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Alright, so we are going chapter by chapter through the book of John and John chapter 12, verse number 21, the same came therefore to Philip which was of Bethsaida of Galilee and desired him saying, sir, we would see Jesus. The title for the sermon this afternoon is, sir, we would see Jesus. The desire was to see Jesus and I think the response Jesus Christ gives is really interesting. But let's start there in verse number one. So as we go chapter by chapter, you know we've been progressively getting closer to the Passover, the final Passover which of course is the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. It says in verse number one, then Jesus six days before the Passover. Wow, we're really close now. We're one week, we're within the week of Christ being crucified. Then Jesus six days before the Passover came to Bethany where Lazarus which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. And verse number two, there they made him a supper and Martha served. But Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him. So he goes back to Bethany and is enjoying a great meal with his friends. There's Lazarus not only raised from the dead, but he's eating at the table. Okay, I guess he's celebrating Christ and celebrating the resurrection of Lazarus there. They're having a great time together. But look at verse number three, then took Mary, Mary's the other sibling, the sister of Lazarus, a pound of ointment of Spocknard, very costly and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the odor of the ointment. What an interesting thing to anoint Jesus Christ. And actually, you know, the word Christ, the Messiah means the anointed one. And you see that she's anointed him with this expensive, very costly ointment, this perfume. And she uses her own hair to clean the feet of Jesus Christ. What a humbling thing to do for the Savior. And look how the disciples respond. Well, actually one of the disciples, verse number four, then say if one of his disciples, which one do you think it is? Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him. Why was not this ointment sowed for 300 pence and given to the poor? This is said not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief and had the bag and bear what was put therein. Very interesting words. So we have an idea of the cost of this ointment, the cost of this perfume. It says, why was not this ointment sowed for 300 pence? Now a penny in the day of Christ here is about a day's labor. So 300 pence, you're almost talking about a whole year's, what is that? That's 10 months of work, 10 months of work that she's saved up to buy this ointment and she spends it all on the feet of Jesus Christ anointing him. And you know, Judas's reaction is not that uncommon really. That you will take something so precious and give it to the Lord and for people to then criticize, complain, and why are you doing that much for the Lord? And you know, I can kind of understand like the envy that someone can have. I remember just, you know, earlier in my Christian life where I felt like I wasn't doing much for the Lord and I would see people sacrifice greatly and do great things and sacrifice their time and their and the finances for the things of God where I should have turned around and said, well praise God for that person instead because of my lack of what I was doing for Jesus. I was like, well, you know, was it really worth it? You know, I've had those thoughts. I've had those thoughts in my past and I mean obviously not so much now. I'm much more mature as a Christian but it's something that people can experience and look the thing with Judas Iscariot is that he's not even a believer. We've seen this before. I'll just quickly read to you from John 6 64. It says, but there are some of you, these are words of Jesus, but there are some of you that believe not for Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not and who should betray him. Who betrayed him of course we see here that is Judas Iscariot. Jesus Christ knew from the very beginning that he was never a believer of Jesus Christ. Why did Judas Iscariot get involved in the ministry? I think the fact that he carries the bag, carries the money, carries the offerings, tells us why he got into the ministry. Tells us why he can see this expensive perfume being utilized for the feet of Christ. Why he thinks it would have been better if it was just given to the treasury. That it was just better that it was sold and whether we could distribute and give it to the poor but we see that he did not care for the poor because he was a thief and had the bag and bear that what was put in there in. I think what we're seeing here is that he was actually thieving. He was actually stealing. He carried the bag. He was the treasurer. He was the one keeping accounts. He was seeing the money coming into the ministry of Christ but he was a thief. He would pocket a little bit on the side, a little bit there, a little bit there and he's thinking about man 300 days of labour. That could be put into our bag. We could feed the poor. What cut are you going to take Judas? How much are you going to take from that? You can see that Judas of course he's not saved. In fact he's going to betray Christ. He's going to sell Christ off as it were and then ultimately Judas kills himself, commits suicide and dies. Death without Jesus Christ is burning in hell right now but we see in verse number seven how does Jesus Christ respond to this so-called accusation against Mary? Then said Jesus, let her alone, like leave her alone against the day of my burying she have kept this. She actually bought this perfume for the purpose of the burying of Jesus Christ. She kept this perfume on purpose to anoint the body of Christ. You see one of the practices in this day is when a body, a dead body was put into a grave. You know they would go over several days and anoint that body. They would put you know nice fragrance and nice smell on the body because of course the body's rotten away. It's deteriorating. You know there's that ugly smell that can be brought forth from a dead body and in order to kind of pay respects and to minimize the odor you know Mary had set aside this perfume means something like this would have taken her a long time to save up and you know and buy and for the purpose of Christ. She knew for a long time that Christ would die. Like her faith was on the Messiah who would pay for her sins who would be the lamb that would take away the sin of the world. She already knew that Christ would die and the reason I say that is just once again we see even in the Old Testament days they knew that the Messiah would die in their place. Her faith was on the death of the Messiah and she you know she anointed his body now. I guess this is similar to how we often you know during a funeral burial would often put flowers upon that grave. You know we'd pay our respects in that way but this would be the way they would do it. They would anoint the body with these perfume and nice smelling things so the smell would not be disrespectful you know to that that body that has passed away. But what Christ says is really interesting in verse number eight. For the poor always ye have with you but me ye have not always. You know what Christ is saying? That you'll never defeat poverty. Christ is saying the poor will always be with you. We can never defeat poverty. Like you know there are there are well-meaning you know that organizations that are trying to deal with world hunger trying to solve world hunger. It's never going to happen. There's always going to be the poor amongst us. You know Jesus is scaring us saying hey we should just we should have taken care of the poor instead of wasting this money on the feet of Jesus. Reverend the poor are always with you but he says but me ye have not always. Christ was near his death he'd be taken away. Now brethren you know we we have received this criticism to this church because we go soul winning. Why do you go soul winning? Why is that your ministry? What you should be doing is taking care of the poor. The poor are always there. The poor are always. Look you can never overcome you know unless that poor person decides to make a change in their life and you know makes a conscious decision that I want to pull myself out of this poverty. I want to go and find myself a job. I want to go and get myself fixed up. Look that will help them individually but as a church we can't solve poverty. What are we called to do? To as it were anoint Christ. To promote Christ. To elevate Christ because what good is that if we feed a poor person some bread today if they die tomorrow without Jesus? What's the point of their barely being full if the soul will spend eternity in hell? Jesus Christ is telling us what the priority is. Christ is the priority. You know if somehow we get 300 pence worth of income to this church you know it's going to go toward the work of God. It's going to go toward promoting Jesus Christ. It's not going to go toward feeding the poor. There will always be poverty but you know what people don't always have an opportunity to believe in Christ. There are opportunities offered. There are opportunities given but those opportunities don't always exist especially when someone passes away. That's it. They can't believe on Christ. Verse number nine. Much people of the Jews therefore knew that he was there. That's in Bethany. And they came not for Jesus' sake only but they that they might see Lazarus also whom he had raised from the dead. So this is really bringing like you know they're having a nice meal together at the house of Mary, Martha and Lazarus but there's a lot of people coming to have a look. Yes Christ is interesting. Christ is an interesting figure but they've also heard of Lazarus being raised from the dead. Let's go check that out. What's going on here? There's great interest to what Christ has done. His works. Look at verse number 10. But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death. I mean they're really trying to figure out how to kill Jesus. Now they're trying to figure out how do we kill Lazarus. Let's put him to death because too many people are being drawn giving their attention to the works of Jesus Christ. I mean Lazarus has done nothing. He's already died. What are they going to put him to death again? Jesus can raise him from the dead again if he so wishes. He's not going to accomplish anything. But look at verse number 11. Because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away and believed on Jesus. Many saw Lazarus wow he's alive. Wow we you know we got to believe in this Jesus. Many of them got saved you know by the by the testimony of Lazarus resurrected life. And you know what's really interesting about this. We look at the story go yeah but pastor we don't raise people from the dead yeah but we've been resurrected. We've been quickened from the dead. Have we not? Spiritually we were dead and we've been made alive. We've been given everlasting life. We've been born again. We've also experienced the resurrection. And you know at the moment we and I'm not talking about physically but I'm talking about spiritually. And so if anything's going to cause people to believe on Christ is those that have had that spiritual resurrection being made alive again and going out there and speaking of Christ. We are that testimony. You know the whole picture of baptism you know we after we believe on Christ we we go and baptize believers and it's a picture that not only have we trusted Christ at their very resurrection but we ourselves you know acknowledge that we've been we've been made dead with Christ and that we've been risen again with Christ to walk in newness of his of the life that he's given us. And so we are a testimony as it were of a resurrection though not physically but we have the same power we still have the same influence with the work of God and his word to convince the unsaved to trust in Christ. Verse number 12 on the next day much people that were come to the feast that's the feast of the Passover. When they had 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. So you have a great multitude believing on Christ seeing Lazarus they're like yes our faith and trust is on Christ and when they see that Christ is coming to Jerusalem they're rejoicing Hosanna and they're laying these palm leaves on his journey to Jerusalem kind of like rolling out the red carpet instead of having red carpet they lay down the palm leaves and branches. Now does anyone know what Hosanna means? Hosanna what does Hosanna mean? That's all right and you know it does come back to a Greek word but I want to show you what they're quoting if you can keep your finger there come with me to Psalm 118 because this is what they're quoting okay. Psalm 118 has been fulfilled as Christ is preparing to enter into Jerusalem. Psalm 118 please. Psalm 118 and verse number 25. Verse number 25 says save now I beseech thee O Lord. O Lord I beseech thee send now prosperity. Look at verse number 26. Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord we have blessed you out of the house of the Lord. So you can see verse number 26 lines up with what they're saying in verse number 13 of John chapter 12 where they said blessed is the king of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord verse number 26 in Psalm 118 said blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord but before they said that they said Hosanna. Where are they getting that Hosanna from? Well it's there from Psalm 118 verse number 25 the very first two words save now. Hosanna means save me now or save now Lord. Hosanna means save us. So I'm telling you that because you can see these people are excited they're laying down the branches the palm leaves Christ is coming to Jerusalem they're saying Hosanna what are they saying to Jesus save us Lord. They've put their faith and trust on Jesus Christ that he would save them. That's what it means you know and they you know Christ is coming into Jerusalem and look there's probably you know when you have a multitude there's probably going to be a mix of people as to what they're kind of feeling or what they're expressing you know obviously when we talk about salvation saved now you know we're talking about spiritual things aren't we talking about being saved the soul being saved and of course many I'm sure because they believe in Christ are expressing that same desire save now but there might be others that are saying Hosanna save us maybe from the Romans right as you come into Jerusalem as you come into the capital city you know deliver us from the Romans and I'll show you why some have that train of thought that Christ is coming you know with his people to conquer Jerusalem to take it over the Roman Empire. Back to John 12 please in verse number 14. John 12 verse number 14 and Jesus when he had found a young ass sat there on as it is written he finds a young ass a young donkey okay and what is written there in verse number 15 fear not daughter of Zion behold thy king cometh sitting on an ass's colt okay ass's colt is a baby donkey okay sits he's sitting on a young donkey as he comes in says behold thy king cometh so if that's you know if that's what's been written been fulfilled you can see why potentially some of those that are saying save now they're probably like the king's coming you know like literally he's going to establish his kingdom here in Jerusalem he's going to drive away the Roman Empire and I'll quickly read to you from Zechariah 9 9 because it says that as it is written right in verse number 14 what's written what is written about this is in Zechariah chapter 9 verse number 9 it says rejoice greatly oh daughter of Zion shout oh daughter of Jerusalem behold thy king cometh unto thee he he is just and having salvation lowly and riding upon an ass and upon I quote the fowl of an ass and then it says in verse number 10 in Zechariah it just continues in verse number 10 it says and I will cut off the chariots of Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem and the battle bow shall be cut off and he shall speak peace unto the heathen and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea and from the river even to the ends of the river really interesting Zechariah 9 9 is what's been fulfilled but straight there in verse number 10 it talks about Christ delivering Israel or his people from the armies and the horses of other concrete nations and so it makes sense if people are saying Hosanna and they're praising Jesus they're expecting Christ to fulfill what we read there in Zechariah chapter 9 but isn't it interesting in the Old Testament how we can read a passage like Zechariah 9 9 and we know we have confirmation that this is about Christ's first coming and then we have verse number 10 seemingly continuing but we know that verse number 10 takes place when Christ returns his second coming you know and establishes his kingdom from Jerusalem I'm just trying to show you that because we understand that we have the the hindsight we have the completed New Testament to tell us that Christ's first coming was just his first coming and that he's coming again with his kingdom okay John chapter 12 verse number 16 these things understood not his disciples at the first they don't understand like why they glorifying him why why are they praising him as he walks into as he comes onto the donkey like they didn't understand his disciples exactly what was being fulfilled but when Jesus was glorified that's the glorification there is the his resurrection of course the ascension to heaven eventually but when Jesus was glorified then remembered they that these things were written of him and that they had done these things unto him okay verse number 17 the people therefore that was with him when he called Lazarus out of his 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 so there are many that have seen the miracle of mount Lazarus now Jesus Christ is on his way to Jerusalem they're excited they're coming to meet him they want to talk to him they're excited about Christ and the Pharisees have seen all this multitude around Jerusalem you know excited about the coming Messiah excited about the king and they say amongst themselves perceive ye how ye prevail nothing they're like man we we've tried to stop him but it's not happened yet we've not been successful in stopping Christ what I like about this brethren is that nothing's stopping us from reaching people with the gospel nothing stopping nothing will ever stop the gospel message even if it gets outlawed in Australia even if we have to face persecution for preaching Christ somehow somewhere someone's going to be preaching Christ it cannot be stopped think about it we're 2 000 years in after Christ plus more and we're still speaking of Christ not plus more let's listen you know but around 2 000 years okay we still speak of Christ we're meeting this morning or this afternoon because of Christ we can still rejoice in Christ we still rejoice in our salvation praise God that nothing prevailed thank God that the Pharisees could not put a stop to the gospel message because you know what happened someone saw Lazarus raised from the dead and they believed in Jesus and they went and told someone else and they believed in Jesus and they went and told someone else and they believed in Jesus and they went and told someone else and they believed in Jesus and they told someone else and they believed in Jesus and eventually someone's told you and you believe in Jesus thank God for for these people that have gone before us, that have preached the gospel. And our job is to do the same thing, to tell people about Jesus, what he's done for them. That's our mission, that's our goal as a church, that's our goal as individuals. The Pharisees can't stop us. You have the words of eternal life. What's it gonna take, five minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, to give someone the gospel? How can anybody put a stop to that? But the Pharisees, they're admitting failure. They haven't stopped people from believing on Jesus. Verse number 20, and this is interesting as well. And there were certain Greeks, so these aren't Jews, there are certain Greeks, these are Gentiles, among them, that came up to worship at the feast. These are saved Greeks, okay? They're like, hey, Passover, why not? Let's go there, let's celebrate, you know, the Passover story. The same, so these same Greeks came therefore to Philip, so Philip's one of his disciples, which was of Bathsabah of Galilee, and desired him, saying, sir, we would see Jesus. These Greeks come to one of the disciples of Jesus, Philip, and says, Philip, we'd so desire to see Jesus. We wanna meet him, can we meet him? I guess Jesus has been surrounded by people, right? I mean, he can only talk to so many people, right? And they're like, can we just have a special audience? Can you make allowance for us to see Jesus? So, verse number 22, Philip cometh and telleth Andrew, and again, Andrew and Philip tell Jesus. I guess Andrew was more in the inner circle of the disciples so Philip checks with Andrew, Andrew says, all right, let's go ask Jesus about this. This is really interesting because, you know, you would think that Jesus would be like, all right, yeah, I'll go and talk to the Greeks, you know, I'll go spend time with them and have a chat with them, okay, but I love the way Christ responds, okay? He says in verse number 23, and Jesus answered them saying, the hour is come, that the Son of Man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat 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. All right, so Jesus Christ is teaching us something more. He knows that his time is very, very short, and I'm sure as much as he would, because we've seen this so far, we've seen when people desire to speak and be with Jesus, he will take time if the time was there, but Jesus Christ is teaching us a principle that the time is short. They will not always be able to see Jesus, but rather in order to see Jesus as it were, he gives this illustration that except a corn of wheat, a seed fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone, but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. Speaking of is himself, that he as a seed will be buried in the ground, that he would die and die alone. He would be the sacrifice, and every time you plant a seed in the ground, it symbolizes what Christ has done for you. You take that seed, you plant it, and it dies as it were in that ground. Hey, but what happens? It then sprouts. It's then fruitful. It grows into the plant, the bush, or the tree, or what have you. There is profit to the planting of that seed, and God has given us these little symbolic illustrations in creation that symbolize the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and so what he's saying here is this, that if people want to see Jesus, how do people see Jesus? Like if someone says to us today, sir, we would see Jesus. Could we bring Jesus in front of them? Here he is. No, what do we do? Let me show you Jesus. Let me teach you about the death, the burial, the resurrection of our savior. That's how you see Jesus. Okay, that's how you see Jesus. That's how we demonstrate Jesus to this lost and dying world, the gospel message, and I think this is so important that Christ starts to direct his disciples this way, okay, and uses this wonderful illustration. This says in verse number 25, hear that love of his life shall lose it, and hear that hate of his life in this world shall keep it, unto life eternal. It's really interesting. He says, look, if you love your life, like if you love that seed, I don't want to lose this seed. I'm not going to plant it. Okay, well, it says that if you love the seed or your life, okay, you'll lose it. This is referring to ultimately dying and going to hell. It says, and hear that hate of his life in this world shall keep it. You see, in order to be saved, brethren, you have to hate your life. You have to say there is nothing I can do. I am not a good person. I have sinned against the Lord. There is no amount of works and achievements and merit that I can bring to the table and save my life. If that's your attitude, you're going to lose it. You're going to die without Jesus and suffer eternity in hell. Rather, in order to have eternal life, you must hate your life. So you know what, I am a filthy sinner. In the sight of the Lord, I am worthy of dying and going to hell. That's how God sees me. There is nothing that I can do, in fact. There is no amount of good works that I can achieve. There is not enough sins that I can turn from to please the Lord. So you give up on your life. And as it were, you plant your life. You know, again, our salvation when you trusted Christ, you know, we died with Christ and we rose with Christ. That resurrection that we received, at least for now, internally in that new man, born in the Spirit. So Christ is just telling them, you know, using the symbolism of a seed, you want to see Christ, you have to understand the gospel. You have to understand that one must die in order to bring forth fruits, to be resurrected. And brethren, that's what you've done. You've trusted that seed, that seed of Jesus Christ. You know, and thank God for that because you've been given everlasting life. And if someone says that we want to see Jesus, what do you do? You can bring him to church if you want to, but really the best thing to do is to preach the gospel to them. He continues there in verse number 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 honor. So I want you to notice that, and where I, so if my servant serve me, let him follow me, and where I am, there shall also my servant be. You want to see Jesus? Then his servants. Go where his servants are and you'll see Jesus. Because again, Jesus Christ has left his earth. He's gone to be with the Father. He's seated at the right hand of the Father. But brethren, we are his servants. If people want to see Jesus, you've got to show them. Okay, where you are, Christ is there with you. Okay, it's like the Great Commission in Matthew 28 verse 20, teaching them to observe all things, what I have commanded you, and lo, Jesus Christ says these words, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world, amen. Brethren, wherever we go, Jesus Christ is there with us. If people want to see Jesus, no matter where you are, whether you're in the church or you're somewhere else, you know what, if you're able to give someone the gospel, they can see Jesus and be saved. Are you showing people Jesus? You know, are you preaching the gospel? Are you winning souls to Jesus Christ? You know, it requires you to sort of sacrifice, doesn't it? It requires you to lose a part of your life. Might be an hour a week, it might be two hours a week, it might be four hours, whatever is available to you. But it requires some sacrifice for you to be able to show people Jesus Christ. Verse number 27, Christ says, now is my soul troubled? Why is his soul troubled? He says, for what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this cause came I unto this hour. Jesus dying on the cross was not some picnic for him. His soul was troubled. He would take on the sins of the world, he would take on the curse for you and I upon himself. He says, it troubled the Lord to do so. But does he say, then should I just pray and say, Father, can you take this away from me? He goes, no, for this cause came I unto this hour. The whole reason I've come into this world is to die on this cross. And again, doesn't that prove to you that Christ on the cross is not plan B? That's the whole reason he came, to die for us. Okay, verse number 28, he says, Father, speaks to the Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven saying, I have both glorified it and I will glorify it again. So I have both glorified it, glorified it is past tense. God says, I've already glorified my name. Like as Christ came as a babe in Bethlehem's manger and taught the great words of God and did great works of God and saved souls, God says, I was glorified in that process. And then he says, and will glorify it again. God's name will be glorified again when Christ raises from the dead. Okay, and he goes and sits with the Father. And brethren, how about we glorify the name of the Father? How about we glorify God, how do we do that? Point people to Christ, show people Jesus Christ. There's no greater glory to the Father than to point people to his Son. And if they believe in him, guess what happens? They become children of the Heavenly Father if they trust Christ with their soul. Verse number 29, the people therefore that stood by and heard it. So this is another time the Father speaks from heaven. It's like an audible voice. Heard it, said that it thundered. I was like, man, that was a powerful voice. It was like thunder. Others said and angels speak to him. Jesus answered and said, this voice came not because of me, but for your sakes. The Father allowed his voice to be heard, not for Jesus. Jesus Christ knows he's speaking to the Father. He's in the Father, the Father's in him. He says it's for your sakes, that you can have the confidence that I am of God, to put your faith and trust on Jesus Christ. I heard this wonderful voice from heaven. Look what he says in verse number 31. Now is the judgment of this world, and now shall the prince of this world be cast out. Let's try to understand a few things here. He says now is the judgment of this world. In context, what is he speaking about this whole time? His death and his resurrection, right? That's what he's talking about. Now is the judgment of this world. Ultimately, brethren, what we're going to be judged on is what did we do with the death, the burial, the resurrection of Christ? Ultimately, that's what you're gonna be judged on, okay? This situation now in the story of what we're going through, the death of Christ, the resurrection, is what everybody will ultimately be judged on. What did you do with the gospel message? Did you believe it or did you reject it? And not only that, with Christ dying for us, it says now shall the prince of this world be cast out. Satan also was cast out in this time, okay? Now, I think there's a lot of confusion regarding Satan and this issue about being cast out. Now, I wanna walk you through a few things here, if you don't mind. Come with me, keep a finger then, come with me to Luke chapter 10. Come with me to Luke chapter 10 and verse number 17. Luke chapter 10 and verse number 17. One thing that Christ has taught us in the gospels is that Satan has his own kingdom, okay? Jesus just calls him the prince of this world. Therefore, Satan has some type of kingdom on this world, some type of power structure, himself as the head there and other devils under him. And this accomplishment of Christ, his death and payment for sins and his resurrection would cause the prince of the world to be cast out, Satan to be cast out. Say cast out of what? And to be honest with you, I don't really know. But one thing that we can say is that his kingdom was damaged through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Some type of damage was done to the kingdom of Satan, okay? But you'll soon see, I'll show you these passages, that Satan has been cast out multiple times as great works of God were accomplished on this earth. If you look at Luke chapter 10 verse number 17, Luke chapter 10 verse number 17, it says, and the 70 returned again with joy saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. So these 70 disciples, they're casting out devils, okay? They're like, Lord, man, even these devils are subject through thy name. And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning, fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt you. You see, as these disciples are going out and casting out devils of demon possessed people, Jesus Christ says, I beheld, I saw Satan as lightning, fall from heaven. You know, as we do the works of the Lord, there is a great, you know, like I said this morning, you know, we have a battle, yes, we have a battle of the mind but we're also fighting the forces of wickedness. You know, Satan is also an enemy. The kingdom that he has on this earth, you know, as we go out and we do the work of God and we bring people into the kingdom, there is a destruction, there is a pain, there is a hurt, there is an attack on the kingdom of Satan. Jesus Christ says, you saw Satan, as it were, fall from heaven, as they went out and cast out devils. And then Jesus Christ says, even now, you know, he sees the prince of this world being cast out. Come with me to Revelation chapter 12. Revelation chapter 12 and verse number seven. Revelation chapter 12 and verse number seven. Now what we're looking at here in Revelation, of course, is future events and what we're reading about here is the midpoint of that seven years to come, Daniel's 70th week as it's known. Revelation chapter 12, verse number seven, it says, and there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in heaven. Neither was their place found any more in heaven, the dragon and his angels. Of course, you know, the dragon is Satan. It says in verse number nine, and the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent called the devil and Satan, which deceived the whole world. He was cast out into the earth and his angels were cast out with him. I wanna show you that Satan is cast out many times. You see a constant attack on his kingdom, okay, and a loss of power, you know, as he continues, as the greater, as the kingdom of the Lord continues to grow in this world, as we're closer to the end times, there's this casting out of Satan. Satan can actually access heaven even right now, but we know in the future, no more place will be found for Satan in heaven. Come with me to Revelation 20, verse number one. Revelation 20, verse number one, then we have the beginning of the millennial reign of Christ as he reigns on the surf for a thousand years. It says in Revelation 20, verse number one, and I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand, and he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years. Another big blow of Satan coming up in the future, when Christ has his physical kingdom on this earth, Satan's gonna be put into that bottomless pit. I like how God uses an angel, okay? I like how God deals with the devil, because sometimes people have this idea that Satan is like an equal power to God, just the bad side, like he's the wicked power base and no, no, no, God does not need to deal with the devil. He'll send Michael, he'll send an angel, the devil is beneath him, okay? In fact, the Bible says greater is he that is in you, in you, than he that is in the world. You know, I don't preach a lot about Satan, not that we should ignore him, because he is the tempter, he's dangerous, he walks around as a roaring lion, but I also know the reality that the Holy Spirit, who is God that lives within us, is greater than what the devil is able to accomplish. This is why we're able to go and preach the gospel and see souls saved, because really the devil has no, he's got no power, like the Pharisees, no power to stop the gospel message. The greatest impact you can do against the kingdom of Satan is to win people to Jesus, is to show people Jesus Christ. I'm just showing you multiple times where Satan is cast out or bound. And then we have verse number seven, look at Revelation 20, verse number seven. And when the thousand years were expired, so at the end of the millennium, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations which were in the full quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city, and fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. Look at this, and the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night, forever and ever. Brethren, the devil's gonna be tormented day and night, forever and ever in hell. He does not rule hell, he does not have a forehead in hell. Okay, he'll be tormented. You know, hell was made for the devil and his angels. Anyway, what we just read in Revelation 20, verse seven is the final casting away of the devil in the second death, the lake of fire. But I just wanna show you that progressively, as Christ came, you see this significant impact on the kingdom of the devil, being cast out, being limited, unable to achieve. And you know what, as I said to you before, we can continue this work. We can continue making this world a hard place for the devil by simply showing people Jesus Christ. They wanna see Jesus, we show them. You know, the death, the burial, and resurrection of our Savior. Back to John chapter 12, verse number 32. Christ 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. Christ will be lifted up from the earth. This is why, of course, confirms his crucifixion. He did not die on the ground. His death was lifted up, his death was upon a cross, signifying what death he should die. And what is it referring to here? If you can keep your finger there, come quickly to John chapter three. John chapter three, verse number 14. John chapter three, verse number 14. Christ says in John chapter three, verse 14, and as Moses lifted up the serpents, lifted up the serpents in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life. Beautiful words, isn't it? Christ is lifted up. All men will be drawn unto him, he said there, right? If I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. Brethren, the only way to be saved is by accepting his death for us. That he was lifted up and he died on the cross and he rose again. Oh man, this is the only way, brethren. It's the only way to be saved. And all we need to do, what? That whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life, believing on him. You know, when the Israelites of old just looked upon the serpent that was lifted up by Moses, they were healed from the venom of the serpents that bit them. The moment you look on Jesus, remember what was the title? Sir, we would see Jesus. The moment you set your spiritual eyes on the cross and what Christ has done for us is I believe that. Thank you, Jesus, for dying for me. Boy, you have eternal life, everlasting life. And you know, I'm preaching what you guys know. I just wanna show you just how, the book of John is a great book because it just continues to reinforce that it's all about Christ. You know, it's not of your own labor. It's not of your own works, not your own ability. In fact, you gotta hate your life. Someone says, yeah, I believe I can go to heaven. You love yourself. You think you're good enough. No, I can't do it. I'm a wicked sinner. I've offended the Lord. I'm going to hell. But I've trusted Christ. He was lifted up for me. I believe that. You believe that. You have eternal life. You have everlasting life. All men withdrawn to Christ. Again, I think about Billy Graham. Billy Graham. And just the other day, I watched the video again. This man that gets idolized by Baptists, but he had a false gospel this whole time. And you know what? The last years of his life, there's an interview. Google it, YouTube it. It's clear. He gets asked the question, you know, something along the lines of what is the wideness of God's love or something like this. And he says, you know, I believe that people in the Muslim world, that God has people in the Muslim world, that God has people in the Hindu world, and that God has a people in the unbelieving world, that if they just follow the light that God has given them, they're his people, and that's the wideness of God's love, something like this, I'm just paraphrasing, from the unbelieving world? Can you not believe and still be saved and be a person of God and go to heaven? But this is what these false prophets teach. Bill, look, if one day I'm old and gray, and we still have New Life Baptist Church, I'm 90 years old, and I get behind this pulpit, and I say, all right, you know what, even those that do not believe, some of them are gonna get saved and go to heaven. You can say that, Pastor Kevin, this whole time was a false prophet. You can say that, because it's true. If you're saying such a thing, if you're, you know, it's unbelievable, because the Bible is so clear that all men will be drawn to Christ if he's lifted up, the only way to be saved is to believe in the death of Christ. So receiving the Savior, it's the only way. It's the best way, in fact. It's a free gift. You don't have to do anything but believe what Christ has done for you. Accept the free gift of salvation. Every other way is a way of the devil. It's a false religion. Hinduism is a false religion. It's a religion of the devil. Islam is a religion of the devil. It's a false religion. Judaism is a false religion. It's a religion of the devil, okay? JW is Catholicism, Greek Orthodox. Name, keep naming them, I don't know. I don't know them all. You just keep naming them, they're false religions. Say, Pastor Kevin, are you the only one that knows the truth? Jesus Christ is the truth. I am the, what does it say? I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man come in front of the Father except by me. Christ is the truth. Isn't it sad that so many people are gonna die and go to hell? And the whole time is just a free gift. There you go. There's the waters of eternal life and all someone has to do is go, thank you, Lord. Beautiful. That's what salvation is. Yes, I trust Christ. I receive his gift for me. I'm not going to trust my life. I'm not gonna love my life. I'm gonna hate it and I'm gonna love the life that Jesus Christ has given me. He's given him himself. What am I up to? Verse number 34, the people answered him. We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth forever. They said, we've heard from the scriptures that when Christ comes, that he's gonna be here forever, abide forever. He's always gonna be here. And how, says thou, the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man? He says, you're saying you're going to die. But we heard in the scriptures, the law, that Christ will abide forever. They're like, maybe you're not really the Christ then, if you're gonna die, because he's gonna abide forever. I love how he responds to this. Look at verse number 35. Then Jesus said unto them, yet a little while is the light with you, speaking of himself, just a little while longer, the light will be with you, walk while you have the light, lest darkness come upon you. For here that walketh in darkness, knoweth not whither he goeth. Look, the only way you're going to know where you're going is if you are in the lights. The lights are gonna be here for a little while, okay? Now, before we keep going, I don't know where they've heard this in the law, that Christ abideth forever, I'm not sure exactly, okay? But Christ does not deny that, he does not say that they've misunderstood or that it's incorrect or anything like that, but he explains to them what this abiding forever is all about, okay? It's not that Christ was going to, from that point forward, going to be on the earth forever, okay? Because we know that he gets glorified and ascends into heaven, but he keeps going. It says this, verse number 36. While ye have light, speaking of himself, believe in the light, because while the light is here, believe in the light that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus and departed and did hide himself from them. Brethren, the light is Jesus, and you and I, we've believed in that light, and because we've believed in that light, we are the children of light. So whatever scripture they found that Christ abided forever, it wasn't that his physical presence would be here on this earth forever, but that his light would be on this earth forever. Christ is that light, and that light continues to shine right now in 2023 from New Life Baptist Church, because you are children of that light, okay? You are the children of the light. Whatever passage they found that Christ abided forever, yeah, because we are in Christ, and Christ lives in us, and we have the light of Jesus Christ. That's what the abiding forever is. So again, the challenge for you, brethren, is are you showing the light of Christ? Are you showing the light of the gospel? You're children of light. You're not children of darkness. Are you telling people about Jesus and what he's done for them? The Bible says in Galatians 2.20, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Brethren, really, the call is that we would not live for ourselves, but that we would live for Christ. Christ liveth in me. The light is here. The light has abided. It continues to abide. Christ is in us. So we would see Jesus. This world wants to know. You know, they do want to know that they want to be sure of heaven. And we're the ones that know. We're the light. We have Christ living in us. We have everything we need. We can reach more people than Christ did because Christ was one as he walked this earth. And we might be 40 this morning or this afternoon. I don't know. We should be able to multiply by 40 the light to this lost and dying world. Verse number 37, John 12, 37. But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him. So this is why he hides. He tells the truth, then he just leaves it. You can't force people to believe. He tells the truth. And we've already seen in previous chapters that sometimes he's dealing with reprobates. And what we're looking at in this passage here is the reprobate doctrine once again. It says that though he had done so many miracles before them, so many miracles, raising someone from the dead, yet they believed not on him. Why? What is this? That the saying of Isaiah, that's Isaiah, the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who have believed their report, and to whom have the arm of the Lord been revealed. By the way, those words of Isaiah are found in Isaiah 53 about the suffering of Christ. The report that we give is that Christ has suffered for mankind, okay? But notice this in verse number 39, this is interesting. Therefore, they could not believe. I want you to notice that. They could not believe. Okay? Even if they wanted to, they've gotten to a point where they cannot believe because they rejected Jesus over and over and over and over, and Jesus gives another opportunity and shows his power to raise up Lazarus from the dead, and they still don't believe on him. The Bible's teaching here, and this is something very careful. If you're not saved today, you can't continue rejecting Jesus. You can't say, well, maybe next week I'll believe, maybe the week after, maybe next year, maybe in 10 years, I'll trust him. You can get to a point where you're so hardened where you cannot believe on him anymore. It's not that Jesus did not die for you. He did die for you. He paid for all your sins, but in order for you to be saved, you must believe on him. But if you're incapable of believing on him, are you gonna be saved? No. Therefore, they could not believe. Look at this, because that Isaiah said again, another thing that Isaiah said, he have blinded their eyes. Look at this. He have blinded their eyes. Who has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts? Reverend, can I come to your heart and harden your heart? Only God can blind your eyes and harden your hearts. Why could some Jews not believe? Because God blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts. That they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. These things, said Isaiah, when he saw his glory and spake of him. Look, God says, I don't wanna heal them. I don't want to save them any longer. I did send Jesus to die for them. Jesus did preach the gospel unto them, but they refused to believe on Christ. They continue to believe it's good works. They continue to think that they could make it somehow themselves. They continue to believe the false doctrines and the false religions. They continue to believe everything but Christ alone. And when you continue to reject Jesus, God can have enough and say, you know what? Even after so many miracles, after so much that I've done for you, I'm gonna now harden your heart and blind your eyes that it's incapable for you to believe because I do not want to heal you. I do not want to save you any longer. Say, pastor, I've never heard this before. Well, explain that passage to me then. Because that's what it says, black and white. It can't be any clearer. That's what it's saying. Let's not make excuses for the Bible. That's what it says. There is a doctrine where you can reject God over and over and God says, enough. You've rejected me, therefore I'm going to reject you. And you're incapable now to believe. You cannot be saved. You cannot be healed. It's true. That's what the Bible says. Today is a day of salvation. If you're not saved today, if you haven't trusted Christ, if you don't have the confidence that if you were to die today and go to heaven, let me encourage you to put your faith and trust in Christ today. You don't know if you have tomorrow. You don't know. These Jews crossed the line with God. This is the reprobate doctrine. Let's keep going there, verse number 42. Nevertheless, among the chief rulers, also many believed on him, thank God. You'd think some of these chief rulers are so corrupt and many were, but you see that many also believes on him. Praise God. We can't always give up on our rulers, you know, on our governments, and as wicked as they might appear, hopefully, you know, hopefully they can see Jesus. Hopefully they haven't turned so hard against the Lord. They still have an opportunity to be saved. Nevertheless, verse number 42, nevertheless, among the chief rulers, also many believed on him, but because of the Pharisees, they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue. For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. Look, there's a lot of Christians like this, where they believed on Christ and they're saved, but because of the fear of man, okay, they don't speak openly of Christ, because it says there, for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. You know, the reason why some of you have never opened your mouth and given the gospel to someone is because you'd rather the praise of men than the praise of God. You don't want to upset people. I don't want to tell my work colleague about Jesus. What if they don't like me back? What if they don't like me? What if they hate me about it? You know, ah, I'd rather get along with my work colleague, you know, and be liked by him, okay? Yeah, be liked by him, but he'll die and go to hell. Do you actually, do you like your work colleague in return? Oh, it doesn't look like it. If you're willing for him to just die and go to hell like that. If you love your work colleague, you love the person you're, you're going to talk to them about Jesus. And look, if they say, look, I don't want to hear it, respect them, at least you've done an effort. You've tried, you've used an opportunity to try to give them the gospel. If they reject it, well, what more can you do? Hopefully in the future, another time opens up where they can say to you, sir, we would see Jesus. Verse number 44. Jesus cried and said, he that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me. If you believe in Jesus, you believe in God. You believe in the father who sent the son. Some people say, yeah, I believe in God, but they don't believe in Jesus. So they don't really believe in God, because the only way you can really believe on God is to believe in Jesus. Verse number 45. And he that seeth me, seeth him that sent me. I am come a light into the world, and whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. And if any man hear my words and believe not, I judge him not, for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. Verse number 47. What he's saying here is, when he says I judge him not, I come not to judge the world, he's talking about his first coming. His first coming was to save the world, all right? Look, if people don't wanna believe, they don't wanna believe. But you notice something that he says in verse number 48. He that rejecteth me and receiveth not my words hath one that judgeth him. So he will be judged, right? The word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him, look at this, in the last day. So he will be judged. Judged according to what? According to the words that Jesus Christ spoke. But that judgment's gonna happen at the last day. Now if you were here for the previous sermon, John chapter 11, I had shown you that the last day refers to the last day of the millennium, okay? Before God creates the new heaven and the new earth. Which again, makes complete sense. Because those that reject Jesus, and I'll quickly read to you, you know this passage, Revelation 20, 11. And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from his face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them, and they were judged, every man according to their works. And death and hell was cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. This is the end of the millennium. You see at the last day, those that have rejected Christ, they're gonna be judged. And they're gonna find themselves judged and thrown into the lake of fire for not believing on Jesus Christ. You see, Jesus Christ will judge them, but that judgment's gonna be at the end of the millennium. But when he came this first time, he came to save souls. That's what his mission was about. Verse number 49. For I have not spoken of myself, but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment what I should say and what I should speak. What has he been talking about this whole time? He says, look, these aren't my own words. This has come from the Father. Believing on Christ is the only way to be saved. This comes from the Father. He's not speaking of himself here. Verse number 50. And I know that this commandment is life everlasting. Whosoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak. So what is the commandment? I know we don't keep commandments to be saved or we have to do the commandment to be saved, but the one commandment, of course, that gives us everlasting life is to believe on Christ. I mean, God's asking us to believe on him, to trust Christ. Yeah, you obey that commandment and you're saved. That is obeying the gospel, obeying the gospel. Yes, I'm gonna put my faith and trust in Christ, death, burial, resurrection. So those that reject him will be judged at the end on the last day and they'll be cast into the lake of fire. And you know, it's a sad thing to think about how many people are rejecting Christ. And it's a sad thing to think about our friends and family and colleagues and people that we deal with. Many of them are gonna die and go to hell. Many of them have already died and gone to hell for rejecting Christ. But brethren, we've been given such an important task that we would help people see Jesus. Christ is living in you. You've got the new man, you've got the words of life. You know, it's a free gift. All you have to do is go here, there you go. Take five minutes of your time, 10 minutes of your time. Would you like a drink? Would you like a gift? Would you like to take it for yourself? Someone says, yes, I'd like to. I'd like to believe in Christ. I'd like to receive. And you drink the waters of everlasting life. Isn't salvation so easy? Like so, so easy, so simple. Christ has done the hard work. But it's so easy and we don't do it though. We don't do it as much as we should. We forget that souls are dying every single day and going to hell. And yeah, brethren, just think about your time and we all have different responsibilities and we all have different things holding us back and responsibilities and families and work. But you know, it's so crucial that you just find a time, just find an hour, if you can, of your week to speak of Christ. Be always ready, be always available, you know. If you find yourself one on one with somebody, you know, use that time. Can I just show you very quickly what the Bible says about going to heaven? You know, please be sharp. I'd love you all to be just sharp and ready. As soon as someone's ready to ask, as soon as someone says, sir, we would see Jesus, you would be able to explain to them the wonderful gospel message. It's a beautiful free gift. Okay, let's pray.