stirred up again. They said, the more militant
Pharisees said, you fellows have put up with him, you haven't
come down hard on him, you haven't gotten anywhere, now look here,
look here, look here, now the whole world's gone after him. And it says in verse 20, and
there were certain Greeks, Gentiles, among these Jews. You can read
about this later in another passage in Kings where, you know, the
temple had the court of the Gentiles. The Gentiles were allowed to
come to these feasts and these worships. They weren't allowed
to go into the temple any further than the court of the Gentiles,
but they were allowed to come. And there were some of these
certain Greeks, call them proselytes is what they called them, and
they came up to Jerusalem to worship. I'll give you a good
example. The Ethiopian eunuch had come
to Jerusalem to worship. Now what these Gentiles had done,
these Greeks, they had forsaken their idols and their gods and
they were seeking to worship the true and living God. They
knew that God was in Israel. They knew that Israel's God was
God. They didn't know much about him,
but they knew he was God. And these Greeks had come here
to Jerusalem, and evidently they had read some things, so they
sought out Philip. They found Philip. And these
Greeks gathered around Philip these ten times, and they said,
Sir... They spoke respectfully to him.
They said, Sir, we would see this Jesus. We've heard about
this Jesus, and we would see him. Well, that presented a dilemma
for Philip. You wonder why he went to get
Andrew? Well, I'll tell you why. Number
one, the Jews didn't look on the Gentiles with much favor.
They called them Gentile dogs. And what went through Philip's
mind, here he was confronted by a bunch of Gentiles, Greeks,
who wanted to see his master. And he thought within himself,
what are these Jews and Pharisees going to say if they see Christ
talking to a bunch of Greeks? You talk about the bat and the
fire. That's exactly what he was thinking. I'll tell you another
thing that was on his mind. I'm just speculating, but I thought
about it. What I tried to do was put myself
in Philip's place. And I know Philip was thinking
about this. Now, we're getting somewhere, and we don't want
to lose it. He said, we run and hid. And here we are on the front
page. And here we are on Main Street. And here we are with
this crowd around us, and they're throwing palm branches. I'm not
going to let this bunch of Greeks mess this thing up, Bob. That's
what he's thinking. But yet, he had another thought.
He had another thought. Our Lord had said, Other sheep
I have which are not of this foal, and he didn't want to cross
swords with the master. He was in a fix. So he did what
I would have done, too. He went and told Andrew. It says
that right there. Philip, he wasn't going to settle
this thing by himself. He went to find Andrew, and then
they both went to the Lord. Let's both go talk to him. They'll
say, I'm not going to talk to you. Let's both go. So they both
went, and here they come. Lord, there's a bunch of Gentiles
out there. They won't talk to you. They
won't see you. And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come that the Son
of Man should be glorified. Now you think about that. Here
was Philip, and these Gentiles came to him and said, We would
see Jesus. And he didn't know what to do about it, so he went
to Andrew, and he said, Andrew, these, out there, a whole bunch
of Gentiles, Greeks, want to see the Lord? But let's go talk
to him. So they both came to the Master,
and they said, Master, there's some Gentiles out there who want
to see you. The hour has come that the Son of Man should be
glorified. Now, many people feel the Lord did not directly answer
the Greeks' request for an audience with Him, admittance into His
presence. But He did. But He did. What our Lord is saying, an earthly
Messiah, no matter how famous, is of no help to those Greeks. Why did they want to see Jesus?
They'd heard about him. What had they heard about him?
He raised Lazarus. They wanted to see Jesus. Why? They'd heard
about him. What had they heard about him? He might be the king
Messiah. He might be the next world ruler.
And this is what they had in mind. And what our Lord is saying
here, they don't want to see me now. What they want to see,
when they want to see me, is after I've been glorified. That's
the character in which they must see me. The hours come that the
Son of Man should be crucified, buried, risen, and exalted. For apart from his crucifixion
and satisfaction and sacrifice, he can do nothing for these Greeks
at all. But if I be lifted up, I'll draw all men to Thee." The blessings that he brings
are both to Jews and Greeks, but that, not by an earthly throne,
but by a cross. And that's exactly what he's
saying here. In Isaiah 53, listen to this,
Isaiah 53, verse 10, this is, he answered Lord, there's some
Greeks, Gentiles out here who would see you, who would come
into your presence, who would learn of you, who would look
upon you, who would find out about you. Tell them to wait.
But the hour has come when the Son of Man should be glorified.
And after these things, even the disciples had confessed their
ignorance, and after the Lord was glorified, then, Tom, they
knew. Look at Isaiah 53, verse 10.
Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him, if he had put him to grief,
when, when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he
shall see his seed. That's when he sees his seed,
and that's when his seed sees him, when he hath made his soul
an offering for sin. and the pleasures of the Lord
shall prosper in his hands." And then he tells us the necessity,
look at verse 24, the necessity for this. Verily, verily, I say
unto you men, you disciples, Andrew and Philip, except the
corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone. Our
Lord takes a simple illustration of a farmer, and he said the
farmer has his corn of wheat in his Now, if that corn of wheat
is not planted, is not put in the ground, it will abide alone. But, he said, if it dies, if
it goes into the ground, and if it loses its form, and if
it rots, it will bring forth much fruit. And that's what he's
saying about himself. If I die, if I suffer on the
cross and give my life for If I am buried and rise again, then,
he said, I shall bring forth much fruit. And that's when they
want to see me. And that's the Savior to whom
you must come. It's not the virgin son in the
manger, the nativity scene. It's not even the healer or great
preacher of Galilee. And don't misunderstand me. It's
not even the form of a man on a cross, but it's Christ glorified. The hour has come when the Son
of Man must be glorified, glorified. And if Christ be not raised and
be not glorified, His death is of no avail, because His resurrection
says that the Father has accepted Him. Having accepted Him, He
accepted us in Him. And that's what He's saying in
verse 24. He said, If it abides alone, if it does not die, it
abides alone. It does nothing. If I come into
the world and say a few good sayings and sit on a throne in
Jerusalem and then go back where I came from, there's nothing
to be accomplished. There's nothing for the Greek
or the Jew. But if I die and am buried and rise again, I bring
forth much proof. Now, verse 25. Watch, this is
for a strong word for us. He's still talking in answer
to what these disciples said. They said to some Greeks out
there who said, Sir, we would say Jesus. But he said, The hour
has come when the Son of Man will be glorified. Except a corn
of wheat fall into the ground, it will bite up the loam. But
if it's buried, loses its form, suffers and dies, it brings forth
much fruit. Now then, and he, talking about
you, and me that loveth his life will lose it. And he that hateth his life in
this world shall keep it unto life eternal." Now, what's he
saying here? Well, he who would be my disciple, he who would
be my bond slave. That person, when the issue is
between Christ and his gospel on the one hand, and whatever
And whatever, whoever, whomever is nearest and dearest in this
world on the other hand, and we choose the other hand, we'll
perish. That's what he said. He that loveth his life or lose
it, he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it. What
our Lord is saying is this, the issue is here. When the issue
is between me and my gospel, on the one hand. And whatever,
whomever, is nearest and dearest in this world on the other hand,
to choose the latter is to perish. Now let me show you that in the
Scripture. Matthew chapter 10. Matthew chapter 10. Look at verse
37 through 39. Verse 34. Let's start with verse 34. Our Lord said, Then I've come to send peace
on earth. I came not to send peace, but a sword. I've come
to set a man at variance against his father, daughter against
her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. What's
the issue between these people is Christ. I set them. See, I'm the cause. Not the Baptist
Church, it's Christ. My doctrine is Christ. Don't
let a doctrine split you. Let Christ do that. And man's
foes will be there of his own household. But he that loveth
father and mother more than me is not worthy of me. He that
loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. He that
taketh not his cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me.
For he that finds his life, or saves his life, will lose it.
He that loses his life for my sake shall find it." And he says
that Here in Matthew 10, Matthew 16, Mark 8, Luke 9, Luke 17,
just keep saying it over and over and over again. Now look
at the next verse, I've got to quit. Let's look at verse 26.
If any man will serve me, and we're talking about serving Christ,
a bond slave serves the Lord. Any man will be my bond slave,
serve me. Let him follow me. Let him follow
me. Follow me in suffering, follow
me in persecution, follow me in separation, follow me in obedience,
follow me in the word, follow me, take up his cross and follow
me. And where I am, there shall my
servant be." Where is he? Where is Christ? Well, he's in
the love of the Father. The Father said, this is my beloved
son in whom I'm well pleased. Where is he? He's in the covenant
of mercy. That covenant of mercy is built
on him. Where is he? He has accepted Where is he? He's seated at the right hand
of God. Where is he? He's in glory. If any man will
serve me, let him follow me, and where I am, that's where
he is. That's where my servant is, if he's following me. Now,
if he's following some preacher, or some evangelist, or some denomination,
or some theologian, or some doctrine, he's wherever they are. But if
he's following Christ, he's where Christ is. Now watch it. If any
man serve me in this fashion, my Father will honor So you see where we are when
we go back and pick up these things. These men, they brought
forth a message, didn't they? Just by simple request. I'd like
to see the Lord. But I tell you where you need
to see Him. Glorified. That's where you need to see
Him. If you can see He that seeth the Son, He that seeth the Son
and believeth on Him. Seeth the Son how? Glorified. glorified, and believeth on him,
will have everlasting life, shall never come into condemnation,
but is passed from death unto life."