In John chapter 12, we're going to read only one verse. And for those of you who have been here every Sunday, you remember we are looking at Christ as He is predicting His death, as He will be lifted up and draw all men unto Himself. And after having just said that, the crowd responded who heard Him in verse 34 of John chapter 12. The crowd then answered Him, We have heard out of the law that the Christ is to remain forever. And how can you say the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man? And we'll conclude this reading of God's Word here this morning with that one particular verse. As most of you know by now, Having been raised in West Virginia, we West Virginians sometimes have one leg shorter than the other. We walk on the mountains a lot in West Virginia in the southern part in the coalfields. The mountains are very close and they go straight up. And we have to walk with one leg higher than the other And so when we get on flat land, we have a hard time walking in balance. We're lopsided. I was thinking about this after I read this particular verse, believe it or not. You may wonder what this has to do with this verse, and I'll try to demonstrate that here shortly. I think it's a good analogy of how sometimes we Christians interpret the Bible and actually end up being lopsided Christians. We're off balance. We walk with a limp. I think that's what the Jews did here in this text. Jesus has been talking about being lifted up. Remember verse 32, and if I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men unto myself. Actually, that was a reference to his death, his death on the cross, being lifted up on the cross. And the Jews, having some knowledge of Scripture, respond to him in verse 34, We have heard out of the law that Christ is to remain forever. And how can you say the Son of Man must be lifted up? Their thinking that lifted up means leaving the earth, of which He did, but referring particularly to His crucifixion. Now, the point is, they made a good point. Because there are plenty of texts in the Old Testament when read alone indicate the conclusion that the High Priest, the Son of God, the Savior, would indeed remain on earth forever. There is, for example, Psalm 110, which is a prophecy about the High Priest. and that his status will never change. Psalm 110, verse 4. The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind. You are a priest forever. And this is the same Lord who says to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make a footstool of your enemies at your feet. And so as the Jews came to text like this in the Old Testament, as they looked to the coming of one who would be the Lord of Israel, they remembered passages like verse 4 in Psalm 110 that the Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, you will be a priest forever. And so if you are the Son of God, if you are the one who is to come and be our King and our Savior, how can you say you're going to be lifted up when there are many texts in the law of God that says you shall remain forever? That's the problem. In Isaiah chapter 9, Verse 6 and 7, For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us, and the government will rest on his shoulders, and his name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of his government or of peace on the throne of David or over his kingdom, to establish it and uphold it with justice and righteousness. From then on and forevermore, the zeal of the Lord will host, will accomplish this. The Prince of Peace, the King of Israel, the One who comes, there will be no end to His Kingdom. And you say you're leaving. How can you be the Son of God? To a point, they had drawn conclusions that would seem appropriate. These texts, taken alone, might lead you to conclude that Christ, when He comes, will remain forever, He will establish His government, and there will be no end to His government, and therefore, how can you say, I'm going to leave? That's what we call lopsided Christians. And being lopsided is dangerous. You see, the Old Testament also spoke of the death of Christ. Even the details of His death. And these Jews, for whatever reason, they missed that. They didn't compare Scripture with Scripture. They didn't get the whole picture. They only saw one part of the truth, and therefore, did not see the whole truth. For example, the Old Testament was very clear about the coming of Christ in Isaiah 53, verse 4. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried, yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgression. He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening of our well-being fell upon him, and by his scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way, but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall upon him." And going on through Isaiah there, he says, "...his grave was assigned with wicked men, yet he was with a rich man at his death." He's going to die. He's a priest forever. His government, there shall be no end. You've got to get both sides of the truth if you are to remain balanced. If we're not balanced, we're like that boy from the mountains who walks with one leg shorter than the other. And some sins were right as far as they went, but to stop short, to refuse to consider other texts is very dangerous and can be very misleading and do more harm than good. Very dangerous to know a few Bible verses. You know that? It's very dangerous to know a few Bible verses. Now, what was the problem here? Maybe part of the problem was in verse 34, where they said, we have heard. We've heard. Now, that usually means someone told us. That usually means we didn't read it ourselves. We've heard that The King who is coming will remain forever, and of His government there will be no end. And you say, I'm going to be lifted up. Who is the Son of God? You can't be the Son of God. Well, if you read all the texts of the Old Testament, you would know that He who comes, who will be the King of Israel, He who comes, who will be the Eternal Father, is the one who will also die. As a matter of fact, there are various texts in the Old Testament that tells us, even when he dies on the cross, that they will take his clothes and share them, those who crucified him. Even down to the very details of the crucifixion is prophesied in the Old Testament. Now, the problem here this morning, and that's the issue we're going to deal with today in general, is this, is that if you only have heard what part of the text of the Scriptures has said, and you don't read the whole for yourself, you're normally going to be a very lopsided Christian. And there are a lot of lopsided Christians in the world today. who can only say, we have heard. We've heard. Well, that's the problem. You heard. You didn't read it for yourself. We've heard preachers say. We've heard people who wrote books say. But let me ask you a question. Have you read the Scriptures? Have you read the whole Scriptures? Have you got the balance that's in the Scriptures? Don't tell me you've heard. I don't want to hear it. Read the Word of God. Don't just depend upon others to read the Bible for you, and then say they tell us or we have heard. That's a very dangerous thing to do. You remember the Bereans in Ox who studied the Scriptures, Everything they heard preached, they went to the Bible to see if these things were true. In the book of Acts, chapter 17, verse 10, the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the scriptures daily, to see whether these things were true. Before you believe something that just can't be changed, you become so convicted that this has got to be true. Make sure that you've examined all the Scriptures and you're not living on a, well, we heard, someone told us, Because that's what the Jews said here. We have heard that the Christ is to remain forever. And you say, you're going to be lifted up. And that's why they say in verse 34, the last question, who is this Son of Man? You can't be. Well, the answer to that, if you read the whole Scripture, is the Son of Man will die on the cross and He will be lifted up. And by the power of His Holy Spirit coming to administer His will, His government will be forever. Through His death, He will be King. Through His being lifted up, He will be king. Did you get both sides of that? Don't go home with one side. Don't go home with Jesus as king without Jesus being crucified. Don't go home with Jesus being crucified without being the king. You're lopsided. You're on balance. Read it for yourself. And don't say, well, preacher of all, I heard him say one time, read the Word of God. They searched the Scriptures daily. Every time they heard a new idea, every time somebody had a creative new perspective on something, they searched the Scriptures daily to see whether these things be true. We heard. That's your problem. You heard it. The church today is full of lopsided Christians. I'm going to give you a few examples here this morning, which to me just stand out so evidently. Let's take the second coming of Christ. What did you hear about it? What have you heard about it? What are they telling you? What books have you read? What conferences have you attended? What text do they use? And have you gone home and read all the Scriptures? Have you searched the Scriptures daily to see whether these things be true? The second coming of Christ. Typically in this area, if you mention the second coming of Christ, people who don't know much anything about the Bible. They can't even name the Bible books. They do know one thing. They know the right questions, right? Well, you know, preacher, there's got to be earthquakes and wars and rumors of wars. Well, it does say that in the Bible. Have you read the Bible? Where's that in the Bible? I don't know. I heard! I heard them say! There's going to be wars and rumors of wars. There's going to be earthquakes. And then there's going to be the end of the world. And you know, there are people living all over this area who believe that that day could be any day. Well, you know, years ago, I went back and read those passages. For example, in Matthew 24, verse 6, you will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not afraid, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes." Verse 21, "...for then there will be a great tribulation." Well, that is what it says. I mean, I believe in the Bible. You believe in the Bible, right? It's what it says. And so every time I go out in public, sometimes I get out in public, and people say, oh, you're a preacher, are you? We're living in bad days. You know Jesus is coming any day now. Oh, we need a few more earthquakes. Wars and rumors of wars are everywhere. We're in the end times of the last days. Then I started reading the whole text. I came down to one verse. I guess this changed my whole life perspective, I suppose, on this whole issue. Verse 34 of the same chapter. Verse 34, where Jesus said, Verily I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. And I read that and I thought, hmm. Everything prior to that verse had to take place in the generation of which Jesus was speaking. And they're all died and gone, and so it happened years ago. If that verse is taken face value, right? Now, I know people try to twist it and say generation means race, but you know, I took that word, I went to the concordance one day, and I took generation, and I traced it all the way through the Bible. It always means a span of about 40, 50, 60, 70 years. These things are going to happen. And so I say, well, those things have already happened. And they say, well, we heard, we read, we went to a conference and paid $100 to hear these things. Well, I read. The same verses, the same text, the same chapter, and it said all these things will take place before you die. And Jesus was speaking to the Jews of His own day, to His apostles, to His disciples. Read your Bibles. A lot of lopsided Christians in the world. And don't just repeat the mantra that, well, I heard. Forget what you heard, read your Bible. It's a good place to begin. In the Southern Christian culture in which we live, when it comes to the mode of baptism, for example, we've heard that immersion is the only proper mode of baptism. And the text that is quoted is Romans chapter 6 verse 4. You know the text if you lived in Tennessee for very long, you know it very well. Romans chapter 6 verse 4. For we have been buried with him through baptism into death so that Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father so we too might walk in newness of life. And you know what? I heard that that is proof that immersion is the biblical mode of baptism. That's what I've heard because I've read that verse over and over and over. Well, if that were the only text in the Bible that dealt with the issue of baptism, I might be a person of another persuasion. But it's not. And there are other texts that speak to the issue very clearly. For example, in Isaiah chapter 52, where Isaiah is prophesying of the coming of Christ and the gathering of the nations through the preaching of the gospel, he says in verse 13, Behold, my servant will prosper. He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted." Who's he talking about? He's talking about Christ. "'Just as many were astonished at you, my people, so his appearance was marred more than any man.'" Who's he talking about? He's talking about Jesus Christ. "'And thus he will sprinkle many nations.'" kings will shut their mouths on account of him, for what had not been told them they will see, and what they had not heard they will understand." Where did Christ come, and he was lifted up, and then the gospel was taken to the nations? Well, it began at Pentecost. And what did God do to those who responded in faith at Pentecost? He baptized them. And how did He baptize them? Well, if we read the Word of God, He sprinkled them. In Isaiah 36-25, sprinkling is done with water. He shall sprinkle them with clean water. And people around here say, well, I heard I heard that immersion was the only proper mode of baptism. Have you read your Bibles? Another passage that's quoted around here, and I love my good friends around here, my good Christian friends, but they're lopsided. Some people say, Preacher, you're lopsided too. Well, maybe I am. Somebody can straighten me up. But I do read my Bible. And you can drive up Interstate 81, you can drive through some of the back roads here, and you'll see this text quoted over and over. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. But that's not what the Bible says. That's not what that verse says. In the book of Acts, chapter 16, where this text is quoted, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, thou shalt be saved, period. That's the way it's quoted. But that's not what it says. The question was indeed, sirs, what must we do to be saved? And the answer was, believe in the Lord Jesus and you'll be saved, comma, you and everyone that's in your house. Everyone that's in your house will be saved. Now, why do they leave that off? Because it doesn't fit their theology. It doesn't fit. Believers, baptism. We believe that believers ought to be baptized, but we also believe that the promises of God are not only to believers, but they're also to their children. And we baptize their children with the hope and the promise and the confidence that God will work in their hearts as we raise them in the fear and the admonition of the Lord. And they too will be believers. And so, people say, the Bible says, believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, period. No, that's not what it says. The promise is to you and to everyone in your house. And he doesn't say with an explanation, well, if they believe too, He just says, no, the promise is to everyone in your house. And you raise your children in Christ. You raise your children and pray with them and love them and teach them and discipline them. You know what? God will regenerate their hearts and bring them unto Himself. That's the promise. That's why Lydia, when she responded to the things spoken by Paul, was baptized with her whole household. You say, well, I've heard. Well, forget what you heard. Read your Bible. Another issue in our day and time. Judge not, right? Don't be a judge. It's unchristian to judge. Doesn't it say that in Matthew 7, verse 1? Judge not, lest ye be not judged. Okay. You got me there. I'm not going to judge anybody for anything. If they're stealing, if they're robbing, if they're lying, if they're living in sin, then I'm just not going to judge anybody because that's what I heard. I heard a cop. Again, I went to another conference and paid $150. And that's what they told me. Don't judge alternative lifestyles. Christians aren't supposed to judge. And then I read another verse one time. I preached on it here not too long ago. In John chapter 7 verse 24, where Jesus said this, He says, Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with a righteous judgment. Okay. Let God's Word judge. That's not even what it says, is it? He says, you do not judge according to appearance, but you judge with a righteous judgment. And so therefore, there is a command to judge in the Scriptures. The issue is not judging according to appearance, how people look, But the issue is judging according to the standard of the Word of God. And you say, well, I heard that we're not to judge anybody. Forget what you heard. Read your Bible. And then one last example. John 3.16, For God so loved the world that whosoever believeth in him should not perish. but have everlasting life. The Bible teaches the free offer of the gospel. There is none who comes to Christ that will be rejected. That's true. That's very true. Jesus went to the Jews in His day and time. The very Jews we're speaking of here this morning. And as He had preached to them and proclaimed to Him that He's the Son of God over and over and over and over, Eventually, he quotes from the book of Isaiah and says, Lord, who has believed our report? And to who has the arm of the Lord been revealed? And then in John 13, 39, it says, For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said that he has blinded their eyes, he has hardened their hearts, so that they would not see with their eyes than perceive with their heart. and be converted and healed him. They couldn't believe any more than a dead man can see light. Unless God opens your heart to believe, you will not respond unto Him. And so we live in a society and a Christian culture which teaches us that Everybody has the power to believe because John 3.16 proves it. Well, you know what? There's more verses in the Bible than John 3.16. It's one of my favorite verses. But it's not the only verse. There are verses in the Bible that teach us that unless God regenerates and changes a man's heart, he cannot believe, he will not believe, he's dead. He's dead in trespasses and sins. But I heard, forget what you heard, read your Bible. You see, the Jews were half-right. The priest shall remain forever. His government shall have no end. And you say you're going to be lifted up. How can that be? Who is the Son of God anyway? Well, the Bible also says he shall be appointed to die. And there's already a grave for him. And it's only through the crucifixion, it's only through the humiliation of Christ that his kingship comes. And you guys are all You're off balance. You're lopsided. And we live in a society, because we have not heard the Word of God preached in its entirety, because we have a quote-averse mentality, we live in a culture that is lopsided. Sometimes to the point of becoming ridiculous. But I heard! Forget what you heard. Read your Bible. Let us pray. Our Father in Heaven, we love our Christian brethren who often can only quote a verse and can often only say, Lord, return us to the days when men here, they examine the Scriptures daily to see whether these things be true. Our Father, the Jews heard Christ would remain forever. There would be no end to His government. They missed the very fact that He would be lifted up and He would die. and through death would come his kingdom. Oh Lord, what a mistake. Help us not to make such mistakes in the day in which we live. In Christ's name we pray, Amen.