Lars Larson Live Stream

First Baptist Church Leominster iconFirst Baptist Church Leominster

2 views

0 comments

00:06
♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪
00:45
Please be seated.
01:16
Let's turn now to our New Testament reading, which today is the second chapter of Titus, and Paul writing this pastoral epistle to Titus, instructing him on the
01:30
Christian ministry that was to be conducted in Crete. And here
01:36
Paul is emphasizing to Titus that he needed to teach sound doctrine within this church so that the people would become more holy before God.
01:49
Jason, thank you. Titus chapter 2.
01:59
But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. Older men are to be sober -minded, dignified, self -controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness.
02:13
Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine.
02:19
They are to teach what is good and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self -controlled, pure, workers at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.
02:35
Likewise, urge the younger men to be self -controlled. Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned so that an opponent may be put to shame having nothing evil to say about us.
02:53
Bond servants are to be submissive to their own masters in everything. They are to be well -pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our
03:05
Savior. For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and unworldly passions and to live self -controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great
03:24
God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
03:37
Declare these things, exhort and rebuke with all authority, let no one disregard you.
03:43
Let's pray. Our Father, we thank you for the grace of God.
03:51
We thank you that it has appeared, that it has brung salvation for all people, that it trains us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self -controlled, upright, and godly in the present age.
04:05
And Lord, we do await for your return. We are so thankful,
04:11
Lord, that we belong to you, that we are in your church. And Lord, we anxiously await the day of your return, that we might be with you.
04:20
Lord, we ask now that as we continue to worship you through the sermon, through the preaching of your word, we pray,
04:26
Lord, that we would be mindful of what it has to say. Help us, Lord, to hear these truths. Take these truths,
04:33
Lord, and implant them deep within our hearts. Help us, Lord, to live these truths in our day -to -day walk.
04:41
We thank you, Lord, in Jesus' name, amen. Well, let's turn again to John chapter 12 as we work through this fourth gospel.
05:04
And we trust you have your Bibles in hand this morning as we'll be referring to a great deal of Scripture as we address these matters before us in John 12, verse 20 and following.
05:17
I'm reading through the New Spurgeon Study Bible, Christian Standard Version, this year.
05:25
And I read this note from Charles Spurgeon this morning on our reading. God's thoughts are best delivered in God's words, and the more
05:33
Scripture there is in our message, the more true, the more divine, and the more powerful it will be.
05:41
And I suspect Spurgeon would be pleased with the amount of Scripture that we cite today, because it's a bunch.
05:47
But what is most important, of course, is that our Lord is pleased with his word that we set before us today.
05:55
So may God bless his word to our understanding, our contemplation, as well as to its employment in our lives.
06:05
In John 12, we read of our Lord Jesus entering Jerusalem. The event which commences his
06:11
Passion Week, the last week of his earthly ministry. And of course, this week will conclude with his arrest, trials, crucifixion, burial, and his resurrection.
06:25
And so, our Lord's Passion Week begins here with John chapter 12, and culminates with John chapter 20.
06:32
So most of John's Gospel considers this last week of our
06:38
Lord's earthly life. The last chapter of John, chapter 21, addresses his post -resurrection appearances.
06:46
But in the chapters before us, chapters 12 through 20, we have much recorded of our
06:54
Lord's personal interaction with his disciples. And he informed them quite significantly of his relationship with his father, as well as the relationship that exists and should exist between his followers.
07:11
And we also have before us, in these chapters before us, information regarding the work and the person of the
07:21
Holy Spirit. There's more said about the Holy Spirit in these chapters before us in John's Gospel than in any other place of the
07:29
Holy Scriptures. It's a very rich portion of God's Word. And even though today is our 73rd
07:36
Lord's Day in John's Gospel, I suspect we're going to have to slow down a little bit in order to address what's before us.
07:44
It's quite amazing, quite rich. Now, with the opening of John 12, we considered the anointing of Jesus by Mary with view to his burial.
07:55
But we pointed out that this anointing was not only preparing his body for burial, but it was an anointing with view to his enthronement as the promised
08:06
King of Israel, who would inaugurate the long -anticipated kingdom of God.
08:14
And last Lord's Day, we considered John's account of the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem as the
08:21
King of Israel, and he's declared that specifically here in John 12, who is destined to reign over his kingdom.
08:30
His reign would begin upon his cross with his resurrection and exaltation.
08:36
But from this beginning, his kingdom would expand. And in just a few decades, his kingdom would extend to the farthest points of the world, even the
08:45
Roman Empire of the day. Now, let me just assert just what we've considered thus far, stated thus far.
08:54
You might say, well, everybody knows this, it's pretty well accepted. But actually it is not.
09:01
The view that we present with regard to the kingdom of our Lord Jesus being inaugurated through his death and his resurrection is not commonly believed and taught.
09:13
But rather, most frequently in the evangelical world, the kingdom is regarded as not actually being inaugurated until his second coming.
09:24
And we find that just an atrocious understanding of the scriptures. Clearly through the death, burial, resurrection of Christ, his ascension into heaven, he was enthroned and the kingdom of God was inaugurated.
09:37
And that's the emphasis that we're going to give today. That's what we have here in John chapter 12.
09:44
And so with the remainder of John 12 that we'll begin to consider today, John 12, 20 through the end of the chapter, verse 50, we have a formal conclusion to the public ministry of Jesus.
09:58
And in the verses that we will begin to consider today, verses 20 through 36, actually 26,
10:06
I believe, we will consider the necessity and the certainty of our Lord's crucifixion, which resulted in his kingdom being inaugurated, which would allow the possibility, even the certainty, that his kingdom would include
10:21
Gentile disciples throughout the world. And what we want to show you is that this is a very significant turning point in the history of redemption that was declared throughout the
10:35
Old Testament and is realized here with the Lord Jesus Christ.
10:40
And so here is John chapter 12. It is through verse 36, okay?
10:46
John 12, 20 through 36. Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast, and they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying,
10:59
Sir, we wish to see Jesus. Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn
11:05
Andrew and Philip told Jesus. But Jesus answered them, saying,
11:10
The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly,
11:16
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.
11:25
He who loves his life will lose it. He who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
11:33
If anyone serves me, let him follow me, and where I am there my servant will be also.
11:39
If anyone serves him, my Father will honor. Now my soul is troubled, and what shall
11:46
I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this purpose
11:51
I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name. And then a voice came from heaven, saying,
11:58
I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. And therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered.
12:09
Others said, An angel has spoken to him. And Jesus answered and said, This voice did not come because of me, but for your sake.
12:16
Now is the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world will be cast out.
12:22
And I, if I'm lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to me or to myself.
12:32
This he said signifying by what death he would die. The people answered him,
12:37
We've heard from the law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say the Son of Man must be lifted up?
12:43
Who is this Son of Man? And then Jesus said to them, A little while longer the light is with you.
12:49
Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. He who walks in darkness does not know where he is going.
12:58
While you have the light, believe in the light that you may become sons of light.
13:04
These things Jesus spoke and departed and was hidden from them. Now it's going to take a few weeks to get just through these verses.
13:13
But we'll consider this passage through the outline that you have before us. Five divisions.
13:21
First, we had the desire and request of the Greeks in verses 20 and 21. Secondly, Jesus speaks of the necessity of his cross in order to inaugurate and advance his kingdom.
13:34
Thirdly, Jesus's appeal for help from his father to endure his cross. Fourthly, the father purpose to glorify
13:43
Jesus before the people through his cross. And then fifth, Jesus exhorts those
13:49
Jews who heard him to believe that which they had been taught and had witnessed regarding him. And so this passage is rich in content with implications.
14:00
And because of its richness, we'll only be permitted perhaps to address the first of these two points.
14:08
First two points of these five today. And we're in no hurry to get through this passage.
14:16
For we desire again the richness of the meaning and understanding to be settled in our minds and our souls rather than a cursory or superficial consideration of this very, very important matter.
14:32
This is an important matter that distinguishes Christians with a reformed emphasis and bent from those who are not.
14:42
And so let's consider first of all, verses 20 through 22, the desire and request of the
14:47
Greeks. We read in verse 20, a certain Greeks who wished to see
14:53
Jesus. Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to the worship at the feast.
15:00
Clearly, they desired to meet with Jesus and perhaps interview him, converse with him.
15:07
And these Greeks are being commended really. Now it's implied, but clearly there is a commendation of these
15:12
Greeks because they desired to meet with Jesus. But they not only desire to see him, of course, they made effort to see him.
15:22
And so they came to Philip, we wish to see Jesus. The fact is, some will claim they desire to see
15:30
Jesus, but they make no effort to do so. That's not how these Greeks were. They wished to see
15:35
Jesus and they would take some steps to do so. And so may we be earnest seekers of our
15:41
Lord Jesus. Each of us should possess the desire to see Jesus as he is in truth.
15:48
And each of us should make great effort to do so. Now in their seeking, these
15:55
Greeks approach one of Jesus' disciples, Philip. And so we read in verses 21 and 22, they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying,
16:08
Sir, we wish to see Jesus. Philip came and told Andrew. And in turn,
16:13
Andrew and Philip told Jesus. Who were these Greeks?
16:19
Very important question to answer. Some have proposed that they were
16:24
Jews. In other words, Jews from out in the Roman Empire, from the Greco -Roman world.
16:32
In the first century, they were Jews who were rather high and mighty in their own estimation, thinking they were the purest and most devout
16:38
Jews in the world. And it's because they were born and raised in Palestine, particularly
16:44
Judea. They looked down on everybody else. And they are generally referred to as Palestinian Jews.
16:54
But due to the diaspora, in other words, the exile that took place in the 8th century
16:59
B .C., 6th century B .C., Assyria and Babylon, there were
17:05
Jews, of course, that were scattered throughout the world. These were known as Hellenistic Jews.
17:13
Because they were greatly influenced by the Greek culture that had been spread throughout the entire known world by the exploits of Alexander the
17:26
Great, who died in 322 B .C. And so their culture was not
17:32
Palestinian in nature, but rather it was Hellenistic. It was
17:38
Greek. They spoke Greek, was their primary language, and their culture was shaped largely in the
17:45
Hellenistic world. And although the Roman Empire had been the dominant political force in the world for nearly 100 years, the language and culture of Greece remained predominant.
17:56
Again, having been spread since the 4th century B .C. under Alexander. And so there was quite a distinction and frankly cultural animosity between Palestinian Jews and Hellenistic Jews.
18:10
They didn't get along. The Jewish synagogues of Jerusalem, and there were apparently hundreds of them, could be classified as either
18:18
Palestinian or Hellenistic. They were all Jews, but they were divided into these two parties.
18:25
They didn't cooperate with one another. And even after the early church had begun, and the early
18:32
Christians, of course, were Jewish Christians, they still remained in these rather distinct groups.
18:39
And so there were Palestinian Jewish Christians and there were Hellenistic Jewish Christians.
18:46
And they had their problems. In fact, it's reflected for us in the book of Acts, Acts chapter 6, verse 1.
18:54
And we see these two groups here among Christians. Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a complaint against the
19:04
Hebrews by the Hellenists. Now these are Christians, but they are Hebrew Jewish Christians, Palestinian Jewish Christians, and Hellenistic Jewish Christians, largely shaped by the
19:18
Greek culture. And the reason was their widows were neglected in the daily distribution.
19:25
Then the Twelve, the apostles, summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables.
19:33
Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.
19:42
But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.
19:47
And the same pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith in the
19:53
Holy Spirit, and Philip, not the same Philip in John 12, a different Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas, a proselyte from Antioch, whom they set before the apostles.
20:07
And when they had prayed, they laid hands on them. And then the word of God spread, and the number of disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.
20:20
And so this problem arose because the Hellenistic Jewish Christians believed that their widows were not being cared for to the same degree as the widows of the
20:31
Hebrews, that is, the Palestinian Jewish Christians. And interestingly, the apostles told the people, the church, you call out, you identify some men, devout, faithful men, whom we may put in charge, the apostles said.
20:51
And they chose seven men. Interestingly, all seven men had Greek names. So all seven were probably of this
20:58
Hellenistic Christian Jewish group.
21:03
They were the ones who thought their widows were being neglected. They selected seven of them and put them in charge of the distribution, showing to what extent and effort they were attempting to resolve this problem.
21:17
And of course, these men are commonly believed to have been the first men chosen to serve in the office of deacon in the church.
21:27
And so there are those who argue that these Greeks in John chapter 12, 21, 20, 21, 22, who desired to see
21:36
Jesus were Hellenistic Jews, and that's why they're named Greeks. However, this would be a wrong identification of these men.
21:46
It's apparent that these men were Gentiles, not Jews. Why were they not called
21:51
Gentiles, but rather called Greeks? Well, all Gentiles in the Hellenistic world of the
21:57
Roman Empire would refer to it as Greeks because they spoke Greek as their primary language, and their culture was
22:03
Greek. And so the term Greek is the same term as Gentile, frankly.
22:12
Now, there were indeed Gentiles who had become Jewish proselytes in the first century. They were not large in number, but there were some
22:22
Gentiles who had become Jews, basically. They became Jewish proselytes.
22:28
They were not really treated as full -fledged Jews by the Jews. They were regarded as almost Jews. And they would be allowed onto the
22:36
Temple Mount when they would come to Jerusalem to worship, but they could only go as far as the court of the
22:42
Gentiles. They couldn't go into the inner courts. These Greeks that we're talking about here in John 12 were probably
22:53
Gentile God -fearers, but not necessarily proselytes to Judaism.
22:59
And so of these Greeks, Donald Carson rightly wrote, it's possible they were proselytes, fully -fledged converts to Judaism who would have been permitted to worship with the
23:10
Jews, but this cannot be inferred from the text, since other
23:15
Gentiles who are said to have gone up to worship could not possibly be proselytes. The Ethiopian eunuch, because he was a eunuch, wouldn't have been allowed to worship in the
23:25
Temple. Like Cornelius, Acts chapter 10, or the centurion who loved the
23:31
Jews and built them a synagogue, Luke 7, such Greeks admired much of what they saw in Judaism without becoming official converts, and sometimes attended the great
23:40
Jewish festivals at Jerusalem where they were admitted to the court of the Gentiles. Entrance to the inner courts was forbidden on pain of death to all
23:48
Gentiles save proselytes. Warning notices were posted on the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, that separated the inner courts from the court of the
24:00
Gentiles. And so these Greeks of John 12, 21 were
24:07
Gentiles. And really the way John presents them in John 12, verse 20, they're set in contrast to the
24:15
Pharisees. As one wrote, enough for us to know that they, the
24:21
Greeks, showed more interest in Christ than Caiaphas and all his companions. And so they're really being shown in a favorable light.
24:33
The Pharisees were frustrated, envious, and angry at the influence and popularity of Jesus, but these
24:38
Greeks were drawn to Jesus, they wished to see him. But it's important that we understand that these
24:48
Greeks mentioned in John 12, verse 20, really in some way represent all the
24:54
Gentiles of the world who would later become Christians. Therefore these few verses of John 12, 20, and 21, signal one of the greatest turning points in the history of redemption.
25:11
Gentiles were going to come into the kingdom where before they were excluded.
25:18
That's what's being portrayed for us here in John chapter 12. And just in advance of what we're saying here, they wished to see
25:25
Jesus, they got a hold of Philip, Philip got his brother Andrew, they went to Jesus, they said there's some
25:32
Greeks here that want to see you Jesus, and then Jesus immediately said, the hour has come,
25:37
I've got to go to the cross. I've got to die in order to bring in this mass of Gentiles into the kingdom.
25:43
That's what is being declared here in John chapter 12. Very important.
25:52
So the Old Testament prophets had declared clearly and frequently that when the promised king of Israel, the son of David, inaugurated the messianic kingdom, that not only a remnant of Jewish people would become citizens of this kingdom, but a great number of Gentiles would also become kingdom citizens.
26:10
And these Greeks who wished to see Jesus, signaled that not only the messianic kingdom would soon be inaugurated, but it would experience tremendous expansion throughout the
26:20
Gentile world. God was about to do a great world -impacting work which would be accomplished through the death of Jesus Christ on his cross.
26:32
This is an important turning point in the Bible, the history of redemption.
26:39
Now again, what we are asserting here is not popularly or broadly taught.
26:47
What's commonly taught is that Jesus was basically offering an earthly millennium to the
26:54
Jews, but because they rejected him and crucified him, God's offer of the kingdom was withdrawn and postponed until the second coming.
27:03
We are saying, no, not at all. But rather, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ actually brought about the enthronement of King Jesus, the inauguration of the promised messianic kingdom in the
27:16
Old Testament. And that's what we have played out here in John chapter 12. Very, very important matter.
27:26
So let's consider some Old Testament passages. And again, those that have that other position would argue that nowhere in the
27:33
Old Testament is the kingdom of God in this church age prophesied. And I want to show you where it's prophesied everywhere in the
27:42
Old Testament. And so let's consider some Old Testament passages. And we could go all the way back to Abraham, back in the book of Genesis.
27:52
Of course, Abraham himself was a Gentile, wasn't he? He was brought out of Mesopotamia, called of God.
28:02
And to him, of course, through him, came the Jewish people and the nation of Israel.
28:08
But he was a pagan when God called him a Gentile. He was first, of course, called
28:15
Abram when God came to him. Later, he was renamed Abraham, and that itself was significant.
28:22
But Abram was a Gentile whom God called forth from Mesopotamia, the
28:27
Gentile world, to come to Canaan. And it was to Abram that God came, and to whom
28:33
God gave his covenantal promises. And God declared that through Abram, God would bring his blessing upon all the
28:41
Gentiles of the earth. And so we read of God's initial promise in Genesis chapter 12, verse 1 and following.
28:50
God said to Abram, get out of your country, from your family, and from your father's house.
28:56
Now that would have been in the region of ancient Babel. From the nations, you get out of there and you come to a land that I will show you.
29:05
I'll make you a great nation. I will bless you. I'll make your name great. You shall be a blessing.
29:10
I will bless those who bless you. I will curse them who curses you. And then this statement concludes that covenantal promise.
29:17
And in you, all the families of the earth will be blessed. In other words, Gentiles would be blessed through Abraham.
29:26
And so here, therefore, in God's initial commitment to Abram, he made reference to the Gentile nations. They were all the families of the earth, and they would be blessed due to God's blessing of Abram.
29:38
Later, God again appeared to Abram, giving more detail of his plan and purposes through him.
29:43
So we read in Genesis 17. When Abram was 99 years old, the
29:48
Lord appeared to Abram, said to him, I am almighty God. Walk before me and be blameless. And I'll make my covenant between me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.
30:03
And Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying, As for me, behold, my covenant is with you.
30:10
And notice, you shall be a father of many nations. Those are Gentiles. No longer shall your name be called
30:17
Abram, but your name shall be called Abraham. That's what Abraham means. You're a father of many nations.
30:23
He renamed him. I'll make you exceedingly fruitful, and I'll make nations of you, and kings shall come from you.
30:32
And I'll establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you and their generations for an everlasting covenant to be
30:38
God to you and to your descendants after you. And here in the text, his descendants also include the
30:45
Gentiles, don't they? These nations will come forth from you. Here again, we see
30:52
God intended Abraham to be the father or the spiritual progenitor of not just his own physical descendants, but that he would be the spiritual father of the nations of the world.
31:03
That would be, you know, believers that come into the kingdom. The apostle
31:09
Paul would later quote the words of God here, making a declaration of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ to Gentiles.
31:19
And so in Romans 4, Paul reasoned, Therefore, it is of faith that it were justified by God's grace through faith alone.
31:28
It's through faith that it might be according to grace, or that the promise might be sure to all the seed. And what he means by all the seed is
31:35
Jew and Gentile believers alike. All the seed were all the seed of Abraham.
31:41
We were spiritual children of Abraham. And not only to those who are of the law, in other words of the flesh, physical descendants of Abraham, but also to those who are the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.
31:55
And then he quotes Genesis. As it's written, I've made you a father of many nations. In the presence of him whom he believed,
32:03
God, who gives life to the dead, calls those things which do not exist as though they did, who contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations.
32:14
According to what was spoken, so shall your descendants be. We could have launched off from here and showed how
32:20
Paul argued, Abraham is your father. And if you're a believer in Christ, you are just as Isaac was.
32:26
You are a child of promise. And therefore you are an inheritor of God's promises to Abraham.
32:32
God's promises don't come to Abraham because they're your physical descendants, ethnic
32:37
Jews, but because you're spiritual descendants. You have the same faith as Abraham had faith.
32:43
And therefore you have the same promises that are assured to you and to me. And so from the earliest days, when
32:51
God had called Abraham to live in faith before him, there is hope held forth for the salvation of the
32:57
Gentile nations. Well, let's get forward several hundred years.
33:03
And there we read God constituted Israel as a nation at Mount Sinai after bringing them out of Egypt.
33:12
And God entered a covenant relationship with ethnic Jews, the physical descendants of Abraham, the people of Israel as his unique and special people, and thereby distinguish them from all the
33:25
Gentiles, all the nations of the world. And when God did so establish that covenant with Israel, he promised he would favor
33:33
Israel, his people, setting them apart and distinct from the Gentile nations.
33:40
Here's God's word to Israel. Moses went up to God on Mount Sinai. The Lord called him from the mountain saying,
33:47
Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, Tell the children of Israel, You have seen what
33:52
I did to the Egyptians, how I bore you on eagles' wings, brought you out to myself. In other words, by grace.
33:58
Now, therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, and here it is, then you shall be a special treasure to me above all people, the
34:08
Jewish people above all Gentile people. God would show his favor to them for all the earth is mine.
34:15
And you shall be to me a kingdom. This is to physical Israel, physical descendants of Abraham, Jewish people.
34:23
You shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. And these are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.
34:30
And so there at Sinai, God set Israel apart. I'll favor you. I'm not going to favor those
34:36
Gentiles. I'm going to favor you and you alone. And I will continue to do so as long as you keep my laws.
34:42
This is basically what God told Israel on that occasion. Forty years later, of course, it was repeated in Deuteronomy 7.
34:53
Moses declared to his people, For you are a holy people to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.
35:05
The Jewish people, Israel, was a favored nation. God purposed to bless that nation, not the
35:11
Gentiles, but that nation. God regarded Israel, the nation, as his son that he brought out of Egypt to give his inheritance of the promised land.
35:24
He purposed to exalt his son Israel, who was to honor his father, to whom
35:29
God would give the nations as an inheritance. God said to Pharaoh, Thus says the
35:35
Lord, Israel is my firstborn son. As a result of this special relationship with God, of God with Israel as a nation, through much of the
35:44
Old Testament history, the Gentiles of the world were excluded from the place of God's blessing.
35:50
God purposed to show his favor upon his people Israel, which he did not purpose to do for the
35:55
Gentile nations. They were excluded from the household of God.
36:03
But even through the history of the people of Israel as God's unique and chosen people, they were called to be a witness of the nature and ways of the true
36:12
God to the nations of the world. They were to be a kingdom of priests to declare the glory of God to the
36:18
Gentile nations. God declared to them, You shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
36:24
And so they were to make known the glory of God to the Gentile nations of the world. And this great purpose of God may be seen in Solomon's dedication of the
36:35
Jewish temple that took place hundreds of years later, around 1000 B .C. Solomon pronounced these words,
36:43
Moreover concerning a foreigner, that would be a Gentile, who is not of your people
36:48
Israel, but has come from a far country for the sake of your great name and your mighty hand, your outstretched arm, when they come and pray in this temple, the
36:57
Jewish temple, the court of the Gentiles. Then hear from heaven, it's a prayer to God, your dwelling place, and do according to all which the foreigner calls to you.
37:07
Why? Here's a purpose clause. So that all peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people
37:16
Israel, and that they may know that this temple which I have built is called by your name.
37:22
Again, a promise held forth for Gentiles. Of course, we read in Old Testament history,
37:30
Israel as God's son failed miserably in bringing the nations to the place in which they would glorify
37:37
God. Because of their sin, Israel's sin, the apostle Paul declared that they had actually led the
37:43
Gentiles to blaspheme God rather than glorify God. Paul wrote, For the name of God is blasphemed among the
37:50
Gentiles because of you. He was talking about the Jews. It was in God's purpose, therefore, to raise up his faithful son,
37:59
Jesus Christ, to replace his unfaithful son, Israel, and his faithful son,
38:05
Jesus Christ, would accomplish what Israel failed to do, to bring forth the glory of God to the
38:11
Gentile nations. Jesus Christ is the true
38:16
Israel. The nation of Israel was the unfaithful Israel. The nation of Israel was the unfaithful vine.
38:26
Jesus Christ is the true vine. And he would accomplish what the nation of Israel failed to do.
38:35
And again, what we have before us in John chapter 12 is a description and declaration of this great work of our
38:42
Savior, taking the glory of God to the Gentiles. Jesus Christ would bring forth glory to the
38:50
Gentiles and they would rejoice in his glory. Certain Greeks came, we want to see
38:57
Jesus. It's now time that I'm lifted up. I'm glorified. Because unless I die, life isn't going to spread forth as a vast harvest of grain.
39:09
And so his crucifixion, in his crucifixion he saw the kingdom greatly expanding throughout the world.
39:18
But it was later in the Old Testament record upon God's judgment of Israel for having broken its covenant with him, that God may know quite clearly of his promise to include
39:27
Gentiles into the coming kingdom, the messianic kingdom that God had promised.
39:34
And so in Isaiah's prophecy of the coming messianic kingdom, the prophet declared these words.
39:42
And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse. Jesse, of course, was from whom
39:52
David was descended and the Messiah was the son of David. And so here you have from David's family a root of Jesse, who shall stand as a banner to the people for the
40:02
Gentiles shall seek him. This is the king of Israel and Gentiles are seeking him.
40:09
And his resting place shall be glorious. And then later in Isaiah 42 we read of the prophecy of Jesus Christ, the servant of the
40:17
Lord. Behold my servant whom I uphold, my elect one in whom my soul delights.
40:25
I put my spirit upon him. And here's the promise. He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles. He's not just a savior of Jews, a
40:34
Jewish remnant, but of Gentiles. He'll not cry out nor raise in his voice nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.
40:40
A bruised greed he'll not break. Smoking flecks he'll not quench. Direct verse quoted in the
40:46
Gospels applied to Jesus. And he'll bring forth justice for truth. He'll not fail nor be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth, the world, and the coastlands around the
40:58
Mediterranean region. That's where Gentiles live. The coastlands will wait for his law. In other words, he will be their king and he will govern them and lead them.
41:09
And they willingly submit to him and obey him. And then further down in Isaiah 42, 6 and 7,
41:17
God the Father has declared this promise to his son. I the Lord have called you, this is prophetic of Jesus, I've called you
41:24
Jesus in righteousness and will hold your hand and I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people, as a light to the
41:33
Gentiles, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the prison, those who sit in darkness from the prison house.
41:41
And so God prophetically told his son, Jesus you will be a light to the
41:47
Gentiles. The kingdom of Jesus Christ, the messianic kingdom, the kingdom promised to Israel would encompass the world and Gentiles would come and submit to his authority.
42:01
One more passage we'll cite and this is Isaiah 52, 7 through 15, just before and going into the fourth servant song that is so well known in Isaiah 52 and 53.
42:14
Here it begins with this verse quoted by Paul, which he applies to preachers of the gospel in this
42:21
New Testament age. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, that's the gospel, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, your
42:34
God reigns. Your watchman shall lift up their voices, with their voices they shall sing together, for they shall see eye to eye, when the
42:43
Lord brings back Zion, break forth into joy, sing together, you waste places of Jerusalem, for the
42:50
Lord has comforted his people, he's redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord has made bare his holy arm.
42:57
And then verse 10 it reads, in the eyes of all the nations, there are the Gentiles, in all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our
43:05
God. And that's what we have in this church age, throughout the entire world.
43:11
We, Gentiles, most of us, there's a few Jewish people here, most of us have seen this because we are the realization and fulfillment of these prophecies of Isaiah.
43:22
And then the word comes, it's a challenge for exile to leave Babylon and return to Zion.
43:29
And of course the message is to come out of the world for us, we're called to depart out of Babylon, the book of Revelation, and flee to our heavenly
43:37
Zion. Depart, depart, go out from there, touch no unclean thing, go out from the midst of her, be clean.
43:44
Paul quotes those to the church at Corinth, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord, and I will be a father unto you.
43:53
You who bear the vessels of the Lord, for you shall not go out with haste, nor go out by flight, for the
43:59
Lord will go before you and the God of Israel will be your rear guard. It's going to be an easy thing coming out, he's going to see to it that he saves us from bondage.
44:09
Behold, my servant, that's Jesus, shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled very high, in other words, he's king, he's the
44:17
Lord, just as many were astonished at you, so his visage, his appearance, was marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of man, and then we have this promise in verse 15 of Isaiah 52, so shall he sprinkle many nations, those of the
44:35
Gentiles, flowing out of his crucifixion, kings shall shut their mouths at him, for what had not been told them they shall see, and what they had not heard they shall consider.
44:47
And so here we read of the servant of God, even Jesus Christ, who begins to reign over his kingdom.
44:52
It was through and due to his suffering unto death that he began to reign. He was exalted and extolled very high, and news of what he had done, and the fact that God had enthroned him as king would be proclaimed throughout the entire world.
45:07
In the eyes of all the nations, all the ends of the earth, Gentiles shall see the salvation of our God. This gospel, or good news, would be carried by God -called preachers.
45:17
Again, Paul quoted this passage in Romans 10, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings the gospel, the good news, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, your
45:32
God reigns. And that's our announcement today. Our God reigns through Jesus Christ.
45:38
The kingdom, the long -promised kingdom of the Old Testament, the Jewish messianic kingdom, is experiencing present reality.
45:49
Jesus Christ of lords and king of kings. We'll cite one more passage before returning to our text in John 12.
45:58
We read of God's promise to Gentiles that he would commission his servant, Jesus Christ, to bring them to salvation.
46:05
After redeeming a remnant of Jews unto himself, the father would give him an innumerable number of Gentiles who also would be incorporated into his kingdom.
46:15
And so here's Isaiah 49, 1 -6. Listen, O coastlands, again, the
46:21
Mediterranean region where the Gentiles live. Listen to me, O coastlands, take heed you peoples from afar,
46:28
Gentiles. The Lord has called me from the womb. This is Jesus speaking prophetically.
46:34
From the matrix of my mother he's made mention of my name. He's made my mouth like a sharp sword.
46:41
In the shadow of his hand he's hidden me. He made me a polished shaft. In his quiver he's hidden me.
46:47
And he said to me, You are my servant, O Israel. Here Jesus prophetically is called
46:53
Israel. He's the true son. He's the true Israel. The reason you and I are citizens of Israel now is because we are in union with Jesus Christ who is the true
47:03
Israel, the true vine, and we are the branches. You are my servant,
47:09
O Israel, in whom I will be glorified. And then I said, I have labored in vain.
47:16
Surely my just reward is with the Lord and my work with God. Describing perhaps his rejection upon his cross.
47:23
And it seemed like all was lost. It seemed like nothing had been accomplished. And that all had abandoned him.
47:29
And many even thought that God had abandoned him. But now, verse 5, and now the
47:34
Lord says, who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him. That's that remnant of Jews that he purposed to save.
47:43
So that Israel is gathered to him. For I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord and my God shall be my strength.
47:49
Indeed he says, now this is God the Father speaking prophetically to Jesus. It's too small a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob.
47:58
That's not enough. You know, considering what you've done and who you are to restore the preserved ones of Israel that is a remnant of Jews.
48:07
I'll also give you as a light to the Gentiles that you should be my salvation to the ends of the earth.
48:13
And that it took place, of course, upon the resurrection of our Lord Jesus and ascension into heaven is a throne in heaven.
48:20
Even though it appeared the Lord Jesus had not accomplished anything by his dying upon his cross. Nevertheless, we see what
48:27
God wrought through his sacrifice. The kingdom over which he reigns expands throughout the whole world, even the ends of the earth.
48:34
Again, we could multiply. I just picked up a few. We can multiply many passages throughout the
48:40
Old Testament that speak of Gentile citizens of the Messianic kingdom.
48:46
But I think what we've quoted makes sufficient our point that God through Israel's history intended to bring the
48:53
Gentile nations to become subject to the kingdom of the Messiah, the son of David. Now let's return to our text in John chapter 12, verse 20 and 21.
49:04
We read that when these Greeks wished to see Jesus, they apparently did so with some trepidation.
49:10
They would see Jesus, but they would approach him through Philip rather than directly. They were hesitant, timid, perhaps a little fearful.
49:20
They were Gentiles after all. They had no basis of hope. They were not part of the commonwealth of Israel.
49:26
They were excluded, and this was the Jewish Messiah. And so as Gentiles they were excluded from the covenant people of God.
49:36
Again, there was this great thinking in the minds of both the Jews and the Greeks. There was great hostility between them.
49:45
Paul later wrote of Gentile Christians, you remember before you became Christian, you were Gentiles in the flesh called uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision made by hands.
49:56
And so when these Greeks wished to see Jesus, they were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
50:08
But here they are, certain Greeks who came to Philip saying, sir, we wish to see
50:13
Jesus. This is profound. Why did they come to Philip?
50:21
These Greeks may have been up from Decapolis, which is on the northeastern side of the Sea of Galilee.
50:27
It was like Gentile lands. Philip is from Bethsaida, which is a town right next to Decapolis.
50:37
And so maybe they thought we can't come to Jesus, but hey, here's a Greek speaking guy. He's from our region. He's one of his disciples.
50:43
Let's ask him if he'll introduce us to Jesus. And then Philip himself apparently was a little timid about going to Jesus on behalf of these
50:52
Greeks. So he got his brother Andrew and the two of them came to Jesus. There are certain Greeks that want to see you.
51:03
By the way, all of the gospel writers intimated, hinted, suggested, declared that Gentiles were going to be coming into the kingdom of Jesus Christ.
51:12
Jesus Christ, you recall, went up to Tyre and Sidon, Gentile lands, and he showed mercy to a
51:19
Syrophoenician woman whose daughter, if I remember right, was demon possessed. And she came and requested help.
51:27
You remember what he said? I've come only to the lost sheep of the tribes of Israel. It's not fitting that I give bread to the children, to you, to dogs.
51:38
And she responded very humbly, but with faith, yes, but the little dogs are willing to take even the crumbs that fall from the table.
51:47
And then, of course, Jesus greatly commended this Gentile woman's faith as being great.
51:54
That portended Gentiles coming to Christ in faith. And then we have the
51:59
Centurion recorded in several of the gospel writers, a Roman, a Gentile, who came to Jesus because one of his servants was sick unto death.
52:11
And the first request, come to my house. But then he told Jesus, no, don't come. I'm not worthy to have you come into my house.
52:18
Say the word and my servant will be healed. And Jesus' response was,
52:24
I haven't seen such great faith in all of Israel. And then he made this declaration, behold, there will be many from the east and the west and the north and the south,
52:33
Gentile lands, who will come and sit down in the kingdom of God. But the children of the kingdom, the
52:39
Jews, will be cast out. He was declaring that Gentiles would be coming into his kingdom.
52:47
And again, here in John chapter 12, we have this long promise of God throughout the history of redemption becoming realized.
52:58
They wanted to see Jesus. Well, what happened when Jesus heard these Gentiles wanted to see him?
53:05
Well, on page 10, and we have to wrap things up here shortly, we see this immediately resulted in Jesus speaking of the necessity of his cross in order to inaugurate and advance his kingdom.
53:17
First, he declared his death would result in the great expansion of the kingdom, verses 23 and 24.
53:24
Jesus answered them. Peter and Andrew, some Greeks want to see you. Jesus answered them.
53:31
The hours come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly,
53:36
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.
53:43
And so the first word Jesus declared in response to these Greeks who wish to see him were these, the hour has come.
53:52
The gospel writer declared a number of occasions, his hour has not come. I cite three or four in that paragraph.
53:58
I'm not going to read them. But now the first thing he says, the hour has come. And this is a very significant term in John's gospel.
54:09
And I have a paragraph there by Edward Klink, a good commentator. Jesus declares the arrival of his hour.
54:16
The hour has come. The term the hour is a technical one in the gospel. And until this verse has always been described as in the future, you know, my hour is not yet come.
54:27
Although intimately connected to the death of Jesus, the hour is also connected to Jesus in a much broader sense, not only at the point of the cross, but also if it's going to the father in his glorification.
54:38
This explains why, according to Jesus, the arrival of the hour is for the son of man to be glorified.
54:44
The purpose of the hour denoted by the purpose clause, ena, that's the Greek conjunction, followed by a verb in a subjunctive mood.
54:52
That's what that parenthesis means, signifies a purpose clause, is the glorification of the son.
54:59
This is a strange paradox. The hour of glorification of Jesus is also simultaneously the hour of his death.
55:07
This is the lifting up or exaltation of the king. And so Jesus declared that the time had arrived that the son of man should be glorified.
55:18
What's meant by this? It speaks of God, the father, enthroning him as the promised king of Israel, the son of David.
55:26
He would be declared to be lord of lords and king of kings, being exalted and established as the ruler over all the earth.
55:34
And he would bring expansion to the citizenry of this kingdom as comprised of both Jews and Gentiles who come to hear him and believe on him.
55:43
It's a worldwide kingdom. I want to call to your attention one more passage in the book of Psalms that speaks to this so wonderfully and clearly.
55:56
It's Psalm 2. It speaks of the Davidic king being enthroned by God.
56:03
Even though the nations at that time who were subservient to Israel in 1 ,960
56:11
BC wanted to cast off authority and gain freedom from Israel, God said you're foolish to think that somehow you're going to prevent me from establishing the son of David on his throne.
56:27
And the writers of the New Testament pick up Psalm 2 and apply it to the
56:33
Romans and the Jewish Pharisees and Sanhedrin who conspired to keep
56:39
Jesus from reigning. But they couldn't do it in spite of the fact they crucified him. Yet I've set my king on my holy hill of Zion.
56:48
It's a wonderful prophecy of the death, burial, resurrection, and enthronement of King Jesus over the kingdom.
56:56
And so here is Psalm 2. I trust that most of you are familiar with it. Why do the nations rage and the people plot a vain thing?
57:07
This is prophetic of the Jewish leaders and the Romans attempting to keep Jesus from being king of Israel.
57:14
They're plotting a vain thing. The kings of the earth set themselves, the rulers take counsel together.
57:20
That's quoted by Peter, applied to the Jewish leaders, the Roman leaders, against the Lord, that would be against the father, and against his anointed, that would be
57:28
Jesus, saying let us break their bonds and pieces, cast away their cords from us. We want to be free of God's rule over us.
57:36
He who sits in the heavens shall laugh. The Lord shall hold them in derision. In other words, all their efforts to prevent his reign is futile.
57:46
And God laughs at them and mocks them. And then God shall speak to them in his wrath and distress them in his deep displeasure.
57:53
Yet I've set my king on my holy hill of Zion. And that's his enthronement in that heavenly
57:59
Zion, in heaven itself, Jesus Christ is king. I will declare the decree, this is
58:05
Jesus prophetically speaking, I will declare the decree, the Lord has said to me, you are my son, today
58:12
I begotten you. That's prophetic of the resurrection, according to Peter on the day of Pentecost.
58:18
Ask of me and I will give you, and here it is in verse 8 of Psalm 2, ask of me and I will give you the nations, the
58:24
Gentiles for your inheritance, the ends of the earth for your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron, you shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel.
58:33
And now a word to these Gentiles then. Therefore be wise, O kings, be instructed, you judges of the earth, serve the
58:41
Lord with fear. Rejoice with trembling, kiss the sun, come up and kiss this king now, and do homage and submit to him, because blessed are you if you put your faith in him.
58:53
However, if you fail or refuse, kiss the sun lest he be angry and you perish in the way when his wrath is kindled but a little.
59:02
The whole point is that God prophesied through Psalm 2 and it came into realization through our
59:08
Lord's death, burial, resurrection on the cross and his resurrection from the dead, enthronement in heaven, he was enthroned as king over the promised kingdom of God and a
59:18
Jewish remnant were saved. Paul said I'm one of them, God hasn't cast off his people whom he foreknew.
59:23
I believe in Jesus, I'm not a Jew, but also an innumerable number of Gentiles throughout the entire
59:29
Gentile world has come into this kingdom of God and so it has been realized in this church age.
59:39
One last final word and I know we've been talking about a lot of objective stuff but let's kind of bring it home here in that returning to John 12 we see our
59:49
Lord applying his death to his disciples and here we have a direct implication and application for us.
59:58
Verse 24 Jesus said 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, much fruit but then he declares in verses 25 and 26 he who loves his life will lose it, he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
01:00:21
If anyone serves me let him follow me where I am there my servant will be also if anyone serves me him my father will honor.
01:00:31
What Jesus was saying is just as he is faithful to his father obeying him even as it led and resulted in his death on the cross so every true disciple that is every true
01:00:42
Christian must follow him in the same path. J .C. Ryle put it this way we learn for one thing from our
01:00:49
Lord's words in this passage that death is the way to spiritual life and glory. Jesus denied himself and willingly obeyed
01:00:58
God going to the cross and you and I must deny ourselves and follow him taking up our cross daily similarly and the promise is eternal life.
01:01:09
The Christian is to hate his life a word of hyperbole in order to emphasize how much we should desire and order our life with you to eternal life.
01:01:18
We are to deny ourselves of doing our own will and by his grace purpose to do his will.
01:01:24
If we fail to do so which happens all too frequently we then repent of our sin and we get back right on track following him but then we'll tend to do so a little more humbly and a little more trusting.
01:01:37
I'll conclude with the words of J .C. Ryle. He that hated this life shall keep it. He that would be saved must be ready to give up life itself if necessary in order to obtain salvation.
01:01:49
He must bury his love for the world with its riches honors pleasures and rewards and with a full belief that in doing so he'll reap a better harvest both here and hereafter.
01:01:59
He who loves the life that is so much that he cannot deny himself anything for the sake of his soul will find at length that he's lost everything.
01:02:08
On the contrary he who is ready to cast away everything most dear to him in this life if it stands in the way of his soul and to crucify the flesh with its affections and lust will find at length that he is no loser.
01:02:22
In a word he loses what he loses will prove nothing in comparison to what he gains.
01:02:29
Again what we've declared today is not the common understanding of the nature of the kingdom of God.
01:02:36
Most passages that we cited from the Old Testament is applied to a future thousand -year Jewish millennium.
01:02:43
It's commonly taught that no Old Testament passage foretells this church age.
01:02:49
We would say as Peter did that all the prophets as many have spoken from Samuel and thereafter spoke of these days.
01:02:59
The Old Testament is a Christian book it portrays and foretells of Jesus Christ and his kingdom which you and I as believers are currently blessed citizens.
01:03:12
Amen. Let's pray. Thank you father for your word and thank you
01:03:17
Lord for these Greeks that wish to see Jesus and we thank you our
01:03:23
God for the blessed assurance we have that we have access to you through the death of your son who immediately saw his need to be glorified through the cross and then enthroned in heaven so that he would have the power and authority to take that gospel even to the
01:03:43
Gentile world. And we thank you our God for his success for through the gospel and the power of the
01:03:49
Holy Spirit Lord we too who believe on him are numbered among these kingdom citizens.
01:03:56
Help us our God to be faithful in proclaiming the kingdom of Jesus Christ to the world in which we live that there is another to whom they are responsible and accountable and that living in defiance of him and unbelief will not end well for them and help us our
01:04:13
God to be faithful in following Jesus and again ordain our life in the light of eternity as we follow our
01:04:20
Savior Jesus in the path that he went before us. We do pray in Jesus name. Amen.