Christ’s Death And Ours

Christ's Death And Ours

(No. 3024)

A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, JANUARY 24, 1907.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING,
FEBRUARY 14, 1869.

"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 falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone: but fit dies, it
brings forth much fruit." John 12:23-24.

CERTAIN Greeks desired to "see Jesus." They informed Philip of their
desire, Philip consulted with Andrew and the two disciples together
informed their Master of what seemed to them to be a very important
matter. As wise men from the East once came to see Jesus, so now would
these Gentiles from the West do the same! Probably Philip and Andrew
expected that Christ would display His miraculous power before the eyes
of these enquirers, but our Lord, instead of going on from His
triumphal procession and the hosannas of the multitude to something
outwardly grander, began at once to speak about a glorification far
other than either His disciples or these Greeks desired–a
glorification which was to follow upon death and burial!

Is it not very noteworthy how our Lord's mind was always dominated by
the anticipation of that Baptism of His, that immersion in grief and
suffering, that decease which He was to accomplish at Jerusalem? This
was the main thought of His whole life and nothing could make Him
forget it. In His heaviest moments of trial and in His brightest
moments of joy, His heart was equally at the Cross–He was longing to
complete His atoning Sacrifice for the salvation of His people. O
brave, loving heart of Christ, so firmly fixed in love, so resolute to
be pierced for the Beloved–we admire and love You in return!

Surely we make too little of our Redeemer's death. I fear that even we,
who preach most concerning it, dwell too little upon it. That we who
pray, plead it too little. That we who sing, praise our Lord too little
for His wondrous death and that we who live upon His Grace, yet think
too little of the channel by which it flows to us! Christ's death is
His Glory and it ought also to be ours. All other topics in Holy
Scripture are important and none of them are to be cast into the shade,
but the death of the Son of God is the central sun of all these minor
luminaries! It is the great Alpha and Omega, the first and the last! It
is not only eminent, it is preeminent with us. I could almost wish that
we had broken every other string of our soul's harp but that which
resounds the music of His Love. Silence, you other voices, and let the
voice of His blood be heard in our souls! If we were bound down to this
one subject–chained to it and never allowed to take another, but
compelled simply to stand and incessantly cry, "Behold the Lamb of God,
which takes away the sin of the world"–it would be an enlargement,
rather than a narrowing of our ministry! Here is a theme fit for
seraphs! Yes, "Michael the archangel" might find this subject too vast
even for his exalted intellect. While we are musing on this text, no
other topic shall intrude. Our mottoes shall be, "All for Jesus," and,
"None but Jesus." May the blessed Comforter, whose work it is to
glorify Christ and to take of that which belongs to Him and apply it to
us, give us the power of Christ's death in our hearts!

The verses on which we are to meditate speak of two things–first,
Christ's view of His death and, s econdly, Christ's view of the
necessity and the results of that death.

I. First, we are to consider CHRIST'S VIEW OF HIS DEATH. He says, "The
hour is come that the Son of Man should be glorified."

Now, I freely grant that this passage may refer to Christ's
glorification in His Resurrection, in His Ascension and in all His
triumph beyond the skies, but, from its connection with the allusion to
the grain of wheat, which is cast into the

ground to die, it is clear that our Lord was mainly thinking of His
death and that He spoke of it as being, in a certain sense, the hour of
His Glory. Certainly, to spiritual eyes, the Christ of God was never
more glorious than when He was nailed to the Cross of Calvary–not even
yonder where the lamps of Heaven glow with supernal splendor, where the
harps of angels pour forth matchless music and where Christ, Himself,
sits upon the Throne of the Highest, "King of kings, and Lord of
lords." A Glory never equaled shone around the Conqueror of death and
Hell when He bowed His head and said, "It is finished," and gave up the
ghost!

Mark well that Christ said that, "the Son of Man should be
glorified"–not the Son of God–for He was speaking here concerning His
human nature. This teaches us that Christ, as Man, was glorified by
enduring bravely, patiently and to the end, what no other man has ever
borne. Without a murmur, He willingly endured all the agony and
ignominy that were heaped upon Him. He marched boldly through the
tremendous deeps of physical, mental and spiritual suffering which the
Atonement demanded. It may be that in some of His bodily pangs, our
Lord's anguish has been equaled by that endured by some of the martyrs,
yet I greatly question whether that has ever been the case. Rather do I
believe that His peculiarly sensitive body which had never lost any of
its delicacy of tone through indulgence or impurity, and which was
originally of the finest mold, seeing that He was "that Holy Thing"
which was born of Mary through the overshadowing power of the
Highest–for these reasons it appears to me that Christ may have borne
physical pains such as, in their intensity, have not been known by any
other son of man! But as for His mental and spiritual griefs, they were
an unknown abyss–who can measure or conceive what His holy soul
endured? Hart's lines, though very strong in expression, do not go
beyond the Truth of God even when he says that Christ, in Gethsemane–

"Bore all Incarnate God could bear, With strength enough, and none to
spare." Yet how gloriously He endured it all even to the bitter end!
The gold was tried in the furnace, but no dross was discovered.
Mightier than Atlas, Christ bore a world of grief upon His shoulders
and yet He neither staggered under it, nor cast off the lead. He went
to prison and to death–and all through His way of woe, His mighty soul
was strong within Him. And He died triumphing over all! He was
unconquered and unconquerable unto the last! Crown Him, O you daughters
of Jerusalem, as the King of Sufferers, most mighty to suffer and to
save! With His garments all red from the winepress, adore Him as having
alone sustained the fury of His adversaries!

Remember, too, that Christ won, on the Cross, the glory of being the
fully obedient One.''Being found in fashion as a Man, He humbled
Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross."
It is a great glory to a servant of God to be, through Divine Grace,
sincerely obedient to His Lord. But it would be a greater honor if he
could be perfectlyobedient. Upon our Lord, who had voluntarily taken
the place of a Servant for us, the petition of His service casts the
highest honor. After having, in all points, kept the Law perfectly by
His active obedience, He crowned His life's service by His passive
obedience and was glorious, indeed, when He went to "the end of the Law
for righteousness." First-born of many brethren are You, O You glorious
Son of Man, made perfect in Your obedience in order that You might be
the Captain of our salvation and bring many sons unto Glory!

Further, Christ was glorified on the Cross by achieving what no one
else could have achieved. How often do we set forth the Truth of God,
which is always fresh and delightful to Believers, that Christ Jesus,
on the tree, took all the sins of all who believe in Him–took them to
Himself, literally, and carried them as though they had been His
own–and suffered for those sins upon the Cross, all that ought to have
been suffered by us on account of those sins, enduring that which His
Father accepted as an equivalent for all the agony which ought to have
been endured by us because of those iniquities? We believe, Brothers
and Sisters in Christ, in the literal Substitution of Christ for His
people. Christ stood in the Sinner's place and suffered what was due to
the Sinner–even the curse of God and the wrath of God! And now He has
so suffered for sinners that those for whom He died can have no sin
laid to their charge so as to involve them in punishment, since it is a
maxim of all courts of justice that the law cannot first punish the
substitute–and then punish those in whose place he stood. Every honest
man admits that a debt, once paid, is settled forever. So, as Christ
paid the debt that His people owed to Infinite Justice, it is forever
blotted out and our obligations to Divine Justice are obliterated! This
is the joy of joys! This is the Doctrine that makes the Gospel to be
God's good news to guilty sinners! This is the glorious Truth of God
that sets the bells of Heaven ringing with their loudest and their
sweetest music–that Christ has made the sin of His people to cease to
be! Thus is fulfilled that ancient prophecy, "In those days, and in
that

time, says the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and
there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be
found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve."

The work of Messiah the Prince is "to finish the transgression, and to
make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to
bring in everlasting righteousness." And this work was fully
accomplished when "this Man, after He had offered one Sacrifice for
sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God." O Beloved, herein is
bliss, indeed, for us if He did really die for us! Your question and
mine must be this, "Did Christ die for me?" To answer that, I must ask,
"Am I trusting in Him?" If I am, then He did die for me and all my sins
are gone because He was punished in my place. My demerit was imputed to
Him and He died to put it away. And now His merit is reckoned as my
merit! A wonderful transfer has been made by means of the death of
Christ–He has taken all the consequences of our guilt and borne them
all–and ended them forever! So was He not, indeed, glorified in His
death? And you, Believer, may sing this sweet song, on earth and in
Heaven, too–

"In my Surety I am free,

His dear hands were pierced for me!

With His spotless vesture on

Holy as the Holy One.

Oh the heights and depths of Grace!

Shining with meridian blaze–

Here the sacred records show

Sinners black, but comely too." But we must not forgot that Christ was
glorified in His death, officially, as our great High Priest He stood
alone in that dark hour as the true High Priest presenting the one
perfect Sacrifice unto God. All other high priests had been but types
of Christ, the great Anti-type. They had, once a year, though "not
without blood," passed under the embroidered veil which hid the Holy of
Holies from other eyes. But in that dread hour of darkness on Calvary,
Christ, the true High Priest, offered up Himself as the Propitiatory
Sacrifice which alone could put away His people's sins. And then,
through the torn veil, that is to say, His body–His soul passed up
into the Presence of God and there His blood still pleads for His
people, speaking better things than that of Abel! Begone all you
gorgeous ceremonies of Aaron and his sons, like stars that hide their
light when the sun itself appears! Christ, the Great High Priest, is
the only one that His Church needs! You may banish your many-colored
robes. You may put away your precious miters. You may lay aside your
bespangled breastplate, for Christ alone wears the robe, the miter and
the breastplate of the true High Priest before God! And He stands
gloriously accepted through His unique Sacrifice. From now on let it be
known, throughout the whole earth, that there is no other sacrificing
priest but the living Christ, and there is no other sacrifice but the
Sacrifice which He has once and for all offered–and which still avails
for all who trust in it! His precious blood–

"Shall never lose its power,

Till all the ransomed Church of God

Is saved to sin no more."

Thus have I shown you that even on the Cross, Christ was glorified. Yet
this declaration of His may also refer to that which followed His
death. It is indeed so closely linked and intertwisted with His passion
and Crucifixion that it would be wrong to separate it from them–yet we
must never forgot that He who died and was put into the grave–also
rose again! It was His Glory that by His own almighty power, He arose,
"the first-born from the dead." After forty days He ascended unto the
Father and angels welcomed Him as He returned triumphantly to Heaven.
Our faith can almost hear the lingering notes of that wonderful song of
His angelic escort, "Lift up your heads, O you gates; and be lift up,
you everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in." Glorious
was His welcome by the spirits bought with blood who were already
before the Throne of God! And truly glorious was He as He sat down at
the right hand of the Father. See the Son of Mary exalted to sit at the
right hand of the Father! Man like ourselves, yet glorified in Being
made to reign there with His Father! He had always been there as God,
but now He is there, also, as Man, crowned with glory and honor, and
made to have dominion over all the works of God's hands! The very Man
who was once the Baby in Bethlehem and then the Carpenter of Nazareth
and afterwards the Murdered One of Calvary, is now so highly exalted

that at His name, which is above every name, every knee shall bow, "of
things in Heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and
that every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the Glory
of God the Father!"

It strikes me that our Lord also meant, by making this statement in
connection with the visit of these Greeks to Him, to teach us that
after His death He would be glorified among all the nations of mankind.
That although in His earthly ministry, He was not sent except to the
lost sheep of the house of Israel, yet, after His death the Gospel
should be preached in His name to all nations–and out of all nations a
people should be gathered who would praise His name forever and ever!
Even at the present time it is no small Glory to Christ, who was nailed
to the Cross of Calvary, that His name is reverenced over a great part
of the earth–even by nations whose ancestors were strangers to it–and
that His name is the foundation of every true morning prayer and every
holy evening song! "His name shall endure forever" and His Gospel shall
extend its saving and sanctifying power from realm to realm till He
comes again, "in His Glory, and all the holy angels with Him," to
glorify His saints with Himself forever and ever!

I have spoken at this length upon what our Lord said concerning His
death as the means of glorifying Him, for I am anxious that we should
not think lightly of that of which He thought so highly!

II. The few minutes that remain must be devoted to the second part of
the text which concerns THE NECESSITY AND RESULTS OF CHRIST'S DEATH.

Our Lord seems to say that it was absolutely necessary that He should
die–that even His perfect life would have been of no use to us if He
had not died. He says, "Except a corn of wheat falls into the ground
and dies, it abides alone." So you see, Brothers and Sisters, that if
Christ, after having come to this earth as He did, had not died, He
would, as far as mankind is concerned, have had to abide in Heaven
alone. As God, the word, "alone," would have had no reference, for the
holy angels, as well as His Father and the ever-blessed Spirit would
always have been near Him. But if our Lord could have come here and
then have gone back to Heaven without dying, it would not have been
possible for any other man to ever have gone to Heaven–and Christ
would have been the only Man in the whole of that land of joy! It is
dreadful even to think of such a thing as that! If that could have
happened, where must all the saints of God and all mankind have gone?
There is but one other region–the land of darkness and of death, the
land of pain, of horror and of unutterable woe. And we must all have
gone there if Christ had not died upon the Cross–not only the thief on
the left hand of Christ, but the thief on His right hand, too–not only
Judas, but Peter, John and all the Apostles–not only Demas, but Paul,
Silas and all the early Christians–not only Ahithophel, but David,
also–not only the unrighteous, but the righteous, too–all! All! ALL,
having sinned, would have been condemned to eternal wrath if Jesus had
not died! Ah, but it was not possible for the Son of Man, who was also
the Son of God, to be alone in Heaven! He could not be content to be
there alone. He left His Father's side in Glory, in order that He might
become the Son of Man! And then, after He had once taken our human
Nature into union with His Divine Nature, He could not go back to
Heaven to live there in solitude, without another man to bear Him
company! We cannot conceive of the First-Born without a brotherhood,
the Head without a body, the Savior with no saved ones to sing His
praises, the Shepherd without sheep, the King without subjects! No,
this could not be and, therefore, it was absolutely necessary that
Christ should die!

It was a most suggestive and suitable figure which Christ used–that a
corn of wheat must be put into the ground and die, or it cannot produce
its like. Our language and all languages, when they speak of such lofty
themes as life and death, become very much like a skein of silk that is
all in a tangle–and we must never talk lightly concerning these
supreme Truths of God. I believe that half the disputes about that very
important matter of eternal punishment– concerning which some think
that the Scriptures favor the view of a limited period to the
punishment–arise because those who hold that view do not observe that
there is a vast difference between mere existence and life and, an even
greater difference between death and annihilation. If a grain of wheat
were really to die, it would not bring forth any fruit. When the
maltster has passed the corn through the various processes which end
with kiln-drying, it is really dead. And if you were to plant it, it
would never bring forth fruit. That is a very different kind of death
from that which takes place when the seed is cast into the
ground–there it dies in quite another sense, that is to say, it
rots–the matter of the corn dissolves and furnishes the first soil for
the little minute of life to feed upon, for the grain of wheat is not
all life, there is a life-germ inside it. The grain of "corn or wheat"
must be broken up and be resolved into its primary elements or else it
cannot bring forth fruit. [In C H Spurgeon's Autobiography, Vol. III,
pages 194-6, there are further explanations of this

subject, including the definition of death given by Mr. Spurgeon to Mr.
Ruskin, who said, "That is the most extraordinary definition of death
that I ever heard, but it is true."]

So, our Lord Jesus Christ had to die and to be buried in the grave, as
the seed-corn is put into the ground, and there He had to be resolved,
as it were, into His primary elements–the soul to be for a while
separated from the body, and the Deity from the Humanity. Without this
death there could have been no fruit-bearing to spring out of Him. But
when He had passed through this experience of death, then there sprang
up out of the dead Christ–dead after that fashion– abundant fruit!
Nobody can tell you why it is that if a single grain of wheat is put
into the ground, it may bring forth a hundredfold. Why should it so
multiply itself? That is a great mystery, but it is a solid fact–and
it is a blessed mystery of faith that, as Jesus Christ died, all who
put their trust in Him are the "much fruit" springing up from His
death! It is because He died on the tree that Believers are to live
with Him forever. I have not time to go fully into that subject now,
but you all know that if Christ had not died, we would all still be
under the curse. If Jesus had not died, we would have been condemned at
the bar of God. If Jesus had not died, there would have been no way of
approach for us to God. We could not, as Believers, have had any
existence at all except through His death! And now, through the
preaching of His death, and the hearing of the message by the ear of
faith through the effectual working of the Holy Spirit, we are made
alive unto God and so become "fruit" to the praise of the Savior who
died on the Cross of Calvary!

Brothers, if we want to have fruit in our ministry–if we want to see
sinners converted–we must preach up Christ's death! As the blacksmith
strikes the hot iron upon the anvil, we must keep the hammer of the
Gospel at work upon this great foundation Truth of God, "Christ died
for our sins according to the Scriptures." It is no talking to men upon
other topics in the hope that it will lead to their conversion. The
great soul-quickening agency is, "Jesus Christ and Him crucified."
Whoever will come and trust in the God-appointed Substitute for sinners
shall be eternally saved, for life comes only through His death! The
salvation of sinners is not even by preaching the great and glorious
Truth of Christ's Second Advent, nor by preaching about Christ's
millennial and eternal Glory, but by incessantly pointing to Christ
lifted up upon the Cross! There is the grain of wheat that put into the
ground brings forth much fruit–and we must keep to that theme beyond
all others! You who try to talk to the unconverted must do this if you
wish to see them find real, lasting peace, and enter into true
Christian liberty. You must say, with Charles Wesley–

"His only righteousness I show,

His saving Truth proclaim!

'Tis all my business here below

To cry, 'Behold the Lamb!'"

I must close, Brothers and Sisters, with this reflection. You and I
want to bring forth fruit unto God. We want to save souls. Then we must
do what Christ did, though in another sense. That is to say, we must
fall into the ground and die. Did you ever see a minister who was such
a gentleman that he did not know his people, and never shook hands with
them in his life–one who was only anxious to show them what a
dignified individual an ordained minister is? Well, such a man as that
is like a grain of wheat put into a golden shrine to be admired. But,
possibly, you know another man–he may be a city missionary–and he
goes right down into the midst of the sin and misery of those whom he
seeks to win for Christ, looking at everything from their point of
view. And often it is a difficult task for him, yet he will do it. He
lays aside everything in which he is their superior, speaks so that
they can understand him, and brings the Gospel right down to their
level. That man will win souls for the Savior because he is not a grain
of wheat laid on a marble shelf, but he is dropped into the ground! And
the more that man will spend himself for his Master–work himself to
death, break up his constitution–kill himself, as it were, in his
Master's service–the more likely is he to bring forth "much fruit"
unto God. I do not believe you can do much good without having a great
deal taken out of yourselves. And when men are so very particular and
careful about themselves and will only serve God if it does not cost
them anything, I believe that no earthly good can come of that. The man
whom God will greatly bless must be willing, in this sense, to fall
into the ground and die!

In persecuting times, the Christian has often had to literally give
himself up to die, but, instead of the cause of Christ being injured by
his death, he has, in that way, brought forth the "much fruit." There
have been no other such fruitful preachers of the Gospel as those who
suffered at the stakes of Smithfield or died upon the rack. If you
would be the means of saving others, you must make no reserve for
yourself, but imitate your Master, of whom His enemies tauntingly but

truly said, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save." I ask you,
Brothers and Sisters in Christ, to resolve, by God's strength, that
there is nothing you will not do and nothing you will not give for Him
who loved you so well that He gave all He had to save you! Seek, by
every means that you can use, to win souls for Christ! The man who must
have conversions, or he will die, will have them! The woman who feels
that she must bring her class to Christ and will never rest till she
does, will bring them to Christ! The Lord help us so to preach Christ
and so to live for Christ and, if necessary, so to die for Christ, that
we may bring forth fruit unto God–"some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold,
some thirtyfold." Amen.

PUBLISHERS' NOTE:

A very considerable portion of this Sermon was revised by Mr. Spurgeon
in readiness for publication. The topic– "Christ's Death and Ours"–is
peculiarly appropriate to the 155th anniversary of the beloved
preacher's last days upon earth.[He died January 31, 1892.] But the
subject of the next Sermon, which is to be published on January
31st–the exact anniversary of the date of his Home-going–is still
more suitable. The text is, "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken
away; blessed be the name of the Lord." And the title of the Sermon is
to be, "Fifteen Years After!" to remind all readers that although the
preacher's voice has not been heard in this world for the past 15
years, yet, like the martyred Abel, "He being dead yet speaks," and, as
Dr. Newman Hall truly said, "as he yet speaks, he is not dead."

It is also a somewhat remarkable fact that the Sermon to be issued next
week was preached on Thursday evening, February 11th, 1869, exactly 23
years to the very day before the funeral service at the Tabernacle, the
long procession from Newington to Norwood, and the interment in the
cemetery there in the presence of an enormous concourse of sympathizing
spectators.

Regular readers of the Sermons will remember that similar coincidences
were pointed out at the time of Mr. Spurgeon's Home-going, when,
without any human pre-arrangement, the Sermons intended for reading on
the four Sabbaths in February, 1892, were as follows–No. 2242, Volume
38–GOD'S WILL ABOUT THE FUTURE; No. 2243, Volume 38– HIS OWN FUNERAL
SERMON; No. 2244, Volume 38–MEMBERS OF CHRIST and No. 2245, Volume
38–"LIVING, LOVING, LASTING UNION'–the four discourses concerning the
Home-going of Deacon

William Olney].

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: JOHN12:12-36.

Verses 12-15. On the next day much people that were come to the feast,
when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of
palm trees, and went forth to meet Him, and cried, Hosanna! Blessed is
the King of Israel that comes in the name of the Lord. And Jesus, when
He had found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written, Fear not,
daughter of Zion, behold, your King comes, sitting on an ass's colt
Even in the little glory of a temporal kind, which was given to the
Lord Jesus Christ when He was "here among men" as Mrs. Luke's hymn puts
it, His humility and meekness were very manifest, thus fulfilling the
prophecy recorded in Zechariah 9:9–"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of
Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, your King comes unto you;
He is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and
upon a colt, the foal of an ass." Oh, that all His people would always
be of such a lowly spirit, not seeking great things for themselves, but
condescending to men of low estate, remembering that it was their
Master who said to His disciples, "Take My yoke upon you, and learn of
Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and you shall find rest unto your
souls."

16. These things understood not His disciples at the first: but when
Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were
written of Him, and that they had done these things unto Him.I wonder
whether, when Christ comes back to earth, in the Glory of His Father
with the holy angels, we also shall not understand a great many things
which are complete mysteries to us now. Perhaps it will be said of us,
then, "These things understood not His disciples at the first: but when
Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were
written of Him, and that they had done these things unto Him." That
first Glory of His Ascension to Heaven shed a flood of light upon the
life of Christ, as

doubtless the greater Glory of His Second Advent will shed a yet
brighter light upon our understanding of the things of Christ which
quite surpass our comprehension now.

17-19. The people therefore that were with Him when He called Lazarus
out of his grave, and raised him from the dead, bare record. For this
cause the people also met Him, for that they heard that He had done
this miracle. The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, Perceive
you how we prevail nothing? Behold, the world is gone after Him. No
doubt many of His disciples thought so, too, yet how mistaken were both
the friends and the foes of Christ, for you recollect, Brothers and
Sisters, that Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem was followed,
within less than a week, by a far different scene–when the same crowd
that cried, "Hosanna!" shouted, "Away with Him, away with Him, crucify
Him!" The world that was supposed to have gone after Him, nailed Him to
the Cross, so short-lived is human popularity. So short-lived, also, is
the admiration of Christ by carnal minds, for they do admire Him after
a fashion, they cannot help doing so! There have been written lives of
Christ which have been full of admiration of Him, yet equally full of
opposition to His Deity. We must not always regard it as an encouraging
sign when men praise Christ for very soon, if the root of the matter is
not in them and they do not accept Him as their Lord and Master, they
will change their note and instead of, "Hosanna!" it will be, "Away
with Him, crucify Him!"

20, 21. And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to
worship at the feast: the same came therefore to Philip, which was of
Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired Him, saying, Sir we would see Jesus.I
do not know why these Greeks went to Philip, who was of Bethsaida of
Galilee, unless it was because he had a Greek name. Yet Andrew and
Peter also had Greek names. If I went to Paris and wanted to see the
President, and knew that there was somebody in the cabinet who had an
English name, I would probably say, "Well, either he is an Englishman,
or he comes of English parentage, so he may take an interest in me and
get me the introduction I want." Perhaps that was the reason why these
Greeks came to Philip. I cannot think of any other, but I know that if
you want to get to Christ, you will always find some way of doing
it–and that the reason why so many people do not get to Him is because
they do not want to! You may all come to Jesus Christ if you will. But,
alas, until His Grace controls it and changes it, your will inclines
you to go still further away from Christ rather than to come to Him.

22, Philip came and told Andrew: and again Andrew and Philip told
Jesus. Andrew and Philip appear to have been staunch friends and fellow
laborers–and it is always well when Christian men can work for Christ
with congenial companions. My poor perplexed Brother, if you cannot get
to Jesus Christ by yourself, it will be a good thing for you to say to
some Philip, "Sir, I would see Jesus." Perhaps Philip will tell his
friend, Andrew, and then Philip and Andrew will go together and tell
Jesus, and so you will get to Him! It is a great help in prayer, when
you are yourself unable to pray, to get someone whom you know to be a
Christian, and who has sympathy with you, to come and pray with you.

23, 24. And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come that the Son
of Man should be glorified. Verily, verily "Amen, amen."

24, 25. I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat falls into the ground
and dies, it abides alone: but if it dies, it brings forth much fruit
He that loves His life shall lose it Or, as it should be rendered, "He
that loves his life loses it." That is not the true way to live–and in
his selfish attempt to live to himself, he is losing his life.

25, 26. And he that hates his life in this world shall keep it unto
life eternal If any man serves Me, let him follow Me. The best service
you can render to Christ is to imitate Him. If you want to do what will
please Him–do as He did!

26, And where I am, there shall also My servant be. You cannot expect
better lodgings than that! So, as Christ had to live here amid sorrow,
sin and shame, you must be willing to do the same. But, as Christ was
afterwards exalted to indescribable honor, so shall it be with you if
you are His true servant!

26. If any man serves Me, My Father will honor him. For such is the
Father's love to His Son, that He delights to honor all those who
become His Son's faithful servants!

27. Now is My soul troubled; and what shall Isay?Father, save Me from
this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour There was a
conflict in the Savior's heart–the weakness of His true
Manhood–striving with the strength of His Infinite affection to His
people, and also to His Father. We must never forget that "He was in
all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." If it had been no
pain to Him to die as the Substitute for sinners, there would have been
no atoning Sacrifice in His death. And if no dread had overtaken Him at
the thought of death, it would have proved that He did not die as we do
and, therefore, He would not have been able to take our place as He
did. Notice how the Savior speaks of the struggle that was going on in
His soul. "What shall I say?" Do you ever have to ask that question
when you are trying to pray? If so, do not be astonished, for even your
Lord and Master said the same. "What shall I say?"–as if He paused to
consider what form His prayer should take–"shall I say, Father save Me
from this hour? No, but I will say, For this cause came I unto this
hour."

28. Father, glorify Your name. That is a grand answer to the Savior's
question, "What shall I say?" And when you do not know how to pray, you
may always present that petition, "Father, glorify Your name." You have
some dear one at home very ill–you would be glad if the precious life
might be spared, yet you are not sure whether you may ask for it. Well
then, say, "Father, glorify Your name." Possibly you are passing
through a great trial and you would be glad to escape from it–yet you
do not know whether it is the Divine will that you should do so. Well
then, you may, at any rate, put up this prayer, "Father, glorify Your
name. Whatever is most for Your Glory, let that be my will as it is
Your will."

28 Then came there a voice from Heaven. An audible voice, for those who
stood by could hear it–"There came a voice from Heaven."

28-30. Saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again. The
people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered.
Others said, An angel spoke to Him. Jesus answered and said, This Voice
came not because of Me, but for your sakes. "You needed to be
strengthened as to the Divine Character and authority of My mission.
You required to be comforted with the full assurance that I shall,
indeed, be glorifying My Father even when I die upon the Cross of
Calvary."

31. Now is the judgment of this world. This is a wonderful sentence–as
if, in Christ's death, the world was judged and condemned! And so it
was. Nothing ever so convicted the world of high treason against God as
when men said of the Lord Jesus Christ, God's well-beloved Son, "This
is the Heir. Come, let us kill Him, and the inheritance shall be ours."
The shedding of the blood of Christ upon the Cross is the crimson
evidence of the deep transgression of human nature! "Now is the
judgment of this world." There is another rendering of this text,
retaining the Greek word, "Now is the crisis of this world." [See
Sermon No. 2338, Volume 39–THE CRISIS OF THIS WORLD.]

31. Now shall the prince of this world be cast out Thank God for that!
His throne was shaken to its fall when Christ died on Calvary. All the
powers of darkness suffered eternal defeat in the hour that men and
devils fancied they had gained the victory.

32, 33. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto
Me. This He said, signifying what death He should die. Yet they did not
understand it, even then, clear as it now appears to us that He spoke
concerning His lifting up upon the Cross.

34-36. The people answered Him, We have heard out of the Law that
Christ abides forever: and how say You, The Son of Man must be lifted
up? Who is this Son of Man? Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little
while is the light with you.

Walk while you have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that
walks in darkness knows not where he goes. While you have light,
believe in the light, that you may be the children of light These
things spoke Jesus, and departed,

and did hide Himself from them