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The Gospel of John, The Period of Crisis, The Visit of the Greeks, Part IX, John 12:26-28 - Lesson 106
Read Verses John 12:23-25, for review: And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.
John 12:26, If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.
This is such simple language and yet so misapplied.
Jesus says that proper serving requires following the one you are serving.
He continues in this vein by saying the servant who follows the Master will always be in the same place as the Master.
This is automatic.
Keep your eye on the one you are following and you will stay with him.
You will be in the same place as he is if you continually follow him and not lose sight of him..
But if you are lax and you take your eyes off the one you are attempting to follow then you will not be in the same place as the one you are following.
It is simple, if you want to be where Jesus Christ is you must follow him.
You cannot go a way that you choose because that will not be the way that Jesus is going.
You cannot go down a side trail of your own choosing and expect to be in the same place where Jesus Christ is.
You must lose your life, your hopes, your dreams, to the single minded effort of following him.
Did he not say: Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
If you want to bring forth much fruit your hopes, your plans, your dreams must go by the wayside.
And if this is done, if any man serve him (these are those who follow him), he says his Father will honor him.
This does not talk about being saved.
It talks about service.
God does the saving, we do the serving.
Serving on our part is a matter of the will.
And Jesus promises that God the Father will honor those who will to serve Jesus Christ.
They will be honored at the judgment seat of Christ.
Their works on behalf of Jesus Christ will be tested by fire and their works will survive the purifying fire as gold, silver and precious stones.
Are we not created in Christ Jesus unto good works?
These works can only be done by those who follow Jesus Christ.
Good works are defined by the word of God and are not defined from the imaginations of our heart.
Man does not define what is good.
Only God does and all good works are done by those who follow Jesus Christ.
Works done by those who do not follow Jesus Christ are not defined as good works no matter how wonderful they may look to the eye and to the mind of man.
There are wonderful looking works found in the heart of man.
Just thinking about them can bring tears to your eyes.
The man or woman who discovers their own heart, finds tremendous works there.
They look so good to the world they must be good works in the mind of God, any sensible man would say.
But here we are told very plainly by Jesus Christ himself that the Father honors those who serve Jesus Christ and those who serve him are followers of him.
He only allows sevice to him by those who follow him.
And only good works done by following Jesus Christ will survive the purifying fire at the judgment seat of Christ.
This is the case no matter how good your works look to the world.
This is the case no matter how unselfishly they are given, no matter how pure your motive seems to be.
Works done outside of following Christ are but wood, hay and stubble to be consumed by the fires of God's judgment.
And Christians are full of good works discovered from the heart and not ordered from the word of Christ.
Only those who follow him know his orders.
What kind of a servant does his own thing and expects to be honored for it no matter how good those things are?
John 12:27,28, Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.
The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.
Jesus Christ knows that this is the hour that his time on earth was directed toward.
Without this hour we would have no hope.
It is wonderful to examine the life of Christ.
It is thrilling to read of the miracles and the healings that Jesus did.
How helpful it is to see wisdom displayed by Christ on every page of the Gospels.
But without this hour we would be dammed to an eternal hell.
He knows the agony of the cross that he faces this hour.
He knew that he would be smitten, he would be spit upon, mocked, he would be scourged, he knew that his hands and his feet would be pierced, he knew that his disciples would deny him, he knew that he would be afflicted, bruised for our iniquities,
His soul was troubled as he approaches the hour when we would bear the sin of the world and pay the wages of that sin.
His holy sinless soul was troubled and in his humanity he says: Father, save me from this hour:
But in perfect obedience he answers by saying: but for this cause came I unto this hour.
And as a Son who perfectly does the will of the Father he prays that the Father's name would be glorified.
The Father's name is always glorified as the Father keeps his word.
And his word would be kept by Jesus doing his will.
For thousands of years the Father had promised a Deliverer.
Since the Garden the Father had said that the serpent's head would be bruised.
God's people always expected a Savior to come and deliver them from the ravages of sin.
The hour for that promise to be kept was at hand.
The Father will be glorified because Jesus Christ will do the will of the Father.
You also glorify the Father by doing his will. |