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11 April 2004 By Richard Wilson

Last Lord's Day we looked at the necessity that one man should die for the many.
And this passage concerning the grain of wheat falling to the ground is a parable of the death of Christ.
And that one man dies will bring forth a great wealth of eternal life to those that believe.
And he explains all this, as this being the tenth day of Nissen,
where he came into Jerusalem with those who were bringing their lambs to Jerusalem for the sacrifice of the Passover just four days later.
On the fourteenth day of Nissen we saw in the previous Lord's Day that the death of Christ was actually on the Thursday
at the same point when the Passover lamb that evening was sacrificed.
And that gives three days afterwards the resurrection came forward.
So it's not on Good Friday in the sense that it was a Good Friday because all things have been accomplished by Good Friday.
But his sacrifice was actually on the Thursday and his trial was on the Thursday.
Now that was according exactly according to the Law of Moses. It would happen this way.
And it's interesting the coalescence and the coherence of God's purposes and timing is not missed from that whole perspective.
Now the focus, as I mentioned in my prelude before the service started,
that there's been a lot of discussion within the media that the film that has been just released called The Passion of the Christ is very anti-Semitic.
The fact is the Jews had a lot to do with the crucifixion of Christ.
It wasn't as though the Gentiles didn't have a lot to do with it either.
But in greater ignorance than the Jews and therefore the Jews were far more culpable in what they had done.
But the purpose of the, if the Jews were faithful there would be a completely different perspective on the outworking and the flourishing of the Gospel into the nations.
And I don't know the implications of that. It's just to say that there would have been a completely different plan of world history altogether.
It may have been more positive actually, but God's plans are never thwarted.
God is able to bring about his purposes even when the church does not turn to God.
He goes to a completely different order of ministry that will accomplish his purpose.
And of course the greater purpose of God was not just to confine Israel as the only testimony on the face of planet earth.
This temple of God was no longer a physical temple, but it was going to be a spiritual temple that was made without hands.
Christ's kingdom was not the king of the Jews, it was the king of all those that believe.
And therefore all the nations are his and he was going to gather them in according to this Gospel.
And it happened that there was a stumbling block placed in the history of man that Israel stumbled over.
And that stumbling block was the coming of a servant king.
A king that was to suffer and a king that was to be placarded as a sacrifice that was in all the scriptures of the Old Testament promised.
But had been forgotten.
And so here we find that Christ came and he proclaimed in the temple and we found that even God the Father in this discourse had proclaimed that this is the Son of God.
He said in verse 34 that the people answered him we have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever and now can you say the Son of Man must be lifted up?
I'm just trying to find that particular passage.
May I ask him, the Father glorify, in verse 28, the Father glorify your name.
Then a voice came from heaven and said I have glorified it and will glorify it again.
Therefore the people stood and heard and said that it had thundered.
Others said an angel has spoken.
Jesus answered and said this voice did not come because of me but for your sake.
Now the judgment of this world, now the ruler of this world will be cast out.
Now here the Father, the first person of the Trinity, confirms that Jesus is the one whom he said he was, the Son of God.
He is the one that he is going to be glorified in.
And the Jews, even with this kind of testimony, even in the precincts of the temple that this had taken place,
in Jerusalem itself, and it was completely understood by everyone that was around them whereby they said an angel has spoken or thunder has happened
but Jesus said this voice is for your sake to know that I am who I am.
I'm not testifying to myself. Here the Father is testifying to you audibly so you understand and yet you still reject it.
And it was because of their unbelief.
And here we find that this unbelief is underscored for us in verse 37.
But although he had done so many signs, I mean for the last three years he had been healing people, he had been raising people from the dead,
they had been giving people hearing, they had become strong after being crippled,
they had received their sight, they had been fed from heaven, they had been rescued from storms,
as it goes on and on there was a profusion of miracles that left Jesus totally and completely without any doubt that he was whom he said he was.
And yet they still did not believe in him.
It wasn't as though they didn't have any good, any clear enough testimony that they should believe.
It is the old saying, those who do not see, what does it say?
He who will not see, what's the old saying?
Those who will not see.
That's right, he who will not see or he who will not hear.
And again, it's not a matter of not understanding, it's a matter of the will that is set against this.
It is unbelief first and foremost.
And Israel's situation had come to a conclusion.
There was a crisis historically in the course of God's people.
They had been brought to many and clear understanding of the revelation of God.
They had been dealt with graciously throughout all the generations.
They had been raised up and rescued.
They had been fed, they had been sustained from generation to generation.
And yet there's always been a very few that believed.
It was seen to be a remnant among them that barely brings forth the testimony of God.
And yet we find that this continual rising and falling, rising and falling,
comes to a conclusion and there is a time of reckoning for the Jewish people.
They were to be the light of the world.
They had become darkness and their religion had become based on revelation
but they had not really given their hearts to it.
And so we find that the prophecies of Isaiah is shown to us in these passages
where he brings it to a clear presentation.
He says in Isaiah 53 verse 1,
Who has believed a report, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
For he shall grow up before them as a tender plant and as a root in a dry ground,
and he has no form or comeliness.
And when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief,
and we hid, as it were, our face from him.
He was despised and we did not esteem him.
And yet in all that we see surely he has borne our griefs and has carried our sorrows,
yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
And so it proceeds in that manner.
Now this is clearly a prophecy concerning the passion of Christ for us.
And we find that in chapter 6 we saw of Isaiah a similar thing,
where he calls it as it is in verse 9 and 10.
And he says,
Go and tell this people, keep on hearing, but do not understand,
keep on seeing, but do not perceive.
Make their hearts of the people dull, and their ears heavy,
and shut their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears,
and understand with their heart, and return and be healed.
This is a most difficult passage.
And yet God has his purpose in it.
And so we find in Matthew chapter 13 this lamenting of Christ over the people of God,
where we find him lamenting the fate of this people.
And he says in chapter 13 of Matthew's Gospel and verse 10,
if we are left within any doubt, he says,
And his disciples came and said to him,
Why do you speak to them in parables?
And he answered and said to them,
Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven,
but to them it has not been given.
For whoever has, to him more will be given,
and he will have abundance,
but whoever does not have, even what he has, will be taken away from him.
Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see,
hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.
And in them this prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled and says,
Hearing you will hear, and shall not understand.
And seeing you will see, and not perceive.
For the hearts of this people grow dull,
their ears are hardened of hearing,
and their eyes have been closed,
lest they shall see with their eyes and hear with their ears,
lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
that they should be healed of them.
Now this is exactly what we find in this passage.
John the Baptist was one who proclaimed this very truth.
He says the reason why he was baptising was to prepare Israel for the Messiah to come.
And they were to repent. They were not to be proud.
They were to repent and be ready,
because when Christ comes he will be like a refiner's fire.
He will purge everything from us.
And that which we thought was spiritual probably isn't spiritual.
And that which we thought we had, we didn't have,
because the folly of man's heart is desperately wicked,
and it is deceived to the core.
And if we think we stand, we need to be very careful.
But if we humbly come before God,
we will see that we are those who must submit to God in humility and contrition of heart.
There is no other way in which we can approach God.
If we approach God in our own terms and seek to bargain with Him,
we will find that we will indeed reject Him.
But if we come before Him and take Him as He is,
the Holy One who has made the heavens and the earth,
and as only in Him can we find salvation and grace,
then we shall receive Him.
So it's not just for the Jews, this message, but it's also for us.
Being presumptuous about our spirituality
and thinking that we stand is probably the very point where apostasy takes over.
Because in our heart of hearts we are desperately wicked
and we need to be those that submit ourselves to God
on the basis of His grace alone and according to His mercies.
And so therefore we find that Jesus laments over,
laments over Jerusalem.
He says in the 13th chapter of Luke's Gospel,
these laments over Jerusalem.
And we just look at them just quickly,
where He seems to be that the whole crisis of these things,
He says in verse 34 of Luke's Gospel in chapter 13,
He says, O Jerusalem, O Jerusalem,
the one who kills the prophets
and stones those whom you have sent to her,
how often I wanted to gather your children together
as a hen gathers a brood under her wings,
and you were not willing.
See, your house is left to you desolate,
and assuredly I say to you shall not see me until the time comes
when you say blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
This will be sometime in the future.
And so it proceeds in that manner.
How the Lord lamented over these things.
The 23rd chapter is an extended lament.
When He fixed His eyes, the 23rd chapter of Matthew's Gospel,
when He fixed His eyes upon these things,
He just had one lament after another.
There was a lament, lament, lament
over the unfaithfulness of Israel.
And He pronounced woes on the shepherds of Israel and curses.
And He speaks of the destruction of Jerusalem
in terms that make anyone's blood just pour out of them.
So the parables in chapter 25 of Matthew's Gospel
speaks of this event.
And then we find in Romans,
if we just think it's only Jesus that is speaking at this point,
that Paul in the book of Romans in chapter 11
raises this question as well in verse 7 and onwards.
And he sees that these things,
and what then Israel has not obtained what it seeks,
but the elect have obtained it and the rest were blind,
just as is written.
God has given them a spirit of stupor,
their eyes that they should not see and ears and so it goes on.
And then we find right through until verse 11
where he says,
And I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall?
Certainly not.
But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy,
salvation has come to the Gentiles.
And that's the point of the whole thing.
And we find that this has a purpose.
They did not believe in him as a nation
because they had failed to believe.
And this statement is not a statement to individuals
because it doesn't make any sense.
Many of them did believe.
We find Nicodemus and Joseph of Arithymia,
who of this category,
who were of the very highest order
in Israel's ecclesiastical makeup, did believe.
But as a nation, this was very much fulfilled in their lives.
And that means that there was many thousands
in the days of the Pentecost
and the early days of the Book of Acts,
many thousands came to know the Lord.
But in terms of the people of Israel as a nation,
they generally are rejected for this rejection.
He says,
And I saw his glory and spoke of him.
And we find that the coming of the Messiah,
the establishment of his kingdom,
the redemption is accomplished upon the cross of Calvary
for all of time to see.
It means on this basis that men would be rejected or received.
And if we believe upon these things,
we find that their lives were enfolded into the things of God.
But generally we find that the history of Israel
since this time has been a history of disaster
because God has put this upon them.
Now the second thing we see here is that in verse 42,
that nevertheless, even among the rulers,
many believed in him,
but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him,
lest they should be put out of the synagogue.
Now it's a sad, sad thing
that people do come to believe in the Lord Jesus
and yet for many reasons that cannot always be,
and we mustn't use this as an excuse,
but there are reasons why people do not confess him.
Now these are, as it were, silent believers.
The Lord has done his work.
Remember the series of sermons we saw on Elijah.
There were many who were silent believers in Israel
at the time of Elijah.
More than 7,000 had not bowed the knee to Baal,
but they feared to confess him
because they may well lose their lives if they did so.
And this was the case at this time as well.
Many Jews individually believed in Jesus,
even among the rulers,
but they were intimidated as believers
and they feared man rather than God.
And of course they should not be like that.
Nonetheless, it is true that this thing exists.
And therefore, in the machinations of man's heart,
because of the fear of men,
we are not as clear as we should be in confessing Jesus.
And the call today is let us not any longer
walk that comfortable compromise.
It is easy for us to give good reason
why we should not confess Jesus at times.
But in the end, are we fearing men or are we fearing God?
That's the question we've got to ask us.
If we are fearing men, we've got to make it known.
I'm not asking you to throw pearls before swine.
It's wise for us to keep silent in certain situations.
But what I am asking you to do is don't hide your faith.
Confess your faith.
And there are men that did this in those days, Nicodemus.
And Joseph of Arithymia went boldly to Pilate,
in probably risk of losing their entire reputation,
if not their lives, and said,
We belong, we are disciples of Jesus Christ,
at a point of time when the whole world had rejected.
The faith of those two men came to light,
and there they were able to fulfil prophecy,
said that he would be buried in a rich man's grave.
And that was the epitaph over their crave as well,
that they had faith in the Scriptures
and that they were mentioned in Scriptures.
Now, my call to you and to us is that
whenever we are fearing men, you are not honouring God.
And whenever we are fearing God, we are glorifying God.
And we cannot keep silent about such a Gospel.
They could not confess Jesus
because they had feared that they would be put out of the synagogue.
They loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.
That was the condemnation of them.
And how easy it is for us to feel that we fall into that category.
In the end, we will have to confess Christ.
And therefore, it is easier for us to do it now than later on.
Now, Romans 11 carries this whole thought forward.
But through their fall, to provoke them through jealousy,
salvation has come to the Gentiles.
And Jesus had said here,
I have come as the light of the world,
that whoever believes in me should not abide in darkness.
That was his mission.
And that is the basis by which we are to come.
What it says here,
he who comes to the light, in other words, he who comes to Christ,
the Word that has become incarnate,
the Word that has been laid for us in the revelation of the written Word,
as we come to that, we will find that there will be a dawning of belief
and receiving the things of God.
It's not because of anything else.
We will come to Christ, not to religion,
not to some kind of personal fulfillment.
We come to Christ because he's our Savior.
And we now come to him as the light of the world.
And it says, whosoever,
whosoever, he's not talking to the elect,
if you are elect, he says,
whosoever, everyone who hears and comes to the light,
whosoever believes in this light, this Gospel,
should not abide in darkness any longer.
Now this is Christ's mission to the world,
not merely to the Jews, not merely to Israel.
Israel should not be the center of the world,
but Christ is the center of salvation and the center of the world.
All of history revolves around the hinge of Christ.
And the doors are open on that hinge alone.
And therefore we find that as Christ is made central,
then he will gather all the nations to himself.
The full number will be brought in.
And Jesus and the Father are one, he says here.
And whoever believes in me, believes not in me,
but him who sent me.
That's the point that he raises there.
In other words, the triune God is one.
And the only thing that Jesus was doing
was to bring the light of the Father to us,
that we might see that Jesus is our Savior, our Redeemer,
our Lamb, that he laid down for our justification.
And therefore as Jesus reveals the Father,
as Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 3 says,
who brings the brightness of his glory
and the express image of his person.
And as the Colossians says,
he is the image of the invisible God.
And who comes to believe in Jesus?
Well it says in verse 45 of our passage,
he who sees me, sees him who sent me.
And so it requires us to see,
that is to see with the eyes of our soul,
to see with conviction, to see with our conscience,
to see Jesus as the one in whom our salvation is vested.
And then he says, abiding in light in verse 46,
I have come as the light in the world.
All other, everything else in the world was darkness,
except the revelation of Christ.
And whoever believes in me should not abide in darkness.
In other words, righteousness is an evidence of our believing.
Holiness is an evidence of our believing.
We should not walk as the world walks any longer,
but we walk as children of light,
because we are those who walk in the righteousness of God's law,
not according to the flesh.