John chapter 12. Our scripture reading will begin in verse 20 and go through to verse 36. And John 12, coming just before the upper room discourses in John, happening perhaps the day of, or the day before, or the day of the celebration of the Lord's Supper, which happened on the eve of his Christ's crucifixion. John 12. Scripture reading again then in verse 20 to 36. We give our attention together to the reading of God's word, and we have prayed that he will bless it, and we trust indeed that he will. John 12, verse 20. Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast. Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, Sir, we wish to see Jesus. Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn, Andrew and Philip told Jesus. But Jesus answered them, saying, the hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, let him follow me. And where I am, there my servant will be also. If anyone serves me, him my father will honor. Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour, but for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name. Then a voice came from heaven saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. Therefore, the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said an angel has spoken to him. Jesus answered and said, this voice did not come because of me, but for your sake. Now is the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And if I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to myself. This he said signifying by what death he would die The people answered him we have heard from the law that the christ remains forever And how can you say the son of man must be lifted up? Who is this son of man? Then jesus said to them a little while longer the light is with you Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. He who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light. These things Jesus spoke and departed and was hidden from them. as far as the reading of God's word in John chapter 12. Our focus will be on verses 30 to 33, as Jesus speaks of the significance of the voice from heaven. We are focusing directly on the cross this morning, but we're not looking specifically at a passage of Christ's crucifixion, describing his crucifixion. But we are looking at this passage where Christ specifically speaks of the significance of the cross. It comes to us in a very beautiful area of the Gospel of John. You may have heard verse 20 and 21 before, how the Greeks come to see Jesus and they say those famous words, Sir, we wish to see Jesus. I remember hearing of a pastor who inscribed those words across the top of the pulpit. Now when he got into the pulpit, he would read across the top, Sir, we wish to see Jesus, and every Sunday be reminded that he had to present and preach and proclaim Jesus Christ to the people in front of him. But the Greeks come to see Jesus, they want to see him, and in that moment Jesus realizes, and he knew already by all means, but he takes that moment to point out the significance of the fact that the nations are coming to see Christ. It is a reminder that his death is at hand. And we have the beautiful words of verse 27 and 28. After Christ having spoken of the grain of wheat falling into the earth and dying, looks towards the cross and says, now my soul is troubled and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. Father, glorify your name. Our Savior goes to the cross for the glory of God. Beloved in the Lord, He goes to the cross also for the salvation of fallen man. He goes to the cross for the salvation of men and women and children who, beloved in themselves, they cannot know God. They can't know what it is to have a God who would love them and smile upon them and rejoice in them. They can only know what it is to have a God from whom they wish to hide, or to flee, or to run. Beloved in the Lord, Christ came to save sinners, of whom I am chief. As we look upon Christ's teaching about the cross, that's what we see. That is the power of the cross. That is the purpose of the cross. We want to see it in three points as Christ teaches us the purpose and the power of the cross this morning. We want to see first in terms of the judgment of the world, and secondly, the casting out of the ruler of the world, and thirdly, the power of the cross to draw all peoples to himself. So first we'll see the cross and its purpose in terms of the judgment of the world. When we look at that first section as Jesus begins to speak of the cross, and He is looking forward to the cross, there is no doubt. He has spoken of that hour in which He will lay down His life. He has committed Himself to it by praying that God would glorify His name, and God has given the glorious response, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. And as Jesus interprets that response for the people, He does so by saying, the voice didn't speak for his benefit. And that's just a bit of an interesting point, if we can still pay attention. It's a bit of an interesting point. Jesus says that God didn't speak for his benefit. God the Father answered Christ directly. Jesus cried out, Father, glorify your name. And the Father said, I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again. It is a direct answer to Jesus Christ. And yet Jesus says, the voice didn't come for me. Christ was not in doubt of whether the Father would glorify His name. Christ was not in doubt of whether God would show the majesty of His love as the Son hung upon the cross and took the wrath of God against your sins. Christ was not in doubt. But the voice spoke for us. For us. that we would know in the death of the Son of God, God the Father was glorifying himself. He's glorifying himself. He's gonna glorify himself through three things. First, revealing that in the cross, there is the judgment of the world. Now that is a very beautiful expression and concept that in the cross is the judgment of the world. We know and think of the cross sometimes in terms of the judgment of Jesus Christ, and certainly it is a bit of a judgment that he bears most assuredly. But how is the cross the judgment of the world? And we wanna look at that in two elements, to the judgment of the world. Now first we're gonna turn to John 3, 16 for, John 3, 16. It's the famous words, it's the one you have held up on the side behind the end zone in the football games. That's the passage I hope we all have memorized among many others. We're gonna read through to verse 19. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but the world through him might be saved. He who believes in him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. This is the condemnation, says Jesus, that light came into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light. How is the cross the judgment of the world? How is the cross the judgment of the world? Beloved in the Lord, when Christ went to the cross, we showed that light came into the world, and we loved darkness more than we loved light. When Christ hung upon the tree, it was the world declaring we would rather have the Son of God dead than have Him expose the weakness of our hearts. It was a revelation of how far we sink in our sin, that we sin against the Lord over and over and over again. It was a judgment of the world in the sense that it shows just how dark and how horrid our hearts are. I don't know if you remember the parable of the wicked vinedressers where Jesus spoke of the kingdom as a man who owned a vineyard and he left it in charge of the vinedressers and he went away. And when it came time for him to collect some of the produce and profit of the vineyard, he sent his servant. And when the servant came to the vineyard, the vinedressers beat him and sent him away empty handed. And so the owner of the vineyard sent another and he received the same treatment and another and it became worse. And at the end, He said, I will send my son. Why did he say that? Do you remember? The next words of the owner were, they will respect my son. These wicked vine dressers. who beat prophet after prophet, messenger after messenger. In the parable, Jesus says, the owner says, I will send my son. They will respect my son. That is a step to which, if they sink, that is just a horrid thing. They will respect my son, but you know how the parable goes on? They say, this is the heir, let's kill him. The vineyard will be ours, and they kill the son. And right after that, Jesus says, what will the owner of the vineyard do? What is the answer? He will destroy those wicked vine dressers and he will give the vineyard to one bearing its fruit. Now is the judgment of the world. God has sent his son. And we have nailed Him to the cross. And we have cried out that we have no King but Caesar. And even the thieves hanging beside Him mocked Him. Though by God's grace one was saved. The judgment of the world, beloved, is that the light of God came into this world with such brilliant clarity as the Son of God healed and forgave and lifted up and went with the weary and the broken and was forsaken by man and forsaken by God. And that would be the point that would convict the nations after Christ's resurrection when Peter preaches the great Pentecostal sermon. It says, this Jesus, whom you crucified, God has made both Lord and King. And the Bible says they were cut to the heart. Why? Because this is the judgment, not of Christ, but of the world. It shows not Christ's sin. It shows our sin. It shows how desperate we are not to allow God to put the spotlight on us, not to reveal how wicked we are. It shows the measure and length to which we'll go to conceal the fact that we have fallen so far short. Not only though is it the judgment of the world and the fact that it shows and reveals the sin of the world, but it's the judgment of the world and that, it's the judgment we deserve that Christ bears. We never wanna miss or leave aside what is spoken of as the vicarious suffering or the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ. It's the concept that when God judged the world, only one man suffered. Jesus says now is the judgment of the world. Now is the judgment of this world. And yet, ultimately, though of course others were suffering in the world at that time, ultimately only one suffered the judgment of this world, only one. In the cross we see the judgment of God upon a sinful world. In the cross, we see the judgment of God upon what our hearts all deserve, and yet it does not fall upon us, and it does not fall upon you. Beloved Lord, it falls upon Jesus Christ. Now you imagine if the disciples remembered this as Jesus hung upon the cross, as they saw their Savior nailed to the tree, as they heard Christ call out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? They had running through their heads, now is the judgment of this world. Now the price of this world's sin is being paid. And I'm not speaking of a universalism, beloved Lord. We know in speaking of the world, God is paying the price for his children. And yet beloved, it is the sin of our hearts, the sin of our hands that is paid for on the cross. And nowhere else we read Isaiah 53, that glorious passage where it speaks of how it is by his stripes that we have healed. He was bruised, wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed. Beloved Lord, this is the judgment of the world. But for those who stand in Christ, it falls upon the Son of God. It falls not upon you. It falls not upon me. It falls upon the Savior. And on each side of Christ was a criminal, one who had faced the judgment of God upon himself, the other who had never seen that judgment fall because it fell upon the Christ. There will be judgment. There will be a day when every man, woman, and child will stand before the omnipotent holy God and answer for our deeds. The glory of the cross is that judgment has already fallen on the Son of God, and all who come to God in Him can know that judgment has already passed. You're free. The price has been paid. The debt has been erased. Judgment has fallen. It's fallen on your Savior. That's the power of the cross. that this is the judgment of the world. It doesn't fall upon my head, beloved Lord, and it doesn't have to fall upon yours. Because Jesus Christ took it on the cross. But as John 3 writes, all who believe in him should never perish but have everlasting life. It's the judgment of the world. Secondly, it is the victory of Christ over Satan. The victory of Christ over Satan. Now the ruler of this world is cast out. I love that phrase, I love that concept. And one of the reasons I love the concept is because I remember it from a sermon when I was much younger, at least a little younger. I don't know how old I was, but I remember the pastor preaching on Revelation 12. So let's flip there, Revelation 12. What does it mean that the ruler of this world is cast out? Well, we know that we're warned in the Bible that the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour and therefore we must be sober and cautious. We know in Ephesians 6 that we are told that we fight against spiritual forces in the heavenly realms. There is a power of darkness, there is an enemy. So we know the idea that the devil is cast out does not mean that he no longer exists. It does not mean that he no longer has any power. What does it mean? Well, in Revelation 12, we have a bit of a story that's kind of capturing what God is doing in history in redeeming his children and bringing his son, Jesus Christ. And in verse seven, after the church has, or the nation of Israel, the church has brought forth Jesus Christ, and he is protected from the wrath of the dragon. In verse seven, we read these words of Revelation 12, and war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world. He was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, now salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ have come. For the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. What a passage, what a passage. Now the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ have come. because the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. Beloved Lord, why did Job get into so much trouble? Because on the day when the angels came before God, Satan also came with them, and God said to Satan, have you considered my servant Job? You ever wondered what Satan was doing in the throne room of God? That ever strike us? Zechariah 3 speaks of a vision of Joshua the high priest standing in filthy robes before God. And Satan stands at his right hand to accuse him. Zechariah 3. And the angel of the Lord, Jesus Christ, says, the Lord rebuke you. The Lord rebuke you. Is this not a bran plucked from the fire? You ever wonder about that? That the devil can stand in the presence of the most high God? He doesn't stand there anymore. He can't bring his accusations against you anymore. So you fall into sin, and the devil brings his accusations against you. He whispers in your ear, maybe it's not the devil, it's, you know, all the little forces he has. We're not big enough to have the devil focus on us, I don't think. His little lesser demons, that's enough to make us cringe, right? They come and they bring their accusations. They come and they say how horrible we are and how God will never accept us. They come and they say, if God loved you so much, He gave His only Son, and He'd open your eyes to the beauty of the gospel, and He'd bring you conviction of heart and love and hope and joy, and you'd turn your back on that, to walk in sin again. Certainly God will never take you back. Certainly he will never love you again. Those are the accusations the devil brings against us often in sin. And they need to be dealt with. We need to fight them and we need to stand under the power of the blood of Christ. But beloved Lord, just recognize this, the accusations can't be brought to the throne of God anymore. The devil can't go to God most high and bring an accusation against you. Who is he that shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies, says Paul in Romans eight. The devil's power has been broken. I love this illustration. Unfortunately, I don't know exactly where it's from. I'm pretty sure it's from the Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling. And there's a number of short stories in there about Mowgli. Okay, everyone with me now? Mowgli, the little jungle boy, he runs around and visits the animals. Well, at one time, Mowgli is trying to get this great treasure that is guarded, not by Kaa the python, that's the constricting snake, but by King Cobra with an incredibly venomous bite. And Mowgli wants to go in and get something out of his lair and out of his den and he's warned not to do it and he's a stubborn little boy and he goes in and he goes into the den of the King Cobra. And when he jumps in, for some reason he falls. And when he gets up from his fall and he looks up, there's the cobra, doing its entrancing back and forth as Mowgli looks into the cobra's eyes. And the cobra's beginning to hiss and to give its victory speech of how it's going to destroy Mowgli and kill Mowgli and rejoice to have another death attributed to it. Do you know the story at all? Mowgli's really scared. And he notices as he looks at the cobra that the gums of the cobra, they're all shriveled. And there's no teeth or fangs in the cobra's mouth. The cobra's become so old that its teeth have broken out. Its bite is gone. It's got no more poison. So here's this snake with its mesmerizing eyes looking at Mowgli saying, oh, I'm going to kill you. I'm going to get you. And Mowgli starts to laugh. He begins to make fun of the snake because it's got no bite. Satan's got no bite. He talks big. but he cannot touch you, and he cannot take you from the hand of God, because when Christ died on the cross, that great accuser of his brethren was cast down. And he may run around the earth, and he may cause many troubles, but beloved Lord, because of the cross of Christ, each and every one for whom Christ died is safe in the hands of sovereign love. The devil has lost its power, the devil has lost its strength, and He can't harm you, not as you stand by God's grace, the precious blood of your Savior. The ruler of this world has been cast out. He's broken the power of the enemy, and finally, he releases the power of God into salvation, and I, if I am lifted up, "'will draw all peoples to myself.'" First, we see the cross has a power and purpose in judgment. Secondly, we see the cross has a power in breaking the enemy and destroying the power of the devil. And third, we see the cross has a significance and power in that it brings the gospel. and it's saving, it transforms all peoples in drawing them to Christ. One of the neat things in John 3, John 3, is when Nicodemus comes and asks Jesus about the new birth, or he says, he doesn't ask him about the new birth, he says, we know you're a teacher come from God, and Jesus says, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he's born again. And you remember how Nicodemus kind of responds to Jesus? He says, well, how can a man be born again when he's old? He can't get back into the womb, can he? And Jesus begins to teach upon how someone is born again. And he uses a metaphor, a picture. He says, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up. How is someone born again? In John 6, 44, Jesus said, no one comes to me unless the Father draws him. How does God draw? How does God open blind eyes? How does God take out rock-hard hearts? How does God give new life, new birth, that miraculous saving power of God? How does God do it? The answer, beloved Lord, is through the lifting up of Jesus Christ. This, he said, John goes on to say, signifying by what kind of death he would die. How does God bring new life? Beloved Lord, he points our eyes to the cross. He points our eyes to the death of Christ. He shows how much we love Him, and we don't know how, and we don't know exactly where, but somehow, as Christ is exalted, and Jesus is lifted up, and we understand the power of the cross, God actually works new life in our hearts. He actually draws these stubborn, wicked people in themselves to Himself. He changes us. The cross is the power of God unto salvation, writes Paul, for all who believe. There's something miraculous about the cross. There's something glorious about the cross. That in the proclamation of the death of the Son of God, you can actually see dead sinners come alive and get drawn to Christ. Isn't that beautiful? They're drawn to Christ. It's like a magnet pulling the filings towards it. And yet, you don't know why, but somehow you're, You're being pulled to Christ. Do you remember that day? Or do you remember those days when Christ drew you to himself? You didn't know exactly why or how, but the heart melted. You realize the Son of God died for you. and you are drawn to the shepherd and overseer of your soul. Jesus says, if I'm lifted up, I'll draw all peoples to myself. This is a gospel that has no limit. We go back to the start of the sermon in John 12, verse 20, when the Greeks came and said, sir, we wish to see Jesus. And Jesus said, this is the hour. And I, if I am lifted up, will draw all peoples to myself. Ian Murray said the cross was the pulpit by which God proclaimed his love to the world. The pulpit by which God proclaimed his love to the world. When Christ hung upon the cross, it wasn't just about judgment. It wasn't just about beating the devil. It was about telling a world full of rotten sinners that God loved them. He loved them. The cross was a message of God's love because it was for us, because it was in our stead, because he beat the enemy for us. In the cross, beloved Lord, God shows his love even for fallen sinners, even for the worst of sinners. And therefore it has been since the very foundation of the church that in the proclamation of Jesus Christ, we actually know what it is that God loves us. And the love of God breaks through all our doubts and all our fears and all our awarenesses of our failings and we cry out, can it be? We look at the cross and we said, yes, it can. He would give his only son for me. By the grace of God, all the hardness of heart, all the antagonism, all the questions, all the doubts can be answered. Because as Christ is lifted up, we see the love of God for a fallen world. It is a miraculous and perfect working, beloved Lord. God draws us to Jesus. Hence, Paul says, God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. The cross, of course, in light of the resurrection, beloved, is the cornerstone and the victory of this world. It is the place where we see how great is the love of God for sinners, how great is the wrath of God for sin, how great is His victory over the enemy, and how great is the power of God that He can draw even-hardened hearts to Himself. So what does it mean, and where do we go, and what is the application? Beloved in the Lord, let us lift high the cross of Christ. Let us know what it is to delight in the fact that the Son of God died for us. Let us know what it is to delight, to lift high the power of God, that we might see others drawn to Christ. This is the message we have. This is the anchor we rest on. This is what the world needs to hear, and this is how God overcomes the sin of the heart, through the message of the cross, by the power of His Spirit. And let us, beloved of the Lord, not stop delighting that though we have seen our sins exposed so fully on the cross, we have seen what is greater exposed thereto, the love and power of God that would overcome our sins and bring us home. Beloved, may we delight in the power and the beauty of the work of our Savior. Let's join together in prayer. Father in heaven, Lord, we thank you for the cross of Jesus Christ. We thank you, Lord, that we can look upon it and see that this is indeed the judgment of the world, revealing our sin as we crucify the Son of God, but also providing the answer for our sin, and that the judgment we deserve has fallen upon the head of Jesus Christ. Thank you, Lord, that in the cross we see the victory over our great enemy, the devil, that we need not fear him anymore. Lord, we can, Sometimes we're so overwhelmed by our sin that our eyes are taken off the Savior. We pray, Lord, that you will keep us so fixed upon Christ that we will know that the devil does not have the power to snatch us from the hands of God, doesn't even have the power to accuse us anymore before the Father, because we stand under that finished work and perfect blood of Christ. We pray, Lord, that you will help us to know that on the cross, the declaration of your love the declaration of your power, you still draw all peoples to yourself. From every tribe and nation, whether the Jewish or the Greek, Canadian or otherwise, Father, help us to rejoice and proclaim the message of the cross by which you soften hearts and open eyes and give new life. And Father, we pray as we celebrate the weekend today, that Lord, you will anchor us more and more in the fact that we have been crucified with Christ and our joy and our glories in that finished work, in his death and resurrection. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.