Glory in Christ

Jesus is alive. Our God is not dead. Jesus Christ has risen from the grave. One of the unique distinctive truths of Christianity is that Jesus is the unique son of God, the only begotten son of God, who came to die for sinners and has risen again. This is what we believe as a church. This is what separates Christianity from every other religion, that Jesus is the Son of God. He's not just a prophet. He's not one of many sons. He isn't merely a ticket to heaven. He's the Son of God, glorious, powerful, who came down, humbled himself to die for those who hated him. so that we can once again worship Him. Jesus is the Son of God who came to save sinners. We must trust Him, obey Him, and worship Him. This is what John is calling us to. John is writing so that we will recognize the glory of Jesus Christ. He is the Son of God. Something we'll be challenged with this morning, and something we've been challenged with throughout the Gospel of John, is that there's a fickle faith in Jesus. There's a way of having a bogus belief in Jesus Christ that you acknowledge Him. You see He's important. You see He's done something great for many people. But it's not a true faith. It's not a faith that bows the knee to Almighty God, recognizing the Father has sent His Son. The passage this morning is challenging. Because it calls us to a true faith. To truly recognize who Christ is. Our message this morning is this. Faith in Jesus means there is a genuine fear of God and a worship, a reverence. Look at our passage. We're in John chapter 12. We've been in John for some time. We're halfway through, but the last few chapters are really just looking at the last six days. The first 11 chapters looked at the rest of Jesus' life. Now we're after the triumphal entry. We're in the midst of that day. We're on page 899 if you're using a pew Bible. Now look at verse 36. Looking at the second half of verse 36, when Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them. The words we are saying, Jesus just had spoken these same words. He had come to conquer Satan. He had come to bring judgment against the world. He had come to be lifted up on the cross. He has come to draw all men to himself. Jesus Christ has come to be the conqueror, the victor. He is the one who wins a victory over the death that defeats us. He is the one who comes to conquer sin that enslaves us. These are the hard truths that Jesus just said, and now he is drawn away. He hides himself. Now, look at the transition. This is a waiting moment because John has to pause to tell us what's going on. Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him. John recognizes there's something odd happening in the story. He's done so many signs. He has done so many things. It's been obvious. But yet they still did not believe him. Let me read our passage in its entirety. When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them. Though he had done so many signs before them, they still don't believe Jesus. So the words spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled. Lord, who has believed what he heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? therefore they could not believe for again Isaiah said he has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts lest they see with their eyes and understand with their heart and turn and I would heal them Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him nevertheless many even of the authorities believed in him But for fear of the Pharisees, they did not confess it, so they would not be put out of the synagogue. For they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God." We begin in verse 37 and John's taking a break here from telling the story and he has to give a narrative pause. He has to give an explanation because things are just so odd. He first says, they did not believe in him. They're responsible for their own acknowledgement of what Jesus has revealed. They have not believed in him. Then he goes and explains, look at verse 38, so that the word spoken by the prophet would be fulfilled. He goes back into the oracles of God to show this has been God's predestined plan all along. They would hear, they would see, but they never understand. They would not believe. We see the man's responsibility of verse 37. They did not believe. Verse 38, we see God's sovereignty in who believes. And then we go back to the responsibility of man. Beginning of verse 32, he explains why they could not believe. They love the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God. First, we're looking at weighty truths this morning. We're looking at demanding and difficult doctrine this morning. Man is fully responsible. Man himself is culpable for denying God. And God is fully sovereign and completely sovereign and who hears and believes. These are two compatible truths. We're going to have to hold them together and praise God because of them and recognize His ways are not our ways. His ways are greater than our ways. Will you pray with me? Father, as we look to your Word and what you have revealed, it's sometimes difficult to understand. It's oftentimes difficult to hear. But Lord, open up our eyes by the power of your Holy Spirit. Illuminate your truths in our hearts so that we can worship you. for who you are so that we can recognize our sinful nature and praise you for overcoming it and freeing us from it and forgiving us for it. Help us, Lord, to praise you all the more purely. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. Verse 37, they don't believe. He's done so many signs and they still don't believe. How is this possible? John is asking. He's assuming we're asking this. Here's the real dilemma. Think about all the things Jesus has done. The book of John can be ordered according to the signs that he's done. He turned water into wine. He walked on the water. He healed a centurion's daughter. He healed a paralytic in Jerusalem. He fed 5,000. He healed a man born blind. He even raised a man from the grave. So many signs have taken place. They reject Him. They refuse Him. How is it that they can see and hear of all these signs and still not believe? Especially the Jews, as we know from Paul in 1 Corinthians. The Jews, they demand signs. They want evidence. What more could Jesus do that he has not already done? The signs are obvious. How is it they have not believed? We can even look back to the passage before. The Father just spoke audibly in answer to Jesus praying to him. And they didn't get it. They came up with a thunder. It was the angels. It couldn't have been God the Father confirming this is God the Son. What we realize here is a difficult truth. It demonstrates, it shows that signs do not cause faith. It shows that more learning, more understanding, it does not lead to belief. You see, John here has a clear category. We talked about it at the beginning of the introduction. There's fake faith. There's bogus belief. There's people who acknowledge Jesus, but they don't really see Him as the Son of God. We see in the end with the authorities. We see here that John demonstrates seeing is not believing. Seeing is not believing. And this is why. We're not neutral observers. We are not neutral observers. We are all biased. When we would see the signs, if we were there and we saw Jesus doing these miracles, if we heard the voice of God, we would not believe unless God gave us that belief because we're biased. You see, as John has made very clear, we're all darkened by our sin. We're all dull because of our love for sin. Another way of putting it, we're all natural-born idolaters. We love things of this created world. We love our sin too much to ever be inclined toward the love of God unless He grants us that love. See, here's something that we have to remember stands behind all of Scripture. I believe this is one of the most important truths we can remember. This is an insight into our souls. God created us for worship. One of the most important truths we can ever remember. We're designed to worship, and we're always worshiping. The problem is, being sinners, we're never worshiping God. We're already inclined to worship everything but God. We're designed for worship, and we're always worshiping. And what John is telling us is that born in our sin, born in our darkness, apart from the light, apart from grace, We're too busy worshipping everything but God to ever see the true God. This is what's wrong. All the signs they could ever want, they've happened. But they can't believe. They do not believe because they're too busy worshipping everything but God. Something you have to recognize here, their active disbelief is theirs. clearly says they did not believe. It's their responsibility. They're culpable. Now, we've just had a fantastic conference on creation. We can go to Romans 1. We can look out and we can see God's power and we can see His wisdom. And it's not enough to save us, but it's enough to condemn us because we should be able to see. There's enough signs in creation to be able to see there's a God that we should be worshiping. But we don't. We do not worship Him. Instead, we actively pursue our sin, and God continues to give us over to our sin. And pursuing sin, choosing not to honor God, choosing not to give thanks to God, as Paul says in Romans 1, makes us futile. It makes us foolish. Now, this is a hard picture of humanity. I get that. This is hard. This is hard to say. But the Bible says it. I have no other option. And the other important reason I think it's important to say this. See, there's good news, but this is the bad news first. In order to recognize that Jesus came to save sinners, you have to realize you're a sinner. You have to realize you're completely broken. You don't need a little tinkering. You need renewed. You're not just sick, you're dead. You need new life. See, the bad news about humanity is we, in our sinful nature, even though we're designed to worship God, we hate God. In our sinful nature, we're blind to the things of God, but by God's grace, He lets us know Him. By God's grace, you're here and you're hearing the Word of God that tells you you're a sinner. And that Jesus Christ came and He was the sinless man who died on the cross so that the sins that you've committed, that God's judgment is against, if you believe in Jesus, you will not be judged for those sins. The wrath of God will be removed from you and it's placed upon Jesus and God is satisfied. by punishing His Son for our sins. In order to believe that, in order to believe the Gospel, you have to first recognize, I'm a sinner worthy of God's wrath. I'm a sinner who's completely dependent upon His grace to know Him, to love Him, and to be renewed with Him. And that Jesus Christ is the way that He calls us back to Him. Friends, if you're not a believer, And you want to know something more about that gospel, the hard truth that you're a sinner, the good news that Jesus Christ came to die for sinners and He's risen again. Please do not leave here without talking to me or someone else around you. We would love to share more of the gospel of Jesus Christ with you. The truths only get harder because it doesn't just simply say they didn't believe. It goes back into the oracles of God and explains why God actually had predestined them not to believe. Look at verses 38 through 41. They didn't believe so that. There's purpose. There's purpose in their disbelief to fulfill scripture so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled. Now, our first passage is from one of the most famous, most hopeful, most amazing passages in all the Old Testament. It's Isaiah 52 and 53. If you're looking in a Pew Bible, it's page 613. We're on page 613 in the Pew Bible. We're in chapter 53, verse 1. Who has believed what he has heard from us and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? Now, It's important to remember the passage that Chip read earlier. Not only do we quote it just in a moment, but Isaiah is on a mission. He's on a mission to proclaim the glory of God, and he's been told, no one's going to believe you. Their hearts will be hardened. Their eyes will not see, their ears will not hear. Go and preach the gospel. And this is the gospel. This is the heart of the gospel. This is one of the most amazing gospel passages of all the scriptures, let alone the Old Testament. It tells of the suffering servant who was sinless and yet was counted as a sinner so that those of us who have committed transgressions and believe in him, he would be afflicted for those sins and not us. Fifty three, who is believably has heard and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? The arm of the Lord, that's redemption and deliverance language from Exodus. When God said, I'm going to take you out of slavery, I'm going to take you out of Egypt, I'm going to stretch out my mighty right arm and I'm going to save you. The right arm is salvation language. So we're asking who is believed and to whom has it been revealed? Well, those who got to see Jesus Christ, those who actually got to see the suffering servant, that's what's been revealed to. But look down at verse three. Well, let me just read verse two first. For he grew up before him like a young plant, like a root out of dry ground. He had no former majesty that we should look at him and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised. and rejected by men. A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. The gospel, it's essential. Jesus Christ came as the good news and those he came to killed him. They murdered him. We see this in John 1.11. He came to his own and was ejected by his own people. John is now going to Isaiah 53 to demonstrate this is what was planned. The Messiah would come and he would be murdered by his own people. Now, interestingly, this same passage is in Romans 10 where Paul is explaining how it is that Gentiles are being grafted into the tree of salvation And the Jews are being pruned out. If we look at the passage, it has two parts. There's two questions. Who is believed? Who are you revealing your salvation to? It shows that it is God who is sovereign, who saves. Let's look at our next passage. It's in Isaiah six. You can look in your bulletin or I believe that would be on page six. What page is it in the Pew Bible? I obviously wrote it down wrong. 571. God has just revealed his glory to Isaiah and Isaiah has responded, woe is me, I'm undone. He's seen the great glory of God. And then God says, just as he did to Moses, who shall go? Isaiah responds as a good prophet. A good prophet always says, here I am. Send me. Notice the mission, go to a people and tell them that they cannot hear. Who wants to sign up for that? If you look at the history of missions, this is the this is the first missionary usually has that mission. The one getting the beachhead usually has that mission. The first one on the ground has the mission. Go. Start softening the soil. Go and start preaching the gospel. Here he is told, you're going to go and they're not going to hear. Their hearts will be hardened. What a mission. Jesus gives us an inspired commentary on this particular passage that's quoted. Isaiah said this because he had seen the glory of God. John tells us that he saw the glory of Jesus Christ. He saw the glory and spoke of him. He said that the eyes are blinded, the hearts are hard, they cannot see, they can't understand. This shows the sovereign salvation of God. Now, we have to remember the passage before said that's their active disbelief. The passage afterwards makes their responsibility clear. They love the glory that comes from man more than God. But here we see God has predestined them to not believe. They can't believe, but in their own natural state, they can't believe. Jesus is a fulfillment of this because he's the true prophet, the true suffering servant. He's the one who's come to die and be rejected. Now, how is it that God blinds the eyes and hardens the heart? We believe God is good. We believe God is steadfast in love. We believe God is merciful. How is it we can simultaneously say God blinds the eyes and hardens the heart? I believe one way of thinking through this is to think of the dilemma that we have with Pharaoh in the Exodus. A Pharaoh that says he hardened his heart, his heart was hardened, and God hardened his heart. Those three things, we have to believe all three of those things are simultaneously true. He hardened his own heart, his heart was hardened, God hardened his heart. And it gets progressively more from Pharaoh hardening his heart to God hardening his heart as we go through the story and the plagues. What we have to realize here, I think, is that our hearts are so inclined to sin, so inclined to being closed off and idolatrous, what I believe happens when God hardens his heart is he just simply removes his protective grace. See, our hearts are so ready to implode in on themselves with sin. Our hearts are so bent towards sin that I believe it's God's protective grace that keeps us from being as sinful as we actually could be. And hardening, I believe, is God just simply pulling back that protective grace that keeps us from being as sinful as we could be. Where do I get this from? Romans 1. He gave them over to their sins. Because they refuse to acknowledge Him. Because they refuse to stop pursuing sin deeper and deeper. He pulls back the grace that keeps us from being as sinful as we could be. The truths are clear. He's sovereign in grace to keep us from the sinfulness that binds us and enslaves us. He's sovereign in the grace that gives salvation. Our hearts are so inclined to darkness because they're dead and he alone gives the life. Now, what is the application from this? First, acknowledge God's ways are greater and higher than our ways. There's a theological tension we have to make sure we're holding. We're responsible. God is sovereign. We have to bow down and worship him as the God who is sovereign over all things and holds us responsible. We praise God for His grace that keeps us from being as sinful as we could be. Secondly, if you're a Christian, praise God for giving us the grace to hear the gospel and the grace to believe it. If you're here this morning, you have the grace to hear the gospel and I pray you'll have the grace to believe it. I'll tell you this, you're responsible for denying it or believing it. Don't let your heart be hardened. Believe it. Thirdly, church, we are called to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ boldly and faithfully. We have to recognize the cross is foolishness to those who deny it, but it's also the power of salvation is the only power of salvation. Believing that that men are blind and dull and darkened, that does not keep us from the responsibility of proclaiming the gospel to everyone we possibly can. Our mission, our command, our call is to proclaim Him faithfully and boldly and trusting God. Finally, praise God you're not as sinful as you could be. Praise God that he keeps us from being as sinful as we could be. It's his grace that keeps us from from from being an anarchy. His grace, his grace for all people, but especially Christians, where his grace keeps us from the sins that could enslave us and entangle us even further. Finally, let's look at our last section, beginning in verse 42. Nevertheless, many, even of the authorities, believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees, they did not confess it, so they would not be put out of the synagogue. For, this is always so helpful, when you give an explanation like this, for the love, they love the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God. Many authorities were even believing it. It's not just the Jewish common folk. It's the authorities. Those in the synagogue. They were afraid of being cast out. Possibly people in the Sanhedrin. Possibly Nicodemus. They acknowledged Jesus. They recognized there was something special about Him. But they could not confess Him. Salvation requires a public confession of Jesus Christ. Salvation means you believe in His belief that you want to confess. There's something, you praise Him. There's no such thing as a stealth Christian. There's no such thing as a secretive Christian. You either believe Him and you publicly profess it, or you're probably not a Christian. As we look forward to the Lord's Supper, this is why we ask that if someone has not been baptized, they do not take the Lord's Supper. The Bible does not know of a non-baptized believer who takes the Lord's Supper. If you haven't been baptized and you're believing in Christ, why postpone? Why wait to make that profession made known? Baptism is that primary and first proclamation. Notice how John gives more explanation to their sin. It's not just that they're fearful of being cast out of the synagogue. Verse 43, we're just going to camp out there for the last few minutes. For they love the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God. We see this in Romans 2. They love the glory of men more than God. What is glory? Let's just stop there. What is glory? The Hebrew word actually means weight. It's weighty. Or in the New Testament, it's radiance. It's beauty. God is the most glorious being. When we see Him, we will be overwhelmed with His power, His love, and His beauty. Now, there are little hints in this world of glory. For instance, when we meet somebody we esteem highly, we get a sense of glory. Right? So, if you're a UVA basketball fan, and you run into Ralph Sampson, there's a sense of glory. There's a way to meet this man that Maybe sinfully you idolize the young man or young woman. When you walk into someone's presence who's larger than life and great, there's a sense of glory here. And God created this world with that small little sample of glory. It's nothing compared to the glory of God, but he gives us these little hints of what glory is. I think even more so, we could look to creation. No one goes to the Grand Canyon to think more of themselves. When you go to a natural wonder like that, you go to desire the sense of awe and wonder to feel how small you are. It's so fantastic. It's so counterintuitive to the way we usually live our lives and want to build ourselves up and boast of ourselves. When we go to these natural wonders, there's a glory in recognizing I'm so small. There's something out there so big and so great. There's that awe and mystery that we're all longing for, that we go and look at the natural wonders to experience. It's just a small hint. It's a smaller comparison to who we're really created for. The glory we're created to enjoy and to stand before is Almighty God's. There's nothing greater than His glory. See, we're all looking for meaning and purpose. We're all looking for something more than what this life has because, quite frankly, we all know it's somewhat empty. And there's little hints of glory that we can be committed to, to try to suck as much out of that little symbol of glory, but it's never going to be satisfying. Only God's glory is truly satisfying because it's infinite and overwhelming. Notice. These men preferred the position that man gives. They prefer the horizontal glory over against the glory that is from above, the parallel glory. They desired the parallel glory more than the glory that comes down. Now, what is glory from God? You know, as I was preparing for the passage, I actually got kind of wound up by saying, oh yes, the glory from man rather than giving glory to God. But that's not what the passage says. They desire the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God. What is the glory that comes from God? It's quite startling. That's the wording here. Well, there's quite a few clues that help us understand what this means. We can go back to Exodus. We mentioned this last week. When Moses said, show me your glory. How did God respond? I will be merciful to whom I choose to be merciful. I will be gracious to whom I choose to be gracious. In John 1.14. He says Jesus is the glory of God, the glory that's full of grace and truth. God's glory is his grace to us. God's glory for us is his grace to us in Jesus Christ. And I think there's a place we can look to to really understand what the glory of God has turned to Ephesians. Look at page 976. I'm just going to start reading, and I want you to be listening for a few key words and phrases in Christ. and through Christ. This is the glory you receive from God. It's your new identity that you receive when you believe in Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love, He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ. Part of the glory that we receive from God is having a new family. Jesus is our big brother. And God is our Father. In Him, we have redemption through His blood and the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of His grace. which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of his will according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will. The glory of men is other men, other folks, looking at you and giving you position here, giving you privileges here, giving you pride here in this life. And they love that more than the glory that comes from God. The inheritance of Jesus Christ is the glory we receive from God. The forgiveness of sins is the glory received from God. The adoption of sons. Being able to call God Father. Knowing His intimate love. That's the glory that comes down from God. Friends, we cannot pursue and love the relationships of this world and men trying to boost us up. The glory that comes from showing ourselves to be great in this world, we must boast only in Christ. This is why your identity in Christ is so important. This is what is most glorying. What Christ has done for us. Who He says we are. The new standing and position we have in Him. The new inheritance. Now let me make this a little more clear and focused. Young ladies, this world is going to tell you that your physical beauty is your identity. That is a lie. We have many physically beautiful young ladies, and the only thing that really gets for you is you're going to attract the superficial male. And that's not helpful. Because that superficial male is going to only want to dishonor your glory. See, your real glory is your position in Christ. Pursue the glory that Peter talks about in chapter three, the glory of a pure heart, the glory of a sincere faith, the glory of a true faith in God that says you're my daughter and you are glorious in beauty. Men, the world's going to tell you that your worth is in your bank account. how little that looks in comparison to the inheritance that you receive from Christ. That's what makes you rich. The inheritance, the position, the privileges you have as a son of God. To go to the Father, to proclaim Him, to know Him, to have the assurance. That's your wealth. That's your worth. It's all what Christ has done for you. See, here they They feared God more than they feared man. They had a more of a reverence for the position that they could have among men, more than a reverence for God. Friends, this identity we have in Christ must be secure and on a clear foundation for us to be rich, for us to know how rich we are, for us to know the great glory we have from God. We are responsible to believe this. God is sovereign and giving it. And I praise God for the grace that he gives us to know him, to trust him and to follow him. Will you pray with me? We look to glorify you, our great Redeemer. Whose precious blood has ransomed us. It was our sin that drove the bitter nails that hung you on that tree of judgment. That is why we will glory in you. who was crushed and you crushed the power of sin and death. We pray that as we seek to glorify you and to find our position in you, that we will be satisfied in you alone. That our hearts will repent of the treason that poisons our love for you. That you will give us eyes to see and ears to hear and hearts that worship you May the confessions that come off our tongues come from pure hearts that praise you as you ought to be praised. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.