Dying to Know Jesus

GREETING & ANNOUNCE TEXT:

Good morning and happy mothers day you all you mothers. Turn with me in your Bibles to the Gospel of John, Chapter 12. Our sermon text today comes from John 12:20-26. John 12:20-26

PRE-TEXT INTRO:

As you turn there, let me just say that it is a delight and honor to be asked to minister God’s Word to you again, especially on this mother’s day……And whether it’s in the hugs, flowers, or cards we give, what we try to get across to our moms on a day like this in so many words is simply. We love you. We know you’ve sacrificed….and we honor you for it... but here’s the thing…you don’t have to be a mother to know what it means to sacrifice….in fact the lesson that Christ provides us in this passage teaches that all his followers must know what it means to sacrifice….but be encouraged the honor for this kind of sacrifice is a gift too wonderful for words.

TEXT READING:

John 12:20-26

PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION:

Let’s Pray…

INTRODUCTION:

If you’re like me…you come to a text like this and think…man this is tough…hating your life…losing your life, what is going on here? I kind of like my life, isn’t life a gift from God? this doesn’t seem to make sense…and so we skip it and read on….

And see here is where we go wrong….

We tend to put life into an imaginary box, and in this box life makes sense for us. We love this box. In this box, we feel pretty comfortable with our knowledge of life… and the older we get the last thing we want to do is encounter anything or anyone that might just show us that true life is outside our box….and heaven forbid…that the true Jesus is outside as well.

But that’s the issue that these Greeks, and all of us, who are confronted with the response of Jesus… have to face. How does our knowledge of life line up with a true knowledge of Christ? The main challenge of this text is….do you know the true Jesus? For if you do….you’ll discover the truth about life.

We’re shown that

[MAIN PROPOSITION] A true knowledge of life requires a true knowledge of Christ.

[MAIN PROPOSITION] A True knowledge of Life requires a True knowledge of Christ

So, here’s the question? How do you come to know the true Jesus?

We’re taught here that there are three ways….Three ways in which we come to know the true Jesus….and in doing will understand life.

And the first way in which we come to know the True Jesus is that

MAIN POINT #1 - We must know His Word.

in verse 20, we’re introduced to a group of Greeks, who as we know were known in the ancient world for their quest and claims for Philosophy and understanding life. Now, These were not Greek-speaking Jews, the word here in the text is Hellenes. They were Gentile- God-fearers who had traveled to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover and were allowed to worship at the gate… but notice they weren’t content until they saw Jesus….

Now, they didn’t want to just see him for a moment passing by, they would have easily been able to do that… No, what they wanted was an intimate interview, they wanted to pull up a comfortable seat, grab a cup of coffee and sit down with this miracle man, this man of great wisdom and power… but they’re about to encounter one of the greatest lessons ever taught on life by encountering the true Jesus…For…

A True Knowledge of Life requires a True Knowledge of Christ.

MAIN POINT 1: To know Jesus we must be brought to hear his Word.

Not a hearing in order to listen….but a hearing in order to know.

And we’re brought to know God’s Word By His Spirit.

SUBPOINT 1- The Spirit gives us life to desire the Word

Notice what it says in verse 20…they were “among those…going up to worship.”

They were a few among the crowd. So many people today all across the world are getting dressed up and going to church….but the crowd is all going for various reasons….some for their parents, maybe a friend or neighbor invited them, or maybe they’ve just been doing it every week…they don’t think much of it…..

But the question here is …who among those…..are dying to see Jesus??? Who among those has the Spirit of God awakened to realize if I don’t see Jesus…..I’ve wasted my time….. And Only God in His sovereignty can awaken your heart to move out from among the crowd of dead religiosity and have a desire to see Jesus.

the Spirit of God has to do this….it has to regenerate us to see that worship, going to church is more than just singing some hymns, paying your tithe, and hearing a 10 step message for the successful life….We must see Jesus.

And so (VERSE 21, & 22) the Spirit of God births a desire inside the hearts of these Greeks and they come to Philip and He councils with Andrew and they come and tell Jesus.

SUBPOINT 2- Notice: The Spirit gives us a desire, but he also gives us witnesses to bring us to the Word

Now how much do we know about Philip and Andrew? Not a lot. Mainly because not a lot is written about them….but what is written is remarkable….Every time you encounter Philip and Andrew in John’s gospel they are bringing people to Jesus. (Andrew brought Peter and Philip brought Nathaniel to Jesus, Andrew brought the boy with the 5 loaves to Jesus, and now they bring these Greeks) Now wouldn’t it be wonderful if all that was said about us when we died was….they brought me to Jesus. They brought me to Jesus…..

Never forget the influence you have as a witness to bring people to the Word of Christ. You never know what the result will be.

Someone at one point witnessed to John Calvin. Someone witnessed to C.H. Spurgeon. Someone witnessed to Billy Graham…..and somewhere someone today is witnessing and they are bringing people to the Word of Christ and they don’t care about who gets the credit. They care about who gets to Jesus…

The ones apt not to get to heaven are the ones who are content to get their alone.

But when we get to Jesus, notice we need the Holy Spirit to understand Him. look at verse 16 just before our text. Even his disciples had a lack of understanding….

We see there that “Even His disciples did not understand these things until Jesus was glorified.”

What…the disciples?…these guys were hanging with Jesus everyday….

No. See we can go to Church every Sun, listen to the Christian radio station every day, and wear a cross around out neck…. we can surround ourselves with Jesus…but we’ll never really know Him without understanding His Word….

And when we understand his Word we will understand his Work.

You see the point is not so much in understanding the questions and problems that are being brought to Jesus in the gospels….but in understanding His Word of response to them…for he is always correcting the false wisdom and words of man with the true wisdom and Words of God.

A True Knowledge of Life requires a True Knowledge of Christ.

So here come these Greeks. Here come some seekers. Alright now. Here we go…let’s put a real fun and lively seeker sensitive service together…here they come…Let’s give them a dynamic worship experience. No….What does Jesus do? tell them all the blessings that he can give them? No. He says “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”

WE KNOW JESUS BY HIS WORD….AND WE KNOW JESUS BY HIS WORK.

Several times before this Jesus has mentioned his hour has having not yet come….so what does a group of Greeks who want an interview with him warrant This response?

Because Jesus sees in them a small window into why he came….He knows its not good for a man to remain alone….and he knows His Father has elected a bride for him …but this bride is not of one race or tongue….NO he must save and sanctify a bride from every nation, tribe, and tongue….You know what he sees he here…..He sees us. He sees us. A gentile world being grafted in….by the gospel….a message of salvation being extended out past the jews….but in order for that to happen. For the gospel to bear fruit….the seed must die.

The Christ must suffer and be broken, die and be buried….and then rise again...….and he teaches the most profound wisdom of Heaven through literally most the down to earth wisdom of life…. the sowing of a seed.

Glory follows suffering. Honor follows humility. Blessing follows brokenness.

You see, It is Jesus who has a greater wisdom than the Greeks. The greater wisdom than Socrates. For It is not the “Unexamined life that’s not worth living….but the unbroken life.” The unbroken life before God is not worth living….

They wanted to see Jesus….but to really see Jesus is to know Him…and you need to know Him in His Work….

And you need to believe that what he did on the cross, he did for you personally….to embrace that changes the way you see everything…

Illustration: Patrick and His Mother

A few weeks ago at Knox, a visiting professor from Wales told us this story about a little boy named Patrick. Patrick loved his mommy very much. Even though his mom was very disfigured. Little Patrick loved her because he didn’t know any different…Until he was old enough for school. At first he had no problem walking to school with his mom until he noticed that his mom didn’t look like the other mommies and he grew ashamed and embarrassed of her…and so one day he insisted that his mom not walk him to school anymore.

That night after she tucked little Patrick into bed and told him how much she loved him….she sat at the kitchen table and just wept and wept. Her husband asked her what was wrong and through tears she told him what had happened.

Immediately he got up and went into Patrick’s room and sat beside him on the bed.

“Your mother told me what had happened, he began. I never wanted to tell you this son, for fear how you would take it, but I understand now it’s important that you know. One day I was in the garage working with many gallons of flammable paint; I left to go buy something I needed, and by mistake I left the garage open. Several minutes later your mommy happened to see you from the window playing in the garage and you were trying to strike a match….. “No, Patrick, No you mustn’t do that She shouted, but you didn’t’ hear her. She ran down to the garage….and got to you just as you lit the match. There was an awful explosion but your mommy had wrapped herself around you….and she was terribly burned to save you. She bore the marks of shame so you didn’t have to….With tears running down his face, Patrick got up from his bed. Went into the kitchen and kissed his mommy’s disfigured hands……

The next day Patrick insisted that she walk with him all the way to school – And why did everything change?…because he saw his Mother for the very first time…by seeing her in what she had done for him…

To know Jesus we must personally embrace his Work. See we’re moving from the Head to the heart.

Friends…the world wants to know the Jesus without the cross….but that will never be the true Jesus. Oh it will draw a crowd…

Jesus has never had any problem drawing a crowd….the question is what Jesus is the crowd trying to find? Is the Healing Jesus? Who just wants to cure all your pain? Is it the Million dollar Jesus. Who just wants to make you rich? Is it Superstar Jesus? Who wants to help you get famous? Which Jesus are you trying to find that will fit your box? Friends….I thank God that He heals. I thank God for all his blessings….but often the true Jesus lives way outside of what we want him to be….

And that’s what separates most every cult and false religion in the world….They reject the cross and blood of Christ…..Islam identifies with Jesus but they can’t embrace the cross….Muhammad saw the cross and said if that could happen to Jesus it could happen to me….and so he rejected it. But as one my friends remarked…what Muhammed thought was far beneath him….was really far above him. See to reject the cross of Christ is to reject Him altogether.

I don’t care what you’ve heard from Oprah…Christ never saved anyone by being a great teacher. He never saved anyone by just providing us a good example. He saves by His Work on the cross.

And when we truly embrace His Work…..we will follow His walk….we will grab him by the hand and not be ashamed to walk with Him anymore….and when we walk with him we will know life….For

A True Knowledge of Life requires a True Knowledge of Christ.

To know Jesus we must know His Word, Embrace His Work, and follow His Walk.

To know Jesus we must follow his Walk. Our Head, our heart and now our hands must all come under subission to Christ.

25“He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal.

26 “If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.

Christ saves us by His Work and sanctifies us in His Walk….but listen. Listen. This won’t be a sad and sorrowful walk.

WHEN WE FOLLOW HIS WALK…There will be joy. Not joy as the world understands it….but the same joy of Christ to do the will of His Father, and for the joy that was set before him, he endured the Cross.”

God will Grant us Joy in surrendering our will unto Eternal life.

We read in Verse 25) “Whoever loves his life loses it and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”

Now, one of the most interesting features of this verse that can be somewhat interpreted from the English but is clearly seen in the Greek is the contrast on the word life. For us there is no way of telling in the English that the words “life” and “life” are different words in the original language. Yet this gets at the heart of the verse. The first word used for life here is “Psuche” where we get our word Psychology, It refers to the life of the mind, will, and emotions of man. We call it the ego. The second word is Zoe which is the true life of the being which is connected to eternal life.

This is what he’s saying….the independent will must die. Your own plans for the future…Your own preferences, opinions, tastes…desire for man’s approval or fear of blame…that life must die if you want to know true life. Your outward man must be torn back in order to give God glory….

ILLUSTRATION:

One of the most enjoyable parts about a day like this is giving our moms a gift and enjoying watching them open it….

But guys, if you’re like me you dread the thought of having to wrap these presents…as Lindsay can attest. I always end up using way too much paper and way too much tape….but when I get the ribbon and the bow on there…I start to feel pretty good about the way it looks. There’s always a sense of pride I get in my wrapping job…but then…as soon as I hand over the box...the ribbon gets cut….all that paper is torn and the box is broken….but its all part of the giving process….and I enjoy it because I know what will be received. And this illustrates what’s going on here in this verse.

We were created to give God glory….and part of the giving process is watching the wrapping paper of our self will being torn back by his hands. Watching the ribbon of Self- reliance getting cut, the box of our worldly wants and ways being broken….all in the process of giving God glory.

Let’s test ourselves this morning beloved….is the paper being torn by back? Is our walk revealing the work of the gospel?

And we can’t make this happen in our strength. It takes the Power of the Holy Spirit working through the gospel to move us into this life….

That’s why in closing I want to quickly point out three things this isn’t, so you don’t walk out of here with the wrong perspective on all this:

1. This walk isn’t Justification by works: Notice this follows the Work of Christ. It is the fruit of Justification by faith alone. This is the transforming effects of the gospel on our lives.

2. This isn’t Extreme Asceticism: You don’t have to sell all your possessions, shave your head, renounce all pleasure, and become a monk. Don’t think that way….God will call you to hardship in his time. Lindsay and I will be called to hardship, He will call us to suffer, but we must let Him do it in His time…and endure it in the joy of his strength.

And this third one is especially important for us men to get.

3. This isn’t a call to meek mediocrity. What it is - in the words of John Piper: a call for Brokenhearted Boldness. He gives a great quote in his book “What Jesus demands from the world” which I would highly recommend. He quotes - G.K. Chesterton on this point…..

What we suffer from today is humility in the wrong place. Modesty has settled on the organ of conviction; where it was never meant to be. A man was meant to be doubtful about himself, but undoubting about the truth; this has been exactly reversed. The old humility made a man doubtful about his efforts, which might make him work harder. But the new humility makes a man doubtful about his aims, which makes him stop working altogether….(and he ends with this). We are on the road to producing a race of man too mentally modest to believe in the multiplication table.”

See we musn’t surrender the cause of Christ’s Truth in the surrender of our self to Christ. The kind of humility Christ calls us to is neither haughty nor timid.

We must suffer and die to self….not for the same reasons that Christ did….but to arrive at the same place….for look, Where he is…we might be also….

And God will grant us the joy of Jesus in being Honored.

We are all on the road to Jerusalem….for us it’s the Jerusalem above….but the way to get there is the same road he took….It’s going to be hard. We’re going to arrive with the scars of temporary suffering….but we’re promised the eternal honor by God the Father….for where we suffer in humility with the Son…..we will sit with honor with him too.

You want honor - the way up is the way down.

A True Knowledge of Life requires a True Knowledge of Christ.

CONCLUSION:

Let me close with this: When I was called to the ministry, it was at the same time that my uncle Harold....was placed in a care facility because he had severe Parkinson’s which turned into slight dementia…..So here is my uncle spending his last years on earth in sever pain and confusion…away from his family.

And I struggled so bad at first to go visit him ….you want to know why? It wasn’t because I didn’t want to face the reality of his pain…. I didn’t want to face with the reality of my call. See he had been a preacher all his life….called to the ministry at a young age…and here is a servant of Christ not dying with princes on a bed of glory….but dying alone on a bed of suffering….but he did it well….He never turned his back on his God….and by the grace of God I embraced him in his dying years ….I went to visit him several times before he passed away….he never could say much….but I remember one day…he told me his favorite quote from Jim Eliot who had died in as a missionary to Christ…..

He is no fool, who gives what he cannot keep. To gain what he cannot lose.

We try so hard to hold onto our life….the life that we want….but we can never keep it…and the secret is we’ve got to let it go….we’ve got to give it all to God…..the question of our hearts must change from “what can I get out of this” to what glory can he get out me”

CLOSING PRAYER: