The Cross Around the Corner part 2

Well, take your Bible this morning. Turn with me to John chapter 12. The Gospel of John chapter 12. John should be a very familiar place in your Bible by now. We've been in the Gospel of John for quite some time. We've had over 70 messages so far in the Gospel of John. And if it has been speaking to you like it has been speaking to me, then your ears have been full. And I look forward to so much more that the Lord is going to show us as we continue for quite some time in this wonderful Gospel message. Now this morning we will be in verses 31 through 34. Last week we were in verses 27 through 30, so you know right where we should pick up.

Now these verses, the verses that are before us this morning, they are really part of a bigger message which Christ is dealing with the cross. Last week I told you that this bigger message, I divided it up. I divided it up on purpose because of time. And sometimes it's tricky as a pastor or preacher to know right where to divide the passages so that we have an adequate amount of time to divide the text. But not only are these verses part of a bigger message, really a great portion of chapter 12 is part of a greater message. Verses 20 through 26, Jesus is speaking, he's preaching, and he is dealing with his approaching death.

It's coming, it's coming, it's closer, and it's closer. And then in verses 27 through 34, we see that Jesus is grappling with the implications of his death. And I think it's important for us to see that because this is that unfolding message of the cross of Christ that he is bringing before the crowds. Now we've been in chapter 12 for four messages so far, and we have learned that the apex, the pinnacle of the chapter, is verse 23. I think I've already asked you to do this, but maybe highlight that verse, underline that verse, note that verse. Here we see, for the very first time, Jesus announced that his hour has come.

Of course, this was speaking about his imminent death. All throughout the Gospel of John, we have seen Jesus say that his hour has not yet come. Four times John records Jesus saying this, starting in chapter 2, verse 4, when Jesus was at that wedding feast there of Cana of Galilee. Then in chapter 7, verse 8, chapter 7, verse 30, chapter 8, verse 20, Jesus says repeatedly, "My hour has not yet come." But now with the cross less than a week away, it's like Jesus steps up, and Jesus makes this announcement, and he begins a steady progression to the cross. Now I said that Jesus began making his steady progression to the cross.

We see this in his teaching as well. In other words, he's getting closer and closer physically, but now in his teaching, he is teaching more and more about the cross. And after verse 23, Jesus continues more and more. We see this in verse 24. We see this in verse 27. What is he doing? "My hour has come." He's teaching about the cross. And here this morning, we will see the very same thing in these verses. He is continuing to teach on the cross. Now last week, we looked at what I called the cross around the corner. And we were in verses 27 through 30. We examined Jesus' prayer, and then we examined this audible answer to Jesus from the Father.

From Jesus' prayer, we learned so much. We learned that we must have a personal and corporate burden for true kingdom work. Now we sing a lot of songs about the kingdom and kingdom work, and we know that true kingdom work is the church. We must have a corporate and a personal burden for the church. And then we learn that in true kingdom work, people are either confirmed and affirmed, or they misunderstand and they fall away. That happened in Jesus' day, and it happens in our day. Now this morning, we'll continue with this same theme, this same title, and that is the cross around the corner. The cross around the corner.

Like I said earlier, this is a part two. Truthfully, these verses, verses 27 through 34, are really part of one message, but like I said, we divided them up for the sake of time. So you see the message title on the screens before you. The cross around the corner, part two. We will look at verses 31 through 34. So let's look at these scriptures together. Jesus says, "Now judgment is upon this world. Now the ruler of this world shall be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He would die.

And then the multitudes therefore answered Him, "We have heard out of the law that the Christ is to remain forever. And how can you say the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?" Now you see how we're going to deal with these verses. We're going to look at the victory of Jesus in verses 31 through 33, and then the confusion of the crowd out of verse 34. Now, you need to realize that most likely, this audience, it was those Greeks. Remember back in verse 20, there was a group of Greeks. Those would have been Gentile proselytes, converts to Judaism. They came to Jesus seeking Jesus.

And most Bible scholars believe that the audience for this long, continuous message would have been the Greeks and possibly some of the others who would have been there at that Passover celebration. So let's divide these verses. I want us to look at truth number 1, the victory of Jesus. The victory of Jesus. Now, here in these verses, Jesus is unfolding His ultimate destination, and that is the cross. In these verses, Jesus gives us more than a ticket to heaven. He gives us more than a "get out of hell free" path. This cross, the cross that is before us, is a cross of victory. And in this victory, there are fruits of victory.

There are spoils of the victory. When one army wages war against another army, there are spoils that go along with that victory. And here we will see the spoils of Christ's victory through the cross. Now, there are four observations I want to make here. Four observations that I want to make here. So in Christ's victory first, there is victory over the world. First, there is victory over the world. What does He say in verse 31? Now, judgment is upon the world. Now, many times in Scripture when judgment is mentioned, it is in the context of the end times. Bible theologians call this eschatology.

So in all of your personal studies, if you run across that theological term eschatology, that's speaking of the end times. But that's not the case here. Here Jesus states that judgment is at the threshold of the world. It is important to see who is being judged here and when this judgment takes place. So notice who is being judged here. This is the world, this world that we live in. This is this evil world system which is against God. It is against God's Word. It is against man. And it is against everything that is good. John talked about this world, or Jesus did in John 7. We looked at this verse some time ago, but notice what Jesus says.

"The world cannot hate you, but it hates me, because I testify about it that its works are evil." What is Jesus talking about? The world and its evil system. This world system that is anti-God, anti-Bible, anti-Christian, and anti-man. We see it again in John 15, verse 18. Jesus says, "If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you." So we see that Christ has victory over the world. This world system that is dominated by evil, that is against God, it is against Jesus, it is against the Word of God, it is against man, all mankind, and it is against everything that is good. So Christ has victory over the world.

Second, notice that Christ has victory over Satan. Christ has victory over Satan. Now judgment is upon the world. Now the ruler of this world shall be cast out. Not only does the cross bring victory over the world, but the cross brings victory over the ruler of the world. Now the King James reads, "Prince of this world." In 2 Corinthians 4, 4, he is called the God, little g, of this world. In Ephesians 2, 2, he is called the prince of the power of the air. Now these are many different names that describe none other than Satan himself. And Satan is the one who was cast out of heaven after he led his rebellion against God in heaven.

And here we see that he is cast out in a sense, in that he loses his authority and his influence. And we see proof of that in the cross. His seeming victory was in reality a total defeat. And what I mean by that is it seems as if Satan had a victory in Christ's death on the cross. But that was not the case. The cross was an ultimate defeat for Satan. He thought he was destroying Christ when actually it was his own demise and his own defeat. So first we've seen Christ as victory over the world. And we see who the world is, and we see that it is this world's system. And now we see that Christ has victory over Satan. But now notice it changes.

Third, in Christ there is victory for men. We have to look at verse 32 for this. "And if I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to myself talking about the cross." So what do we see? This is victory for men. Well, the first portion of the verse and verse 33 is referring to the cross. If this is not enough for the readers to understand, Jesus goes back and forth all through this message and explains the cross. But notice the repetition of this word "I." Go back to verse 32. "And I, if I be lifted up..." This is because this word "I" in the original language is in the emphatic, meaning that this word was for Christ.

Also, the word "if" here can be translated "when," adding more emphasis. So Jesus is saying very forcefully, "I, when I am lifted up on the cross." But notice that the victory for men comes through this word "draw." Go back to the verse. "And I," He's saying it emphatically, "when I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to myself." So we see that the victory comes through this word "draw." This speaks of God's work of grace, whereby He enables the natural or the dead man to come to Christ because He is drawn there by God.

It is only as God works in the natural or the dead man and draws Him, does He have the ability to come to Christ. One of the Bible commentators I ran across this week called this a divine enablement, and that is exactly accurate. So this is a victory for men. Christ is saying, "For when I am lifted up, when I die on the cross, I will draw men." That divine enablement. Now, it is important to see that there are two errors that one can fall into here. I want you to envision for yourself a road. It can be a paved road. It can be a dirt road. It can be a gravel road. But get in your mind the imagery of a road.

And on the right-hand side and the left-hand side, we have what you would call a ditch. Well, what Jesus is teaching is going right down the middle of the road. What does He say? "Invitically, I, when I am lifted up on the cross, I will draw men to myself." There is victory for men. But there are two errors men get into. Men get into the ditch on the right-hand side here, and men get into the ditch on the left-hand side here. The first error is this. There are some that say that man can come to God at will. Many times there are people who will even preach these things in the life of the church.

That a man, a woman, or a young person can come to Christ any time they want to. That is an error. Man can never come to God unless they are drawn. Remember, mankind is dead. The natural man is unable to come to God. But there is a divine enablement that allows people to come to God. Well, there is a second error here. There is the other ditch. And many times people will communicate that God drags men against their will. And that is an error as well. God the Holy Spirit comes to the dead man. God the Holy Spirit comes to that natural man. And by the power and the work of the Spirit of God, He calls and enables that man to come to Christ.

And in that drawing there is an attraction for the dead man. Because he has been made to see his utter sinfulness in Christ's wonderful saving beauty. You see the victory? What does Christ say? If I, when I am lifted up, therefore I can draw men to myself. There is victory over the world. There is victory over Satan. And then there is victory for men. Now there is a question that needs to be asked here. Because there is another error that men can fall into. Is this for all men? What does the text say? And I, if I be lifted from the earth, will draw all men to myself. Well we have to be careful here. Because this is not for all men.

If it were for all men, this would mean a universal salvation. And we know that the Bible does not teach universal salvation. Jesus is saying that all kinds and all classes of people will be called. It is important to understand the context. Remember Jesus had just come out of the Jewish Passover. And remember the Jews could not fathom. They could not get it in their mind. A Messiah for others. This would include Gentiles as well. Jesus is saying that through his death, all types and all kinds of men, not just Jews, but Jew and Gentile alike would be drawn. Good news to those Greeks who were standing there. So there is victory for men.

And then forth there is victory only in the cross. This is repetitive, but Jesus is repetitive. Verse 33, "But he was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which he would die." So there is victory in the cross. And I add that victory in the cross because Jesus emphasizes at the end that it is only in the cross. One of the Bible commentators that I read said that this was an explanatory note. If there were any doubts as to what Jesus is teaching in verse 32, John is going to make sure that the readers knew what he meant. Again, yes, it was the cross. Now a question here. Why should John give an explanation?

Again, why should he be redundant, repetitive? Again, say the cross. "I believe it was to make sure that the readers knew for sure the source of the victory and the source of the victory was only the cross. The bloody, despicable, rejected cross." Victory only comes in the cross. So what do we see here? The spoils of victory. The spoils of war. Jesus was totally victorious through the cross in every way. He was victorious over the evil world system and its ruler. He provided victory for men, and this was all done through the cross. Whether you know it or not, there are many, many places in Scripture that teach the very, very same thing.

You don't have to do this, but I would like for you to jot it down for your later study. Colossians chapter 2 really captures the essence of this victory. I'm going to read through the passage starting in verse 12, and I want to show you how all of the elements of this victory are right here. Paul says, "Having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with him through faith, in the workings of God who raised him up from the dead." There's the victory of man. There's the salvation that comes from God to man that only God can do.

"And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive together with him, having forgiven us all our transgressions. Having canceled out the certificate of death consisting of decrees against us, in which was hostile to us, and he has taken it out of our way. Having nailed it to the cross." There's the victory for man. The salvation that only comes from God when he draws man.

Verse 15, "When he had disarmed the rulers and authorities, he made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through him." There is the victory over Satan and the world and the evil system which permeates the world. So what do we see? The spoils of victory. The spoils of the war of the cross. Now an application. What can we learn here? So much out of these two or three verses. What can we learn? Now in my study of this in the last two weeks, I ran across a quotation, one sentence that helped me in my application. It's by a Bible commentator, he's not very well known, his name is Leon Morris.

But listen to what Morris said, and I quote, "But here Jesus is concerned with the effect rather than the simple fact of his death." Now this really led me to see how this applies to us today. So bear with me. I want you to see that many churches today are more concerned with the simple fact or the historicity of the cross instead of the effects of the cross. Let me repeat that because you must get that in your mind for you to see how this applies. Many churches today are more concerned with the simple fact or the historicity of the cross instead of the effects of the cross. Let me show you how this works.

Many churches, especially the certain holidays on the Christian calendar, many churches have sings, gospel sings, they have plays and they have dramas focusing on the historicity of the birth of Jesus and the cross at Easter and the empty tomb and they truly miss the real meaning and that is the effect of the victory. A lost man, a lost woman, a lost young person can see the story, they can see the history, they can see it acted out, sung out before them and they can be moved by the historicity of it, the truth of it.

But if that salvation and does that prove that they were even saved before, it can just be that they are moved in their emotions. But when one is truly converted, when they are born again, now listen, the effects of the cross are made real in their life. They have victory over the world. They are not a slave to the world anymore. The evil world system does not dominate their life. They have victory over Satan and his powers. They are not dominated as they were before by Satan and those forces of darkness. And it is because they have been drawn to Christ and they have been made new creations.

The effects of the cross came to be made real in conversion and they have been part of their life all the days after conversion. You see? It's not the facts of the cross. It's not the historicity of the cross. It's not the historicity of Christ. It's not the facts of the empty tomb. It's the effects of the victory of Christ being made real in their life. That's a big problem in many churches today. I've been to church in church.

I can't tell you how many times I've said in churches where they would have famous singers, they would have great Christmas plays, and I would see people stand up and raise their hands in "worship." And all along they have no victory in their life. They were slaves to sin, slaves to the world, slaves to the evil world system. The world dominated their life from the time they walked Monday through Friday. The world dominated their life when they walked in the door of the church. Do you see the difference? Do you see the difference? Jesus offered victory and we should focus on the effects of the victory, not the simple story of the victory.

Let's move on. Let's notice truth number two. The confusion of the crowd. The confusion of the crowd. Verse 34, "The multitude therefore answered him." We have heard out of the law that the Christ is to remain forever, and how can you say the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man? Now here we have the same thing happening that happened back in verse 29. Go back to verse 29, "The multitude therefore stood by and they heard it and they were singing." So this is the reaction of the multitude. This is the reaction of the crowd to what Jesus had been teaching.

Just as in verse 29 we will see that there are some who do not understand nor accept what Jesus had been teaching. It happens here again in verse 34. Let's look at the other two observations real quickly out of this verse. First of all, I want us to see the confusion about the Word. The confusion about the Word. Notice what they said. "We have heard out of the law that the Christ is to remain forever." Here we see that they referenced the law. They are speaking of the entire Old Testament writings, not just the five first books of the Old Testament which is called the Pentateuch.

Now this common misunderstanding about the Messiah is based on two or three Old Testament passages and it has its roots in misinterpretation. They are misinterpreting passages like Isaiah 9.7, Ezekiel 37.25 and many passages out of the book of Daniel. Now this misinterpretation says that the Messiah would come and defeat all God's enemies on earth and establish the eternal kingdom or God's righteousness. They miss the Old Testament teachings which say that the Christ must come and suffer. They totally ignore them. Of course we know that He will come to defeat all God's enemies, but that's after the second coming.

So notice not only what they reference, but notice how they reference it. Go back to the verse. "We have heard out of the law." This word "we" is important because it is enviantatic, meaning that they are placing a heavy emphasis on themselves. What are they saying? "Well, we understand the word this way." "Well, we have been taught this." There's confusion about the Old Testament Scriptures. Then second notice, there's confusion about what Jesus had taught. There's confusion about what Jesus has taught.

"The multitude therefore answered Him, 'We have heard out of the law that the Christ is to remain forever.' And how can you say the Son of Man must be lifted up?" Here it is. "Who is this Son of Man?" Here we say they question, "Who is this Son of Man?" They are confused about who Jesus is and what He has been teaching. They could not receive what He had been teaching because they were so focused on their misinterpretation of the Old Testament passages concerning the Messiah. Their confusion, their misunderstanding was not only prevalent in Jesus' day, but it was perpetuated on into the first century church. This was common.

So they were confused about who Jesus was and what He had taught. So what do we see here? The crowd did not understand the teaching of Jesus. Jesus' teaching on the cross divided them very harshly between those who accepted His teaching and those who refused His teaching. Just like the prayer of Jesus and the Father's answer divided the crowd, His continued teaching on the cross divided the crowds as well. Now an application. I do believe there is more for us to learn than we realize. We need to see that many people preach and teach a cross or a Jesus that does not affect their life and there is no victory.

This is nothing more than preaching an intellectual assent, and actual information is sufficient for conversion. And that is a classic example of misunderstanding the Scriptures. That is not enough. The Scriptures do not have the sinner's prayer. The Scriptures do not teach the Roman road. The Scriptures do not teach merely the ABCs. That can lend itself to intellectual assent. We must understand fully what the Scriptures say about conversion. Jesus said to Nicodemus, "Unless a man is born again, he will not see the kingdom." And just like in their day, they were confused about the Scriptures.

Many people are confused about what the Scriptures say today. But listen, church, mark it down. Write it in your book, put it in your mind, remember it every day. When you preach that the cross must affect your life, that there must be change, that there must be victory, there will be many who will misunderstand what you are preaching exactly like the crowds here. They will emphatically stand up and say, "Well, we've always believed this. We have been taught this." And it doesn't matter what they were taught and what they believed, if it doesn't line up with what the Word of God says, they're wrong.

The crowds in Jesus' day were wrong, and many are wrong today because they misunderstand what Jesus teaches about the cross and the victory of the cross, and the victory of the cross impacts people's lives when they are truly converted. Now as we move to the conclusion of the message, I want us to see that here we have the spoils of victory. Get it in your mind, church, the cross was a war. But Christ went to the cross, and in total victory, He provided, because of His perfect obedience, spoils in the victory.

He has victory over the world, He has victory over Satan, and He has the victory and the power to draw all types of men for true salvation. Now in conclusion, I want you to see that there are three types of people that are here today. First of all, there are those who have been affected by the cross in victory exactly like we saw in the Scripture. Whether you were 10 or 20, 30, 40 or 50 when you were converted, you were truly converted because God the Holy Spirit drew you, because God the Holy Spirit opened up your eyes to your sinful condition.

In John's Gospel, he teaches that the Holy Spirit comes to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. In that conviction, you saw yourself and you saw the beautiful Savior. And Christ came into your life because you died to your sin and you were affected. There was victory that was given you, and you no longer lived the way you used to live. The world didn't have victory over your life. Christ had victory. Satan didn't have victory over your life. Christ had victory. And you've been living in victory, not perfection. There are those who have been affected exactly like we've seen by the victory of the cross.

And then second, there are those who have only been affected by the story of the cross. Maybe you were starting your emotions. Maybe the music was just loud enough. Maybe you really liked how the lead singer sang. Maybe you really liked the presentation that was before you. But you've been affected only by the story of the cross, the historicity of the cross. But I want you to know that's not enough. Knowing all the factual information, being stirred in your emotions is not enough. Being able to give what I call the Sunday school answers is not enough. The question is, has it affected your very being?

And there are many people in our churches. They come to our scenes. They come to our dramas. They come to our plays. And the hair on the back of their neck stands up. They raise their hands. They sing real loud. But they leave their life with no victory. They leave church. They leave the presentations to go back and live a life dominated by sin, dominated by evil, living in the flesh. There are some here like that today. And then the third group of people are those who are confused. I've been preaching the gospel long enough to see that when you preach like this, there are some people who were thrown into confusion.

Many people have come to me, "Well, I've been taught this." "Well, I was told this." "Well, I see the Scriptures like this." Be real careful when you say, "Well, I." Be careful when you say, "We." It's best if you say, "Well, the Word of God says." Now, I'm not being arrogant in saying that. It's okay to be Berean. You remember the Bereans examined the Scriptures and what was put before them? It's okay to be Berean. But make sure your experience and your theology and your life lines up with the Scriptures. And there are many people who are confused today because they've been taught an erroneous gospel just like those Jews were in that day.

Now, I want to turn your attention to reveal to you how this works big picture. What have we looked at in these two messages? The cross around the corner. Starting in verse 27, we saw Jesus' prayer. We saw His perfect obedience. This prayer was a window into His inner self. This prayer, this answer from the Father, this audible answer was from mankind. It was not for Christ. And in that we saw the sole reason that Christ went to the cross. He went to the cross first for the love of the Father, being perfectly obedient to receive that judgment that was meant for you, for me, to drink that bitter cup of the holy righteous wrath of God.

That's what He did on the cross. And then we see through that death on the cross the victory that He has offered. And the big picture for you, for me, is this. Do we see this cross, which is right around the corner for Christ? Do we see that this is the cross that we must preach? It's the cross that you must live, and it's the cross that we must preach. And if we do not preach this cross, it is something that we have made up. It's come from man, somebody else's idea. Maybe it'll make people feel better temporarily, but it will not save. It will not change. It will not make a dirty, wretched sinner a saint who truly loves the Lord.

The cross is right around the corner, and it's the cross that we must bear. Let's pray.