Transcribed by Beluga AI.
So if you can turn your bibles to John 12.
We had a great men’s breakfast yesterday with First Southern Baptist Church of Culver City, about 14 of us. We met and we talked about being still before the Lord. And stillness is difficult in a noisy world with a lot of distraction.
We talk practically about how we can deal with technology because technology is invading every, every facet of our life. And so it’s hard to be still before the Lord. It’s hard to even be quiet in a day.
And of course, if you can’t have times of quiet, it’s going to be hard to hear the soft whisper of our shepherd who is constantly speaking. So that was a great encouragement to, and reminder for me and for all of us to be still before the Lord.
John 12:23. And Jesus answered them, the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit.
Whoever loves his life loses it. And whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
For if anyone serves me, he must follow me. And where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
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.
23 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. 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. (John 12:23-27, ESV)
And jumping down to verse 32. And I, when I’m lifted up from the earth,
3 And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. (John 16:3, ESV)
will draw all people to myself.
32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” (John 12:32, ESV)
Okay, let’s pray again.
2 To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: (1 Corinthians 1:2, ESV)
We want to, in this time, Father, lift up the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, because you command and you instruct the truth. That when Jesus is lifted up, all people from all corners of this world, whether they believe in you or not, that when you are lifted up and when people begin to see you for who you are, the crucified and the risen Son of God, that you will draw all people to yourself.
We have one church, and Jesus, you are the senior pastor. You are the chief shepherd.
And when you are lifted up, it doesn’t matter our church background, our denomination. There is only one church. We’re united under Christ. Thank you, Lord.
We pray that you would speak and as sheep we would have ears to hear. And sheep, we can hear the Shepherd’s voice today. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.
I want to start with the conclusion, the main point for today. Jesus is looking for sincere followers.
35 Jesus wept. (John 11:35, ESV)
Jesus is looking for sincere followers who want to be where he is. Jesus wants sincere, sincere followers who want to be where he is.
The theme of sincerity, like, why are you a Christian? Why are you here attending a church? Maybe you’re not a Christian yet. Why are you here attending a church? Why do you do anything in life? The why behind your life is very important.
Best friends, spouses, they just want to be with their best friend spouses. If you, if you are in a good marriage, they want to be with their spouse.
If it’s a bad marriage, if it’s not a close friendship, you don’t mind. If long stretches in the day or in the week or in the year go by and you don’t really connect, that means you’re not really that close.
If you look forward to going to work because you can leave your family at home and it’s actually enjoyable to leave, then there’s something not quite right in that home.
If you have an acquaintance, and you probably know some people in your life, they are friendly to you, but it’s because they want something from you. Maybe in school, they know that you’re smart, and so they just want your notes; they just want a good study partner.
Even in churches, people just want their children to grow up in a Christian religious environment, and so they just bring families to church. People just want good and safe people, good friends, and community. There’s all these kinds of reasons why people come. And Jesus can see through it all.
Jesus can see through it all. He sees whether you’re sincere and you really desire him, or actually you’re insincere. you’re not really interested in him, but you’re interested in the benefits that come from him. So he is a means to some other end.
Like, I just need Jesus because I just want my life to be smooth. I want Jesus because I just want a good family. I want Jesus because he gives me friends. I want Jesus because I want a ticket to heaven. you’re not even interested in the fact that Jesus is there in heaven.
You will spend all of eternity worshiping Him. That’s not the point.
35 Jesus wept. (John 11:35, ESV)
you’re trying to avoid hell. That’s why you’re coming to church. Jesus sees through it all. He’s looking for sincerity. Jesus is looking for sincerity.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus starts by saying this verse in Matthew 5:8. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Pure in heart has two definitions. One is, you are free from corruption, from corrupt desire, from sin, from guilt, and therefore there’s purity in the heart. The other definition is there’s no mixture.
It’s not just true and false. There’s no mixture. There’s sincerity; there’s no hypocrisy. You really desire Christ for himself and not for the benefits.
Hebrews 4:12 says, for the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12, ESV)
So Jesus, who is the word, you can substitute the Name of Jesus for that twelfth verse in Hebrews 4, for the Word of God.
For Jesus is living and active,
12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12, ESV)
and he divides soul and spirit, joints and marrow, thoughts and intentions.
And so there is the soul, your mind, your, well, emotions. But the deeper part of you is your spirit. The same with a joint. The joint, the bones that move, it’s the external thing; the marrow is the center of that bone.
Then you have the thoughts, the surface level thoughts, and then you have the intentions, the thoughts beneath the thoughts,
12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12, ESV)
the deeper thoughts, like what you actually think and desire.
Jesus, who is the Word of God, who’s living and active, sees us through to the core, and he’s looking for sincerity.
In Matthew 9, Jesus heals a paralytic. He sees the friends, he saw their faith. In Matthew 9:2, he says, Take heart my sons, your sins are forgiven. It says in verse three, And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, this man is blaspheming. But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, why do you think evil in your hearts?
Jesus knows the thoughts.
2 And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” 3 And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” 4 But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? (Matthew 9:2-4, ESV)
He knows these religious people are not interested in him. They’re not interested in the fact that a man who was paralyzed is now walking. They’re just jealous about Jesus. They just want Jesus to be silenced, and they don’t want people to follow him because then the synagogues will be emptied out.
These people are insincere in their religion, and Jesus sees right through them. He knows their thoughts; he exposes them. The intentions are deeper than the thoughts, the deeper thoughts, the thoughts underneath the thoughts. It’s what you really are looking for.
Jesus sees even to that level. And we might not even know, like, what is driving me in life. Like, we have our thoughts, and we think that’s all that there is. And we might not know what is the intention underneath these thoughts. What is my true motive? Is it just I’m looking to avoid hell, that’s why I’m here? And I’m not really interested in Jesus who is in heaven, and I’m going to spend all of eternity worshiping Him. Like, what is the thought underneath the thought, the intention of the heart?
When it speaks of intention, there’s only one other place that word occurs. It’s in 1 Peter 4:1.
Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same thought, same way of thinking or mind or intention. For whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh. No longer for human passions, but for the will of God.
1 Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. (1 Peter 4:1-2, ESV)
And we might be thinking in our surface level thoughts. I do believe in Jesus. I do want to do the will of God.
But there is a deeper thing you need to understand through a suffering season. When your flesh suffers and you commit yourself, you say, from now on, now I’m fully devoted. Now I’m fully. And I’m fully devoted to doing the will of God.
Before, I was just playing church, before I was just mouthing the words. But now that I’ve gone through this season of suffering, now in my intention, the thought underneath the thought, now I really want to do the will of God. For Jesus is living and active. He knows your thoughts.
He knows my thoughts. This theme of Jesus knowing sincere from insincere, it’s all throughout the Gospel of John.
I just want to pick a few of them for you in John, chapter two, since we’ve been studying this gospel. John 2:23: Now, when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man.
31 Yet many of the people believed in him. They said, “When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?” (John 7:31, ESV)
For He Himself knew what was in man.
23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. 24 But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people 25 and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man. (John 2:23-25, ESV)
And Jesus is saying,
35 Jesus wept. (John 11:35, ESV)
all these people who believe in me, they’re saying they trust in me.
40 When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This really is the Prophet.” (John 7:40, ESV)
Jesus sees through it all and says, I don’t trust them.
35 Jesus wept. (John 11:35, ESV)
I’m not going to entrust myself to them. It’s the same word these people say, I believe, I trust Jesus. Jesus says, I don’t believe in you. I don’t trust you because you’re not sincere. Because he sees through the heart, straight to the heart.
Same thing in John 6:13.
So they gather them up and fill 12 baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, this is indeed the prophet who has come into the world.
35 Jesus wept. (John 11:35, ESV)
Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force and to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.
13 So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. 14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” 15 Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself. (John 6:13-15, ESV)
So after performing the miracle of multiplying the five loaves and the two fish, it’s like this crowd is so excited about Jesus. And they’re saying, we.
Like there’s something about this man. Like, we want him to be our king. But they’re just taking Jesus as a means to their end. And they’re saying, we will by force make him the kind of king we want him to be. And we’ll be powerful under him, and he’ll be multiplying food. We’ll never grow hungry.
All the benefits that this kind of a person,
35 Jesus wept. (John 11:35, ESV)
if we can take hold of him and lift him up as our version of a king. Jesus perceives that and says, they’re not really interested in me. They’re not sincere.
And so he hides himself. He withdraws. The same chapter, Jesus speaks to his disciples and a larger group of disciples, and he speaks to them about the Lord’s Supper, about his body that’s about to be broken, and you need to eat of it. And his blood that is going to be shed, and you need to drink of it. And it sounds like cannibalism.
And if you put yourself in the shoes of the disciples, of course you would not understand what Jesus is saying, because this is before he died, before his body was pierced, before he was bruised at Calvary, before he rose again from the dead, after all of his blood was shed for the sins of the world.
And so if you’re hearing this before the event took place, of course you would not understand. So all these people are offended, and many disciples walked away.
And then Jesus says in John 6:60, many of his disciples heard it. They said, this is a hard saying. Who can listen to it?
But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, do you take offense at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?
It is the Spirit who gives life. The flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.
60 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” 61 But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? 62 Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) (John 6:60-64, ESV)
But there are some of you who do not believe.
35 Jesus wept. (John 11:35, ESV)
For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe and who it was who would betray him.
So among the 12, Jesus knew all along, there was one pretender. There was one person who acted sincere, Judas Iscariot, who is an insincere follower. And how do we know that Judas is insincere? We see it clearly in John 13: his reaction. This is after Lazarus was raised from the dead.
5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. (John 13:5, ESV)
And Martha and Mary, they’re throwing Jesus a party in appreciation and gratitude for this miracle that was just performed.
And it says in John 13:5, then he poured water into a basin and began.
35 Jesus wept. (John 11:35, ESV)
Actually, that’s in John 11. That is Mary, in appreciation for what Jesus had done, pours a pint of pure nard on Jesus’ feet and washes it with her hair. Such an extravagant act of worship.
She’s pouring it out, and she’s discerning in that time. I need to do this today, like I’m so grateful, but it has to be in this way and extravagant in this time. I have to do it now. She discerned the moment.
And Jesus says, Mary didn’t even know why she’s doing it, but she’s doing it in preparation for my burial. She discerned right, what she’s doing is right. And now we hear in that account that Judas speaks up and says, why this waste? As if he cared about the poor.
6 He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. (John 12:6, ESV)
He says, shouldn’t this money have been spent better? Shouldn’t we have been wiser? Why couldn’t we sell this nard? If you really wanted to give it, why don’t you give it to me? I’m the treasurer after all. Let me disperse it to the poor.
And actually, we know that Judas did not care for the poor. We read about that in John 13:5. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with a towel that was wrapped around him.
48 Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” (John 1:48, ESV)
He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, lord, do you wash my feet?
5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” (John 13:5-6, ESV)
Jesus answered him, what I am doing, you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.
Peter said to him, you shall never wash my feet.
Jesus answered him, if I do not wash you, you have no share with me.
Simon Peter said to him, lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.
Jesus said to him, the one who has bathed does not need to wash except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you. For he knew who was to betray him. That was why he said, not all of you are clean.
7 Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” 8 Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” 9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” 10 Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.” 11 For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.” (John 13:7-11, ESV)
And if you think about the 12, they all had sins. We’re all sinners. But there’s something distinguished with the sins of believers from the sin and the insincerity of a pretender. And among the 12, Jesus only focuses on Judas and says he is unclean.
They all had sin. Don’t get me wrong. We know that Peter is about to sin in virtually the same way that Judas sinned. But there’s something sincere about Peter. There’s something very insincere about Judas. Like, why is he following Jesus? Like, what is he really after? Is, is he after Christ? Is he after being a follower? Does he actually believe in Christ? Does he trust in Christ? Does he love Christ? Does he want to be where Christ is?
There’s something very insincere about Judas. John 3:18.
Whoever believes in me is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. (John 3:18, ESV)
So why was Judas condemned? It’s because Judas did not actually believe. He was a pretender. He was there in body only, maybe even surface level. What he said, his thoughts. Yes, I’m a believer. I’m a believer. But the thoughts underneath the thoughts, the intentions, Jesus could see it. Oh, you’re insincere. I’m going to still love you to the end, but I know your heart.
And because you don’t believe, you are condemned. All the other sinners among the 12, the other 11, they also sinned, but they believed, therefore they are not condemned. It really does come down to, do you believe? Do you believe? Do you trust in Jesus? Do you know who he is?
39 But you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the Passover. So do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” (John 18:39, ESV)
Do you want to be where he is?
6 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” (John 5:6, ESV)
Do you want to follow him closely?
30 I and the Father are one.” (John 10:30, ESV)
Do you want to give your all to Jesus? Do you want to surrender your life to Jesus?
35 Jesus wept. (John 11:35, ESV)
Just be close to him, not for any other reason. Just to follow closely.
Now I’m going to unpack a little bit more about why Judas was insincere.
In John 10:12, it says he was a hired hand and not a shepherd who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
I am the good shepherd.
I know my own and my own know me, just as a Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep.
12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. (John 10:12-15, ESV)
It speaks of the hired hand. And if you really dig into, like, what is he actually saying? It’s talking about people who are only in ministry for the money. Did you know there’s many people like that? They just want money. They just want money. You think, well, shouldn’t there be a higher calling? Isn’t there something bigger and like something else that drives them? No.
A hired hand means you’re only there because it’s your job and there’s a paycheck to be taken. And that is Judas’ heart. Let me explain.
In John 12:1, six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair.
The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, he who was about to betray him, said, why was this ointment not sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor?
He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief and having charge of the money bag.
30 I and the Father are one.” (John 10:30, ESV)
He used to help himself to what was put into it.
35 Jesus wept. (John 11:35, ESV)
1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. 3 Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, 5 “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” 6 He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. (John 12:1-6, ESV)
From beginning to end, Judas was insincere. He just wanted the money. He just wanted the money.
A treasurer is a very protected position in any ministry, in any church. You put your most trusted person in the church as a treasurer because they control the money. The pastor should not control the money because that is a conflict of interest. If you’re telling people to give tithe to a church and then you control the money, that is not where a pastor should be nowhere near the money. So, you put your most trusted person as a treasurer of the ministry of the church.
And Jesus knew Judas from the beginning. But he put Judas in that position so that everybody, not just Jesus, would know he knows the hearts of everybody. He wanted everybody who would read about Judas’ story to know that here is the proof that he is insincere. While being a treasurer from beginning to end, he was only interested in the money. He thought, if I keep following this man, I’m going to be rich.
Because if he can multiply bread and fish, if he can heal the sick and we can empty out the hospitals, think of how much money, how powerful we’ll be by following this man.
There’s so many people using Jesus as a means to their end. I just want to be fulfilled in my life. I just want to pursue my dreams. And it has nothing to do with God. It’s just your dreams, it’s just your life. And you just say, I want Jesus to baptize it. I just want Jesus to bless it.
I just want Jesus to make me happy in life. And it’s my goals, it’s my desires. And Jesus sees through it all. you’re just being. you’re just using me.
Like, if you have a friend and they just want you and they’re so nice to you, but at the end of every conversation, they say, yeah, I’m really struggling, could I use some money? And it’s like the 10th time they did this, and the last 10 meetings, it always ended up being this way.
And you thought they actually cared about you, but you’re just a bank account. How would you feel if every time they talk to you, they just… They’re not actually interested in you; they just want information from you. They just want to gossip.
They don’t really care about you. They care about your child, and they want your child to be friends with my child. They’re not actually caring about you. They just want my children to have friends. And so that’s why they’re spending time with you. It’s not actually about you; it’s about the children having friends.
You just feel like you’re just using me. And so even as a human, we can tell a true friend from a user.
And Jesus, who sees the heart because he is the Word of God,
35 Jesus wept. (John 11:35, ESV)
living and active, he sees the thoughts. He sees the thoughts underneath the thoughts, the intentions of the heart. How offensive it is for Jesus when he sees people in the church who are really not interested in him and just using him as a platform to be famous. I just want people to respect me.
I want people to say, I am a man of God, a woman of God. Look at all the ministry I’ve done. Look at how impressive I am. Look at. Look at all the books I’ve written. Look at all the conferences I speak at.
And really, are they doing it for Jesus? Do they love Jesus? Or is it just a platform to parade and be proud and to put other people down?
64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) (John 6:64, ESV)
It’s so grotesque when you just say it like that. But Jesus, he can see it from the beginning. Are you sincere?
Like, why are you here? Why are you following me? He sees it.
So now we go get back to our main text and we’ll end with this. And Jesus answered them, the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit.
Whoever loves his life, loses it. And whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me.
And where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, my Father, the Father will honor him.
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.
23 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. 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. (John 12:23-27, ESV)
In verse 32, and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.
32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” (John 12:32, ESV)
Here we see the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Out of love for the world, Jesus voluntarily laid down his life to shed his blood, to cover over and to cleanse all of our sins.
He did this in obedience to God the Father. And the Father said, there is no other way. The time is now. It is. The hour has come where you’ll be lifted up on a cross.
Jesus struggled at Gethsemane, like, is there another way, Father? Can this cup pass from me? And Jesus, he was willing to allow like a kernel of wheat to fall to the ground. And he knew in that act of obedience to the Father, he voluntarily did this out of love for us. And he knew he would bear much fruit.
And all of us who are here in this room, we are the fruit that is being born out of Jesus’ full surrender to the will of the Father.
And now Jesus is asking us as sincere followers, will you fully surrender your life for me? Jesus fully surrendered his life to the point of death. Now he’s asking us, will we surrender our lives to him?
And you actually have to hate your life in this world. Meaning you grew up with certain plans, certain goals, certain bucket list. Like, I really need this. I really want this.
Jesus says, well, I might have a different plan for you. Are you willing to hate your life in this world and lose it for me? If you hold on to it, you will lose eternity.
If you hold on to your life and you ask Jesus, bless me, bless my life. It has to happen my way. You hold on, you grip your life, you’re going to lose it for eternity.
Jesus says, the other way to do life is you hate your life in this world. You give it to me. You fully surrender to me.
And it’s not just to be a missionary or a pastor. The heart of a true follower of Jesus is somebody who says, Jesus, where are you going? I want to be with you.
35 Jesus wept. (John 11:35, ESV)
It’s not about what Jesus does through you. It’s following close to Jesus.
4 And you know the way to where I am going.” (John 14:4, ESV)
And you’re really interested in Jesus. He really is a friend.
41 And many came to him. And they said, “John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.” (John 10:41, ESV)
And you know if you’re developing the right kind of a friendship, because when you pray, you’re not just repeating all of your prayer requests and everything that you need out of greed. Like, I need this. I need this.
I need this. And then after five minutes of just rattling off all of your needs, your prayer is done. In Jesus’ Name, bless me. Thank you. I pray that you give them all these requests to me.
Like, how would you feel if you’re meeting with somebody and they just monologue for an hour, and your friend says, oh, that was a good conversation? You didn’t say one word. And they say, okay, I’ll see you next week. How would you feel? Wouldn’t you feel like, is this a real relationship?
This person just kept talking and talking and sharing about what they want and what’s not going well. And can you pray for me? Can you pray for me? And they’re just going on and on and on.
And it’s just one way, like you would feel like this is not. This is not a friendship. A friendship is like you say something, and then you give, and then you ask a question for the other person, and then you wait to hear them speak, and it’s back and forth.
And so for me, when I pray, I do have some lists that I do go through, but a lot of the time I’m just in his presence. A lot of time I’m just worshiping. A lot of times I just give thanks. A lot of times I’m just silent and I’m saying, the servant is here, Lord, please speak.
And you’re just enjoying that time of silence. you’re just enjoying his presence. It’s not just rattling off your list and feeling good that you got through a list and it’s just monologuing one way. No, you.
You do it, and then you wait and you listen because you’re interested in the person you’re speaking with. That’s why Father says, seek me with all your heart. He doesn’t make it easy. He says, you have to invest effort in this. It’s not going to come easy all the time. I wanted to see and test you. Do you really care about me? Do you really seek my face? Or are you just seeking a handout? Do you really seek my face? Seek with all of your heart.
Are you really interested in me, Jesus saying, come, rest and learn from me. Just be close to me. Just abide, just listen, just enjoy that fellowship.
You know, I’m a man of few words, so it would be weird if I’m. I don’t say a lot to my friends. I don’t say a lot to Jackie, I don’t say a lot to my boys. I’m relatively a man of few words, which. Which is weird, why I’m a pastor. Like, this is really not what I should be doing.
It would be weird if suddenly in prayer, I became so talkative and I just started talking and talking and talking. I’m just talking straight for an hour of I need this. I need this. I need this. No, it’s actually in the Lord’s presence. I don’t say a whole lot. I’m just enjoying that presence. I’m just resting because that’s who I am.
I’m bringing who I am to the Lord. I’m not putting on a face of I need to be a certain way in prayer. No, I’m coming as myself. And there’s a lot of listening.
I tend to be more on the listening than a talking side in prayer. The same thing. All of us, we just have to be better listeners because the Father has things he wants to say.
Jesus is speaking in a low whisper. But do we do? Are we? Do we pause? Are we silent long enough to hear that low whisper? Elijah had to be brought alone in a cave in 1 Kings 19.
And then in the New Testament version of that is, we have our prayer closet. It’s in secret. It’s your secret place.
It’s where you are still. It’s where you’re silent. It’s where you’re training your ears to hear the Shepherd’s voice.
And you’re just enjoying. you’re just resting in his presence. And there could be moments of silence. That’s okay.
And then you sing a praise song, and then you’re silent again. It’s okay. And then you give some thanksgiving. And then he leads you in repentance, and then you’re silent again.
It’s okay to have long stretches of silence. you’re just fellowshipping with your friend. It’s back and forth. It’s not one way.
You’re listening as much as you’re speaking. And Jesus can perceive sincerity. Like, why are you there? Are you really interested in Him?
Okay, let’s pray. Father, forgive us. We’re so sorry that many times we say we’re believers, but we have a different narrative in our thoughts, in our hearts. We have an agenda. We have a motive that’s not right. We just want a ticket to heaven. We don’t even care who it is in heaven. We’ll be worshiping for all eternity. We just want to be good ministers.
We want people to respect us because we’re good ministers and leaders. Forgive us, Lord. We want friends. We want a spouse. There are so many different reasons people come to churches.
For the Word of God is living and active, Jesus.
12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12, ESV)
We see it in your earthly ministry. You are the Word of God, and you saw straight into the hearts of people.
We pray, Holy Spirit, convict us if there’s any insincerity, if there’s any ulterior motive. We pray that we would voluntarily lay down our lives fully to Jesus.
That we would hate our lives in this world and not clutch onto it and ask Jesus to bless my life. No, we give it to you, Lord Jesus. You gave your life fully to us. We fully surrender to you.
And the heart behind full surrender is sincerity. I want to be close to you, Jesus. Wherever you are, that’s where the servant is. We want to be close. We want to rest in your presence. We want to learn from you. That means as much as we speak.
There’s a lot of stillness in prayer, a lot of silence in prayer, a lot of just being in your presence, giving a chance for you to speak as much as we speak to you in prayer.
It’s a back and forth dialogue, conversation. Thank you Lord. We want to be sincere followers of Christ.
Thank you for Your Body that was broken for us and Your Blood shed. We thank you that you rose again in victory.
We pray that you minister to us as we close out this service. In Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.
After a time of self-examination, if the Lord allows you, and you are a true believer, a sincere follower of Jesus Christ, the Lord’s Supper will be here.
And please partake it with all of us to express unity in the body of Christ.