[MUSIC PLAYING] God isn't really
something to worship. He's just waiting to destroy-- [INTERPOSING VOICES] I guess there's a god
out there somewhere. I hope there is a God. God isn't really
something to worship. God, Allah, Buddha. God is everywhere. How are you today? [APPLAUSE] I want to clap for you. I'm glad you're here. I'm glad you're with us. It's something I look
forward to all week to gather together
with God's people, worshipping together
as we should. It's good to be together
again after all this time. And we want to welcome those
who are seated outside. Hopefully it's cool out
there under the trees and you got some shade. There are people next door in
the hub also gathered as well. So thank you all for being here. And would you turn
in your Bibles, please, to the Gospel of
John, the 12th chapter-- John chapter 12. Some years ago, not
long ago, but there was a movie called
the Last Emperor about a young child
who was anointed the last emperor of China
before they ceded the throne. And this young child
lived a life of luxury, had thousands of servants. There was in fact,
1,000 eunuch servants who would do his bidding
no matter what he wanted. He could call on them. He could ask for it. And they pampered him. And he was a petulant little
child in charge of a country. On one occasion in the film, his
brother came to him and said, what happens when you
do something wrong? And a little child King said,
when I do something wrong, somebody else is punished. So he gave a demonstration. He took a lovely jar
and he smashed it, broke it on the floor. And then one of his servants was
taken and beaten because of it. Now, that is
precisely the opposite of what happens in Christianity. In Christianity, in
God's way of doing things, when his servants
do something wrong, the King is punished. We call that atonement. We get life for his death. We get rewards for all of the
cruelty and injustice that was done to him. We get the benefits. That's what we mean
when we tell people, Jesus died for your sin. He died on your behalf. Satisfying the wrath of God,
and all the favor and goodness comes our way. William Evans said "Cut the
Bible anywhere and it bleeds." What he meant by that is that
the scripture, no matter where you read, points to atonement,
points to the cross, ultimately. The scripture makes
much of atonement. But while the scriptures
make much of atonement, the world doesn't make
much of atonement. In fact, the world by and large,
mocks the idea of atonement. I've had conversations
with people who have just flatly said the idea of a bloody
cross and a man dying on it is not attractive to me. It's repulsive to me. There's nothing that
would draw me to that. And you should know
that the Bible even anticipates that reaction. Paul said in first Corinthians
chapter 1 verse 18, "For the message of the
cross is foolishness to those who are perishing,
but to those of us who are being saved it
is the power of God." To them, it's foolishness,
it's utter foolishness. It's ridiculous. But that's just an indication
that they are perishing. To those of us who
are being saved we go, thank you for the cross. I've always loved the story
about the college professor, an agnostic professor, who
visited the Fiji islands. He looked around and
he noticed that it had been influenced by Western
missionaries in the past. There were churches. There were Christian schools. So missionaries had
made their mark. When the professor was having
a conversation with one of the chiefs of the
tribes, he said to him, you know, it's a shame
really that you guys have been duped by missionaries-- Christian missionaries. I see churches, and I see
these schools around here. He said, no one really
believes the Bible anymore. That story of Jesus dying on the
cross for the sins of mankind, it's a worn out story. It's a threadbare story. And he made light of it. And the chief is listening
to, and he finally breaks in and he says to the
professor, Professor, you see that rock over there? He turned and he looked at it. He goes, yeah, I see it. The chief said, on
that rock, we used to smash the heads of our
victims before we ate them. And do you see that
oven next to that rock? That's where we used to roast
our victims and then eat them. He said, Professor, were it not
for those Western missionaries who brought to us
the love of Christ and the gospel of Jesus
Christ that changed us from cannibals into
Christians, you'd have been our supper by now. To us, it is the power of God. Thank you for the cross. Say that out loud. Thank you for the cross. Say again to him. Thank you for the cross. We are always thankful
for atonement. The question comes, why was
it necessary for Jesus Christ to die? Why is this idea of
His death on a cross so dominating the
story of the Bible? I mean, why wouldn't
His life be enough? It was an exemplary life. He showed people how to live. He lived a life like no other. Why weren't His words enough? He spoke some of the most
beautiful sermons ever? Why wasn't His perfect
life, and why weren't His monumental words enough? Why the death part? Well, to answer that question,
we go to John Chapter 12. And we hear from the
lips of Jesus himself, as he answers a request
in a very unexpected way. In our chapter, John 12,
beginning in Verse 20, it's where I want to pick it up. Now there were certain
Greeks among those who came to worship at the feast. And they came to Philip, who
was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying,
"Sir, we wish to see Jesus." Philip came and told Andrew,
and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus. But Jesus answered
them, saying, "The hour has come that the Son of
Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to
you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and
dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it
produces much grain. He who loves his
life will lose it, and he who hates his
life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him
follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him
My Father will honor. "Now my soul is
troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father save
Me from this hour? But for this purpose,
I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.' "Then a voice came
from heaven, saying, 'I have both glorified it
and will glorify it again.' Therefore, the people
who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, 'An angel
has spoken to Him.' Jesus answered and said, 'The
voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake. Now is the judgment
of this world; now the ruler of this
world will be cast out. And if I am lifted
up from the earth, will draw all
peoples to Myself.' This He said, signifying by
what death He would die." Let me give you a
little background of where we are in the text,
the background of the setting. It is the Feast of Passover. It is in the city of Jerusalem. It is the last Passover
Jesus will ever be at. In a few days from this
time, He will be on a cross. He knows that hour
is approaching. At the Feast of
the Passover, there is a group looking to see
Jesus, a group of Greeks. We are not really
told much about them. We're not told why they come. We're not told what
they want to talk about. We're just told in
the text that they went to a guy named Philip. Now, that's interesting,
because Philip is a Greek name, as is Andrew. They are not Hebrew names. So maybe they knew him
from a previous encounter. It also tells us in
the text that Philip was from a town called
Bethsaida, which is on the shore of
the Sea of Galilee in the northeastern section,
right on the border of Gentile territory, in fact very close to
the area the Greeks dominated, called the Decapolis. So they come to Philip, and they
request an audience with Jesus. And then Jesus, beginning in
Verse 23, gives this answer. Now, before I get
into Verse 23, there's something else you got know. Jesus has just entered
Jerusalem on a donkey. At the first part
of the chapter, he enters the city to
the cries of Hosannah, recognizing Jesus
is their messiah. There is worship going on. And all of this has culminated. People have been talking
about this miracle worker from Galilee. He has healed people. But just before his
entrance into Jerusalem, he had been in Bethany
where a guy who had been dead for four
days just got raised up. Everybody knew about that. It was the talk of the town. When you get a guy who
didn't just recently die but has been buried
for four days and he gets raised to life again
and is walking around town, that makes news. So people were talking
about this messiah, and he has just
presented himself as their king in that
donkey ride on what we call Palm Sunday. So that is the background
that is the setting of this. So when you get to Verse
23, it's more meaningful. Jesus answered,
saying, "The hour has come that the Son of
Man should be glorified." I am convinced a hush fell over
the crowd, if not an applause erupting, like yes, this is it. He's going to
establish the Kingdom. He just said the hour has come,
and He's talking about glory. This is it. We're ready for it. They were expecting the Romans
to be overthrown at any moment. But Jesus kept talking. And what he says after
that announcement seems diametrically opposed to
everything he said in Verse 23. The hour has come the Son
of Man must be glorified, then he starts talking about
death, a seed being put in the ground and being buried,
and you can't bring life unless it dies. And then he speaks about if
I'm lifted up, and John said, He's speaking about His death. It is not what they expected. He is-- they are
shocked by what He says. Now, what I'd like
to do briefly, because we don't have
a whole lot of time, unfortunately, with this
text today, is show you four aspects of the
Atonement, four aspects of the Atonement, four facts
about the death of Jesus Christ that would
soon take place, from the lips of Jesus himself. Number 1, his death
was a priority. It's all he was thinking
about at this moment. He had been speaking about
His hour, His hour, His hour, all the way leading
up to this moment. The cross had been His priority. It has been His focus. He set his face steadfastly
to go to Jerusalem, the Bible tells us. In Verse 24, we get a
hint of that priority. "Most assuredly, I say to
you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and
dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it
produces much grain. He who loves his
life will lose it. He who hates his
life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me,
let him follow Me. And where I am, there my
servant will be, also. If anyone serves
Me--" I love this-- "him My Father will honor." Now, Jesus does not seem to
be addressing their request. They came and said, we
just like to see Jesus. We'd like an audience with him. And he launches into
this death narrative. We would call this in
language a non-sequitur, where you answer something and
it sounds like the words you use have no relation to
what has previously been spoken. We'd like to see Jesus. Let me tell you about a grain
of wheat being put in the ground and dying. Huh? What does that have
to do with anything? Here's what it has to
do with everything. Jesus is living by priorities. He has a priority in
mind, his priority, and what he says their
priority should be. What was his priority? Death. Jesus was on this earth
for one purpose, to die. He was here to die. He was like a grain of wheat
that shrivels, and dies, and is buried. And that would take
place within a few days, and he knows that is coming. Now, the illustration in
verse 24 is pretty simple. If you take a kernel of wheat,
and hold it in your hand, and look at it, you do
not see the potential. It's only when you put it in
the ground in planting season, and that encasement
around the seed begins to decompose
and break down. And after a period of time,
emerges in a resurrected form bringing much grain with it,
bringing resurrection fruit with it one. Expert source says,
if it is a good seed, each grain contains a
million similar offspring. So understand the analogy
is pretty straightforward. When Jesus dies, and is
buried, and is resurrected, many will be saved. The gospel will be able to
spread around the world, so the Greeks come. And they want to
see Jesus, but Jesus wants to reach more
than a few Greeks. They're looking for an audience. They're pursuing Jesus. Jesus is pursuing the
provision for their future and for the future of the world. So he is living by priority. His death was a priority. When I grew up in the
church that I grew up in, there was always a crucifix
at the front of the church hanging over the altar. Some of you grew up in
a similar situation. So whenever I came to church
with my parents, I'd look up, and I'd see that crucifix. There's Jesus
hanging on the cross. I'd always sort of hang my head. I just felt sad, because
I felt bad for him. Because I was always
reminded of that, and then I also sort
of felt bad for me. Because I was ashamed of
my behavior that week. You know, it's like I've been
a bad boy, and I look up. Oh, great, it's me again. I've come to find out that
the cross is God's centerpiece on the table of time. It's not the end of the story. It's the theme of the story. It's the theme of the Bible. The Bible always anticipates
it, and the New Testament always looks back to it
after the event. For example, Abraham and
Isaac walk up on Mount Moriah. Abraham is told to
sacrifice his son. What's that all about? It's foreshadowing the cross. The very next book of the
Bible, the Book of Exodus, we have the story of the
Passover, Exodus chapter 12. What's that all about? It's visualizing the cross. We get to the next
book, Leviticus. We have all those
sacrifices going on. What's all that about? Those are depicting the cross. We get to the prophets
in the Old Testament, Isaiah, Jeremiah, so many
others, looking forward. They are predicting the cross. Then we get to
the New Testament, and we have Matthew, Mark, Luke,
and John, presenting the cross. And boy, do they
present the cross. Between 20% and 40% of
the gospel narratives are all focused on the cross. In fact, if you were to tally
up all the chapters in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and
John, you discover that only four
chapters have anything to say about the early years
of Jesus from his birth to age 30, only four chapters. 85 chapters deal with the
last three and a half years of his life. Of those 85 chapters that deal
with the last three and a half years of his life,
29 of them deal with the final week
of his life, and 13 of those deal with the
final 24 hours of his life. Matthew, Mark, Luke,
and John are clearly focused on one event. That is the cross, the
crucifixion, the Atonement. When Jesus was born, he
was brought to the temple by Mary and Joseph. An old man was
there named Siemian, who took Jesus in his
hands and blessed him. But then he turns to Mary,
the mother, and he says, a sword is going to
pierce your own soul. What's all that about? It's a veiled
prediction of the cross. After that event,
they go back home. Not long after, some
visitors from the east called Magi show up with interesting
gifts, gold, frankincense, and embalming fluid. That's what myrrh was. Why do you give that
when a kid gets born? You don't, unless it's prophetic
of the reason for his birth that he would die. When he goes to the Jordan
River and his cousin John the Baptist is baptizing, as
soon as he sees Jesus coming, he stops everything
and says, behold the Lamb of God, which takes
away the sins of the world. Then it was something
Jesus himself predicted. Often in advance, he
told his followers, I just want you to
know what's coming. I want you to know why I'm here. He did it to them personally. He did it to people publicly. In John chapter 2, Jesus
said, destroy this temple, and in three days,
I will raise it up. And they're all thinking
he's talking about that stone temple in Jerusalem. John says, he starts
speaking about that. He's talking about is body. He's talking about his death. Then in Matthew 16, Jesus
just sort of unveils it without any cryptic
language whatsoever. He says to his disciples,
I must go to Jerusalem and suffer many
things at the hands of the elders, and the chief
priests, and the scribes, and be killed. It does not get any
plainer than that. I'm going to Jerusalem. They're going to kill me. But he says this, and I'll
be raised on the third day. Now, just imagine knowing
exactly when you're going to die and exactly
how you're going to die. You'd live differently
if you knew that. This is why Jesus always
talked about his hour. That's why you could have Greek
saying, we want to see Jesus. We want to hang out. And he says, I have
a mission here. I have a priority here. That's what all this is about. His death was a priority. A second fact about the death
of Christ, the Atonement, is that his death
came with agony. Now, those of us who have
read the gospels know that. We know about crucifixion,
but did you notice verse 27? Jesus in the midst of this
little narrative says, now, my soul is troubled. I want that word to hang
in the air for a moment. It's a very strong
Greek word, tarosso. It means to shake
up or to stir up. It's a word you'd
use in the kitchen if you were mixing something. You'd stir it up. You'd shake it up. It means to be agitated. It means to be unsettled. It means to be emotionally,
spiritually distraught, almost disconnected. It was used of the
Pool of Bethesda when they said the angel
stirred up the water. It was used of
the disciples when they saw Jesus
walking on the water, and they were terrified,
the text says, agitated. Jesus says, now, my
soul is emotionally, spiritually, mentally
agitated, unsettled. Why did he say that? No, a better question,
why did he feel that? Why? What is he so agitated about? I mean, he's God in human flesh. He knows what's happening. He knows why he's on the earth. He says, now, my
soul is troubled. Well, there's a few
things you could think of. No one, you could say, well,
he's troubled about what he knows is coming physically. If he knows he's
going to the cross, if he knows exactly when
and how he's going to die, certainly, he is contemplating
the physical horrors of the cross, the
whip across his back, opening up his
subcutaneous tissues, the spikes being driven
through the wrists hanging from a cross. That would trouble him. When he gets to the
Garden of Gethsemane a couple days after this,
in Mark 14, Jesus said, my soul is overwhelmed with
sorrow to the point of death. That's emotional agitation. In the same evening, but now,
told by Luke, Luke chapter 22, he's in the Garden
of Gethsemane. He says, he prayed
more fervently, and he was in such
agony of spirit that his sweat
fell to the ground, like great drops of blood. Doctors tell us that a person
can become so emotionally agitated that it's possible
in extremely rare cases for the tiny capillaries in
and around the sweat glands to burst. So that when a person sweats, it
looks like he's sweating blood. That's what Jesus experienced. Jesus knew his body would
be suspended on a cross. A victim of crucifixion
slumps his body out of joint. Suffocation takes place. The organs begin to shut down. Typically, it takes days
for a victim to die. Jesus knew all that
was coming, but I don't think that is the main
reason why he felt troubled. I think the agony
he was talking about is not so much the
physical agony. Oh, yes, that's part of it,
but he always knew that. Right now, toward the end,
he knows something else is going to happen. He knows that when
he dies, in effect, all of the sins of humanity,
yours, mine, past, present, future will all be
deposited on him. They'll all be deposited on
him, the one who knew no sin. Second Corinthians 5:21. God made Him who knew no
sin to become sin for us, that we might become the
righteousness of God in him. That is atonement in a nutshell. That is substitution. The real pain would be that at
that moment when that sin is placed on him, there would
be a separation between him and the Father that he had
never known ever before. Jesus always referred to God
never as God, always as Father, or my Father, or the
Father, or our Father. But on the cross and only
on the cross, he cried out, [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]. My God, my God, why
have you forsaken me? He knew that there
would come a time, where all of that
intimacy he had always known with the Father
previously in heaven and even while he was
on the earth doing the will of the Father. There would be a separation,
and with that, a deep anxiety and trouble came over him. Now, my soul is agitated. However, I would
like you to think of this agony in
a positive light. You're giving me that look
like, how is that possible? How can you look at this
kind of excruciating agony in a positive light? I'd like you to think of it
as something that is actually attractive about God, something
that would be a reason to make you want to follow this God. Let me explain by reading to
you what John Stott once wrote. He said, I could
never believe in God if it were not for the cross. In the real world
of pain, who could worship a God immune to it? Think of it. You're suffering,
and you're praying to a God who's always
been in heaven, never knows what pain is like. He's in heaven. He wouldn't know
what that feels like. He does now. He does now. He experienced rejection. He experienced emotional duress. He experienced physical pain. He experienced
excruciating pain, death. So Stott says, in a real world
of pain, who could worship a God that's immune to it? And then he wrote
about God stepping into our world of agony, and
he said, that's the God for me. And I'm here to say,
that's the God for me. That's our God, a God
who suffered with us. So his death was a priority. His death came with agony. Here's the third fact
about the Atonement. His death accentuated glory. It accentuated glory. Did you notice how Jesus
described his death in these terms? For example, in
verse 23, he says, the hour has come that the
son of man not should die. Should what? Be glorified. What? Is he speaking about his death? Well, John says he
was in verse 33. Thus, he said, signified
by what death he would die. Now, go down to verse 27. Now, my soul is troubled. What shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this purpose,
I came to this hour. Verse 28. Father, glorify your name. Then a voice came
from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it
and will glorify it again. Four times in the text, glory,
or glorify, or glorified appears. And if you know this
section of John well enough, you also know that
this term shows up a lot in Jesus' vocabulary
in speaking about his death. In fact, in a couple of
chapters, in John 17, Jesus prays to the Father,
that great high priestly prayer, that intimate prayer. He begins. It says, Jesus
spoke these words, lifted his eyes to
heaven, and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify your son that
your son may glorify you. Question. How can death be a
glorifying event? How can death be a
glorifying event? I'll give you two quick answers. Number one, because
it would mark the end of a successful mission. I mean, if, indeed, this is
his mission as he stated, then his death would
be the seed that gets planted in the ground
that produces a crop. It's this death put
in the ground that will enable him to seek and
save that, which is lost. So his death would glorify
not only God, but himself. Because it marks the end
of a successful mission. Number two, it would
become the portal to restoring his own glory. You see, Jesus knows that
this is going to hurt. This trouble is going to
last, but for a little while. Afterwards, I'm going
to raise from the dead. I'm going to ascend
back into heaven. I'm going to be back into the
glory that I had with a father before the world was. By the way, Jesus' goal
in life and in death was always to glorify God,
always to glorify God. We've brought this up
on so many occasions. He said, I always do those
things to please the Father. Not my will, but
your will be done. We looked at that a
little bit last time. It was always to glorify God. Now, the word glorify
is the word doxazo I just wanted to
explain what it means. It means to have a good opinion
of somebody or to make renown. So the idea of
Jesus glorifying God is simply, I want
to make you, Father, so renown that people have
a good opinion of you. That's what it means. I'm going to make you
renown, so that people of a good opinion of you. So the way I live,
the way I die, I want to do it in such a
way that it makes you renown. So that people have a
good opinion of you. So in verse 28, notice that. He just says, Father,
glorify your name. Today, we would
put it differently. We would say, let's do this. I'm ready. We've come to this hour. Let's do this. I'm going to now put your
plan before my comfort, because it's going to
glorify you and me. Now, I've discovered
that many, if not most, Christians neglect
this basic fact of the purpose of their life. If you were to ask people,
tell me about your life. What's the reason you exist? Most people would say something
as stupid as to be happy. That's it. That's about as deep as you get. In Revelation 4
verse 11, by the way, you're going to be
singing this in heaven. Here's some of the lyrics. You should know them. The part of the
anthem of heaven, we will sing for you
created everything, and it is for your pleasure
they exist and were created. There it is. Why do you exist? Why are you here? To please God, to glorify
God, to make him renown. So that people get a
good opinion of him. That's glorifying God. That is not what we are
told by our culture. What we are told by our
culture is it's not about God. It's about you. We are told, focus on
yourself, love yourself, be true to yourself, be
your own best friend. I Googled that. I can't tell you how
many web sites there are that give that advice. It's all about narcissism,
worshipping yourself. Here's what Jesus
said counter to that. If anyone comes after me,
let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. It's the exact opposite. An old catechism,
which is a training manual on Christian faith-- an old catechism asks questions
and then answers the question. So the question asked
by what's called the Westminster
shorter catechism begins by saying this. What is the chief end of man? Question mark. What does the chief end of man? Answer. The chief end of man is to
glorify God and enjoy him forever. The chief end of man is to
glorify God and enjoy him forever. And those two go hand in hand. When you glorify
God, you enjoy God. If you want to enjoy
God, you glorify God. And if you live for yourself,
you won't have much enjoyment. If you live for God, you
will have much enjoyment. You've heard me
say this for years that the more you
do as you please, the less you are pleased
with what you do. So the quickest road,
the quickest route to enjoyment and pleasure
in this life, joy, is to not live for yourself,
but to live for him. Seek, first, the kingdom of
God, and all these things will be added unto you. Jesus promised. So his death accentuated glory. Let me give you the fourth
and final fact about his death or aspect of the Atonement. His death brought victory. He is able to crystallized
in just a couple of sentences an incredible theology
of the cross verse 29. Therefore, the people
who stood by and heard it said that it thundered. Others said an
angel spoke to him. Jesus answered and
said, this voice did not come because of
me, but for your sake. I don't need an audible voice. The reason you heard this
articulation from heaven is to strengthen
your faith, not mine. Then he says this. Now, it is the
judgment of this world. Now, the ruler of this
world will be cast out, and I, if I am lifted
up from the earth, will draw all
people's to myself. Now, we have the result of
that grain of wheat being put in the ground after death. Now, we have the results of
Jesus' death, his atonement. What are the results? There are three of them. Number one, the world
will be judged by it. Verse 31, now is the
judgment of this world. When the world put
Jesus on the cross, it signed its own death warrant. When the world rejected Jesus
and stapled him to that cross, it's as if the world signed
its own death warrant. Because, you see, the
question is always, what will I do with Jesus? That's why a pilot asked. A pilot was standing
in front of Jesus. The pilot was the judge. Jesus was on trial, and
he said to the audience, what shall I do with Jesus,
who is called the Christ? You know what he did with Jesus. He sentenced him to death,
and then pilot walked off the pages of history. But do you know that,
one day, pilot and Jesus will meet again? And when they meet, again,
Jesus will be the judge, and pilot will be on trial. And what pilot decided
to do with Jesus will determine that judgment. So when Jesus died
on the cross, it can be said the
world was judged. Jesus said it. Second thing is the world's
ruler was cast out by it. Look at verse 31,
the second part. Now is the judgment of
this world, and now, the ruler of this world-- who's that? Satan. All right, he is called in
scripture, the God of this age or the God of this world, the
prince of the power of the air. Now, the ruler of this
world will be cast out. The cross was the beginning
of the end for Satan. He got cast out. He got put on notice
that his domain, the worldlings in
rebellion against God, had just indicted themselves. So this is the first casting
out of Satan at the cross. There will come
another casting out. In the tribulation
period, we are told that Satan will be
permanently cast out of heaven. Now, you're going, wait, wait,
wait, what do you mean cast? He's going to be
cast out of heaven? I thought he was cast
out of-- well, he was. But he has access to it. I mean, he stood before God
somehow and ratted on Job, accused Job. By the way, the Bible
says, he is the accuser of the brethren who accuses
us before God day and night. So he some access to God. In the tribulation, he
will be cast out completely from God's presence. The third casting
out takes place at the end of the
tribulation, where he's cast into the bottomless
pit for 1,000 years during the millennial kingdom. And the fourth casting out,
he's going to get his beating. The fourth casting out is at
the end of the Millennium. He is cast into the
Lake of Fire and will be punished for all eternity. So he's not just going down. He's going down,
down, down, down. That's his future. There is a third
benefit, a third victory, and this really is the victory. And that is the world's
people are saved by it. That's verse 32, and I, if I
am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to myself. Now, please do not stop
there as most people do. Please read the
next verse, which explains what he just said. This, he said, signifying
by what death he would die. Now, the reason I have to point
that out is because I cannot tell you how many people I have
heard over the years saying, let's lift Jesus higher. Let's lift Jesus higher. And what they mean is, Jesus
said, if I am lifted up, I'll draw people to myself. They interpret that as let's
lift him up and praise. Let's lift him up and worship. No, Jesus doesn't mean
lift me up metaphorically. He means, I'm going to be
lifted up literally, physically, off the ground on a cross. If I am lifted up, I will
draw all peoples to myself. That's what he's speaking
about, his death. He means the same
thing he meant back in John chapter 3 when he said
to Nicodemus as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. The son of man
will be lifted up. The cross. People understood that
term 2,000 years ago. When people got lifted up,
they knew what that meant. That meant crucifixion. Now, by the way, that little
story back in the Old Testament that I just mentioned when
they looked at the serpent on the pole, remember the
story in numbers 21 when snakes were biting people, and
they're dying right and left? And God says, hey, Moses. Get a serpent, put it
on a pole, lift it up, and tell people to look at it. And when they look
at it, they'll live. They will be healed physically. So he does it. It worked. Now, it seems silly. I mean, let's say, there's a
professor who goes, excuse me. I don't get the rational idea of
looking at a serpent on a pole. I don't see how that would
have any physical benefit. I don't know either,
but just try it. Because it works. In the same way, you
can say, you know, I don't really understand
this whole thing of Jesus dying on a cross. You know, I don't
either, but it works. Look to him. It works. If I be lifted up, I
will draw all people who believe to myself. That's salvation. His death brought victory,
so this is atonement. And in a nutshell, it means the
eternal that you and I could never pay, God paid. God paid. Boy, it'd be great to have
somebody pay all your debts. Wouldn't it? Somebody comes along
and says, you know what? You've had a tough season
this coronavirus viruses. You've stacked up some debts. I'm going to take
care of your debts. Awesome. You have an eternal debt
that you can never pay off. Jesus said, I'll pay it. My death will bring your life. I'm going to close with a story
of a man who fell into a pit. He couldn't get out of this
pit, and a whole bunch of people came by and looked down
inside that pit of that man. And a subjective person
came along and said, I feel for you down in that pit. An objective person came
along and said, well, it's only logical that
somebody would fall into a pit. A believer in Christian
Science said, you only think that you're in that pit. A Pharisee said, only bad
people fall into pits. A mathematician calculated
how he fell into the pit, and a news reporter wanted the
exclusive story on his pit. A legalistic Christian
said, you deserve your pit. Confucius said, if you
would have listened to me, you would not be in that pit. Buddha said, your pit
is only a state of mind. A realist said,
yep, that's a pit. A scientist calculated
the pressure necessary, pounds
per square inch, to get him out of the pit. A geologist told him to
appreciate the rock strata while in the pit. An evolutionist said,
you are a rejected mutant destined to be removed from
the evolutionary cycle. In other words, you are
going to die in the pit, so you can't produce any
pit falling offspring. The county inspector asked if
he had a permit to dig a pit. A professor gave him a lecture
on the elementary principles of the pit. A self pitying person said,
you haven't seen anything till you've seen my pit. Jesus seeing the man,
took him by the hand and lifted him out of the pit. All of the philosophies, all of
the wisdom, all of the science, all of the math can't get
you out of the pit or me out of the pit caused by sin. But, Jesus can, and in a
word that is his atonement. Father, thank you that the pit
that mankind finds itself in. We sense it probably more
now with the agitations in our culture and in
the world brought on by an invisible virus. That kind of agitation that we
are feeling simply shows how deep our pit is, that
all of the scientists, and all of the politicians,
and all of the mathematicians, and all of the philosophers
really at the end of the day cannot save us from any of it. That's why we look to the cross,
where you had your son die for us in our place. So that we never have to. Thank you for that. I pray for those who may
have never trusted in Christ. I pray they would do it today. I pray, if some need
to come back to Christ, they would do it today. And if that describes any of
you, if you're here right now and you want to say,
yes, to the Savior, maybe it's the first
time that you said, I'm going to just
stop being religious. And I'm going to
follow Jesus really. I want to give you that
invitation to do so. If you are willing to do that
or you've strayed from him and you need to
come back home, I want you just to raise
your hand up in the air. Just raise it up. Let me pray for you as
we close this service. Hold your hand up, so
I can acknowledge you. And you're saying,
yes, to Jesus. I'm going to come to you, or
I'm going to come back to you. Could you turn the lights
up just a little bit, so I can actually see people? Thank you for that. Anybody at all just,
raise your hand up. God, bless you. I'd love to pray for you. Anybody else in the
back, God, bless you. Right here to my left up
front, up here to my right. Father, I pray for
those that I can see. There may be others
in the amphitheater. There may be others in the room
next door, the overflow room, the hub, maybe several online. I don't know. But Father, I pray for them. I pray you will strengthen this
choice for them and in them. I pray you will fill
them with your spirit, give them a deep
sense of satisfaction as they now turn their
life to follow Jesus. Wherever you are, would
you say these words if you lifted up your hand? Would you say to God,
right now, in a prayer, I know I'm a sinner, Lord. Please forgive me. I believe Jesus died for
me, shed his blood for me, and rose, again, from the grave. I turn from my sin. I repent. I turn to Jesus. I turned to him as
Savior and as master. Help me follow your ways
and follow Jesus personally all the days of my life. It's in his name I pray. Amen. Let's all stand to our feet. Let's close with a
quick song of worship. If you raised your hand,
if you prayed that prayer, we'd like you to make yourself
known to our leadership who will be up front. We'd like to give you
something and encourage you. We hope you enjoyed this special
service from Calvary Church. We'd love to know how
this message impacted you. Email us at
mystory@calvarynm.church. And just a reminder, you can
support this ministry with a financial gift at
calvarynm.church/give. Thank you for joining us for
this teaching from Calvary Church.
