The Hour of Glorification

According to one survey, 94% of millennials reported making personal improvement commitments and said they’d be willing to spend nearly $300 a month on self-improvement.

SEE - self-improvement promises to help you “transcend your limitations” and “unlock your potential” as a human being.

And so - MILLENNIALS today - and many others - GRAVITATE to it!

Those that find the time to WORK OUT and get in shape - are GLAD THAT THEY DID...

And those that DON’T wish that they would!

I’m sure we’ve heard these slogans over the years!

Just Do It (Nike)

Think Different (Dell)

There is No Finish Line (Nike)

Because You’re Worth It (L'Oréal Paris)

Impossible is Nothing (AMX)

It's your world. Take control (Apple)

Get more out of now (Electronic Arts)

Challenge everything (Ford)

Built for the road ahead (Fujitsu)

The possibilities are infinite (Gatorade)

Win from within (IMAX)

We BREATHE this air…every day!

We look around and we are PUSHED to BETTER OURSELVES...

to reach for the next RUNG in the ladder!

“Be the Best Version of You for Today!”

Heard this before?

The WORLD has many OPINIONS as to how you can ACHIEVE this...

And NONE of them would point to our TEXT today as a BLUEPRINT as to how to make this happen...

Our text today GOES SO MUCH AGAINST the GRAIN of AMERICA...

That if we DARE to walk down it’s path…we will SURELY change...

Let’s get to it!

John 12:20–26 ESV

20 Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. 21 So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 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.

If we remember 2 weeks ago - we finished our passage by seeing how the Pharisees has responded to Jesus ENTERING Jerusalem...

John 12:19 ESV

19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.”

“Look, the WORLD has gone after Him”

John 12:20 ESV

20 Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks.

The Pharisees look out - see Jesus coming into town…and see Jew AND Greek alike coming to Him…

celebrating Him

They see the influence that Christ is having over not JUST the Jewish people…but Greeks as well…

And it reiterates in the minds of the Pharisees that Jesus is here…and He’s playing hard ball!

See they’re in the POWER-GAME…

They desire POWER - and Ultimate INFLUENCE…in the lives of the people

And Jesus comes along…and He’s now the POPULAR one!

The Pharisees see NO VALUE FOR the people - to follow Jesus…They don’t think it would BENEFIT the people - for them to follow Jesus

And you can hear their disappointment in the verse from 2 weeks ago…

“We are gaining nothing…the world has gone after him”

And it’s THIS heart posture that forms the BASIS of the CONTRAST that will RISE UP against what Jesus says to us today!

As we walk through our text today - as Christ ELEVATES what it means to BE A CHRISTIAN…we’ll SEE that truth AGAINST the backdrop of this HEART Posture of the Pharisees!

We’ll see that the Pharisees didn’t POSSESS what Christ will bring us today…

So Greeks hear that Jesus is coming and they WANT to see Him…

As we ALL KNOW - there are many groups and clubs that we have opportunity to belong to…

book clubs

workout gyms

biking clubs

alumni groups

fraternities

sororities

art clubs

cooking groups

scouts

ALL of these groups - FOCUSED on a particular aspect of life…

SO - If you join a book club, you shouldn’t expect to discuss politics at your meetings

BUT SEE - what Jesus was doing…

healing the lame

giving sight to the blind

raising the dead

THESE THINGS - CUT ACROSS cultures…and societies…

And they IMPACT - a certain group?

NO - EVERYONE!

And so - EVERYONE comes to see this man - Jesus!

NOW - as we get into what Jesus says here - KEEP in your mind - What the Pharisees had said and their heart behind it…

Remember - WE are the Pharisees…Even if we’re REDEEMED - SAVED - we often times struggle and we EMBRACE the same heart posture of the Pharisees…

“my power is being attacked”

“[I] want control”

“[I] am in control of ME”

“I bow to NO ONE”

We struggle with these things…And so when we HEAR what Jesus is about to say:

We know how HARD these things are for us…

Jesus calls us to a HARD life…These are HARD things….YET Blessings come.

And we’ll walk thru both today.

John 12:21–22 ESV

21 So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.

So these Greeks want to see Jesus…

They want to HEAR what He has to say…they want to LISTEN and LEARN…

BUT DO THEY REALLY WANT to hear what Jesus has to say today…

Many people - EVEN BACK THEN - treat Jesus like a FAD…

He’s INTERESTING!

He’s NEW

He’s speaking what seems to be ABSTRACT philosophy…AND SO - yeah - let’s check him out

Let’s LISTEN - AS LONG AS WE LIKE WHAT WE HEAR

And we ALL have to take heed here - ARE WE THE SAME WAY?**

Are we here to HEAR the Word or HEAR the word?

Where one leaves us DOING what we hear, while the other leaves us VOID of the DOING!

As we walk through how Jesus responds to these men wanting to see Him…

We’ll see two sides to His responses…

The Hard Thing He’s calling US to…The Blessing that comes

SLIDE: The Hard Thing: Die to Self

The Hard Thing

John 12:23–24 ESV

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.

Contextually - Jesus here is speaking of His coming death...

Jesus CAME - to SAVE!

On Mission!

If Jesus were to WALK AWAY from this path He was on - in order to be seen by those who wanted to catch a glimpse of a king...Then He wouldn't have fulfilled His mission!

The path to glory is thru - DEATH!

The grain of wheat MUST Die!

WE TOO - Like Jesus - are called to DIE

To die to - SELF!

We MUST EMBRACE that we are:

NOT strong

NOT equipped

NOT sufficient

NOT worthy

NOT able

That we CAN'T get to God through:

SELF-IMPROVEMENT classes

Positive Thinking

Good thoughts

Good Deeds

We must DIE to SELF. (LAY ALL OF IT DOWN) ...if we want the fruit of SALVATION...and this is HARD!

Romans 3:20 ESV

20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

Romans 3:28 ESV

28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

We clearly can't get this done…right?

BUT MAKE NO MISTAKE...we NEED RIGHTEOUSNESS to get to God...

We NEED PERFECT WORKS to get to God...

But as Paul says - it's NOT OUR righteousness that will get us there...

Romans 3:10 ESV

10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;

We don’t HAVE the righteousness it takes to get to God!

We need ANOTHER RIGHTEOUSNESS…outside of ourselves

Philippians 3:8–9 ESV

8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—

We need HIS righteousness - THEREFORE we - DIE to ourselves and EMBRACE HIM!

That's hard!

That takes HUMILITY!

Romans 6:5 ESV

5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.

UNITED with Christ (by faith) in His death...

AND THEN comes the blessing!!

United with Him in a Resurrection like His!!

John 12:23–24 ESV

SLIDE: The Blessing: Dying to Self Brings Salvation

The Blessing

John 12:24 ESV

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.

For Jesus - His death brought the fruit of Gentiles

His death - brought SALVATION to not just Jews...but ALL who believe!

If WE want salvation in this world - we must DIE to SELF!

John 5:24 ESV

24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

Dying to self brings us from DEATH to LIFE... And the RESULT of this DYING to SELF is ETERNAL...

Romans 8:38–39 ESV

38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

What a blessing that is!! But what else?

Are there any other HARD things that Jesus calls us to? SLIDE: The Hard Thing: Hate Your Life In This World

The Hard Thing

John 12:25 ESV

25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

Jesus here is pushing for - the hatred of our lives in this world

Now this ties closely with DYING to SELF...but HERE we'll look at the LIFE of Sanctification...

Dying to Self brings SALVATION...And HATING this world as we LIVE IN this world will MAKE US LOOK MORE LIKE JESUS!

Something we struggle with is understanding that the WORLD doesn't see Jesus IN US when we look like and LIVE LIKE the world!

This is EXTREMELY hard to do...to NOT live like / look like the WORLD... We could even say - It's A WAR!

Romans 7:14–15 ESV

14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. 15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.

Can you hear Paul's frustration?

He's a NEW CREATION...in Christ...YET - it's like he's now enlisted himself in this WAR...

Paul here is WARRING against the things he does! (I DO the very thing i HATE)

He HATES the sin that he does!

See - having DIED to self - he is now SAVED...And he begins to now FALL OUT OF LOVE with the world..

Philippians 3:7–8 ESV

7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ

Paul now has a NEW set of DESIRES…

He looks out at his life and ALL that life has given him...and he PUTS it on the scale...

On one side - everything he has (possessions, status, successes - all of it)

And on the other side - JESUS...knowing Jesus

And he counts all he has - as GARBAGE compared to KNOWING Jesus Is that easy? NO - it's a BATTLE

WHY?

Because the world tells us - YOUR POSSESSIONS ARE ultimate!

They ARE worth it!!

Colossians 3:5 ESV

5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

This is SANCTIFICATION!

Think of trying to PUT TO DEATH:

your desires

desires for others possessions (I WANT that!!!)

lustful desires (addicted to pornography?) (addicted to thoughtfulness (even if it's not from my husband)

Are we fighting?

Are we FALLING out of love with the world?

fighting to PUT TO DEATH what is earthly in us?

It's a HARD thing....it was for PAUL!

When our pursuit in life is to:

drive the coolest

type on the coolest

wear the coolest

the WORLD will see in us - THE WORLD

These things don't cause the world to STOP and say - Wow, what's THAT?!!

What WILL cause the world to STOP and say - WOW what's that - is - Sacrifice...

Us - sacrificing ourselves for the sake of OTHERS...

For the GOOD of others...

for the ETERNAL GOOD of others...

Is SACRIFICE easy?

NO - it’s a hard thing - BUT - Blessing will come from this!!

We're going to see that...

SLIDE: The Blessing: Hating Your Life Brings Fruit

The Blessing

To live with a Phil. 2:3-8 LIFESTYLE...

Philippians 2:3–8 ESV

3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

When we live this way - FRUIT happens

SLIDE:

Considering OTHERS ETERNITY more important than our CURRENT GOSPEL SUFFERING will lead to the fruit of REPENTANCE for others

We will grow ourselves - as we SACRIFICE for others...causing fruit to grow on OUR branches...

AND - it can lead to fruit FOR OTHERS...repentance for others

Romans 2:4 ESV

4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?

God's kindness is meant to lead us to REPENTANCE...

Our KINDNESS toward others, which is our proclamation of the gospel to them - is meant to lead them to repentance...

Dying to self leads to - Salvation

Hating this world leads to...FRUIT

But what else?

What other hard things is Jesus calling us to?

SLIDE: The Hard Thing: Follow Jesus to the Cross

The Hard Thing

John 12:26 ESV

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.

Think of the men that followed Jesus...The men we read about in Scripture...

They followed Jesus - to their graveThe apostles died - professing Jesus..

Hard thing no?!

And so think about all the situations we find ourselves in just in a given day...

All the choices we need to make..

Conversations we have

Financial decisions Work decisions

entertainment decisions

Food decisions

Parenting decisions

and probably a 1000 more

In EACH of these - will we FOLLOW Jesus to the cross?

I'm in a conversation that turns into GOSSIP - will I, in that moment - follow Jesus to the cross...who died to REDEEM that gossip

I have a financial decision to make - will i, in that moment - follow Jesus to the cross...who died to show HIMSELF more valuable than possessions

I have a chance to watch something on TV/computer - will i, in that moment - follow Jesus to the cross...who died to give me desires to PLEASE Him

This is hard!

It takes a VILLAGE to raise a Christian / pursue holiness

But there is BLESSING that comes... SLIDE: The Blessing: Following Jesus Leads to Glory

The Blessing

When we FOLLOW Jesus - the verse told us...

John 12:26 ESV

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.

When we follow Jesus - we will BE where He is!!

Jesus used this wording another time in scripture...and when He used it - He was referring to heaven

John 14:3 ESV

3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

Following Jesus means we will end up with Him - in glory!

The glory of Christ will be the destination when we FOLLOW Jesus...And again - what a blessing that is!

One more - One more HARD thing we're called to here...

John 12: 26a

John 12:26 ESV

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.

SLIDE: The Hard Thing: Serve Jesus

The Hard Thing

If you’ve ever waited tables…you know that your job is to do the bidding of the customer...

In this sense...

Jesus is saying - SERVE me...

DO what is PLEASING in my sight...

In fact - DO WHATEVER I ask…no matter what the demand or HOW LOW the status...

And this has many other IMPLICATIONS because of what Jesus said in

Matthew 25:35 ESV

35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,

Matthew 25:40 ESV

40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

And Jesus says - SERVE me...

There is an INFERRED application here that when Jesus says SERVE ME - one of the ways we DO THAT...

…is to SERVE the poor

For when we SERVE the poor, we SERVE Jesus!

Is this easy?

NO - but - blessings will come!

SLIDE: The Blessing: God Honors Those Who Serve Jesus

The Blessing

John 12:26 ESV

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.

Those who spend their lives SERVING Jesus - meeting needs, taking the name of Jesus to the world...

Those people will be HONORED by God...

In the same context as feeding the poor, Jesus said this...

Matthew 25:34 ESV

34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

…v35 - FOR I was hungry and you gave me food, thirsty...

Again - this is a hard thing....but the blessings far outweigh the weight of it...

SUMMARY...

We should not miss the glory and the overflowing joy in this hard life of being a Christian.

We die;

we hate our lives in this world;

we follow Jesus on the Calvary road;

we become servants.

And when we do these HARD things, what we find is that

We keep our lives for eternal life;

We bear much fruit;

We join Jesus where he is in glory;

The Father honors us.

It’s a hard road, but it ends in GLORY....far beyond what we can imagine....and so…PRESS ON together!!