Join us and learn how in life, God calls us to be his disciples, that is, we are supposed to spend our whole lives learning to be like Jesus, taking on his manor and His character, living how He wants us to live.  That’s discipleship, learning to look like our heavenly Father.  Our scripture for today has to do with discipleship.

May 19, 2024

John 12:20-36

 

“From My POV”

by Ben Caldwell

 

Intro. Today, I want to talk about three possible points of view:

POV 1: Some Stand in the Darkness and Know It

POV 2: Some Stand in the Darkness and Don’t Know It

POV 3: Some Stand with Jesus and Know It

 

So let’s talk about each of these. What does a life look like that

POV 1: Stands in the Darkness and Knows It?

 

There are plenty of people in this world who know they are far from God.

There is a ministry on Youtube called DelafeTestimonies. And it is “a global project with the mission to create the world's largest archive of testimonies with the vision is to save souls, build community, and set people free…. And there are plenty of people on those testimonies who know they are far from God. This one guy talks about how he grew up in a drug culture. He barely knew his dad; his mom was a prostitute and drug dealer. He was in and out of foster care. And along the way, some guy told him, “If you want to date my sister, you have to be a Christian.” And he was like, “I don’t know what that means, but I want to date your sister, so sure.” The brother presents a very clear testimony of what it means to come to Christ. Acknowledge that all these things you have done are sin. And turn away from them. Believe that God has died for your sins. Commit yourself to following Him. He talks about spiritual warfare and afterlife and how our sin grieves God. The guy said, “Yes, I want God in my life.” And they prayed together. But that was it. When he left, he went back to the same home he had been in. He didn’t have a church. There was no discipleship. You said the prayer so now you can date my sister, but nothing else was different. EXCEPT… He said sin suddenly felt different. When he went to get high, he felt a kind of darkness that he hadn’t experienced before. And he really didn’t know what was going on. He just knew he felt lower, guiltier. And so he sought comfort in his sin. He drank more, he smoked more weed, he slept around more to try and make himself feel better. But as he went, he began to see how he was angry, and mean, and aggressive, and that he was far from God… At that moment, at that place in his life, this guy had a growing awareness that he was living in the darkness and was far from God. His point of VIEW WAS: I was in the darkness and I knew it. I Couldn't Run Away FromGod Anymore... (Powerful Testimony) (youtube.com)

 

Here is another POV:

POV 2: Some Stand in the Darkness and Don’t Know It

 

1 John 3:6-9 tells us:

6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. 7 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 8 The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. 9 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God.

 

The entire book of 1 John was written so that its readers or hearers can have fellowship with Jesus and with each other because of Jesus. The passage is NOT-teaching that we will never sin again when we stand with Jesus. It is teaching that we will become aware of sin and will stop the linear, on-going sin habits that we have. We will strive to stop living selfishly, and we will begin to live for God and His purposes. AND we will know that we stand with Jesus when we begin to live in a way that says, I do what is right according to God’s word and standards. So we start to live in a way that reflects the love, compassion, holiness, and glory of God out of our sense of love and gratitude.

 

But the reason John feels compelled to say these things is obvious. Isn’t it? There are those people who are continuing in sin. They are not leaving those old things behind. If anything, they are claiming to be with Jesus, but living with no changes taking place in their lives.

 

Listen to this from 1 John 1:5-10:

1 John 1:5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.”

 

Here is what I want you to see. Sometimes people think that they are good with God when they aren’t. Why? I don’t know. Maybe they feel emotionally peaceful. You know, they see a beautiful sunset. It makes them feel peaceful, and they mistake that feeling for a good standing with God. Years ago, I met a man who felt like he was good with God. He came into my office and talked with me privately. He told me he was committing adultery, he had broken all these relationships in his life. There was no evidence of following God, living biblically, or even trying to get close to God. But he told me straight up: “Oh yeah. God and I are good with each other.” According to 1 John, he’s lying to himself. The truth is not in him, and his sins have not been forgiven. He thinks he is close to God, but he is in the darkness… and doesn’t know it.

Don’t let that be you. Please hear what I am saying. 2 Corinthians 5 tells us our relationships with God can be broken. And when that happens we are in need ofbeing reconciled with him. But that reconciliation process happens on his terms, not on yours. Please be reconciled to God today. Make whatever changes are needed, so that God rescues you from death and hell.

 

The third point of view is:

POV 3: Some Stand with Jesus and Know It

 

And that brings me to our passage for today. Scripture: Please turn in your Bibles to John 12:20; John 12:20 is on page 1065 in the pew Bible. John 12:20, p. 1065.

 

Background:  Jesus has been traveling with His disciples and He has come to Jerusalem for the Passover, a religious celebration. This visit to Jerusalem will be Jesus’ last during his earthly ministry, because Jesus is going to be crucified.  And as we will see, Jesus knows God’s plan for Him is to bring salvation and redemption to us by dying on the cross and being raised to life again. Let’s take a look:

 

JN 12:20 Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the Feast. John 12:21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. "Sir," they said, "we would like to see Jesus."   22 Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.

 

Why did these guys come to Philip instead of one of the other disciples? Scholars tell us that Bethsaida,Philip’s home town had a large Greek population and that the name “Philip” is a Greek name. So it’s likely that these Greeks approach Philip, because he acts and sounds Greek and maybe they think, “Oh, he’s one of us, he’ll be sympathetic to us.” So Philip goes toAndrew. Then the two of them go to Jesus together.

So let me just say: There is room for every race in Jesus’ kingdom. AND if we are thinking like the citizens of God’s kingdom that we should be… then race and racial issues should not divide believers. That is a pattern of this world that has no place in God’s kingdom. Instead, we need to make room for everyone, no matter how you feel about Black Lives Matter Rallies or Blue Lives Matter or George Floyd or Israel or Hamas or Democrat or Republican or anything else. Believers should listen to believers and love each other, despite having differing Points of View. We are certainly all responsible to God, but Jesus’ model is to make room for people who were not just like Him, and we should follow suit.

 

John 12:23 Jesus replied, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

 

Not only does Jesus accept these men, but he looks ahead to how he will die for them. Jesus is talking about his own death on the cross which He is offering to everyone, all nations and all races.

Jesus is the kernel of wheat, and the “many seeds that he will give life to” refers to all races and peoples to whom Jesus will bring life.  If HE is obedient to the Father and dies this terrible death on the Cross, then He will make TRUE life available to everyone.

 

Starting in verse 25, this is about where we stand in relation to Jesus. His own death is an example to us of how we should live.  When I lived in Birmingham, I had a friend who had a daughter with special needs. This daughter often had seizures. And one night while she slept she had a seizure, and she accidently held her own pillow over her face and suffocated herself. That is a horrible and tragic accident. I am telling you about it, because this passage warns us not to do the same thing. If we hang on selfishly trying to preserve our lives, our selfishness will suffocate us. What does selfishness look like? Comfort? comfort. That seeking to gain comfort and personal satisfaction in this life can lead to spiritual death. But if we let go of life, and say, “God, show me how to live and to love and how to best function in this life, then God will give you (not just life but) eternal life.  And when you stand before the Father, you’ll be given honor on top of that.

 

If we are talking about our own POINTS OF VIEW… verse 26 says, “If you serve Jesus, then you follow HIM. And where He stands, determines where you stand.

 

I know that we live in a world of photoshop where we can make pictures into whatever we want them to be, if you can imagine it, you can make it look real in photoshop. But I want to share some pictures with you that are not photoshopped. All the people did to create these images is play with the perspective of the camera. These photos are not altered at all. Take a look.

So this first photo is just a couple of guys laying on a concrete walkway that leads out into the water. The building you see are the reflection of buildings in the water. But it sure looks like these guys are stuck to the ceiling, doesn’t it?

 

Let’s see picture number 2. This is a guy who is laying on the ground. And his bike is laying next to him. He just has someone holding the camera at a strange angel to make it look like he is holding on for dear life.

 

Picture number 3 is of someone who is lying on the ground, holding a spray can up in the air. And there are clouds in the background. But the perspective of the camera makes it look like the clouds are coming from the can, doesn’t it?

 

When you walked into the sanctuary this morning and saw sermon in the order of service…. What if your name was listed next to it. It would really change your view of the worship service, wouldn’t it? I imagine that a sermon looks very different from your seat here in the sanctuary than it does from where I’m standing. Similarly, watching online is very different from being here in person. Our POINT OF VIEW matters. We use the term “point of view” or the word “Perspective” as a way to talk about where you stand and how your stance affects the way you see things. You need to know that when you follow Jesus, it will change where you stand and how you see the world. Your point of view will be different because of what He does and because of what you do as a result of following HIM.

 

In Joshua 24… we read about how Joshua, a great general and leader of Israel is about to die. And so he gathers all the Israelites together. And first he speaks to the leaders reminding them to be faithful to God. But then he speaks to the people. And he tells them: This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says… and he goes back through all the ways God has been faithful to Israel, starting with Abraham being called out of Haran. And then how God blessed Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And how God delivered Israel out of Egypt through a series of miraculous wonders. He recounts afflicting the Egyptians. He talks about using Moses and Aaron. He describes how God caused darkness to fall on the Egyptians and then swallowed them up in the Red Sea. And How God has gone before them every step of the way using hornets to drive out their enemies. He talks about how Israel lived in homes they didn’t have to build and cities they didn’t have to fortify and they ate food that they didn’t plant. And Joshua concludes with these words:

 

Joshua 24:14 “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve… the… Lord. 15 But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. BUT… as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

 

Joshua was all about service to God, and he made his challenge very public… “Choose today whom you will serve.”

 

Or what about Elijah? In 1 Kings 18, Elijah has this legendary standoff with the 450 prophets of Baal. And Elijah alone stands up for God and says, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” And as if that isn’t confrontational enough, Elijah challenges them to prove that Baal is a god at all. He says “How about you prepare a bull for sacrifice, but don’t light it on fire. Then you call on your god to light the fire. So they did. They called and danced and chanted all day, and nothing happened. And then Elijah said, “Ok, come here. And he set up the altar of the Lord. And put a sacrifice on it. And he told the people to drench the sacrifice with water… which they did. Then he said, now do it again. And they did. He said, “Do it again.” And they did, so that the whole thing was swamped. And they Elijah prayed. Oh Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. Let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and I have done these things as you told me to. Answer me so that they people will know that you, oh Lord, are God and that you are turning their hearts back to you.” And immediately fire fell from heaven and consumed the sacrifice, the wood, the water, and the stones. And the people cried out, “The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!”

 

Now compare those two stories to the things that you are seeing God do in your life. Is anything powerful happening around you? Do you see God working? If not, the Bible diagnosis that.

 

Matthew 5:8 says: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Acts 11:21 The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord. 22 News of this reached the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23 When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. 24 He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.

 

Purifying your heart will open your eyes to what God is doing. Like Barnabas, when you begin to see the grace of God, then you can begin encouraging others to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts.

 

In Experiencing God, Blackaby has said: “When God speaks to you, revealing what He is about to do, that revelation is your invitation to adjust your life to Him. Once you have adjusted your life to Him, His purposes, and His ways, you are in a position to obey. Adjustments prepare you for obedience. You cannot continue life as usual or stay where you are, and go with God at the same time. That is truth throughout Scripture.

 

“Noah could not continue life as usual and build an ark at the same time.

Abram could not stay in Ur and father a nation in Canaan.

Moses could not stay on the back side of the desert herding sheep and also stand before Pharaoh at the same time.

David had to leave his sheep to become king.

Amos had to leave the sycamore trees in order to preach in Israel.

Jonah had to leave his home and overcome a major prejudice in order to preach in Nineveh.

Peter, Andrew, James, and John had to leave their fishing businesses in order to follow Jesus.

Paul had to completely change directions in his life in order to be used by God to preach the good news to the nations.”  Blackaby, Experiencing God workbook, p. 127.

 

Search your heart. Ask the Holy Spirit: What is it that you see God doing? And what must you adjust in order to follow Him? Are you ready to follow Him and severe wherever He leads you? Take some time to pray about that right Now!

 

 

Now compare those two stories to how we confront people today. Everyone bow your heads and close your eyes. If you want to know Jesus then raise your hand with no one looking or write it on a card. Or we say I’m going to pray a prayer and I want you to pray that prayer silently. And maybe some of that is ok, that we want people to know that they are safe and can go to God directly. But some of that may not be healthy. Are we accidently communicating, “You just pray that prayer, and no one ever has to know it.” Did you know, in some countries they teach people who invite Jesus to be Lord and Savior of their lives… They tell em, “Now when you are arrested, persecuted, and killed for your faith, these are things you need to know or things you need to say.”? And we don’t have that. One evangelist has said, “We creating camouflaged Christians? It is no wonder that people who are hiding during the invitation time are also Christians who hide in public. Isn’t there a place to tell believers, ‘Square your shoulders and make a stand for God.’ It is our duty to tell people that God has come to rescue them.”

 

So here is the first Point of View. I stand for Jesus, and I am confident in that. The Lord fights my battles just like he fought Elijah’s and Joshua’s. My job is just to be faithful to follow Christ wherever He leads me. And my following him will change my life everyday. Because where he goes, I go. What He wills, I do. How about you? Is that your Point of View?

--

 

JN 12:27 "Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? `Father, save me from this hour'? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.

 

Jesus heart is troubled because he knows what kind of death He will die, and He knows how terrible it’s going to be. Can you feel the turmoil? He’s thinking, “The pain will be real, and I am afraid. But despite fear, I am not about to turn away from the will of the Father now.  This death is why I came in the first place.”  This moment in Jesus life is an example to us that even though Kingdom matters might worry us or scare us or cause discomfort in our lives, they must come first; we must be obedient.

 

John 12:28 Father, glorify your name!"    Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and will glorify it again."

 

Jesus prays for the Father to be glorified.  Herschel Hobbs says, “The Father is still well pleased with His dearly loved Son; they are together in this to the end” (p. 199) and the voice from heaven is a confirmation of those facts.

 

From My POV: 2. Some Stand in the Darkness, and You Don’t Know It.

 

The ultimate duty of humanity is to honor and glorify God. That is what Jesus is modeling for us. And as we move through this passage, Jesus changes the metaphor from a kernel of wheat dying TO light and darkness. So even though we haven’t quite gotten to that language, I want to take up Jesus’ metaphor here.

 

--

 

John 12:29 The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him. JN 12:30 Jesus said, "This voice was for your benefit, not mine. 31 Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out.

 

In this very chapter in verse 47 Jesus tells us He didn’t come to judge but to save us.  So which is it?  Will we be judged or won’t we?  Jesus came to save us.  But we must respond to Him.  Now that He has given His life for us to live, His love and death and resurrection demand a response.  We are very familiar with John 3:16, but there aren’t many who know John 3:17 and following which says:   17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.

In the end, Jesus work on the cross and your response to it are the two things in this world that matter most.

 

Ask yourself this:  Do I trust God enough to give Him control of my life, or don’t I?  Will I follow Him or not?

If so, Heaven and honor are your reward.  If not, you stand condemned already.

 

Because of Jesus work on the cross, the “prince of this world” (which can also be translated the “ruler of this world”) will be driven out.  The Greek text uses very strong language meaning more than just driven out, but utterly, completely defeated and chased away.  You know at the beginning of Jesus ministry, Satan tempted Him, offering him a way to side step the cross.  He showed Jesus the kingdoms of the world and said, “If you will just bow down and worship me, then I’ll give you all these kingdoms.”  You know Satan was saying, “All that you see belongs to me.  Just bow down to me once and you won’t have to die on the cross.  But Jesus, knowing that Satan is liar, patiently waited for the Father’s timing and the Father’s will.  And now Jesus embraces the idea of dying a terrible death, and he says by his death Satan will be utterly defeated.  One scholar has said, Satan “will continue to resist till the end of the age, but the issue was decided in the death

and resurrection of Jesus” (Herschel Hobbs , p. 200).

 

32 But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." 33 He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die. 34 The crowd spoke up, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ will remain forever, so how can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?” 35 Then Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light before darkness overtakes you. The man who walks in the dark does not know where he is going. 36 Put your trust in the light while you have it, so that you may become sons of light.” When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.

 

FROM OUR POINT OF VIEW:  BEING JESUS DISCIPLE IS RISKY.

 

These Greek Guys took a risk in going to Jesus. His disciples took a risk in following him. And Jesus tells them he is going to die; he lives out for us what it means to be a disciple and it carries Him to the cross.  If you and I are really obedient to God in everyway, there is no telling where God will take you.  And that is a scary thought.  God calls us to Holiness and obedience and love, but he does NOT call us to safety or to control.

Pastors Len and Elizabeth Sweet have said: “Disciples of Jesus live not in a logic of control but a logic of risk… A strategy of safety always fails… Early disciples of Jesus left the security of home, temple, and tradition and risked it all on Jesus (Mark 7:5) (Len and Elizabeth Sweet).

 

Friends here at Orcutt… WHAT DOES RISK LOOK LIKE FOR US?

How many of you came in today thinking, “Wow, God is so good. I want to give Him my life?” No need for a show of hands. I just want you to be honest with yourself. Now, compare that to this question. How many of you when you pulled into the parking lot this morning were thinking about yourself or your life situation?

 

Command to: rejoice always… or to serve the Lord with gladness…

 

But now, having said that… some of you have gone on a spiritual vacation. You’ve decided, God can wait. I don’t have to make disciples. I don’t have to tell people about Jesus. I can turn the sermon on via my computer and fall asleep in my recliner, rather than attend church. What I’m saying is: BELIEVERS, based on the scripture you still have a responsibility to serve the Lord. The covid numbers are dropping. People are getting vaccinated. I’m seeing you at the grocery store, the ball fields, the gym, restaurants, and doctor’s office. If you feel safe enough to go there, but don’t feel safe enough to serve the Lord, then you are outside of God’s will. It is time to repent and come back to the Lord. Stop making excuses and start serving him again!

Len and Elizabeth Sweet, who I mentioned earlier have said: “On the cross God is depicted as self-giving, even to the point of death. He faced the precariousness of love and the vulnerability of love, so we could know how limitless Love really is.”

This passage has everything to do with being Jesus’ disciple.  Following His example and serving God.  A grain of wheat only has two choices really, fall to the ground and die in a way that brings life, or die on the vine and do nothing.  In life death is certain.  As great as our medical knowledge is the US today, the death rate is still 100%.  We all die.  So we have to decide,how will we live? Do we follow Jesus, do his will, take the godly risk of doing what he asks… or do we play it safe and die without eternal significance.

Jesus is inviting you this morning to live a new life. Jesus is inviting this church this morning to move from a haven of safety and refuge to risk movement and mission out in the world.

FROM GOD’S POINT OF VIEW DISCIPLESHIP IS NOT RISKY, IT’S THE ONLY SURE THING.

 

Non altered photos for opening illustration about perspective.

Photo #2:

 

 

 

Photo #1:

 

Photo #3:

 

From My POV: 1. Some Stand with Jesus, and You Know It.

 

That is what God is calling us all to do.

Folks, I am concerned about what I as a pastor have offered in the way of invitations to people through the years. In the course of my ministry, I have told a lot of people about Jesus. I have offered a lot of invitations to people to come and follow Him. But as I look back now, I think I may have done people a disservice. Consider some of the invitations to come to Jesus that we see in the Bible:

 

Illustration… People tell me all the time that I look like my dad.  But really, if you saw a picture of the two of us and you didn’t know we were related, you’d probably say he and I don’t look much alike.  We have different eyes, different noses, a different jaw-line; different coloring. The individual features that make up our looks are very different.  So why do I get those comments?  I believe it’s because my mannerisms are so much like his.  We carry ourselves the same way; we say the same kinds of things. We both talk with our hands. Our character is similar, and I am proud of that.  In life, God calls us to be his disciples, that is, we are supposed to spend our whole lives learning to be like Jesus, taking on his manor and His character, living how He wants us to live.  That’s discipleship, learning to look like our heavenly Father.  Our scripture for today has to do with discipleship.

 

JN 12:20 Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the Feast.

 

John 12:21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. "Sir," they said, "we would like to see Jesus."

 

22 Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.

 

John 12:23 Jesus replied, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

 

24 I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.

 

25 The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

 

 

26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.