Sermon Tone Analysis

*GREETING & ANNOUNCE TEXT:*

* *

Good morning and happy mothers day you all you mothers.

Turn with me in your Bibles to the Gospel of John, Chapter 12.

Our sermon text today comes from John 12:20-26.

John 12:20-26

* *

*PRE-TEXT INTRO: *

 

As you turn there, let me just say that it is a delight and honor to be asked to minister God’s Word to you again, especially on this mother’s day……And whether it’s in the hugs, flowers, or cards we give, what we try to get across to our moms on a day like this in so many words is simply.

/We love you.

We know you’ve sacrificed….and

we honor you for it.../ but here’s the thing…you don’t have to be a mother to know what it means to sacrifice….in fact the lesson that Christ provides us in this passage teaches that all his followers must know what it means to sacrifice….but be encouraged the honor for this kind of sacrifice is a gift too wonderful for words.

*TEXT READING:*

* *

John 12:20-26

* *

*PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION:*

Let’s Pray…

* *

*INTRODUCTION:*

 

If you’re like me…you come to a text like this and think…man this is tough…hating your life…losing your life, what is going on here?

I kind of like my life, isn’t life a gift from God? this doesn’t seem to make sense…and so we skip it and read on….

And see here is where we go wrong….

We tend to put life into an imaginary box, and in this box life makes sense for us.

We love this box.

In this box, we feel pretty comfortable with our knowledge of life… and the older we get the last thing we want to do is encounter anything or anyone that might just show us that true life is outside our box….and

heaven forbid…that the true Jesus is outside as well.

But that’s the issue that these Greeks, and all of us, who are confronted with the response of Jesus… have to face.

How does our knowledge of life line up with a true knowledge of Christ?

The main challenge of this text is….do you know the true Jesus?

For if you do….you’ll discover the truth about life.

We’re shown that

 

*[MAIN PROPOSITION] *A true knowledge of life requires a true knowledge of Christ.

*[MAIN PROPOSITION] *A True knowledge of Life requires a True knowledge of Christ

So, here’s the question?

How do you come to know the true Jesus?

We’re taught here that there are three ways….Three ways in which we come to know the true Jesus….and in doing will understand life.

* *

* *

* *

* *

*And the first way in which we come to know the True Jesus is that*

* *

* *

*/MAIN POINT #1  - We must know His Word./*

* *

in verse 20, we’re introduced to a group of Greeks, who as we know were known in the ancient world for their quest and claims for Philosophy and understanding life.

Now, These were not Greek-speaking Jews, the word here in the text is Hellenes.

They were Gentile- God-fearers who had traveled to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover and were allowed to worship at the gate… but notice they weren’t content until they saw Jesus….

Now, they didn’t want to just */see/* him for a moment passing by, they would have easily been able to do that… No, what they wanted was an intimate interview, they wanted to pull up a comfortable seat, grab a cup of coffee and sit down with this miracle man, this man of great wisdom and power… but they’re about to encounter one of the greatest lessons ever taught on life by encountering the true Jesus…For…

*/ /*

*/A True Knowledge of Life requires a True Knowledge of Christ.

/*

* *

* *

*            *

*MAIN POINT 1: To know Jesus we must be brought to hear his Word.

*

Not a hearing in order to listen….but a hearing in order to know.

And we’re brought to know God’s Word By His Spirit.

*/SUBPOINT 1-/*/ The Spirit gives us life to desire the Word /

/ /

Notice what it says in verse 20…they were “among those…going up to worship.”

They were a few among the crowd.

So many people today all across the world are getting dressed up and going to church….but the crowd is all going for various reasons….some

for their parents, maybe a friend or neighbor invited them, or maybe they’ve just been doing it every week…they don’t think much of it…..

But the question here is …who among those…..are dying to see Jesus??? Who among those has the Spirit of God awakened to realize if I don’t see Jesus…..I’ve wasted my time…..

And Only God in His sovereignty can awaken your heart to move out from among the crowd of dead religiosity and have a desire to see Jesus.

 

the Spirit of God has to do this….it

has to regenerate us to see that worship, going to church is more than just singing some hymns, paying your tithe, and hearing a 10 step message for the successful life….We must see Jesus.

And so (VERSE 21, & 22) the Spirit of God births a desire inside the hearts of these Greeks and they come to Philip and He councils with Andrew and they come and tell Jesus.

*/SUBPOINT 2-/*/ Notice: The Spirit gives us a desire, but he also gives us witnesses to bring us to the Word/

/ /

Now how much do we know about Philip and Andrew?

Not a lot.

Mainly because not a lot is written about them….but

what is written is remarkable….Every time you encounter Philip and Andrew in John’s gospel they are bringing people to Jesus.

(Andrew brought Peter and Philip brought Nathaniel to Jesus, Andrew brought the boy with the 5 loaves to Jesus, and now they bring these Greeks) Now wouldn’t it be wonderful if all that was said about us when we died was….they

brought me to Jesus.

They brought me to Jesus…..

 

Never forget the influence you have as a witness to bring people to the Word of Christ.

You never know what the result will be.

Someone at one point witnessed to John Calvin.

Someone witnessed to C.H. Spurgeon.

Someone witnessed to Billy Graham…..and somewhere someone today is witnessing and they are bringing people to the Word of Christ and they don’t care about who gets the credit.

They care about who gets to Jesus…

 

The ones apt not to get to heaven are the ones who are content to get their alone.

/ /

But when we*/ get/* to Jesus, notice we need the Holy Spirit to understand Him.

look at verse 16 just before our text.

Even his disciples had a lack of understanding….

We see there that “Even His disciples did not understand these things until Jesus was glorified.”

What…the disciples?…these

guys were hanging with Jesus everyday….

No.

See we can go to Church every Sun, listen to the Christian radio station every day, and wear a cross around out neck….

we can surround ourselves with Jesus…but we’ll never really know Him without understanding His Word….

/And when we understand his Word we will understand his Work.

/

/ /

You see the point is not so much in understanding the questions and problems that are being brought to Jesus in the gospels….but

in understanding His Word of response to them…for he is always correcting the false wisdom and words of man with the true wisdom and Words of God.

/ /

*/A True Knowledge of Life requires a True Knowledge of Christ.

/*

/ /

So here come these Greeks.

Here come some seekers.

Alright now.

Here we go…let’s put a real fun and lively seeker sensitive service together…here they come…Let’s give them a dynamic worship experience.

No….What does Jesus do? tell them all the blessings that he can give them?

No.

He says “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”

*WE KNOW JESUS BY HIS WORD….AND WE KNOW JESUS BY HIS WORK.

*

* *

Several times before this Jesus has mentioned his hour has having not yet come….so

what does a group of Greeks who want an interview with him warrant This response?

Because Jesus sees in them a small window into why he came….He knows its not good for a man to remain alone….and he knows His Father has elected a bride for him …but this bride is not of one race or tongue….NO he must save and sanctify a bride from every nation, tribe, and tongue….You know what he sees he here…..He sees us.

He sees us.

A gentile world being grafted in….by the gospel….a

message of salvation being extended out past the jews….but in order for that to happen.

For the gospel to bear fruit….the

seed must die.

The Christ must suffer and be broken, die and be buried….and

then rise again...….and he teaches the most profound wisdom of Heaven through literally most the down to earth wisdom of life….

the sowing of a seed.

Glory follows suffering.