The scripture reading this afternoon is from the Gospel of John, the Gospel according to John. John 12, verses nine through thirty six. John 12. Verses nine through thirty six, the text is verse twenty six. John 12, verse 9. Much people of the Jews therefore knew that He was there in the area of Jerusalem. And they came not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom He had raised from the dead. But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death, because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away and believed on Jesus. 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 cometh 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, thy king cometh, sitting on an ass's colt. 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. The people, therefore, that was with him when he called Lazarus out of the grave and raised him from the dead, bear 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 ye how ye prevail nothing? Behold, the world is gone after him. 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. Philip cometh and telleth Andrew, and again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus. And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it, and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me. And where I am, there shall also my servant be. If any man serve me, him will my father honor. Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven 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 spake to him. Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes. 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 ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you. For he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus and departed and did hide himself from them. So far the reading of God's holy infallible word. The text this afternoon is verse 26. If any man serve me, let him follow me. And where I am, there shall also my servant be. If any man serve me, him will my Father honour. Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus speaks the words of the text at the very beginning of the Passion Week, probably on the Monday, the Monday leading up to his crucifixion on the Friday. This was also Passover week, a time in which many Jews and Greek converts from all over the world would gather in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover feast. Jesus' popularity at this time was at an all-time high. As we read in the passage, everyone had heard that Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead, and they all wanted to see Him. When Jesus entered into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, the people were singing His praises. Hosanna! Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. And in verse 21, we read that there were also certain Greeks, not just Jews, but now Greeks among the people who wanted to see Jesus. But these Greeks, it appears, did not want to see Jesus merely to gawk at him. These Greeks, it seems, wanted to talk privately with Jesus. in order that they might talk to Jesus about His teachings, about the way of salvation. And perhaps these Greeks were considering, in their way of thinking, to become Jesus' servants and disciples. That would explain why Jesus, when He responds to the request of the Greeks, why He brings up the topic of being a servant and of being a disciple. So these Greeks come up to Philip and with much respect they say, Sir, we would like to see Jesus. And Philip consults with Andrew and together they bring the request to Jesus. Jesus responds to that request with the words that are found in verses 23 through 27. Jesus' attention immediately shifts to his coming suffering and death. This is what being a servant means for Jesus. This is what it looks like for Jesus. This is why He has come to Jerusalem during this Passover week. So that He might faithfully serve His Father and do His Father's will by laying down His life on the cross. He knows that He must die in order that He might bear much fruit. Just as a corn of wheat must first die in the ground before it sprouts and brings much fruit. Jesus thinks of this and then thinks of his disciples and those Greeks who would perhaps like to be his servants. And he tells them, even as I will soon have to give up my life on the cross, so to be my disciple, to be my servant, will require that same level of self-denial. He that loveth his life shall lose it. And he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. And it's at that point that Jesus says the words of the text for this afternoon. If any man would serve me, he must follow me, and follow in my footsteps. These words are very applicable to us, aren't they? As we read these words, we ought to be thinking, hey, Jesus is talking about me. Jesus is talking about us. After all, we profess to be the servants of Jesus. Perhaps in our homes, there are plaques on our walls that have the well-known words of Joshua 24 verse 15 written on them. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. When we made confession of faith, that's what we said. I will serve Christ and live for Christ. And in our marriage vows, in our baptism vows, day by day, every morning when we wake up, we say today, I will serve Christ. But sometimes we also need to be reminded of this, don't we? Sometimes we need to be motivated a little bit more and encouraged in a positive manner to continue diligently in being and living as the servants of Christ. To speak personally, I know that for myself, after two weeks of vacation, a text like this one is helpful. Helpful to get motivated once again, to get the gears moving once again and take up the work. Maybe for some of us, as we see the reality of school starting up again soon, we need a little bit of motivation as well. Truly, whatever our calling might be, we could probably use some motivation and encouragement. And that's what the text also provides us. It gives us clear instruction on what being a servant and a disciple of Jesus Christ looks like, but then it also gives us great encouragement and motivation. So we take as our theme, for him who would serve Christ. And we look at that theme under three points. First, we look at the clear instruction. Second, we look at the encouraging arrangements. And third, we look at the sure rewards. The clear instruction Jesus gives in the text is this, if any man serve me, let him follow me. That is, if any man wants to be Christ's servant, his one duty is this, follow Christ. Before we look at what it means to follow Christ, let's first look at what the text means by serving Christ. The word serve appears three times in the text in one form or another. That word for serve or servant is really the word for deacon. That's where we get the word deacon. A deacon is one who serves and who serves particularly in the work of reflecting the mercy of Jesus Christ. This word that is used for serve and for servant is a very general word that includes all the kind of work that a butler or that a maid or an attendant would perform. The word refers to one who lives in his master's house, who fetches the master's mail, who runs at the master's every call, who prepares the master's meals, who cleans the master's house, and who follows quickly on the heels of his master. The word refers to one who runs the master's errands for the day and does the list of chores that his master gives him. Now children, being a butler or being a maid or a servant does not sound so attractive, does it? The butler or the maid lives in order to do only one thing, serve his master and do what the master says to do. But bring this into the context of Jesus's own day, when being a servant was a common position, when even slaves were common. And now think about what it would be like to live in Jesus's day and be the servant, the attendant of Jesus himself. This is Jesus, God in the flesh, walking on the earth. and you are the one He has chosen to serve Him. There He is, perfect and righteous in all His dealings, full of compassion, full of understanding. Of all the masters a servant could have, what a joy to have Jesus as my Master. And especially at this time, in John 12 verse 26, at the height of Jesus' popularity, how wonderful would it not have been to be Jesus' servant. Everyone wants to speak to this man. Everyone wants to see the miracles he will perform. And you are his servant. You're the one who's constantly at his side. Everyone is shouting, Hosanna! Blessed is the King of Israel! And you can say, that King of Israel, I'm his servant. I'm his personal attendant. Everyone would be saying to himself, oh, if only I was Christ's servant, how happy I would be. What a position I would have. Perhaps that's exactly what the Greeks were thinking when they said, sir, we would like to see Jesus. We would like to be his servants. Of course, the ironic thing is this, as many people as there were who wanted to be Jesus' servants and be His disciples, they really didn't understand what it was all about. When Jesus spoke openly about who He was, that's when many people decided to stop following Him. In many ways, that's how it is today, too. Perhaps people today might say the same kind of thing. They might think to themselves or say, Oh, if Christ came back to the earth today and walked on the earth, how it would be my greatest delight to be His attendant, to heed His every beckon call, to wait upon Him. And people might very well think that. I think if Jesus came to the earth, they would run to him and they would cry out, Lord, Lord, let me be your servant. Lord, Lord, let me work on your behalf. Lord, Lord, Master, Master, let me serve you. Perhaps many think this is what they would do if Christ came back. What do we think of that? Should we think this would be the case if Christ came back today? It would not be the case. It is a mere fancy, a delusion. For if a man would want to be Jesus' servant and wait on Him, if a man would heed His every beck and call and run his errands, he would be doing that already now. We do not need Jesus walking on earth in order to serve Him. We do not need to cry out to Jesus, Lord, Lord, or Master, Master, in order to show we are His willing servants. Jesus says, if any man would be My servant, let him follow Me. Jesus says in Matthew 7 verse 21, To serve Christ is not to serve Him for your own promotion, for your own position, your own glory, but for His promotion, for His advancement and His glory. Jesus says in Mark 8 verse 34, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. This is the instruction Jesus gives in the text. It's a caution that Jesus gives to all those around him at this time who, seeing his great popularity, fancy that they too would like to be his servants. It's a caution to the Greeks who want to see Jesus. It's a caution of sorts and instruction for him who would call himself a Christian, for the one who would call himself a servant of Christ. If you would be the servant of this king of Israel, if you would wait on his call, if you would live in his house and do his work, if you would have that plaque in your home to be true. You must follow him. And so what does it mean then to follow him? We can say that following Jesus involves three things. First, it means that we follow his doctrine, that we believe and teach what Jesus taught. Second, it means that we follow his commands, that we obey him and delight to do his will. And third, it means that we follow his example, that we imitate him and walk where he has walked. First, to follow Jesus means that we follow His doctrine. We believe and teach what Jesus taught. To follow Jesus is to sit at the feet of Jesus, to sit in His school of learning and have Him as our teacher. It is to listen to what Jesus says, to know His thoughts, to know His attitudes and His positions, and then to hold Christ's thoughts and attitudes as your authority and as the rule for your own way of thinking, to make his thoughts, attitudes, and positions to be your own attitudes and positions. To put it another way, to follow Jesus is to study Jesus and His word exactly so that you know His will, His desires, what pleases Him and displeases Him, so that as His attendant, you might do what is pleasing to Him and serve Him as He wants you to serve Him. This should be obvious. The master of a house not only wants his servants to know his position and his attitudes, but to have those same positions and attitudes himself. The master wants to know that his servants can be trusted to keep the house just as the master wants it kept, and to faithfully reflect the thoughts and behavior of the master. Our Master, Jesus, has given us His Word, the Scriptures, and He has supplied us with His Spirit, so that we might know His thoughts and be of one mind with Him. So that when it comes to how the house of the Master ought to be kept, so that when it comes to various matters such as proper Sabbath observance, or how we are to lead our homes and families, We know our Master's attitudes and thoughts, and we faithfully reflect those thoughts. So then, also, when our own sinful flesh wants us to reject these views as hard, or too hard, or burdensome, or too offensive, or too out of date, we can say to our old man of flesh, Who do you think you are to tell me what to do? I am the servant of Christ, not of you. I am dead to you. His word is my authority. Think about this. What kind of a servant would he be who reads what Christ has taught and then ignores it and teaches something else? He's not a servant of Christ at all. Instead, he has made himself to be Christ's critic. He has put himself ahead of Christ. As someone that Christ should follow and that Christ should learn from. If you would serve Christ, follow his teachings, humble yourself before him as a little child who is ready to learn and ready to receive instruction from the master. Second, to follow Jesus means that we follow His commands, that we obey Him and delight to do His will. And this is very closely related to the first. Sitting at His feet, we learn from Jesus, we learn His thoughts and attitudes, but now Jesus also gives us instructions. He gives us assignments and tasks to carry out. And so we get up off of our seats, we get onto our feet, and we carry out those tasks. And it doesn't matter what our calling or station in life is. It simply means being ready at the call of Christ for whatever labor He set before me for the day. To serve Christ does not mean that you have to aim at great things. That's where many make a mistake. They think that they can follow Christ by telling Christ what He should do with them. how He should employ them in His service and what tasks should be assigned to them. I will serve Jesus by being a great preacher or by being a great missionary. And so I campaign and do interviews and promote myself that a church might hire me. And I make myself a minister. I'll serve Christ by winning many souls to Christ. Well, what if that's not Christ's purpose with that man? We follow Christ not by choosing for ourselves the work we must do, but by obeying Him and doing the work He has set on our plate for the day. And we find delight in that work. Exactly because we know that this is the work that the Master has given me. Servants, faithful servants, do not ask why. Servants do not mutter and stammer and say, But master, this is really too low for me. Or master, this is really too hard for me. The servant willingly obeys. And if the work seems too easy to him, he remains content with the master's choice, and he perhaps also evaluates himself whether he's doing the work properly. And if the work seems too hard for him, he trusts that the master will provide the resources needed to complete the work. Third, to follow Jesus means that we follow his example, that we imitate him and walk where he has walked. Jesus does not call us to mark our own path, to mark out our own path. Jesus does not call us to be in the lead. He simply calls us to follow in his footsteps. The proud man wants to serve Christ by striking out new paths and by rejecting the old paths. And he wants to strike out new paths exactly because he finds Christ's paths to be too low for him. Christ's path was a path of service, of humility, and of suffering. In Matthew 20, verses 25 through 28, Jesus tells his disciples this. Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you. But whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister, your servant. And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant. Even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. And look what Jesus says here in this passage in verse 27. Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name. That's the service of Jesus. And that's the kind of service we are to imitate. Denying ourselves, even unto death, that we might do our Savior's will. That's the path we are to walk. This is what it means to serve Christ then. To follow Him, His doctrine, His commands, and His example. And now we can go back and we can ask, if Christ came back and walked on this earth, how many would flock to Christ in order to be His servant? We see how many. We see how many by the refusal of many to teach and to embrace and to love the full counsel of God. We see how many, by the refusal to submit to the hard sayings of Jesus, not only with perfect humility, but with perfect trust in the Master. We see how many would follow Christ by the blatant disobedience to Christ's clear commands and the refusal to put off pet sins, secret sins, and the old man of sin. We see how many, by the refusal to imitate Christ's meek and lowly character, Not many. We see it even in our own day-to-day struggle to follow Christ aright. If it's not pride and self-promotion that I'm struggling with that can make serving Christ difficult, you go to this side of the pendulum and it's the attraction of being lazy and slothful. It's hard to find the right motivation for serving Christ. Serving Christ is a life of self-denial and walking after Him. These Greeks in the passage wanted to see Jesus and talk with Him. But it's easy to talk. The question really was this, and Jesus gets to the heart of it. Would they be willing to serve Him? The question for us is this, are we willing to serve Jesus? For Jesus says, if any man serve him, let him follow me. My doctrine, my commandments, my example. But for those who would follow Jesus, Jesus gives encouraging arrangements. He says, if any man serve me, let him follow me. And where I am, there shall also my servant be. That's a statement of fact. Where Christ is, there His servant will also be. And that's exactly part of what it means to follow Jesus. Being where He is. Congregation, we ought to notice, first of all, just how striking those words actually are. How different Christ's words are from those of the typical master. We would expect the exact opposite, wouldn't we? Typically, where the master is, there his servant shall not be. The master is in the living room with the guests. The servant is in the back room preparing the meal, doing his chores. The master is off on business. The servant tends to work at home. Think of how it was during the days of slavery. The masters had their mansions, and where would their servants, their slaves be? They would have their little shanty on the back corner of the property. Jesus says something different. He says, where I am, that's where my servant will also be. That was the rule already when Christ ministered on earth with His disciples. Wherever He went, they went. When Christ went to the wedding feast in Cana of Galilee, His disciples went with Him. When Christ passed through Samaria and met the Samaritan woman at the well of Jacob, His disciples went with Him. When Jesus healed the impotent man on the Sabbath day, when Jesus fed the 5,000 with five loaves and two fishes, even now in John 12, when Jesus makes His triumphant entry into Jerusalem, His disciples are with Him. Jesus' disciples followed Him, and where He was, there they were also. But Jesus also tells His disciples that following Him and being with Him where He is, is not always easy in this world. In John 15 verse 20, Jesus tells his disciples, That's also involved in this idea. Where Jesus is, there also his servant shall be. Faithfully following Jesus involves experiencing also the sufferings that Jesus experienced. The disciples would experience that themselves. They would experience that when first Peter and John were arrested for preaching the gospel in Acts 4. Then they would experience it in Acts chapter 5 when all the apostles were imprisoned and then beaten. Stephen would experience it in Acts chapter 7 when Stephen was stoned to death for warning the Jews of their sins. They suffered because they followed Jesus and they were with Jesus. They were with him as they taught what he taught, as they obeyed his commandments, and as they imitated his example. All this is also true today. Where Christ is, there shall his servant also be. Where is Christ today? He is present, first of all, in His Word. So, the faithful servant of Christ will be the one who is in the Word, reading and studying the Scriptures. Christ is present, second, in the faithful preaching of the Gospel, Sunday by Sunday. The faithful servant of Christ will be the one who chooses to worship and have His membership where Christ is faithfully preached in all His glory. Christ is present third in the godly lives of men and women. So the faithful servant of Christ will be the one who associates himself with those men and women. He makes them his friends and he refuses to fellowship with the wicked because, simply put, Christ is not there. By implication, the text teaches us that since we will be where Christ is, we will be in the same circumstances as Christ. His lot will be our lot. His portion will be our portion, just as it was for his apostles. In season, out of season. In riches or in poverty. In shame or in honor. In reproach or in high esteem. In life, in death, in time and in eternity. Jesus says, where I am, there shall also my servant be. All of this is true. Beloved, all of this is true. But there is one exception. There is one place Christ went where his servants cannot go, where they need not go. That's the place, you remember, where Christ's apostles fled from him and they stayed behind him when he went ahead all by himself. This is the place where Christ went so that we, his servants, would never have to go there. And that place was the lonely walk Christ took to the hill Golgotha, to the cross of Calvary. That was the place where Christ stood alone under the poured-out wrath of God, with our sins upon His shoulders. There, He alone drank the cup of God's punishing wrath, that cup that would have destroyed us had we tasted even but a drop of that wrath. And he went there alone, exactly to purchase us as his servants. So that in all other circumstances, these arrangements might be made, that where he is, we may be also. Congregation, these arrangements are encouraging. They are encouraging first because they assure us that wherever we go as Christ's servants, Christ is there with us. Faithfully following Him, we are never separated from Him. People of God, in your life right now, is Christ as your Master commanding you as His servant to climb up a high mountain? A mountain perhaps of hardship and struggle as you battle against sin. Or is Christ commanding you as His faithful servant to walk patiently through some deep, dark valley? A deep valley of heartache or of pain. Perhaps even the valley of the shadow of death. Know this. Jesus does not point up that mountain and say, start climbing. I'll meet you on the other side. Jesus does not point to the dark valley and say, get on your way. I'll meet you at the end of the valley. No, the text says, where I am, there shall also my servant be. He's already climbed the mountain. He's already walked through that valley. And now he's walking through it again, this time as your guide, to show you the way. These arrangements are encouraging also and especially because of where Christ actually is. We see that from the context. We see that first from verse 28. Notice what we read in verse 28. Father, glorify Thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. What we learn from that verse is that Christ was in the place of close communion and fellowship with His Father. He was always in the presence of the Father. And Christ says, where I am, there shall also my servant be. We notice also what is said in verse 35. Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you. For he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. From this verse we learn that Jesus is in the light. In fact, Jesus is the light. Following Christ, being with Christ, we enjoy walking in the light, and we enjoy walking in safety and holiness. And we also know because of Christ's death on the cross and His resurrection and ascension into heaven, that Christ's place right now is on a throne of glory from which He rules over all creation. Jesus is the victor and He rules with power and righteousness from that glorious throne in heaven. And Jesus says, There shall also my servant be, also sitting on a throne, ruling in glorious majesty. We have been raised with Christ unto heavenly places. We have been raised to heavenly places in Christ Jesus. And this really leads into our final point. For him who would serve Christ, for him who would follow Christ, follow in his doctrine, and follow his commands, and follow his example, there are sure rewards. If any man serve me, Jesus says, him will my father honor. Here we see the union between Jesus Christ and his triune father. Jesus is the beloved servant of His triune Father, sent not to do His own will, but the will of His Father. And not only will the Father reward Jesus and bestow honor upon Jesus, He will also reward the one who serves Jesus, who serves His servant. The work that Jesus' servants do for Him, the Father takes those services as being done to Himself. He notes those men and women, and He will honor them in due time. What is this honor? First, the Father will make recompense for all the pain and loss that Christ's servants go through. Denying ourselves in this life, the reward in the next life will be great. When God's people endure distresses, hunger, weeping, heartache, pain, and even death in their endeavor to follow Jesus Christ faithfully, They are all the while storing up rewards in heaven, blessings in heaven. Let that be your motivation also. And second, as we have already stated, the Father will honor Christ's servant by setting him up on a glorious throne, putting a scepter in his hand, and giving him even more responsibilities as his servant. in heavenly glory. Of course, this honor is all of grace. Being with Christ is all of grace. Being able to follow Christ as his servant is all of grace. Being called the servant of Christ is all of grace. And enjoying the honor that comes in serving Christ faithfully is all of grace, too. There is nothing in us or of us through which we have merited such honor. It is because of God's grace and the perfect service Christ has rendered on the cross. People of God, the summary of it all is this. It is heaven to serve Christ. It is heaven to follow Christ and be with Him where He is. Congregation, consider. That is exactly the honor that is also laid up for you in heaven. Serving God perfectly as His servants. That's how we will be honored in heaven. This is how we get a foretaste of heaven already now. By serving God in our duties today, and join who we are as the servants of Christ. And even right now, this is how God honors us. Exactly by giving us work in His kingdom to carry out. And giving us the joy and knowledge of His presence. May we remember that. Serving God is itself part of the honor. May we remember that in the home. Serving Christ is itself part of the honor. May we remember that at school. Serving Christ is itself part of the honor. May we remember that in the consistory room. Serving Christ is itself an honor. May we remember that in all our work as we do it unto the Lord Jesus. And then may we be humbled by the thought that God is so gracious that he places honor above honor, honor upon honor, grace upon grace in the rewards he showers upon us in the way of our faithful service to him. And then may we remember those first words of instruction. If any man would serve him, if any man would serve me, Let Him follow me, my teaching, my commandments, my example. May God continue to give us the grace and strength to serve and follow Him faithfully. Amen.