Address—G.H. Hayhoe
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Few minutes at the 12TH chapter of John.
John's Gospel, chapter 12.
In verse 20.
And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast.
The same came therefore to Philip, which was of the said of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus. Philip cometh and telleth Andrew, and again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus.
And Jesus answered them, saying, the hour is 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 abideth alone, and if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it, and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me, and where I am, there shall also my servant be. If any man serve me, him will my.
Father, Honor.
Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say, Father, save me from this hour. But for this cause came I unto this hour, Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again. The people therefore that stood by and heard it, said that it thundered.
Others said an Angel spake to him.
Jesus answered and said that this voice came not because of me, but for your sakes. Now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the Prince of this world be cast out.
And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
Well, I believe we have a very precious portion before us in this 12TH chapter of John.
There we find these Greeks who wanted to see Jesus. Surely we can say this was a very good desire, a desire that ought to be in every one of our hearts to see the Lord Jesus, to be occupied with Him.
But I believe these Greeks wanted to see the Lord as the king, as the one who, like Solomon, whom the Queen of Sheba, came to see exalted in his glory. And these Greeks no doubt would like to see the Lord in that way.
And sometimes we too can have the same desire. We want to see Jesus as the mighty deliverer, as the one who would take us out of all our problems, all the situations that confront us, who would make the crooked places straight and the rough places plain. We'd like to see him in that way.
Well, he's coming in that way, yes. He's going to come for his own and give that shout. He's going to wipe away all tears from our eyes. He's going to bring in that eternal blessing. But if that blessing is to come, it was only through his death. It was through what he would have accomplished there at the Cross of Calvary.
But here, just before we go on, let us notice.
Philip cometh and telleth Andrew. And again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus here was a situation they didn't quite understand. They didn't know what to do. Who did they go to? Well, they went to the Lord, and we're often faced with situations like this.
Some problem comes up and we don't know what to do. Perhaps if we were more intelligent in the mind of God, we might know what to do. We might know what the proper path of faith would be. But we don't know. But here we find that Andrew and Philip come and tell Jesus. And if there is someone here this afternoon?
And you feel too, that you have come to some situation.
And you do want to do what's pleasing to the Lord, but you don't know just what to do. Well, the right person to go to is the Lord. The right person is, is that blessed? 1 And so here we find, as I say, the low Andrew and Philip did not fully enter into the thoughts of the Lord, and were not as intelligent in the things of God as they should have been.
Yet they went to the right person. Sir, we would.
Jesus. So they went, and they told Jesus. Well, he learned something as the result of this that they would not have learned otherwise.
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And if we come to him, even acknowledging at times how unable we are for the situations of life.
How we don't have the knowledge of His word as we should. If we were more diligent, no doubt we would have.
But we go to Him. And so they came. And the Lord's answer was, The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except the corn of wheat fall onto the ground and die. It abideth alone, and if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
Yes, the Lord speaks here of His death for the way of blessing, the way by which the Greeks could see Jesus. For here again we see that title of Son of Man, because this blessing was to reach out beyond the limits of Israel. It was to reach to all mankind. It was to reach to the Greeks. But how was it to reach that far?
All the Lord Jesus, as the blessed corn of wheat, must fall.
To the ground and die, that is, His death was the only way by which blessing could be opened up, and so the Lord Jesus was on his way to the cross.
And these Greeks, seeing him apart from the cross, would have only been judgment, as the Lord mentions later, now as the judgment of this world.
To have to do with Him apart from that work of the cross would only be judgment. Everyone is going to see Jesus. Everyone is going to behold Him and bow the knee to Him. But we have seen Him as the one who went into death for us, who rose again, and who's now gone back to glory. We've bowed to Me, to Him, and owned Him as Lord.
But found him as the one who took our place, who bore our judgment.
Who went into that death for us and rose again?
So the Lord mentions this to the disciples, that the way by which blessing could reach out was only through his death, and that if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit, and there's to be much fruit as the result of that precious death. But now the Lord goes on and brings before the disciples.
He that loveth his life shall lose it, and he that hateth his life.
In this world shall keep it unto life eternal. As I mentioned a few moments ago, these Greeks would like to have seen Jesus as the Savior of the world, the mighty Deliverer, the one who will in a coming day bring him blessing. They would like to have seen this now.
The Lord Jesus spoke of how He was going into death, but He brings in this thought something for each one of our hearts. Now He has gone into death, and what is our association to be? Are we associated with Him yet in His power and glory? Do we see Him as the one who is straightening out all the world's tangles now?
Oh no, brethren, now it's a question of following.
Him in his rejection. It's a question not of loving life in this world, so to speak, of enjoying everything down here. This is no longer our home. It's the place where the Lord Jesus was crucified and cast out. It's the place where he was crucified, as it says when in John, in the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden.
And you know, we could look.
Out in this world at this time of year and it is a garden, the leaves are beautiful. Everything we see reminds us of God's goodness and handiwork. But there's a 2 minute. Our Savior was crucified here, He was cast out here. The one we love the most was unwanted. It was despised. And the Lord Jesus said as it were, I'm going into death and if you want to see me, if you want my company, it'll be.
To follow me in my rejection it will not yet be. To see everything put under Me. We see not yet all things put under Him. We see Him there crowned with glory and honor, but now we see not yet all things put under Him.
And so he said, he that loveth his life shall lose it. 1 is often said, we can have a saved soul, but a lost life.
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The way of salvation is only through the work of Christ, but it's possible for a believer to have a lost life.
And 1St Corinthians, first Corinthians 4 tells us there are three. I should say it says, Speaking of the manifestation, if any man's work be burned, he shall suffer loss, yet he himself shall be saved. Yet soul is by fire. And so you and I have the privilege now have, so to speak, losing our life.
We can never, never go into what the Lord Jesus suffered. What He endured in those hours of darkness, we'll never know. But brethren, we can follow Him in His rejection. We can be associated with Him.
And so it says he that hateth his life, as our brother mentioned yesterday, that is, there are things that constitute life. People speak of having this and having that, and this is really life. Well, as far as this world is concerned, there are things that constitute life that in the neither natural man make life worthwhile. But the Christian has seen that his home is in another sphere. He's associated.
With one who is cast out and rejected here. And so we're willing to give up here in order to be in the enjoyment of himself and of his company. And so the Lord goes on to say, if any man serve me, let him follow me. And where I am, there shall also my servant be.
Well, we find with those who followed David in his rejection, they also were associated with him in his glory. Where I am, there shall also my servant be. Now it's a question of being where he is, so to speak, in The Cave of Adela. He was cast out here, were associated with him. And to seek a place in this world now is unbecoming to us. We have to earn our living. We must go through this world.
But this world?
Is not our home.
This world is not our resting place. We see it as a doomed scene under the judgment of God.
But all, what is it that makes it a path of happiness and blessing for the believer? Oh, it's to be where he is. A few of us this morning enjoyed that privilege. What was it that made the place precious? Here we are. There wasn't anything particular in the way of entertainment or music. What was it that made the place his presence? His presence. That's what made the place this morning.
And what was it that made the the?
The Cave of a dull and precious to those who followed David was his company what was it that made the.
The fiery furnace precious to shade, recognition and Abednego the Lord walked with him in a.
And what is it that is going to furnish the sweetest and best things in life for us?
His company, his presence.
His presence where I am, there shall also my servant be, and then there goes on to say.
If any man serve me, him will my Father honor? Yes, those who accompanied David into The Cave were also given honors when David came to the throne. And all brethren, won't it be 1000 times worthwhile to hear the Savior's well done in that day, to feel that he valued the fact that we were content to be misunderstood, to share His rejection here.
And then it seems to me here that.
If we might pause and think, well, this is a difficult task, this is a path where there will be much trial and suffering. Then it seems there's a little break here. It says, Now is my soul troubled? And what shall I say, Father, save me from this hour? But for this cause came I unto this hour.
In my in my mind, it's just as if you stood on the brink of a decision. You say, I know if I take that step, I'm going to be misunderstood. My friends are going to misunderstand me. I'm going to be despised. And you hesitate to take that step in obedience to the Lord, to have his company. The Lord at this moment was standing in a place, if we might say.
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Where there was something before him where obedience to his Father was going to.
Cost Him infinitely more than it will ever cost us. And the Lord, after presenting the cost of discipleship to his own, he said, Now is my soul troubled? And what shall I say? Brethren, we will never know what it meant to Him to take that step. This is the nearest we come in the Gospel of John to the Garden of Gethsemane. And here the Lord stood, as it were at that very moment in His pathway. Would he take that?
Steph, did he love you and me enough to take that step in order that we might be blessed? Yes, he did, brethren. Yes, he loved us enough to take that step. That step cost him the suffering, the untold suffering that the judgment of sin required. He took that step. He bore all the judgment until he cried at his finish in order that we might be brought into blessing all. To me, this is a tremendous challenge.
To my own heart, every one of us have come to points in our lives when we hesitated and we knew what discipleship meant. We knew what it meant to follow Christ and we hesitated and the Lord hears it were says, well, I have come to that point, but I'm going to take that step in love for you, in love for you. Oh brethren, what love, what grace.
Surely this overwhelms us and makes us desire to have his company.
He said where I am, there shall also my servant be. To have his company, to have his approval is everything.
So the Lord said, Father, save me from this hour, but for this cause came I unto this our Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and it will glorify it again. People that stood by didn't understand, they didn't know what this moment meant to the precious Savior.
They said that it thundered others.
And an Angel spake to him. Jesus said, This voice came, not because of me, but for your sakes, for your sakes. Why was he going into that awful suffering? For your sake, for mine, brethren, for your sake, for mine. And this was the deciding factor in everything as regards this world.
So he said, now is the judge.
Of this world.
This world history morally ended at the cross. All that man was have been tried and tested. He had failed. He had broken down utterly. If there was going to be any blessing, man could never win the victory himself. Judgment was now passed upon the whole scene. It hadn't responded to the voice of the charmer. Charming never so wisely. There was no response in the heart of man to the matchless graces.
Of that blessed One who fully revealed his father. And so the Lord said the trial is over. But he didn't stop there. I'm glad he didn't stop there, He said. Now shall the Prince of this world be cast out?
Yes, that which had been promised in the Garden of Eden was about to take place. He was about to abrose Satan's head. The seed of the woman had come. He'd been rejected. And there he pronounces judgment. And if he had stopped there, every one of us would have gone to hell. He said, now is the judgment of this world. I say, if he stopped there, every one of us would have gone to hell. We would have been lost forever.
But he said I'm going to win the victory over Satan.
There's going to be blessing. And the Lord Jesus then went to that cross and he cast out the Prince of this world who was Satan. He overcame his power. He announced his power for us. And we this afternoon can say the victory has been won and won for us. This voice came back because of me. But for your sakes, for your sakes.
And then he said, now if I be lifted up.
From the earth will draw all men unto me. That is, those Greeks wanted to see Jesus.
Those disciples, the Lord had set before them the cost of discipleship and following him. And now he said he tells what he was about to go through. He tells of the victory he was to to win. And now he said, so to speak, if you want my company, I'm going to the cross. You must follow me in my rejection if you want my company.
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Those Greeks wanted to see Jesus.
Is there a desire expressing itself in our hearts this afternoon? Are our hearts saying, oh, I want to see Jesus? Well, we're going to see him through grace because he won the victory for us. He overcame the power of Satan. He's a defeated foe. We're going to see Jesus in that glory.
But if we want to see him down here, we want to have the joy of His company. He's the one whom this world cast out. He was the uplifted one. I if I be lifted up and it says this, He spake, signifying what death he should die. The Lord Jesus was to be lifted up on Calvary, a spectacle to this world rejected.
And if we want to see him, he's rejected. He's cast out here.
But he's crowned with glory and honor up there. And so the response to this this question we would see Jesus is now to follow him in his rejection. But all brethren at the same moment to look up as it says in Hebrews 2, but.
We see Jesus, where is he? He's crowned with glory and honor, but to see him by faith to walk in his company here is to follow him as the one who was rejected, who was lifted up and all. I say again, if there's if there are any of us here and we stand to the point in our lives where we know it's going to cost us something to follow Christ.
May we hear the words of that Blessed One at such a moment.
Saying now, is my soul troubled?
And if He wanted to have your company in mind, if He wanted us to see Him, to enjoy all of us in His heart, He must go to the cross. And He did. Redemption is completed. May we value His company more and more.