May I say to you today, if you have never received Christ as your Lord and Savior, don't turn Him away. As we lift Him up, may He draw you unto Himself, unto the salvation. It's an all, A-L-L, salvation. It's totally free. And the Bible says now is the accepted time. Today is the day of salvation. Jesus said in verse 32, and I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. Will you accept that invitation? Will you receive him as your Lord and Savior? The Bible says that the gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation. Welcome to Pulpit Power, featuring Pastor Tony Skeving, Senior Pastor of Fargo Baptist Church in Fargo, North Dakota. Today's message was previously preached before a church audience. And now, here's Pastor Skeving. Let's take our Bibles, please, and turn to the Gospel of John once again, and the 12th chapter, John chapter 12. Jesus has pretty much wrapped up his ministry on this earth. He's basically days away from the cross. And he's in, I think, the vicinity of the temple when some Greek guys, they say, sir, we would see Jesus. And they're talking to the disciples. And so the disciples let Christ know. And as far as we can figure it out, the Greeks probably couldn't go into the temple. Christ comes out and he talks with them. We have to believe that there's others around hearing these words because there's some incredible truths being taught here, but the setting is around the temple. Jesus Christ is probably addressing a group, a mixed group there at that time, and he has some things to say. We've been looking at these, but we pick it up in verse number 31. Jesus says, now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." This he said signifying what death he should die. The people answered him, we have heard out of the law that Christ abideth forever. And how sayest thou 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 walketh in darkness knoweth not whether he goeth. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you might be children of the light. These things begged Jesus and departed and did hide himself from them. But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him. Now, backing up, we notice that Christ, in verse 32, talks about being lifted up from the earth. What's he talking about here? If I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. That's what we want to talk about here today, lifting up Jesus, lifting up Jesus. Let's pray before we begin. Father, thank you now for the opportunity to make much of Christ, to exalt him, and to lift his worthy name. up. He's high and holy. And Father, I do pray that as we do today, he would draw all men unto him. He'd draw those outside of Christ to a saving knowledge of him. He'd draw those who know the Lord to a closer relationship with him. Help us now to lift him up. We'll thank you for it. We pray now and ask all these things in Jesus' name. Amen. You know, from the time I was just a toddler, even younger, I was brought to church every Sunday. And as I grew up, For the first 20, nearly 21 years of my life, I went to church every single Sunday. And I must say that probably seven out of 10 times, the sermon I heard was something about the parish needing money. We need money. It's almost like you could count on, they're gonna talk about money. Well, back over 43 years ago, I was born again. And I lined myself at that time with a Bible-believing church, a Bible-preaching church, and oh, how the preaching and teaching was different from that point on. I didn't hear much about money anymore, but I sure heard a lot about the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, I even commented, boy, you know, pretty much every time I come here, they make a beeline toward Christ. And you know, that's scriptural. Our Bible makes much of Jesus Christ. There's 66 books in this Bible. And did you know that every single one of them, either directly or indirectly, points to Jesus Christ? And it makes much of Jesus Christ. It's the theme of the Bible. And folks, that ought to be our message. That ought to be what we promote and we preach. Jesus Christ. Paul put it this way in 1st Corinthians 2.2 he says, I determined not to know anything among you save or except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. He's talking to a local church here and he said I pretty much made up my mind and I determined that I wasn't going to really promote anything among you except this, Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Paul here is talking about lifting up Christ and there's so much we want to say about that but we have some unfinished business here there are some words of Christ and they're impregnated with truth and we've been trying over the past few weeks to bring out these words because folks you may not understand this these are his last public words They are. I'll show you that in just a little bit. After that, he kind of confines his teaching to his disciples for a few days before he goes to the cross. But what he's doing here is he's really wrapping up his three-and-a-half-year ministry where he was somewhat of an itinerant preacher, and now it's kind of like the last words are very important. And so as we look at these words, we want to draw some truth from them. And the first thing I see Christ mention here is what I call the devil's defeat. I don't know about you, but I like that part. Anytime where I can talk about the devil being defeated, I'm all in. So notice in John 12 and in verse number 31, Jesus says this, now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this world be cast out. So he says here something profound. He's saying, all right, it's time for the judgment of this world. Now, I got to stop right there and point out that when Christ came to the earth the first time, initially, He didn't come to judge. It wasn't about judgment. In fact, in Luke 19.10, He said, for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. When Christ came to the earth the first time, it was to die on the cross and pay the price for man's sin. And so He's seeking out to save the lost. Nothing about judgment here. It's all about salvation. If you reject that sacrifice that Christ made, that blood he shed on Calvary's cross, then friend, there's nothing else to look for but judgment. There's no plan B. There's no alternative here. You either face him as your savior, or one day you will face him as your judge, and it has something to do with him going to the cross. He says, now is the judgment of this world, and then he goes on. And he says, the prince of this world should be cast out. Now, who's the prince of the world? You say, well, God? Nope. Jesus? Nope. The prince of the world that he's referring to here is actually Satan. And three times I count in the Bible, in the New Testament, he's referred to as the prince, the prince. We see it here in John 12. We see it behind me in Matthew 12. It says, but when the Pharisees heard it, they said, this fellow does not cast out devils. But by Beelzebub, notice, the prince of the devils. The devil is referred to as a prince. Also in Ephesians 2.2, Paul says, in times past, you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air. And so we find out here that the devil is referred to as a prince. And if you study a few books like, I think, Daniel and Ezekiel, you'll understand that the devil is not omnipresent. He can't be everywhere at once. So he's kind of set it up like a military organization and you've got, you know, your generals, you've got your colonels, you've got your majors and so on and so forth. But he's at the top of the thing. He's the prince, he's the leader, he's the overseer of the whole thing. Now, Jesus says in verse number 31, now shall the prince of this world be cast out. You say, what's he talking about? Well, You actually need to go back about 4,000 years prior to the time of Christ, to the creation, to Adam and Eve, to them being given really, if you want to call it the title deed of everything, that's what you have there in the garden. But you find that before Adam and Eve and the world and the universe was created, that the angels were created. Now the demons and the devil would come out of the fallen angels, but we find all these angels created before that. And we find out that Jesus Christ is the creator of everything. This is interesting. The Bible says all things were made by him. Without him was not anything made that was made. And so we find out that Christ the creator made everything, including the angels, but something happened. We read about it in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28. We find the downfall of Lucifer, the head angel, and he becomes Satan and he takes one third of heaven's angels with him. It was all about pride. It was basically a power play. And so he is booted out from his lofty position. Now, was he cast down into hell at that time? You know, there are a lot of people that think the devil's in hell right now. He's not a fool. He wouldn't be in hell if he didn't have to be. He's not down there shoveling coal in a red suit and a pitchfork and all those other things that you see no we find out actually right now he has access to the throne of God we learn that in the book of Job we also read that he's the accuser of the brethren he's accusing us to God at the throne of God so he has that access right now and but some things are going to happen. The prince of this world, this is the beginning of his being cast out, if I want to put it that way. And during the tribulation, we find out something's going to happen. In Revelation 12, it says in the great dragon, that's the devil, was cast out. That old serpent called the devil and Satan, which deceiver the whole world, he was cast out into the earth and his angels were cast out with him. So that's when he is going to get the boot out of heaven. You say, well how did he become the prince of this world? I thought God oversaw everything. Well he does, but as far as the title deed of this world goes and how he became prince, it has something to do with him trying to get Adam and Eve to sin, knowing he could get that. we find out that even when Christ had been fasting for 40 days in the wilderness, that the devil offers Jesus the kingdoms of this world, must be his to offer. Christ doesn't say they're not yours to offer, and so we find out that there is something to that, but now we find him, according to Christ, about to be cast out. to be cast out. I think it's kind of, I could call it a gradual thing, if you will, but it ties in with Calvary and the beginning of the downfall of the devil, because something happened at Calvary that the devil had not anticipated. Something actually backfired. Now, you should have had the clues, because there's plenty of clues about this throughout the Bible. In fact, over 330 of them about Christ coming that first time to suffer on that cross, but the devil Missed it. I think he missed it. God clouded him from catching it because all along he's trying to kill Christ from the time he's born. Herod's wiping out those babies around Bethlehem, right? That's an attempt to get rid of this Messiah. Later on he's trying to get him thrown over a cliff in Nazareth. Or he's trying to get him to throw himself off the pinnacle of the temple. He wants him dead. And finally, Jesus does die. He dies on the cross. He says it is finished. It's by his own will, his own volition, but he dies. And there's the old devil rubbing his hands together in ghoulish glee, excited, wants him for all. He'd gotten rid of the Son of God. But something happened three days later, and that's another message for another holiday, and you know what happened at that time. It backfired, and we read this in 1 Corinthians 2.8. It says, of the resurrection, which none of the princes of this world knew, there's our princes again, for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. You know what a boomerang does if you throw it? It comes back to you, right? Well, here's an old boomerang that the devil threw and it came back and it clonked him in the head. If the prince of this world had known what would come of this, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But folks, that crucifixion, that blood, that sacrifice, it was all part of God's plan. This was all part of God's plan. We read this in Hebrews 2.14. It says, he also himself, Likewise, took part of the same, that through death, speaking of Christ, he might destroy him, the devil, that is, that had the power of death, that is, the devil. So this was all part of the plan. He took part of the same, the Bible says, that through notice, death, he might destroy him, the prince of this world, that had the power of death, that is, the devil. And so that death, that defeat on the cross, turned into a victory. And it doomed Satan. It doomed Satan. It sealed his fate at that point. We see the devil's defeat, but secondly, we see the dreadful death. In verse 32, Jesus says, and I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying what death he should die. So Christ said, if I be lifted up, I'm going to draw men unto me. And John kind of puts a footnote there in case you missed it. He says, Jesus said this, signifying by what way he was going to die. Now you say, I didn't read it there. I missed something there. The expression lifted up. Everybody understood what it meant at that time. It means you were going to be laid on this cross and nailed to it and then lifted up and put in the socket, the stone socket in the ground. That was the expression for it, lifting up. And we find that expression actually mentioned twice here in this gospel, and we find it, I think, around 20 times otherwise, it's referring to crucifixion. And it's referring to something that had been around probably about 600 years at that time. The Medes, the Persians are attributed with the horrible, horrible death of crucifixion. But it's talking about a cross being lifted up. And when Christ said that, it was signifying how he's going to die. And everybody caught it. They knew it. It was a common expression at that time. We say here in America, we might say he passed away. And a foreigner might go, what's that mean? He passed away. Well, I think all of us know what that means. He died. He died. So if you wanted to use kind of a colloquial term for crucifixion, you just said lift it up. And everybody knew immediately what you're talking about here. But it was a horrible way to die. To be lifted up was about as inhumane as you could get. I mean, there are, I guess, humane ways to put somebody to death. We talk about a lethal injection. You know, even hanging would be more humane. The electric chair would certainly be more humane. There's other ways, but we find that Christ is going to be lifted up. He's going to have nails driven through him. He is going to bleed because blood had to be part of it. Did you know that? Hebrews 9.22 says, without shedding of blood, is no remission of sin. Sin cannot be atoned for. It cannot be forgiven without the shedding of blood. You say, why did God make it that way? I think God made it that way to show us the seriousness of sin. We live in a society that just pooh-poohs sin, thinks nothing of it, and nothing's sacred anymore, nobody can blush anymore. Sin is no big deal anymore. But boy, it must be serious if it takes the shedding of blood for the remission of sin. You know that Jesus Christ could not have been poisoned because blood had to be shed. Jesus Christ could not have been drowned. put him to death because blood had to be shed. They could not have clubbed him to death because there had to be a blood shedding. They could not have smothered him because it had to be blood. Without the shedding of blood there was no remission of sin and so it would be through lifting up, it would be through crucifixion. You know we get our word excruciating from the word crucifixion. Does that give you any idea how painful it was? It was so bad, it was so bad that even the brutal Romans finally banished it in the fourth century. They said, we just got to quit doing this. It's so inhumane. Now, notice in verse 33, it says this, he said signifying what death. He should die. He should die. It was all planned in eternity past. God knew the Medes and the Persians would invent it, 600 BC. It was part of the eternal plan. Jesus Christ knew it was coming. He knew all about it. He had agreed to it. This goes way back to the Garden of Eden in the fall of Adam and Eve and Christ saying, I'll go to that cross and I'll shed my blood. The Bible in Revelation 13, eight calls him the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. The lamb slain from the foundation of the world. You know, the Romans were torturous in putting that victim to death on the cross. It was very public. They drove nails through the flesh of the victim. They arranged the legs just so under them so that they could lift themselves up on the cross to catch a breath every so often because those muscles were stretched so tight across the lungs that they had to do that in order to catch a breath. In fact, death by crucifixion was death by suffocation. When you got so weak, you couldn't lift yourself up on that nail anymore of your feet, driven through your feet and catch that breath. That's finally when you expired. I mean, it was absolutely brutal. There's a struggle to breathe and you have onlookers taunting you. Imagine, you know, victims for hours on there and their hands and their feet nailed to the tree, the flies on them, maybe ravens lighting on them, all this stuff going on. And the gospel of John doesn't get into it, but it's awful. It was awful. And we live in a world today, beloved, that just ignores that sacrifice of cross. They ignore the cross. In fact, in 1 Corinthians 1.23, Paul said, but we preach Christ crucified. Under the Jews, a stumbling block, and under the Greeks, foolishness. Foolishness! Shedding a blood for the remission of sin? That's foolishness! Well, the world doesn't get it. But boy, Jesus Christ went through it. He died for our sins. It was barbaric. There's no cloaking how bad it was. But again, the cross reminds us of how serious sin is. And sin is serious. That's the reason Jesus had to die like that. Our sins are an offense to God. They're not a little thing. They're a serious thing. They put Christ on the cross. And the cross reminds us of that. You know that three-fourths of Americans, and they've surveyed Americans, believe that you have to do some kind of good works in order to get to heaven, to merit favor with God. And yet you take the average person through the Ten Commandments and you find out they're liars, they are lusters, they are haters, they are folks who take God's name in vain, they are covetous, and on and on it goes. Selfish, stubborn, prideful, and yet they think they're going to work their way to heaven. They'll never work their way to heaven. You know, less than four percent of Americans actually think that they might go to hell when they die. The other 96% are anticipating going to heaven, if you can imagine that. Their self-righteousness. Like I said, they don't get it. And if you don't get it, folks, how serious sin is, take a look at the cross. Take a look at Christ being lifted up. It was a dreadful death. It reminds us, folks, that we cannot save ourselves if you could work your way to heaven. Why did Christ go through all of that? We need mercy. The cross reminds us that we are helpless. We are utterly helpless, and that's hard for us to admit. But folks, you cannot save yourself. I cannot save myself. It's not by our baptism. It's not by our good works. It's not by our church membership. It's by what Christ did on the cross and placing our faith in what he did on that cross to save us. Now, here's a glorious truth about the cross. Notice in verse number 32, Jesus says, and I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw, A-L-L, all men unto me. That's a glorious truth, because salvation's available to all, and the ground is level at the cross. It's available to the rich and the poor. It's available to the sophisticated and to the crude. Salvation is available to the churchgoer and the person without a church. Salvation's available to the city official or the most humble city worker, to the prostitute, to the drunk. All means all. If I be lifted up, he says, I will draw all, all men unto me. Oh, but what a price he paid. We see the dreadful death. Thirdly, we see the diluted darkness. This diluting darkness, Christ refers to it in verse number 34. The people answered him, we have heard out of the law that Christ abided forever. How sayest thou the Son of God or 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 walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth." He mentions here this diluting darkness and not knowing what you're doing, not knowing where you're going. But first of all, we notice in verse number 34, the people answered him, we have heard out of the law. So now they're referring to something back in the Old Testament law. We've heard in the law, notice, that Christ abideth forever. This Messiah we're anticipating, we're waiting on, is supposed to abide forever, and you're saying you're Him, and you're going to be lifted up? That doesn't add up. What were they referring to in the law? Well, probably this verse behind me. In Psalm 89, 29, it says, His seed also will I make to endure forever in His throne as the days of heaven. the messiah in their mind was this ruling reigning king who would sit on a throne he'd be a jewish guy who would sit on this throne forever and they're taking it from the psalmist here in psalm 89 his seed also will i make to endure forever and his throne as the days of heaven so we find here that in verse 34 They say, we heard out of the law that Christ abided forever, and how sayest thou the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is the Son of Man? Now remember, he's instructing a crowd, some Greeks in there, but no doubt some Pharisees and some elders and others who are always trying to trip him up. And so they're listening. And at this point, Jesus is talking and they interrupt him. They say, wait, wait, wait a minute. Wait a minute. The Messiah is supposed to abide forever, forever. Well, they had a theological problem here, and we've talked about this, because there's two comings of the Messiah, right? There was that first coming. It took place around 0 A.D., 2,000 years ago roughly, and Jesus Christ came to this earth with one purpose in mind. And that was to suffer, bleed, and die, and shed blood, and make an atonement for us as our Savior. That's his first coming. But he went back to heaven. Before he did, he said, I will return. Will he? Well, there are over 300 promises of his first coming. There's over 1,800 promises of his second coming. That's six times as many, folks. If he kept his word the first time and came, he will keep his word the second time and he will come. And when he comes now, then you'll have your king and your ruling and your reigning and the Messiah they're thinking about here. The Messiah they're looking for at this time would be a warrior. He'd be a king, he'd have a throne, he would vanquish the opposition, the Romans, the enemy. But what they've got there in the first century would be a suffering, dying Messiah. And so they didn't get it. And that's why they say, well, the law says he's going to abide forever. And they're quoting the psalmist. They're quoting verses from Isaiah 9. They're quoting verses from Ezekiel 37. They're quoting verses from Daniel 7, or at least thinking of these verses. But they overlooked the second coming of Christ. And by the way, we live in a world today that has overlooked the second coming of Christ. I mean, the signs of the times are there, folks. We see things shaping up. Jesus Christ is coming again, and it may be this week, it may be very soon. And so they ask in verse number 34, who is this Messiah? Implying it couldn't be you. And they're slow to figure out all these things here. In verse number 35, 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 walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you might be the children of light." Now he's talking to Greeks in the crowd, and if there's Pharisees and elders there, that's an irritation right off the bat, because he's given these Gentiles some time. So there's irritation building in the group, there's whispers at this point going around, and we find that it's probably time for Jesus to disappear, and we find at the end of verse 36, these things make Jesus and departed and did hide himself from them. He saw what was coming, and they're about to take him right on the spot. Well, it's not quite time yet, but this, if you're in the habit of marking your Bible, this is what I would call the end of Jesus' public ministry, where he's going to stop trying to teach the masses, and he's gonna focus on the apostles from this point on for the next few days until they come to get him on that fateful night in the Garden of Gethsemane. But he's got a parting warning, I would call it here, in verses 34 and 35, and he's talking about be careful not to stay in the dark. You're deluded in the dark. You are in ignorance. You know, we have a common expression that ignorance is bliss, and it might be in some areas. I'd rather be dumb and happy, all right? But when it comes to spiritual matters, folks, ignorance is not bliss. You had better not be dumb and happy and lost at the same time. You know, the Bible even speaks of those who are willingly ignorant. Oh no, I don't know that stuff, I don't need to know that stuff. There are people who are destroyed for lack of knowledge, Hosea the prophet tells us here. Plus Christ comes along in John 3.19, he says, light has come into the world. And men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. It's one thing to be unknowingly in ignorance. It's another to hear truth and say, I'd rather have my sin. And that's what he's talking about here. Men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. I read over in Matthew chapter seven, Christ is talking. He's talking about the road to heaven. He says, it's straight, it's narrow, there's few on it. And then he talks about the road to hell. He says it's broad, it's wide, and many are on that road. You know, that's contrary to the way most people think. The 96% who think they're going to heaven, that's not at all what Christ taught. He taught that most people are going to hell. And even within the realm of Christianity, because we find those on that same day saying to them, but Lord, we preached in your name. We did this, we did that. And Christ says, I never knew you. I never knew you. You know what that tells me? That tells me that everything's not okay. Everything's not okay. There are a lot of people, they're in churches right now all over this town, this area, this state, this nation, and they think everything's okay. It's not okay. If the road to hell is broad and wide and most people are on it, everything's not okay. You say, oh, but pastor, I've been baptized and I joined a church. I go to church, I take communion, I help my neighbor, I do good things, and yeah, it'll be different for me. Most people in saying those things, they're describing what they're trusting in to take them to heaven. They're describing what they think is truth or the light that they have within them, but you know, Christ said a very profound and concerning thing in Matthew 6. He said, if therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, How great is that darkness? I want you to just stop and meditate on that for a moment. If the light that is in thee, not the darkness, not the fog, but what you think is right, the light you have or think you have, if the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness? It's like saying they don't know that they don't know. The light that is in them is darkness. So Christ, in verses 35 and 36, is saying in so many words, everything's not okay. And if you are in the dark, you better address that right away. Could there be somebody sitting here today, somebody listening, and everything's not okay? You might think it is, but it's not. Because there's a lot of delusion out there, folks. The devil's a busy devil. We read this in 2 Corinthians 4 and verse 3. It says, if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost, in whom the small g, God of this world or the prince of this world, hath blinded the minds of them which believe not. A lot of people in the gospel is lost to them and devil has blinded their minds and there are multitudes in this condition. In Ephesians 4, in verse 18, it says, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their heart. I don't know how many different ways God could say it here, but there are folks that are estranged from God, and they say, well, the good Lord's in our Lord, and they talk about God like they're like this, and they're not. Their understandings darken. They're alienated from the life of God. There's blindness in their heart. And there's always been that great spiritual, continental divide at the cross between those who get it and those who don't get it. This crowd, Christ is saying in so many words, you're in the dark. You don't get it. And they didn't. We see the devil's defeat, the dreadful death, the diluting darkness, and finally, the drawing deity. In verse 32, Jesus says, and I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. He says it again, or in verse 34, they say it again, and they're talking about him being lifted up in crucifixion, but folks, it has a double meaning. It has a double meaning. As we talk about lifting up Christ, I wanna talk about the effect that has. You know that Christ is lifted up. And when Isaiah the prophet saw him back in the Old Testament, book of Isaiah chapter six, he said, in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne high and what? Lifted up. Lifted up. Lifted up. lifting up Jesus. You know, when I was a kid, I used to wonder about Jesus. I didn't know him, but I wondered about him a lot. I like to draw. I always had a sketchy pad thing with a bunch of drawings in it. And I'd draw pictures of Jesus. And I always wondered about him. I knew he's the son of God. I knew he was born in Bethlehem. And I knew the historical figure, but folks, I didn't know him. I really didn't know how lifted up he is. He's the eternal word. By the way, that was his name in eternity past, the word. He is the visible representative of the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He is the creator of the universe. I want you to stop and imagine for a moment. You know, our globe revolves around one star. the sun, which is 27 million degrees in the core. And you think about it being 93 million miles away, and that being the perfect distance for us to exist on this earth. Now, you can get probably hundreds of billions of stars in a galaxy and 100 million galaxies, and we could go on and on in a universe with no walls that just goes on forever, imagine that. And stop and think about how small we are down here and how big our God is. By the way, speaking of small, an atom. An atom is a million times smaller than the thickness of a human hair. If you can imagine that, here's a human hair and an atom's a million times smaller than that. And did you know that you can take an atom and you can subdivide it into what would be a miniature universe inside of it? It's unbelievable as you think about the electrons whirling around. There's enough power in an atom to destroy a city if we do it right. And we have a bunch of them in our human bodies. There's 60 trillion cells in our human body. Each one is a mini power station. Each one is a transportation system. I could go on and on, talk about the eye, the ear, the knee, and you say, what's your point? Who created it all? Jesus. In Matthew 28, 18, Jesus came and spake unto them saying, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Should he be lifted up? Should he be lifted up? There was an old timey preacher, before we'd even start a sermon, he'd say, folks, today, we're gonna brag on Jesus. We're gonna brag on Jesus. We should brag on Jesus. We should make much of Jesus that we do around here. You know, you're not going to hear much preaching on Mary around here. You're not going to hear much preaching on Martin Luther around here. You're not going to hear much preaching on Calvin and Wesley around here. But I agree with what Paul said. I showed it to you a moment ago. He said, I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him. crucified. So we will preach Him, we will exalt Him, we will worship Him, we'll proclaim Him, we'll adore Him, we'll magnify Him, and we'll trust Him. We'll trust Him. We'll trust Him. And as we lift him up, we should because he is unique. He is unique. He is 100% God. He's 100% man. There's nobody else like that. He is unique. He's also unique in the fact that it's through him that you get to God, that you get to heaven, and nobody else. In John 14, 6, Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father, but by me. That makes him pretty unique. He's the only way to heaven. I know that's not politically correct, but that's what he said. The creator has laid it out that he is the only way to heaven through faith in his blood and his sacrifice. By the way, he's the only one who ever came from heaven, the only one to ever go back to heaven. He's the only way of getting us to heaven. He's the only one coming back from heaven. He is unique. In verse number 32, Jesus says, and I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. You know, he was lifted up in my eyes over 43 years ago, and I know he was drawing me unto himself. Long story short, I got saved, but what about you? Have you had a time when he drew you to himself and you were born again. You know, 50% of Americans claim to have had some kind of a religious experience. Now, that doesn't mean born again. Of that 50%, only 15% define it as some form of being born again. But it's important that you have that experience. John 3.3, Jesus said, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Have you been born again spiritually? It starts with seeing yourself lost spiritually, a sinner in need of a Savior, and changing your mind about that sin. It's called repentance. You realize your sins are an offense to God. You change your mind about offending God. You say, I don't want to do that anymore. and you turn to God, there's this turn, there's repentance, and you place your faith in Christ, you make Him your Lord and your Savior, you call upon Him, and you trust that bloody shed on Calvary's cross to save you eternally. Now, that process, if I could call it that, it kicks in when Jesus is lifted up. It kicks in when Jesus Christ is lifted up. And that's what Christ meant, I think, the double meaning in verse 32, and I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. You know, in John 6, 44, Jesus said, no man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me. Draw him. I believe for anyone to be saved, God must draw them. But I also believe that you have a personal choice at that point to make. Will you say yes to Him? Will you say no to Him? Have you done that? And if you have not, look to the Son of God. Look to the Son of God who's been lifted up. Jesus Christ is not just another religious figure. There are a lot of people who just kind of put Him in the mix there. No, He's Emmanuel, meaning God with us. He is God, He is God. Have you received Him? Have you received him? Not to receive him is to turn him away. I read something this last week about King Edward VII. He lived about the time of the Civil War here, but this was over in England. And King Edward VII and his wife were out on a stroll, and they're out in the countryside when his wife stepped on something wrong and turned her ankle, sprained it terribly, and she was hobbling along, holding on to the king, and they took hours to get back to the nearest town, and finally it was dark, and King Edward knocked on the home of a peasant, and a guy said, what do you want? He said, it's King Edward VII. I need help. Well, the guy had this neighbor who was always pulling pranks. He thought it was that guy kind of changing his voice. He said, get out of here, Earl. And the voice came back. This is your king. I need help. Let me in. He said, Earl, if you don't get lost, I'm going to come out there. I'm trying to get to sleep. I'm going to pound you. And the voice kept coming back. No, this is your king. I need help. Finally said, you asked for it. He got up and he opened the door. And it was the King. Of course, he was so embarrassed, and he brought the King and his wife in, and he helped their needs and all that tended to them and put them up for the night. Years later, in fact, for the rest of his life, he would be telling that story, and he would say, you know what? I almost turned away the King. I almost turned away the King. May I say to you today, if you have never received Christ as your Lord and Savior, don't turn Him away. As we lift him up, may he draw you unto himself, unto the salvation. It's an all, A-L-L, salvation. It's totally free. And the Bible says now is the accepted time. Today is the day of salvation. Jesus said in verse 32, and I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. Will you accept that invitation? Will you receive him as your Lord and Savior? You've been listening to Pastor Tony Skeving of the Fargo Baptist Church in Fargo, North Dakota. If you would like a CD of today's message, you can obtain one by sending a gift of $2 to Fargo Baptist Church, 3303 23rd Avenue South, Fargo, North Dakota, 58103. That address again, Fargo Baptist Church, 3303 23rd Avenue South Fargo, North Dakota 58103. We hope you'll join Pastor Skeving next time right here on Pulpit Power. Pulpit Power is a production of Heaven 88.7.