The Son of Man Must Be Lifted

Good morning, we're going to continue in our study of the Gospel of John. We are still on page 899 as we continue to look at Jesus ascension up to Jerusalem. Last week, we looked at the very demanding call of Jesus, a hard truth to preach, to hear, I hope, and to seek to obey. Whoever hates his life in this world will keep it. Whoever loves his life will lose it. We looked last week that this is choosing language. To hate and to love, that's choosing language in scripture. And so there's a call to choose. Really, it's a call to battle. Battling the sinful desires that claim our attention and entertain our delights. It's a call to battle against sin. Battle for our own souls and the souls of others as we seek to worship God. This morning, we're going to continue to look at this battle. And the good news this morning is that the high calling of the battle is before you. But this morning, the real focus is on the one who has won the battle. Christ, the victor. This morning, we're going to look and we're going to see how Christ has he is the victor over sin, death, and the devil. Look with me in chapter 12, beginning in verse 27. Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name. Then a voice came from heaven, I have glorified it and I will glorify it again. The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said an angel has spoken to him. Jesus answered, this voice has come for your sake not mine. Now is the judgment of this world. Now will the ruler of this world be cast out and I when I am lifted up from the earth will draw all people to myself." He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die. So the crowd answered him, we have heard from the law that the Christ must remain forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man? So Jesus said to them, the light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light Let darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light that you may become sons of light. Will you pray with me? Father, we praise you that you have glorified your name And that we know your glory because we know it from the grace and truth that you have revealed in Jesus Christ your Son. Now bless us with the empowering illumination of your Spirit so that we can see our sin. We can see the truth of the Gospel. We can see how we are called to repent and to live for you. How we can live in joy and delight in your glory. Lord, we pray that Christ would be exalted, and that if anyone here does not know the salvation of Jesus Christ, that he would be drawn to you. Holy Spirit, change hearts this morning. May Christ be exalted. May the Father be glorified. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Jesus is ascending to Jerusalem. The last time he'll be going up to Jerusalem, he's going to die. He's going to Jerusalem, and Jerusalem is a dangerous place. This is the Sanhedrin's headquarters. These are the chief priests and the Pharisees who are, this is where their authority base is. These are the ones that want to get rid of Jesus. Now as he's heading to Jerusalem, the crowds are crying out, praising him as the son of David, declaring him to be the king. Now, it's interesting, in contrast to these people, the Pharisees, they're complaining and grumbling. Is everyone going to go to them? We've gained nothing. It's actually kind of amazing. I hadn't thought about it till today. The contrast between the Pharisees now and John the Baptist earlier. The Pharisees are worried about losing the authority and the persuasion they have among the people. What was John the Baptist's motto? He must increase, I must decrease. Here, they're saying we've got to get rid of him, lest our authority and privileged position is lost. Really, John has a different contrast in mind. One that would be quite a bit more embarrassing for the Pharisees and the chief priests. He's contrasting the religious leaders of Israel with Greeks. The Greeks come and they say, can we see Jesus? It's a monumental, important shift in the gospel. It's amazing. We see here a fulfillment of all that God has been designing and planning from the very beginning. Last week, we looked at Genesis 12 and some other passages. We can look at Isaiah 60. Arise, shine, for your light has come. And the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples. But the Lord will arise upon you, and His glory will be seen upon you. And nations, the Greeks, and nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. We see here a fulfillment of God's plan of salvation. Now that ultimate plan of salvation will not be completely fulfilled until Pentecost. We see here a glimpse. God's plan has always been for all peoples. The plan from the very beginning. The scope of God's salvation is everywhere, for all kinds. The ultimate end, though, is for God's glory. The Greeks come, they say, can we see Jesus? And interestingly, if you were with us last week or you look back, he doesn't answer that directly then. He doesn't give a direct answers. Sure, bring them on in. He just simply announces to the disciples the hour has come. The hour referring to his death. This morning we're going to see Jesus' mission. Our message simplified in a simple sentence would be this. Jesus' mission is to glorify His Father by dying for sinners. His mission is to glorify His Father by dying for sinners. The key thing we need to realize is his mission is the Father's glory. His mission is his Father's glory and we really see a couple ways or a few ways in which he will glorify the Father. By overthrowing Satan, by dying for sinners, by calling sinners, and then finally we will be called to glorify the Father by repenting of our darkness and walking in the light. First, Jesus' mission is to glorify His Father. Listen to this prayer. Again, He's ascending up to Jerusalem, knowing His hour has come. Now is my soul troubled. What shall I say? Father saved me from this hour, but for this purpose, I have come to this hour. Father, Glorify your name. This is a prayer. In the midst of this conversation about the Greece coming, he's praying. It's a contemplation of prayer regarding what he now feels the weight of what lies before him. This is like the prayer in Gethsemane. When he prays, take this cup from me, but not my will be done, but your will be done. You see there in the Gethsemane prayer, you see the weight, the dread of what's lying before him. Take this cup from me if in any way possible. But Father, ultimately, it's your will to be done. You see the same dilemma here. Shall I say, Father, save me? This is why I've come. Father, glorify your name. There's a great dilemma here for Jesus. Jesus is the Son of God. His identity is wrapped in being the obedient Son of God. He is the one who does what the Father says. He always obeys the Father, seeking to honor Him and to glorify Him. But here's the dilemma. He knows that if He follows through with obedience, He will be separated from the Father He obeys because He loves Him so much. That's what he's looking ahead to. Yes, as a human being, he's dreading the beating, the mocking, the torture, the being nailed to a cross, the suffocation he'll suffer on the cross. But he's called to be the obedient son. The great dilemma, his soul is troubled because he knows that if he continues as the obedient son, he'll be separated from the father he loves so dearly. It's a contemplative prayer. What is the will of God? And it is to obey Him. It is to glorify Him. This is the key focus of Jesus throughout His life. He's been consistent. Everything He does is for the Father, for the Father's glory. This key moment, His soul is troubled and He stays the course. He knows that the ultimate end is the Father's glory. Now, as we contemplate this deep moment of contemplation, this difficult moment of Jesus recognizing if he's obedient, he will lose that relationship with his father, only momentarily, but the great loss of suffering, the wrath of God that he does not deserve. This event, I think, helps us think through some of Paul's very challenging commands. One of which is Romans 8, verses 18. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. Or 2 Corinthians 1.5 For as we share abundantly in Christ's suffering, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. See, the focus here that Paul sets, suffering, is part of the Christian life. because we get to participate in the suffering of Christ. If we're only looking for our temporary happiness and comfort, we can't obey these commands of Christ. It's only when we have our eyes set on the glory of God and recognizing that that's the chief end of man, that is the ultimate high calling of us. It's only then that we can suffer well and persevere for the glory of God. In the midst of our suffering, real suffering, we can cry out, my soul is troubled, will you save me? But you have to also recognize we must call out, Father, glorify your name in my suffering. In the midst of our trials, we must seek God's glory. We must be patient and wait upon God in the midst of our suffering. Now, one of the key ways to train yourself to do this is in the midst of the prosperity we enjoy, we must seek the Father's glory. If you're not training yourself now to be seeking the ultimate end, it's God's glory, you're not going to do it in the midst of suffering. More so, in the midst of suffering, always look to the cross. See how God used the greatest evil for His glory. We see here Jesus, He's committed He will seek to glorify God no matter what. Let's look back to chapter 12. Jesus says, Father, glorify your name. Then the most remarkable thing happens. It only happens three times in the New Testament, or at least recorded only three times in the New Testament. The Father speaks audibly. Once at Jesus' baptism, once in the Transfiguration, neither of which are recorded in John. This is the one John has chosen to record. Then a voice came from heaven. I have glorified it and I will glorify it again. Now, when did he glorify it before? Well, the Father has always been glorifying his name. The Father has always been about his glory throughout all of creation. But I think here we could look and it's the incarnation. The glory of God. came and pitched the tent. The temple of God is now in this man, Jesus Christ. Throughout Jesus' life, God has been glorifying himself. So, God points back, I've glorified it already. My name through you, and I will do it again. A question we have to ask, why is God so committed to his own glory? That's an honest question we should ask this text. Why is it that God is so committed to his own glory? Here's his son crying out. Am I going to die for your glory? Are you going to request my life for your glory? Why is God so committed to his glory? Well, the first and simple answer is who else would he commit his glory to? Who else's glory would God be committed to? whose glory is greater than God and whose glory is more worthy than God's. God is committed to his glory because it is the greatest glory. No one else's is more deserving. Secondly, his glory he is tied to our salvation. We saw this in Exodus as God delivered Israel from slavery. We see it in the Gospel of John. His glory is full of grace and truth. Friends, we benefit from God revealing his glory more. The hard truth is this. God doesn't need us for his glory. He's glorious. But God has chosen to glorify himself by showing his love for us, by pouring out his grace upon us, by the Father sending his Son to die for us. We get to enjoy and benefit in the glory of God by being saved by God. If you remember Exodus 33, Moses said, let me see your glory. How did God respond? I will be merciful to whom I'm merciful. I'll be gracious to whom I'm gracious. See, there's a direct tie to the grace we receive and God's glory. If you don't want to see God's glory, keep thinking you deserve something from God. If you don't want to see the pure glory of God, think you've earned it. That He owes you something. See, it's a free gift. It's a free choice by God to pour out Himself for us. If you want to see the glory of God, realize we're completely dependent upon Him. We're completely undeserving. As we continue to look at the way Jesus glorifies the Father. We see some very specific teaching Jesus answered as the crowds are confused, still in the darkness, they still don't get it. The Jews demand signs. Is there a better sign than the voice of God coming down from heaven? No. But they're darkened. They don't get it. Jesus answers them. This voice has come for your sake, not mine. He knows his identity. He doesn't need to know that he's the father's son and that he's going to glorify the father. Let's look now. The father is glorified as Jesus overthrows Satan. Now is the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world be cast out. The judgment of the world. The world is that work of all men that is opposed to God, rebelling against God. It's God's creation turned against Him as we seek to now reject Him and rebel against Him. The final judgment of this world is when Christ returns. He will submit all things under His feet. We see this in 1 Corinthians 15. We see this in Revelation 20. But Christ has already come and He's begun the judgment. The world is the work of sinful men against God. Their leader is Satan. We have to realize that Jesus has come to establish the kingdom of God. Now this is the most simple, helpful definition of the kingdom of God that I know. It's God's people properly responding to God's righteous rule. That's the kingdom of God. It's us properly responding to God's righteous rule. Now the world is the opposite of God's kingdom. It's us rejecting His rule. We have to realize there's only really, there's only two real cosmic realities. Either God is our master or Satan is our master. We're either living in this world against God, or we're living in Christ for God. We're either children of God by the mercies of Christ, or we're children of Satan continuing in the deception. We're either with God and for God, or we're against Him. As Matt has already so clearly said, there's no middle ground. We're either purchased by Christ and brought close to God, or we're still against Him. Now here's the hard truth that we have to recognize about his victory over this world and Satan. Satan has power by the darkening of his deception and Satan is more powerful than we are. Satan is greater than us. We cannot defeat him. We cannot undo what he has done. That's why we need a champion. We need a victor. This is why the hymn of Martin Luther is so powerful. You can turn your hymnal. Page 8. A mighty fortress is our God. A mighty fortress is our God. A bulwark never failing. Our helper he amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing. For still our ancient foe does seek to work us woe. His craft and power are great and armed with cruel hate. on earth is not as equal. Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing. We're not the right man on our side, the man of God's own choosing. Thus ask who that may be. Christ Jesus. It is He. Lord Sabbath, His name from age to age the same. He must win. The battle. The words are powerful. And Luther, of all theologians, was very aware of the spiritual warfare that takes place. We have to be aware the devil is there seeking to devour. And it is only in Christ that we have the strength and the victory. His victory is ours or else we are defeated, enslaved, and powerless against him. Listen to how John applies this truth in his letter. First, John, chapter three, verse eight. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil. The devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. Now, how does he destroy the works of the devil? How did Christ disarm The devil. How does he do this? It's the most remarkable way. He conquers the devil by submitting himself to the devil's murder. He allows Satan. Christ is stronger than Satan, so he must submit himself to Satan. He submits himself to be killed. This is how he conquers him. Now, for a moment, Picture this in the moment of the crucifixion. Satan's a great deceiver. He's been deceived. He thinks he's won. He thinks that he's crushed the king. Can you imagine the rejoicing of the demons and of Satan? The shrieking, the screaming, the dancing and laughing and the mocking. They killed the king. Imagine how that turned to mourning and fear and dread the day of the resurrection. When he rose victorious and they realized all that was happening, they had been defeated. Christ had come and undone their powers. They rejoiced at his death. What dread they must have had his resurrection. Satan, he's thrown God's creation into chaos. And Christ came to put it back in order. The most important order that needs to be put back in place, the most important aspect of this order is putting us back in a right position in a relationship with God. See, as sinners, we're separated from God. His wrath is against us. And His death removed God's wrath in our guilt. As we look to Christ and how He conquers Satan, He destroys the works of the devil, the most important part is that relationship we have with God. Now, it also affects our relationship with one another, with ourselves internally, and with the rest of creation. Now, notice here, the emphasis in the passage is now. The judgment is now. When Christ dies, there is judgment. We're still waiting for all things we put under complete submission. 1 Corinthians 15 and Revelation 20. So what is his victory accomplished for us now? How should we be living differently now? Well, I think there's three works of the devil we can focus on to think about how it should affect us now. The three works of the devil I'm going to focus on are deception, accusation and temptation. You see, when we look to the cross, he's undoing the deception. He's undoing the deception because as we look to the cross, we see who we are. We see who God is. That's true wisdom to know yourself and to know God and to know yourself in light of God. We look to the cross, we see that we're sinners and we see that God loves us, not because we're lovely, but because he has chosen to pour out his grace and his love upon us. The lies that we have to realize that are undone at the cross is that we have to be good enough to be loved by God. Or the other lie, mercy is just free to let us run rampant with our sin. No, the cross is telling us your sin is dangerous and destructive. You are unworthy, but God has chosen to love you and to call you to a new life. We see also the cross tells us God is merciful. He's able to save. Remember, Satan loves to take a sliver of truth and twist it and corrupt it. We must look to the cross and see constantly what it says about us and what it says about God. And even though while we are sinners, he loved us. The deception is to think we've got to be good enough or we'll never be good enough. Has nothing to do with how good you are. Has nothing to do with how God is mighty to save. Secondly, the accusation. Now this is also part of the deception. The cross tells us we are forgiven in Christ. But Satan, his most powerful tool against a Christian, is accusation. Because here's the truth. We're sinners. We've done things we're culpable of and we're guilty of. And so all Satan has to do is say, look what you did and look what the consequence should be. Now, it's a half truth. Because if we're Christians, yes, we've committed great sin. Yes, we're culpable. We're guilty. But the truth is Christ has died to forgive us. We're innocent. We're declared righteous. Satan wants to keep you under accusation. Keep you feeling guilty because that's the way you will be completely ineffective for the kingdom. You cannot glorify God with a guilty conscience. So, Satan seeks to leap up, to load upon you the accusation and accusation. And what we must see is when we look to the cross, we know we're forgiven. Now, if you're battling for assurance, Satan's favorite thing to do is to isolate you. Leave you to your own thoughts. Leave you to all you hear is how guilty you are, then you're on autopilot. All you ever think about is how guilty you are, because you're talking to yourself and you're saying what Satan wants you to hear. Friend, do not allow yourself to be in isolation while wrestling with assurance. You need to hear the gospel constantly from other brothers and sisters, from the Word of God, in prayer, Does Satan have you on autopilot this morning? Are you accusing yourself so much with your thoughts that you don't have assurance? The only way to get out of that, I believe, is by coming around the other brothers and sisters who are going to help you rethink the gospel. Third, temptation. How does Christ undo and conquer the temptation? We're prone to sin. We love sin. We're sinners. And when sin, before Christ, before we were Christians, when sin would say, you should do this, when temptation would arise, we had no other choice. We were slaves. Satan would bark orders and he'd pull the leash and we'd have to obey. But Christ has broken that power. We no longer have to give a temptation. We can see that he's broken the chain of sin wrapped around our necks. Friend, when you're in the midst of temptation and you feel like you have to do it, there's no other option. Turn to 1 Peter 1, verse 17. You need to put this over your computer, you need to put this on your phone if you like to gossip. Wherever you're tempted to sin, put this verse there. If you have a hard time loving a person, buy them a t-shirt with this verse on it. And if you call on Him as Father, who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things as silver is gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. when you feel like you have to give in to that temptation when that temptation is overwhelming you go and think about the the precious blood of almighty god that's been spilled out for you it frees you it gives you the freedom to pursue christ and to resist the devil let's move on to verse 32 jesus glorifies his father by being exalted on a cross. Verse 32. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. When I, he's focused on his own personal death, and it's the death of the cross. He interprets it in verse 33. He said this to show about what kind of death he was going to die. We saw this in John 3.14, "...as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life." The Son glorifies the Father by being lifted up. It's in the death of Christ that He most glorifies the Father. Because He's obedient even to the point of death, as Paul declares in Philippians 2. What Christ accomplishes is the ultimate reconciliation. It's the key to the plan of God. See, we all are sinners. We're guilty. We're deserving of God's wrath. And it's only because Jesus died on that cross that we can ever be friends with God again. Because God the Father punished Him for our sin. So that the punishment we deserve has been paid in full. And His righteousness is counted to our account. So that we are now declared forgiven and innocent sons of God. He glorifies the Father by dying for us. Notice what else He declares here. Jesus glorifies the Father by calling all sinners. And when I am lifted up, all people All people he will draw to himself. Now, all people doesn't say every single human being. He's finally answering that request of the Greeks to come see him. He's responding to the Greeks wanting to come see him because after I am exalted, I will die on the cross, I will rise again, then I will ascend, then the Holy Spirit will come, and then all the nations will hear the gospel. and the Holy Spirit we poured out upon them. He's saying that all peoples, every kind of person, will be able to come to Him. The Greeks, it's not your time yet. The Old Covenant has not been fulfilled in its entirety with His death. The New Covenant, when He rises again, that's when all the peoples will be brought together. Every kind of human being. Every kind of sinner. Every single nation and race and tongue. This is a beautiful teaching. Because I look at a lot of non-Israelites right now. We're all here together. Not because of a race. Not because of a nationality. Because of Christ. He calls all kinds of people. Some people a little weirder than others. kinds of people to himself and that's what unifies us. His love for us. His death for us. Now let's go back to Satan here for a moment. Christ died so we can be unified in him. Satan loves to bring chaos where God is trying to bring order. Satan desires nothing more than divide the body of Christ. He's crouching. He's creeping. He desires. He's at the door longing to divide the body of Christ because that's the attack on God's glory. You know, there's nothing so sweet as a church unified. There's really nothing better than to be part of a body that's submitted to Christ's headship, that's united together in his word. There's nothing better. There's no greater blessing on this earth, I think. To be part of a body of Christ that truly loves Him and loves one another. There's also no greater curse than to be part of a body divided. Selfishly seeking their own glory. Selfishly seeking divided glory rather than the one glory. If you look at the history of the church, Satan has effectively divided churches racially. You can see this all around Charlesville. Satan has effectively divided churches racially, and this is something we must proactively work against. We should long for more diversity. Racism and nationalism have no place in the worship of the church. We're the citizens of heaven come together under one king. Racism and nationalism have no place Every kind of sinner unites together as a church. Satan's new attack, I perceive, is to divide us according to our age or special interest. If you look at the churches, there's young churches, there's older churches, there's old churches. I praise God that we're not divided in it. We need to be careful. Is there internal division? Are we seeking out those who are different from us who are members of this body and seeking to fellowship with them. Are we just trying to stay with those that are like us and have the same interests? That's internal division. That is unhelpful. Helpful. A few practical applications here. If we think about the unity of all peoples, we should celebrate diversity in Christ. And these are three applications. First, do not speak evil against brothers who are different than you. Do not speak evil against brothers or sisters who are different than you are. Secondly, do not avoid fellowshipping with those who are different than you. Thirdly, and you can see it's progressing, proactively seek to love those who are different than you. If all you ever do is spend time in church with those who are like you, you made it a social club. not a place for the glory of God. If all you do is seek those who are like you, it's a social club. It's supposed to be for God's glory. It's supposed to be because we're united in Christ. Hear how John applies this in his epistle 1 John chapter 4. We love because he first loved us. If anyone says I love God and hates his brother, He's a liar. For he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. In this commandment we have from him, whoever loves God must also love his brother. Jefferson Park Baptist Church. Christ died for us. Christ died for us to be united. Christ died so that we can unite for his glory. We must proactively Seek that kind of glorifying fellowship. Finally, our response. Verse 34 through 36. So the crowd answered him, We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever. How can he say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man? So Jesus said to them, The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light. lest darkness ever take you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light. Now this first comment by the crowd, there's legitimate reason for wanting the kind of king they're looking for. You could go to 2 Samuel 7, you could go to Psalm 89, they're looking for a forever king. This is God's promise. It's not necessarily wrong to look for a forever king. It's the kind of forever king. They're upset because Jesus is saying, I'm going to go away. Well, they're looking for a king who's going to overthrow Rome and give them the political nation that they long for and have read about from the old covenant. They're looking for a power that will overthrow the power that has enslaved them. That's not what Jesus has come for. He will build his kingdom. He will finalize the kingdom. But now is not what he's doing. Notice how he responds. The Light is among you for a little while longer. It's referring to Himself. He's only going to be with them six more days. If you do not believe in the Light now, you are in the darkness. And the darkness will overtake you. He's revealing, I am the only way you will see through the darkness of this world. Walk in the Light. Trust in the Son. Now, if we're going to apply this to ourselves, really it's the same as what Paul says. Walk by the Spirit. We don't get to walk and talk with Jesus. He's ascended. He's the right hand of the Father. But what he has done is he sent the Holy Spirit to indwell us. We must now walk in the Spirit, trusting Christ, believing in Christ, seeking to follow Christ by the power of the Spirit. One of the most important things we should see here, as we saw last week, if we want to be a son of the light, we must repent of the darkness. If you want to be a child of the light, stop walking in darkness. If you want to enjoy the light, enjoy the glory of God forever, praise Him in Christ. We have to stop playing in the darkness. I'm thankful I hear a lot of folks talking about revival at times. It'd be great to see another revival. What if we have a revival at Jefferson Park Baptist Church? Now, I'm convinced A revival doesn't start in a corporate worship setting. If we want revival, it takes place all those single moments we're choosing to resist darkness and walk in His light. If we want revival, it's us pursuing God in every possible way at all times. And then when we come together corporally, when we come together as His body, revival breaks out because we're walking in the Spirit in such a way that we enjoy that spirit together. We enjoy the exaltation of Christ together. Friends, we are called out of darkness and the kingdom of the light. We must seek to walk in his light, to delight in it. To delight in his light means we hate the works of darkness. Will you play with me? Father, we praise you that you have not left us to our own destruction, enslaved to the devil, enslaved to our own passions that rage against you. We praise you that you sent your Son to free us and to forgive us. We praise you that you sent your Spirit to illuminate our hearts. Help us now to walk according to your truth, in the light of your Gospel. By the illuminating power of your Holy Spirit, help us to be children of light for your glory. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.