John 12:44-50 "Jesus' Farewell Sermon" - Dr. Steven J. Lawson

have a seat well we are so excited that dr steve lawson is here again this sunday he was here this past sunday and when he walked in this morning i said wow you look well rested and you you look nice and he said i'm that's what i've been praying for he said ever since i've left i've preached every day multiple times a day he has been to washington d.c richmond virginia he's been preaching out by the airport we're so glad that he's here this morning most of you know that he is the founder of one passion ministries he travels the world teaching preachers how to preach verse by verse he the men's bible study he conducts here this in the mornings on thursday when he's here so we are glad that you are here his wife grace is he uh his wife ann is here this morning also so we're excited about that steve would you please come forward and read the scriptures and pray for us yeah i thought i was married to someone else they're there for a second i've been tired but i didn't realize what it all happened [Laughter] yeah i have preached this last sunday i've actually preached 15 one-hour sermons so if i'm a little tired just give me a nudge and help me wake up mark i was not looking uh for a sermon back there i was checking the macarthur study notes i just wanted to make sure he got it right so he he checked out okay so no what a joy for us to continue to be able to go through the gospel of john the gospel of john and the book of romans are my two favorite books in the entire bible so to be able to preach john here on sundays and do romans in the men's bible study i'm just living the dream really what a joy it is to be able to look together into the word of god with you and this is a remarkable passage of scripture i'll tell you why i love the gospel of john so much just before i read the passage matthew mark and luke are what we call the synoptic gospels in that they are very similar in the way they overlap but the gospel of john is totally unique i think it's something like 92 percent of the gospel of john is not found in matthew mark or luke uh matthew begins with the birth of christ mark begins with jesus at age 30 in the wilderness there is no birth account luke begins with zacharias and jesus being and john the baptist being born but john begins an eternity past and it is the biggest lens picture of jesus christ and it is the most doctrinal and the most theological of the four gospels and i think that's why i i love it so much i mean there are the seven i am statements in john's gospel there are the seven miracles that correspond with it um there's the upper room discourse that we'll be starting next week but i think really i love this book so much because of the doctrinal clarity and the profundity of the words of christ as he speaks in this gospel and as we come to the passage for today it's yet again virtually a systematic theology uh within itself so um i'm eager to look at these verses with you today and so excited to see so many people um here today god is doing a wonderful work in the life of this church so i want to begin by reading in john chapter 12 verse 44 and the title of this message is jesus's farewell sermon i want to begin reading in verse 44. and jesus cried out and said he who believes in me does not believe in me we could add the word really only for to help understand does not believe in me only but in him who sent me he who sees me sees the one who sent me i have come as light into the world so that everyone who believes in me will not remain in darkness if anyone hears my sayings and does not keep them i do not judge him for i did not come to judge the world but to save the world he who rejects me and does not receive my sayings has one who judges him the word i spoke is what will judge him at the last day for i did not speak on my own initiative but the father himself who sent me has given me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak i know that his commandment is eternal life therefore the things i speak i speak just as the father has told me deep and wide and high are these words let us go to the lord in prayer father as we have even just read these words that there is a profundity about these words that are overwhelming no mere man could have said these words and they be true but only one who is truly god and truly man could have spoken like this and we praise you that by the work of your holy spirit we have come to see that jesus is exactly who he claimed to be the son of god the son of man truly god truly man our savior our lord the messiah the light of the world the bread of life the resurrection and the life the good shepherd the door of the sheep the true vine the final judge on the last day father we drink in these words because they come from the lips of the one who has carried our sins far far away and who is our lord and master we take in these words as your words because you have given to him what to say and what to speak and so give us attentive ears to our master as he speaks to us this day through the pages of your inspired scripture bless each and every one who is here today i pray that you would comfort those who are discouraged i pray you would challenge those who are lukewarm i pray you would convert those who are lost i pray you would edify and strengthen those who are weak so do a work in each and every heart meet each one of us at exactly where we are in regards to you and we pray that this service today this message even would have long lasting effect upon our relationship with you father we pray this in jesus name amen as we look at these verses today we come to the end of the public ministry of jesus christ for three long years three plus long years he has ministered openly and publicly he has preached the gospel far and wide from jerusalem up to galilee to the towns in between he has performed miracles he has healed the sick he has given sight to the blind he has raised the dead he has extended grace to sinners and he has confronted the religious leaders of israel and now he comes to the end of his three years of public ministry and as he does so this is the end in the gospel of john of jesus's public ministry beginning in chapter 13 will be the upper room discourse as jesus will gather his disciples in the upper room and go behind closed doors and there give them final instruction before his departure to the garden of gethsemane but here is the final public sermon that jesus preached as it is recorded in the gospel of john in matthew mark and luke there will be yet further teaching there will be the mount olivet discourse that jesus will give but john does not concern himself with that john comes to a dramatic closure of the public ministry of jesus with these words that we shall see today and these are very passionate words that arise from the depth of the being of the lord jesus he knows the end is here he knows that his hour has now come and this is no time to hold back any truth that needs to be spoken by him this is one last sermon one last declaration of the truth concerning himself and we are not surprised to see jesus preach that greatest of all subjects he preaches himself this is christ preaching christ this is christ revealing to us one last time exactly who he is and so as we walk through these passages he will make it crystal clear and i trust that in your heart and mind today that there is that there is no ambiguity regarding who jesus christ is and as a result of our looking at these messages i trust that you will be fortified in your conviction concerning the lord jesus christ so five truths that i want to set before you in this passage and i want you to note first jesus's solidarity with the father if you want to just write down one word it's solidarity but jesus's solidarity with the father he begins in verse 44 and jesus cried out i just have to make a comment here jesus was a preacher and that's what preachers do they they lift up their voice and the message comes out of the depth of their being they they they cry out when they preach and as jesus speaks here there is passion and there is fervency and there is a sense of urgency as jesus brings now this this last sermon he doesn't fizzle out at the end he's not speaking with a monotone voice even his voice conveys the importance of what he has to say and jesus cried out and said he who believes in me jesus is saying this to an unconverted crowd jesus is saying this to the pharisees who are in the midst of conspiring to have him put to death jesus is preaching this to the unconverted multitudes and so there are plenty to whom he speaks who needs to be saved who need to believe in him so he says he who believes in me and in a sense this is an an invitation to those there this day one last final appeal he makes to believe in him to commit their life to him and to the very end the arms of the savior are extended to those to whom he speaks the gates of paradise remain swung open he who believes in me does not believe in me that sounds to be a contradiction is it not he who believes in me does not believe in me and to understand that second part we would need to add the word only or exclusively it's not in the text but it needs to be in our mind to understand what he is saying and what jesus is saying is that there is a unity and solidarity between the father and the son you cannot believe in the father without believing in jesus christ and you cannot believe in jesus christ without believing in the father who sent them who sent him and so that is what jesus is stressing here his solidarity with the father and the son those who claim to be a believer in god but who do not believe in jesus christ are unbelievers who remain lost and who are perishing there is no way to come to the father except through the lord jesus christ we will say in john 14 verse 6 i am the way and the truth and the life no one comes to the father but through me it is always a package deal if you will and so he says in verse 44 he who believes in me does not believe in me but in him who sent me absolute necessity to believe that jesus has been sent from above that he's been sent from heaven from the right hand of god the father to come down into this world of sin and sorrow to be sent on a on a divine mission to seek and to save that which is is lost he says you must believe not only in him but in him who sent me thus to reject jesus is to reject god who sent him and to believe in jesus necessitates that you believe in god the father as well who sent him knowing christ always includes knowing the father you cannot know one without the other in john 17 verse 3 jesus will say this is eternal life that they may know you the one true living god and jesus christ whom you have sent and so this solidarity between jesus and god the father was stated earlier and i want to bring this verse to your remembrance it is such an important verse john 10 verse 30 i and the father are one as i have explained before that does not mean one person that would be heretical the father and the son are two different persons though there is only one god when he says i and the father are one that speaks to the solidarity between the father and the son that we are of one saving purpose we are of one saving mission we are of one saving enterprise and that is what jesus is underscoring in john chapter 12 and verse 44. and so here is even teaching on the trinity and the triunity of god the absolute solidarity between the father and the son and let me just say parenthetically this is why i believe in definite atonement that those whom the father has chosen are those for whom christ died are those whom the holy spirit regenerates and converts because the father and the son and the holy spirit are one in purpose there is this absolute unity between them and also that is why we baptize in the name of the father and the son and the holy spirit we do not baptize in the name of jesus we baptize in the name of the father and the son and the holy spirit because all three persons act as one savior with one saving purpose in one saving mission all that truth stands behind verse 44. deep and profound are these words second as we come to verse 45 i want you to note jesus's equality with the father it's not just that they are one in in mission they are also one in substance one in essence one in their attributes and in their being and so we read in verse 45 about the absolute equality of deity that the father and the son share so notice what he says in verse 45 he who sees me and to see jesus here means to to behold him in his in his life and in his ministry to behold his works to behold what he has taught and and said but specifically to behold his personhood to behold his being to behold who he is he who sees me watch this sees the one who sent me what does this mean what this means is is that the two persons the father and the son are of the same nature are of the same attributes are of the very same essence and so the deity that comprises the being of the father is the very same deity that comprises the personhood of jesus christ later in the the upper room discourse in john chapter 14 and verse 8 a passage that no you will no doubt immediately recognize philip in the upper room says to jesus lord show us the father and that is enough for us just show us the father you're always talking about the father we see you show us the father and jesus responds in verse 9 with these words have i been so long with you and you have not yet come to know me philip now listen to this he who has seen me has seen the father whoa by this jesus claims to be the exact same substance as god the father that the very being of the father is the very same being of the son that the two are equally holy the two are equally omniscient the two are equally truthful the two are equally full of grace the two are equally righteous the two are equally wrathful everything that the father is the son is the only difference is the father the son has taken upon himself sinless humanity and a human body let me give you just a couple cross-references here at this point that that really established this truth colossians 1 verse 15 says that jesus is quote the image of the invisible god he is the exact image of the invisible god in other words to see jesus is to see one who is truly completely god but i think the strongest passage while we're talking about this is hebrews 1 verse 3. and this is critically important as we understand the deity of christ hebrews 1 verse 3 says he referring to jesus is the radiance of his glory referring to the glory of the father that jesus is the bright out shining light of the glory of the father now listen and the exact representation of his nature the word exact representation is in the esv as imprint and the word was used let's say here's a signet ring that a king would have with the crest on it and here's some wax and as he would seal shut a document with his ring the imprint that is left in the wax is exactly the same as what is on his ring this is saying that jesus is the exact representation of the father's nature meaning the father's real being the son is identical in divine substance and essence with god the father this is why believing in jesus is such an important matter number one because of who he is and this is why unbelief is such a serious matter because of who jesus is this isn't just one more preacher this isn't just one more teacher or prophet this is god in human flesh speaking the gospel to us and why unbelief and refusing his gospel is so serious and seriously tragic so there we see the equality that jesus has with the father but jesus continues to to give this final profound sermon and i want you to note in verse 46 and 47 jesus's priority in coming because here jesus now stresses the primary purpose of his coming if jesus is who he claims to be one with the father and of the very same essence of the father then we must know why he has come into this world for us 2000 years ago if he is god in human flesh we cannot be mistaken about why he has come into the very world that he has created and so we read in verse 46 jesus said i have come as light into the world he has come into a world of darkness into a world of ignorance of god into a world filled with the depravity of sin into a world that is perishing he has come as light and it is this light that shines forth the very character and essence of god as it's almost like the sun and then the sunlight and the beams that come jesus has come down to this world from the heights of heaven as the light of god descending down into this world and bringing with him salvation in the bible light is often a metaphor for salvation to come shining into the darkness of our lives so he says i have come as light into the world so that everyone who believes in me will not remain in darkness that those who believe in jesus christ will be transformed from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light that those who are in in darkness will be brought into the light and notice he says will not remain in the light what that tells us is that true saving faith will not allow your life to remain the way that it previously was you cannot remain in the darkness if you believe in the lord jesus christ and that is referring also to one's lifestyle that you will not continue to walk in the darkness but you will no longer remain in the darkness you will now walk in the light as jesus is in the light first john 1 7 and there will be a dramatic change in a person's life they will go from darkness to light and they can no longer walk in the darkness and this begins at the moment of conversion this is not something that happens 10 years later down the road this is not something that kicks in 20 years later i often hear people uh ask me can you help me understand when i was converted to christ and i prayed a prayer when i was you know 16 years old but i just continued to live in the darkness and i went off to college and and and and continued to live the same life that i had always been living god had no real place in my life christ was not really lord of my life but it wasn't until recently that i finally got serious about the lord and my my life began began to change and i began to now live for christ and for god can you tell me when it was that i came to know christ and i said well i certainly can according to the bible you are converted when you no longer remain in the darkness but when you now begin to walk in the light and so on on a timeline of your life it's when you leave the darkness not just of ignorance of god but also depravity of lifestyle or just self-centeredness of lifestyle and self-righteousness of lifestyle and even apathy and lukewarmness towards christ no when you come to believe this passage says everyone who believes in me will not remain in darkness there is no way that you can come to know the living risen christ and your life not be changed it's impossible this is precisely what jesus said earlier in john 8 and verse 12 one of the most important verses in the gospel of john he said in john 8 and verse 12 i am the light of the world he who follows me will not walk in the darkness but will have the light of life you cannot follow christ and remain where you were you cannot follow christ and remain in the darkness when you follow christ you step out of the darkness and into the light and you follow him in the light this is this is wonderful we don't just want fire insurance we want a new life we we want we want to be new people we we want a a new quality of life that eternal life alone can bring to us and jesus says i have come as light into the world so that you'll no longer remain in the darkness if you would believe in me look at verse 47 if anyone hears my sayings and does not keep them now here jesus instead of saying does not believe them he uses an alternate expression for saving faith or here for unbelief he says if anyone hears my sayings and does not keep them to keep them is to obey them to keep them is to follow them to keep them is to live out its reality in your life if anyone hears my sayings and does not keep them jesus said i do not judge him and by that he means that's not the primary purpose for which i came into the world i did not primarily come to judge the world i came to save and why would he not come to condemn the world because the world is already condemned just look at the flood just look at sodom and gomorrah just look at jericho just walk through the old testament the world has already been brought under judgment by god jesus came to rescue sinners out of this fallen world so that's why he says i do not judge him for i did not come to judge the world for i did not come to judge the world but to save the world and to be saved means to be delivered out of this world that is under the judgment of a holy and righteous god this is the main purpose of his coming and he told told us this so clearly in his conversation with nicodemus in john 3 and verse 17 hear it one more time jesus said to nicodemus for god did not send the son into the world to judge the world but that the world might be saved through him everyone in the world needs to be saved every one of us here today needs to be saved every one of us needs to be rescued out from the wrath of god and there's only one way for us to be delivered and that is through believing in jesus christ who came to rescue sinners from perishing in their sins so this leads now to number four in verse 48 jesus's severity in judgment because someone might say well if he didn't come to judge then why do i really need to believe i mean i'm okay you're okay and so jesus follows up in verse 48 lest there be any misunderstanding that if one refuses to commit their life to jesus christ he does want us to know that there are eternal consequences and though his primary purpose was to save there will be an inevitable condemnation if we fail to believe in him so he says in verse 48 he who rejects me and does not receive my sayings let me just stop right there for a moment here is the solidarity between the person of christ and the words of christ that you cannot accept the person of christ but refuse the words of christ that what jesus says is inseparably connected with who he is and in order to receive jesus you must act upon what he says so if you will receive his words you will actually receive christ but if you refuse his words you are refusing christ in other words you cannot have jesus on your own terms you you cannot have jesus the way you want to have jesus that jesus cannot be redefined by us in the 21st century jesus cannot be like the proverbial wax nose and twisted to be what we want jesus to be and i will have jesus now on by my definitions and how i perceive jesus to be in my mind no to have jesus you must have the jesus of the bible and you must have jesus as the one who spoke truth you can only have jesus on jesus's terms so he who rejects me and does not receive my sayings has one who judges him and jesus wants that crowd that day to know that though he has come to save there will be a judgment and the one who judges him is none other than the one who has come to save the lord jesus christ he is both judge and savior both savior and judge and every one of us in this room and everyone in the world will know jesus in one of two ways we will either know him as our savior or we will know him as our judge so he says the one who does not receive my sayings has one who judges him and the word judge is an interesting word in the original language when jesus said this and as john wrote it the word for judgment or judge here just simply means to separate that there will be a separation on the last day there will be a separation of the the wheat from the tares there will be a separation of believers from unbelievers on the last day and presently there will be believers and unbelievers in the same family but there will be a separation on the last day a father from a daughter there will be believers and unbelievers in the same church but on the last day there will be a separation there will be believers and unbelievers in the same nation but on the last day there will be a separation in the judgment he said the word i spoke in verse 48 the word i spoke is what will judge him on the last day so here we see that the words that jesus has spoken will be the very scales upon which we will be placed in the judgment the words that jesus speaks will be the very s will be the plumb line and will be the standard by which we will all be judged uh we will not be judged according to our own thoughts of what the judgment would be no the judgment will be by the very words that jesus has spoken and these words are that you must believe in me you must commit your life to me otherwise you will stand before jesus in the judgment on the last day and that judgment is recorded for us in revelation 20 verses 11-15 and i saw a great white throne and him who sat upon it heaven and earth fled away and the sea gave up the dead that were in it and everyone stands there and the books are opened and the book of life is opened that is jesus presiding in judgment over the world on the last day and it will be too late to believe in him as savior when you stand there if you're to have jesus as your savior you must have him now or you will face him as judge on the last day these are the sobering words that jesus spoke as he brought his public ministry to conclusion there's one last thing jesus will say to them before the curtain will close and the veil will be drawn shut and in verses 49 and 50 we see jesus's humility before the father so we read in verse 49 for i i did not speak on my own initiative and that really looks back over the entirety of the three years of his public ministry from the very beginning when he came into galilee and came preaching the kingdom of heaven is at hand the time is fulfilled repent and believe the gospel in mark 1 verse 15 all the way down now to this present moment he said for the for the duration of his three plus years of public ministry he did not speak on his own initiative what that means is he did not create his own message uh he he did not come up with his own truth and what he will say is that everything that has proceeded from his mouth has come directly from god the father and he has become simply the mouthpiece for god the father here upon the earth so he says but the father himself who sent me has given me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak this word commandment means that god the father in heaven before jesus left heaven commanded jesus what to say and what to speak here upon the earth that jesus was commanded by the father what to preach and what to say and as jesus now has come in obedience to the will of the father he has come to obey not only to lay down his life a ransom for many upon the cross but he has come to speak as the greatest as the greatest prophet the very words of god in other words he's come to say thus says the lord as the prophets of of old that there has been no altering of the message that jesus speaks there has been no additions to the father's message that jesus will will add and there will be nothing held back that the father has commanded the son to speak that jesus is a dutiful son he is a son in submission to the father and he will open his mouth and he will give a full disclosure of the full counsel of god that was entrusted to him to speak that jesus will not seek to be a popular preacher and that jesus will not seek to pander to the crowd jesus will not seek to tone down what the father has given him to say that jesus will speak exactly as the father has commanded him to speak this is this gives us extraordinary insight almost behind the scenes of of the relationship between the father and the son and again this speaks to the solidarity between the father and the son that the son will say exactly what the father has given him to say there's no breach in the relationship that there's no division between the two and it's not like this sometimes people think this unfortunately they think god the father is the angry father of the old testament and jesus is the loving savior of the new testament and jesus now must overcome the wrath and the anger of the father and it's almost like pitting a a child pitting a a mother against a father just to get their way it's not like that at all that that would be a demented demeaning understanding of god the father and god the son they are on exactly the same page of the playbook and everything that comes out of the mouth of the son whether it's grace or judgment are the very words that god the father has given him to say and there is no pulling in a different direction that the son is trying to do that's different from the father perfect solidarity perfect equality perfect oneness in fact it says twice in this passage that the father was the one who sent the son for god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him would not perish but would have everlasting life jesus didn't come on his own initiative jesus didn't come independent of the father jesus came only because the father sent him to save those who are headed for the judgment on the last day so that they could find mercy and grace for the father says i will have mercy upon whom i will have mercy and i will have compassion on whom i will have compassion these verses are so important for us to understand the inner trinitarian relationships between the father and the son and the holy spirit no wonder jesus said if you refuse me you refuse the father and if you receive me you receive the father and there's no way for you to come to the father except through me now there's one last verse here verse 50 as the curtain is closing on the public ministry of jesus as recorded in the gospel of john these are his last words in this gospel to speak to the multitudes and to the religious leaders of israel and he says this i know that his commandment is eternal life what does this mean what this means is what the father has commanded the son to say is what the son now commands you and me as the father has commanded the son what to preach the son now commands you and me and what we need to understand here is that the gospel comes as a command i have said this before and i want to say this again i i grew up under the influence of a church where there would be a public invitation to walk forward at the end of the service and there was it was always couched in that the gospel is an invitation that the gospel is a free offer that the gospel is an appeal this is a gospel we conclude this service with a gospel appeal and the gospel just set aside this walking forward thing if you walk forward in this church i'm sending you back to your seat okay you can talk to me in 10 minutes the gospel is an offer and it is an invitation come unto me all you who are weary and heavy laden and i will give you rest take my yoke upon you it's it is an offer it is an invitation but it's more than that it is a command that makes a demand upon your life and if you refuse to believe in jesus christ you are in defiance of the king of heaven you are living in treason against heaven's king and i want you to understand how important it is to believe in jesus christ it's not like you're just declining an invitation to come to someone's house for dinner you are shaking your fist in the face of holy god and saying i defy you and i will not do what you command me to do that's how serious unbelief is now john 3 36 i've referred to it before i have to refer to it yet one more time here john the baptist said he who does not obey the son will not see life but the wrath of god abides on him disobedience is a settled determination to disobey the command of the gospel it's important we understand that i've got more verses here but i think the point has been made so therefore and i know most of us here today have believed in christ i would i could reasonably assume that i don't know everyone's heart only god knows your heart but i would rightly assume that most of you have believed in christ i can also rightly assume that not everyone here today has come to a saving knowledge of christ and why this is so important for both the believer and the unbeliever is to understand this that when the gospel is presented it is not to be played with it is not to be toyed with it has come as a subpoena from the high courts of heaven and there must not be a delay in obeying the command of the king jesus orders unbelievers to turn away from their sin and to believe in him therefore saving faith is not optional it is required it is demanded and therefore unbelief is not an intellectual problem it is a heart problem and final unbelief to die in your sin is the great damning sin there is only one sin that will never be forgiven and it is the sin of unbelief god will forgive any and every sin through the blood of the lord jesus christ there is only one sin that is the unpardonable sin for which there is no forgiveness there is only one sin that is blasphemy against the holy spirit that will never be throughout all eternity future and that is the sin of unbelief to refuse to obey the command of the gospel to commit your life to jesus christ there is only faith and unbelief there is only obedience and disobedience so as you and i share the gospel with friends with family with loved ones with strangers we must understand that it's more than just presenting the gospel in order to coke coax someone or to kind of nudge someone god has commanded that they believe now today this moment and so i conclude by simply asking you here today have you obeyed the command to believe will you obey the command to believe will you obey his commandment of eternal life to believe in jesus christ as lord and savior and with the completion of this verse we come to the end of the public ministry of jesus christ as he gives one final gospel appeal to those who have refused him to this point let us pray father cause us to feel the weightiness of these words it's our tendency to want something light something that is easy to deal with i pray the magnitude of these verses would weigh heavy upon us that the gravitas the gravity of what jesus has said would have great impact upon us because we want everything that the father said to jesus for jesus to say to us we want everything that was said and spoken because we understand to refuse any part of this would be to refuse the father himself thank you for the record in your word of what we need to know and hear about what the father has commanded the son to preach we pray this in jesus name amen

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Published: Sun Sep 20 2020