The Crux of the Matter

0:07During the COVID days, there was a lot of bad news, wasn't there? In fact, so much so that you may remember John Krasinski started a YouTube show called Some Good News. I don't know if you watched that. I did. I got to pay a lot of attention to COVID out in California to help us make decisions as a church out there is what we were supposed to do.

0:29Um, man, it was good to watch this brief YouTube show that was probably 5 minutes, 10 minutes maybe called Some Good News, because we longed for that. We just wanted there to be good news when all that we seemed to encounter was bad news. Well, COVID's gone, but the bad news is still coming. And, uh, that show has long gone away and it's not operative anymore. And so we're left as Christians to face a world that's dark and getting darker.

0:55And so we wake up to a story this morning, like the Middle East is a tinderbox because Israel has launched strikes on some Hezbollah proxies there in southern Lebanon, and Israel's saying, well, this is a preemptive strike, and they're launching hundreds of rockets back at Israel, and you've got Iran mixed in the boiling, simmering pot over there as well right now, and what's going to happen, and what are we going to do? And then you've got Russia, and you've got all these things, and you've got our economy, and you've got the Democratic National Convention setting up an RV to kill babies, and it's like, what is going on, God? I don't know if you felt that way, if you thought, man, what am I going to do? What is the world going to look like in the next 10 years? What is the world going to look like in the next 5 years?

1:40What's the world going to look like next year? And you've thought to yourself, what are we supposed to do?

1:48Well, this morning I do have some good news for you. See, the cross, which is in view this morning in our text, even though We're not there yet. The cross is in Jesus' eyes and on Jesus' mind in our passage this morning. And for us, what we're going to find is the cross is good news, not just for our eternity, but also for today. See, the cross has impacted us not just for eternal life, but for the life that you are living right now, day in and day out.

2:15We're going to find in our passage this morning, John chapter 12, verses 27 through 36, 3 aims of the life transformed by the cross. Today, not just eternally, but for right now, man. Well, how should I live my life? How should I think about the chaos in the world around us? How should I wake up tomorrow with any desire to get out of bed and face a world that just is falling apart all over the place?

2:37The cross is that good news. Again, not just because of heaven, but because of tomorrow. And so go to John chapter 12 with me as we jump into our text together. John chapter 12, as we continue, we pick up again from last week, and it says this in verse 27: Now my soul is troubled, and what should I say? Father, save me from this hour!

2:58But for this purpose I've come to this hour. Father, glorify your name. Then a voice came from heaven: I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again. The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, an angel has spoken to him.

3:13Jesus answered, this voice has come for your sake, not mine. So let's catch up. Last week we left Jesus with the Greeks. Remember, the Greeks had come to Philip and said, Philip, we want to see Jesus. And Philip had gone to Andrew, and Andrew and Philip had gone to Jesus, and Jesus had said, the time of the hour for me to be glorified, it's come, it's here.

3:32The cross is around the corner, in other words. And so we're there, but, but even broader than that, I want you to remember, because we get lost sometimes going from week to week to week and time transpires for us, this is all still happening on Palm Sunday. So you still have the crowds that are with Jesus at this point, the crowds that came with them from Bethany and the crowds that were there in Jerusalem that came out to greet him saying, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. So all of this is happening and Jesus is saying all of this and the voice from heaven happens in the midst of all of the crowds and all of the people and the disciples that are all gathered here around Jesus. Well, in verse 27, Jesus pulls the curtain back on a bit of his humanity.

4:13When he says, now is my soul troubled. John's Gospel is unique in that he doesn't record for us the Gethsemane scene in the detail that the other Gospel writers do, where the other Gospel writers tell us that Jesus not once, not twice, but 3 times prayed, Father, if there's any other way, please let this cup pass from me. But if not, Not my will, but your will be done. In a sense, this, what we're reading right now, is John's Gethsemane. He's not there.

4:48This is again the triumphal entry. This is when everybody's still excited about Jesus potentially being the Messiah and the King. And yet this is John's glimpse into the agony of the cross. Even though the cross is 4 or 5 days away from Jesus at this point, he's feeling the weight of it. And that's what it means.

5:04My soul is troubled. The soul is the the whole person. It's the seat of the emotion, the intellect, the will. And Jesus is saying, everything about me is feeling the trouble of the cross.

5:18What does the word troubled mean? You can probably assume this, but it's the idea of being in distress over something, afflicted by something. Jesus was feeling an agony that came with the understanding that there was danger, there was peril that lay ahead of him. And so Jesus, as he thinks about the cross, is feeling troubled over it. You know, it's interesting, we're going to get there, but in John 14:1 and John 14:27, Jesus is going to tell his disciples, don't be troubled.

5:52Don't be troubled. And the reason that they're not to be troubled, the reason that you and I are not to be troubled, is because Jesus is troubled on our behalf. Because Jesus is feeling the weight of the wrath of the Father that you and I are never going to have to bear, but that's what's happening here. He's anticipating the cross. He's understanding what lay in front of him.

6:10And he goes on and he says, well, what should I say? Father, save me from this hour. There are some that believe that that was a genuine request from the Son in that moment. That again, this was Jesus' Gethsemane here in John's Gospel. That Jesus, like he would in the garden, here is praying, Father, please save me from this hour.

6:31Because he feels the trouble, he feels the weight of the impending cross and crucifixion. Others say, no, this was a rhetorical question, as though Jesus was saying, what am I supposed to say? I'm not going to do this? I'm going to tap out? I'm not going to do that.

6:46Either way, the hour had arrived. We read that last week, John 12:23, the hour is now here. And the agony that's going to climax in the garden and those prayers there, Jesus was beginning to feel that already here in John chapter 12, verse 27. My soul is troubled, but what should I say? Father, save me from this hour.

7:07He wasn't going to pray that. He wasn't going to take that route. He could have even on the cross, right? He could have called down the legions as the crowd was mocking him saying, get down from the cross. He could have done all of that, but he wouldn't.

7:19Why? Because what the next verse says, but for this purpose I have come. What purpose? What he says next, Father, glorify your name. That's not rhetorical.

7:31That was the prayer of the Son. For this purpose I have come to this hour. What purpose, Jesus? That the Father's name would be glorified. And not just in this hour, but that's been the purpose of the Son throughout his entirety of his life and his earthly ministry.

7:47I love the picture that we get of Jesus here because we see the humanity. We see that He wasn't just this robotic Savior, that the cross wasn't easy for Him, which shows us the love of the Savior as He's dying for us. So we see the humanity, we see the agony, we see the angst in His heart over the cross that lay before Him, and yet we also see the intense focus that He had which was on the glory of the Father and doing the one thing that He knew He was there to do, which is to accomplish the will of the Father. And it was the will of the Father, as I read earlier during our Scripture reading, To put him to grief, to crush him.

8:24Earlier in John, John chapter 5, Jesus said, truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. Jesus said, I'm not going to go rogue. I'm going to stay on the Father's plan, the Father's will. John chapter 5, verse 30, again he says, I can do nothing of my own.

8:45As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. And so here He says, this is the purpose that I've come. Father, glorify Your name. There was never a scenario in which Jesus was going to tap out, because the way that God was going to glorify His name— in fact, the ultimate showcase of the glory of God this side of eternity is the cross.

9:12And so that was what Jesus had in mind, and though He was troubled over it, He knew that that would lead to the ultimate display of the glory of the Father.

9:22And so the Father responds verbally, one of just 3 times. The Father spoke at the baptism of Jesus. The Father spoke at the transfiguration of Jesus. And the Father interrupts human history at this point to speak into creation as the Son is troubled here. And the Father says this, He says, I have glorified it, Son.

9:42Well, how had the Father already glorified the Son? Remember back in John chapter 2, the first miracle that Jesus ever did, turning the water to wine. What happened after that? It said, in this way the Son began to reveal his glory. Fast forward, John chapter 5, the paralytic by the pool of Bethesda.

9:58What does Jesus do? He heals the man that was a paralytic, lame for 40 years. That's revealing the glory of the Father. He walks on water. He feeds the 5,000.

10:08He raises Lazarus from the dead, revealing the glory of the Father. I have glorified it. But then he says this, and I will glorify it again. That's the cross. That's the hour.

10:22That's what Jesus was troubled over, is this moment that God was going to again glorify his name. And you may say, is the cross glorious? Maybe you've heard that before. How is— how, how is the cross glorious? Never before in human history would anyone have looked at the cross and said, that's glorious.

10:42They would have said that's humiliating, that's shameful, it's degrading, it's horrific.

10:51But it's the seat of glory for the Father and the Son. Why? Because it's at the cross that we see the convergence of the wrath of God and the mercy of God. It's at the cross that we see the love of God and the justice of God meet. It's at the cross where sinners are pardoned and the guilty are condemned.

11:11Condemned. It's at the cross that the glory of God meets the problem of sin and says, I've got it, and it's, it's, it's done. It's dealt with. It's at the cross where the only provision for you and I as sinful human beings has been provided through Jesus. Colossians 1:19-22 says this, for in him, in Jesus, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

11:45And you who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him. You see, church, our salvation, our future deliverance, our eternity is going to go back to the cross where peace was made.

12:07In the body of his flesh by his death. And so Jesus prays, what should I say? Save me from this hour? But for this purpose I have come. Father, glorify your name.

12:17The Father says, I have glorified it and I will glorify it again. The next verse, verses 29 through 30, this voice and then the commentary that John provides after this, or that Jesus provides after this, tells us that this was not for Jesus' sake. It's not as though Jesus was sitting there doubting going, Okay, Lord, Father, are you really going to do this? Because Jesus says, this voice didn't come for my sake, but for, for your sake. And the crowds heard it.

12:42And some said it thundered. Others said an angel was speaking, but this is the Father revealing that through the cross, he's going to be glorifying himself and the Son. I want you to think about what, what happened at the cross. Were we forgiven? Yes.

12:58Was about God making a way for sinful human beings to be reconciled to him? Yes. Was it about Jesus breaking the chains of sin and death? Yes. Was it a demonstration of God's immeasurable love for us?

13:08Yes. It was all of those things. But you know what the chief purpose of the cross was? It's the chief purpose of everything else in life, the glory of God. The cross is all about the glory of God.

13:21And so Jesus, as he stands there or sits there with the crowds all around him facing the cross, looking down the barrel of his execution. What is he concerned with in that moment? He's concerned with the same thing that you and I should be concerned with as well. As we think about our own lives in this dark world that's around us, the trials that we walk through, the valleys and the shadow of death that we walk through here, as we think about what a life transformed by the cross looks like, we should be concerned with the same thing that Jesus was as he anticipated the cross, and that is the glory of God. Point number 1 this morning is this: seek the Lord's glory through your trials.

13:54Seek the Lord's glory through your trials.

14:00That sounds good, doesn't it? I hope so. I wrote the point.

14:05Self-serving pastor. That sounds good, doesn't it? Seek the Lord's glory through your trials. Yeah, I want God to be glorified through my trials. Yeah, I'm just praying that God's going to be glorified as I'm going through this tough time in my life.

14:16Yes. What does that mean? How do you do that? How are you glorifying God as you suffer financially right now? How are you glorifying God in the midst of your cancer right now?

14:31How are you glorifying God with a child who's not following the Lord right now? How are you glorifying God with a spouse that's an unbeliever right now? How are you glorifying God with layoffs coming next week at work and you're not sure what's going to happen? How are you actually glorifying him? Because it's more than just the words that come out of our mouth.

14:51I want to suggest 2 ways this morning that you and I should think about how we can glorify God through our trials. First, we glorify God in the midst of trials by maintaining the right perspective, by having a God's-eye view on our trials rather than our own view of our trials. So maintaining the right perspective, Romans 8:28-29, you probably know it. Some well-meaning Christians have probably come alongside you in the midst of your trials and quoted this. And you just grit your teeth and smile as you walk away.

15:20But Christian, in the midst of your trial, you do need to hear this. Romans 8:28-29, we know that for those who love God, all things work together for what? For what? For good. For good.

15:33Our problem is who gets to define the good? God does. We want to define it. That's what you're going to hear from the health, wealth, and prosperity teachers. God's going to work together for your good.

15:44This trial is going to mean that you're going to come out of it And you're going to be better for it. And you're going to have the Lamborghini sitting in your driveway and you're going to have the bigger house and you're going to have the trophy wife you've always wanted. And you're going to have all the kids that are just in a line like ducklings. And you're going to— everything's going to be great. The right person is going to win the political election because all things are going to work together for your good.

16:03The problem is, is not your good as you define it, but as God defines it. And he does that in verse 29 when he says, for those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of Jesus. That's your good. Your good is that you look more like Jesus and like the sculptor with the block of marble. Sometimes it's going to look violent to get you to look like Jesus.

16:28God's got to go to work with a hammer and chisel to knock off some sin in our life. He's got to knock out some idols in our life. And sometimes that's an abrasive and a violent process where it doesn't feel good. And yet we need the right perspective to know, even when it doesn't feel good, God, you're working together right now for my good, that I be more like Jesus, which is ultimately for your glory. It's a way that we seek the Lord's glory through our trials.

16:53We sometimes sing the song, right, More Like Jesus, and we sing the line in that song, if less of me means more of you, take everything. Do we mean that? Do we understand that when we sing that, church, we are inviting trials into our life? Lord, take anything that's not making me more like Jesus. Do we mean that when we say that?

17:19Pick up the hammer and the chisel, Lord. I want to be more like Jesus.

17:26See, with this perspective, we don't look at every trial in our life just to find a way out. We begin to look at the trials in our life and say, how is this making me look more like Jesus? How is this increasing my faith in you, Lord? How is this increasing my trust in you? How is this making me more kind and empathetic and compassionate?

17:42How is this producing more love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control in my life? How are you using this trial to make me look more like the Son? Because that is the ultimate way that you are going to be glorified in my life. God is never going to be glorified by anything that makes us look less like Jesus, but only by that which makes us look more like Jesus. So the first way that we glorify God through our trials is maintaining the right perspective, the God's-eye view, not our own view.

18:13The second way that we seek the Lord's glory through our trials is through perseverance. We keep going. Jesus doesn't tap out. He doesn't say, you know what, I've got a busy weekend coming up in front of me, guys. I'm just going to go take a vacation for a little bit.

18:30In fact, Jesus enters into some of the most intense ministry, though not public ministry, but some of his most intense ministry with his own, with his disciples between now and the cross. In the midst of the weight and the agony, as his soul is troubled, Jesus says, I'm going to keep working for the glory of the Father. Church, don't let your trials sideline you from effective ministry in the church. Don't let the valley of the shadow of death take you out of doing what God wants to do through you. Which is serving your brothers and sisters in Christ.

19:05Let steadfastness, as James says, let steadfastness, which is created through trials, have its perfect effect, its full effect in your life. Let the trial do in your life what God wants it to do in your life. And that's not to take you out of being useful to him, but in fact, in a lot of ways to put you in a place where you're going to be even more useful to him. And so you persevere through the trial. Is that wrong then to pray that God would deliver me from the trial?

19:30No, it's not. In fact, Take your Bibles over to 2 Corinthians chapter 12, 2 Corinthians chapter 12, or in John chapter 12, just jump over to a few more books in chapter 12s and then you'll, you'll get there. 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians chapter 12. I want you to hear the Apostle Paul talking about a trial that he had. And I want you to see his mentality when it came to this trial.

19:57He says this. In 2 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 7, so to keep me from being conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, he says this, a thorn was given me in the flesh. He calls it a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Notice though, Paul says this in verse 8. He says, 3 times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.

20:21Okay. Therein, church, we have permission It's okay for us to pray to come out of the valley of the shadow of death. It's okay for us to pray, God, please relieve the suffering. Please put an end to the trial. God, I don't want to be in this place anymore.

20:36It's, it's good. It's right. It's okay to pray those prayers. Paul prayed that about this, this thorn in the flesh at least 3 times. But what I want you to see is Paul didn't then, when the Lord said no, say, okay, well then fine, I'm gonna go sit in the corner and cross my arms and And just bemoan and throw a pity party for my trial.

20:55What did Paul do? Look at verse 9. But he said to me, the Lord's response was, hey Paul, my grace is sufficient for you. My power is actually made perfect in weakness. So Paul's response, therefore, I'm going to boast all the more gladly of my weakness, of my trial, of my suffering, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

21:16For the sake of Christ, then I'm content with my weaknesses. Think about that. I'm content with my trial. I'm content with the diagnosis. I'm content with the reality that I can't save my spouse.

21:28I'm content with the reality that I'm not making as much money as I used to make. And I don't know if maybe that's going to mean I'm going to have to sell my house to make ends meet and to provide for my family. I'm content in the trial. Why? Insults, hardships, persecutions, calamities.

21:44For when I am weak, then I am strong. See, church, when, when Paul prayed, God, take this trial, lead me out of the valley of the shadow of death, bring it to an end. And he heard, my strength is made perfect in weakness. My grace is sufficient to you. Paul said, okay, then I'm going to persevere.

21:57I'm going to keep serving you, Lord. I'm going to keep going. Such that at the end of his life in 2 Timothy chapter 4, he's writing, he's saying, look, I'm done. I am done. I'm poured out.

22:07I'm exhausted. I have fought the good fight. I finished the race. And now there's laid up for me the crown of righteousness. Church, don't let your trial sideline you.

22:19No matter where you're at right now this morning, I promise you this: God is there to work for his glory in your life. That's what it's about. Your life is not about your comfort. Your life is not about your dreams being fulfilled. Your life is not about having the perfect marriage and the perfect family.

22:33Your life is not about living in Dallas in the right zip code with the right politicians in the right time of the country in the right environment where it's easy to be a Christian. That's not what your life is about. And if it is, then you're living for the wrong things. Your life is about the glory of God, and he will get that glory in your life, Christian. And sometimes he's going to do that with a hammer and chisel.

22:55You've heard of Joni Eareckson Tada, I assume. She was injured at a young age jumping into a pool as a young woman. Pool was too shallow and she ended up a quadriplegic. She paralyzed from the neck down. And she was angry for a while.

23:11God, this isn't fair. I could have done so much for the kingdom.

23:17But eventually God thankfully showed her that he was going to still do much for the kingdom through her. Joni Eareckson Tada says this, God is more concerned with conforming me to the likeness of his Son than leaving me in my comfort zones. God is more concerned with conforming me to the image of his Son, which is my ultimate good, Romans 8:29, than leaving me in my comfort zones. God is more interested in my inward qualities than in my outward circumstances. Things like refining my faith, humbling my heart, and cleaning up my thought life and strengthening my character.

23:54I mean, if Joni Eareckson Tada is not tapping out and sidelining herself, Then we have no right to tap out and sideline ourselves either. Whatever you're going through right now, church Christian, if you have the Spirit dwelling within you, God wants to use you for his glory. Don't let the trial take you out of it. Persevere in that. And so again, the cross transforms our life.

24:18And one of those aims that it does, one of those impacts that it makes in our life is we begin to think about our trials the way that Jesus looked at the cross. He looked at the cross and said, Father, glorify your name through this. What's your trial? What's your valley that you're going through right now? Maybe you don't have one right now, one's coming.

24:32Are you ready? Are you preparing so that when that comes you're going to say, Father, glorify your name. Glorify your name in the midst of this valley. There's another facet of the glory of God at the cross though. Not just was it the place where sin was dealt with, and sin, Satan, and death were dealt the final blow, but it's the place that he gets this victory.

24:53Look at verse 31. He says this, Jesus says, now is the judgment of the world. Now will the ruler of the world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.

25:08So as Jesus continues to address the crowd here in this section, he tells them what's going to happen as the Father glorifies his name. And he starts by saying, now is the judgment of the world. The world, 1 John 2:15-17, John says, do not love the world. This is the same author, right? Do not love the world or the things in the world.

25:27For the things of the world, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the boastful pride of life are not from the Father, but they're from the world. And the world is passing away along with all of its desires. And so in a way, the cross was judgment on the world's system, but also the cross is judgment on the inhabitants of the world. Those that are part of the world system. In the end, when you stand before God, the deciding factor is going to come down to what did you do with the cross?

25:55That's it. That will determine eternity for you. What did you do with the cross? And so in that way, Jesus says, now is the judgment of the world. The cross is going to be the pivot point.

26:07The cross is going to be the line in the sand. That's going to define believer from unbeliever, with the question mark being, what did you do with the cross? Did you repent from your sins and put your trust in Jesus' atoning sacrifice on the cross for you? Well done, good and faithful servant, come in. Did you reject the cross?

26:26Did you trust in self-righteousness? Did you trust in salvation by osmosis, by proximity, and think that just because you grew up in the church you're good to go? Did you trust in just being a cultural Christian here in Texas where it's part of what it means to just be part of here and have a house here? You have to pay your HOA fees and show up at church in the morning? Is that where your confidence is?

26:47If that's where you're at, then you're going to hear that day, depart from me, I never knew you.

26:52See, the cross is the judgment of the world, and it's also the judgment, as he goes on to say, of the ruler of this world. Who's the ruler of this world? Paul defines him in Ephesians 2:2, the prince of the power of the air. 2 Corinthians 4:4, the god of this world. You know who he's talking about there?

27:08He's talking about Satan. So now is the ruler of this world, also known as Satan, cast out. Cast out. It's emphatic there, actually. It's the world— the ruler of this world in the Greek there, Jesus said, is going to be cast out outside.

27:24He doubles down on it. This is an ultimate victory. This is the finality. And this is another facet of the glory of the cross, is this is the death blow to Satan. When Jesus died, Satan lost.

27:37And yes, the resurrection is a part of that as well. But when Jesus died and sin was atoned for, Satan lost. That's the death blow. And so that's part of the glory of the cross that we also need to see. And how did that happen?

27:51How did that death blow come? Again, through the means of his death. And that's what he says, when I am lifted up from the earth. How is the ruler going to be cast out? How is the judgment of the world going to come?

28:01When I'm lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself. John chapter 3, verse 14. John wrote there, as Moses lifted up the serpent, Jesus is speaking, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up. So he's returning to that same theme. He's saying, when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself.

28:23Through the crucifixion, he would overcome sin and death and Satan. Through the crucifixion, he would win the victory over Satan and make a way for you and I to be here this morning not wasting our time.

28:35But all people? Are we universalists all of a sudden? No. Hell exists. Hell's a place of eternal damnation where the smoke of torment goes up forever and ever.

28:49Hell is a place in Revelation chapter 20 that's emptied into the lake of fire. Along with all of its inhabitants?

28:59So if hell exists and there's people in hell, what does this mean? I will draw all people to myself. Well, it's the question of what he means by all. Is it all without distinction or all without exception? If it's all without exception, then we are universalists.

29:16Everyone's getting to heaven. But the rest of the Bible doesn't agree with that. So if it's all without exception, we've got a problem. But if it's all without distinction, then we begin to understand more of what he's talking about. All without distinction is this: there's no one outside of the sufficiency of the death of Christ on the cross— there's no one type of person, Jew, Gentile, Greek, male, female— there's no one that can say, my sin is too great that the cross couldn't pay for it.

29:42My sin is so great that he, God, couldn't draw me to himself through the Son being lifted up. And so when he says here, I will draw all people to myself, it's all without distinction, not all without exception, that the cross is sufficient to draw anyone to the Father if it be the Father's will. And therein it is the ultimate victory over Satan. Colossians 1:13, he has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son through Jesus. But what I want us to focus in on here this morning is the battle that took place on the cross, the death blow that was dealt to Satan when the ruler of this world was cast out outside.

30:25He's done away with, the final blow. And so as Christians, we should rejoice in that great reality, but we also, church, have to stay alert and aware that our mortally wounded foe is just that. He's at this point only mortally wounded. He hasn't fully been vanquished yet. His fate has been sealed, and yet, church, we need to understand he's not going to go down without a fight.

30:47So point number 2 this morning is this. Point number 2 this morning is this: don't write off your spiritual adversary. Don't write off your spiritual adversary.

31:00You've probably heard of the people that have found like Mary in their toast. Yes, I think you can buy that toaster on Amazon now. You can buy the Mother Mary toaster and enjoy that for whatever reason you would want to on a regular basis. But people are like, oh, look, I put my toast in this morning and here's Mary. And then people drive for hours and even fly to see this guy's toast.

31:22Or like the trees where like all of a sudden apparently the tree is weeping and you're like, no, that's sap is what that is. And it's not, it's It's not anything. It's not a saint in the tree. It's just sap. That's all that is.

31:34But people are like, no, the tree's crying. Or maybe you've seen The Exorcist. I haven't seen it, either the old one or the new one. I wouldn't commend it to you, but that's your picture of spiritual warfare is the head that spins around and the weird priest with the water and he's flinging stuff everywhere there. And you're like, well, that's spiritual warfare.

31:49And that's just a bunch of mumbo jumbo and that's just nonsense. And so we're, we're more intellectual than that here in America. We've moved beyond that. We don't have to worry about such things that happens in third world countries. In cultures that worship animistic countries with spiritual things.

32:01I've heard the stories over there, but it doesn't happen here, church. We can't have that mentality. Your adversary has been mortally wounded, but he's not yet vanquished. I think we think of passages like Colossians chapter 2, Colossians 2:15. He disarmed the rulers and authorities, that is the spiritual forces, and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in him.

32:25And we think, There, that's settled. The spiritual forces have been disarmed by the cross, and he won victory over them, so we're done.

32:35Okay, yes, but then Peter also writes, be sober-minded, for your adversary the devil is presently prowling around seeking someone to devour.

32:53Church, we can't write off our spiritual adversary as somehow it's not a thing anymore, that we don't have to worry about spiritual warfare. You have an enemy that hates you. And yes, he was beaten at the cross, but he's not gone yet. He's a mortally wounded foe that's looking to take out as many as possible in the process. And so what does that mean for us, church?

33:13That means that right now, until we're in eternity, you and I live as Christians behind enemy lines.

33:22The greatest movie of all time, Top Gun: Maverick. If you disagree, you're wrong. It's the greatest movie of all time. The bad guys lose, the good guys win, and there's no nonsense in it. Anyways, in that movie, at one point in time, they find themselves behind enemy lines and they're having to sneak around and they have to be on the alert because they're aware that, man, if we mess up, it could cost us our life.

33:48If we're not careful, there's enemies all around us that want to take us out.

33:54Church, there are enemies all around you in this world that want to see you fall. And as a Christian, can they ultimately take you out? No, but they can hinder you. They can slow you down. They can derail you.

34:06They can interrupt your relationship with Christ. They can make you less effective as a servant of his. And so yes, the ultimate victory won at the cross. Satan lost when Jesus died, and yet Satan is still active. And so we need to be aware of that.

34:19So what does that mean? Does that mean that the guy who cut me off on the road on the way to church this morning is a demon? Maybe, maybe.

34:30No, here's what I want you to do at least, church, is realize, understand at minimum that there are demonic influences and forces at work in the culture around us. And not just over there, but here, here. Spiritual warfare is a real thing. Listen, could there be demonic activity at work in the traffic patterns that lead you to be frustrated and angry on your way to church so that when you show up here, you're not prepared to worship the Lord this morning? 100%.

35:01Could there be demonic activity at work in your workplace so that you are surrounded by a culture that uses profanity and talks about things that do not bring honor and glory to God? And you're tempted to enter into those conversations with them. Could there be demonic influence in that?

35:18Yes. Could there be demonic activity at work in this nation?

35:24Yes. When we're setting up RVs to kill babies outside the Democratic National Convention and people are celebrating that, you don't think Satan and his demons are at work and having a field day in our nation right now?

35:39Could there be demonic activity at work in your home, in the tension between you and your spouse, the anger that you feel and the explosions of anger that you have towards your kids? Yes. Listen, as a Christian, can you be possessed by a demon? No. But you— can you be oppressed by a demon, slowed down, derailed?

36:00Yes.

36:02And all I'm saying is we have to be aware of that, church. And we live in a culture that's, that's been lulled to sleep about all this stuff. Pastor Rod and I and my boys went to the Cowboys preseason game yesterday, and we walked into a cathedral where worship happens.

36:20We live in a society where people are far more excited about 12 guys on a field than they're excited about one guy on a cross that walked out of an empty tomb.

36:30And we think that matters.

36:34That's why we don't see the same kind of spiritual warfare that's going on in other parts of the world right now. Listen, Satan's tactic right now is not to come in here and arrest us and imprison us for our faith, because then real Christians might stand up and do something. Satan's tactic right now is to make all this easy, and he's happy to do it.

36:54He's like, yeah, enjoy your freedoms. Yeah. All right. Freedom of speech, freedom of religion. I'm behind that.

37:01Satan loves those things because it makes it easy for us to be here and it costs nothing. And we're lulled into this state of apathy and spiritual slumber and not useful to the Lord. And so all I'm saying, church, is we need to wake up a little bit and remember that our adversary is prowling around like a roaring lion. We need to remember that we do have a battle to fight. And that battle is not against flesh and blood, Ephesians 6, but against the spirits and the rulers and the authorities and the cosmic powers over this present darkness.

37:29That's where we're at. We have a mortally wounded foe, but he is still here, still kicking, still fighting, and he wants you to fall as much as he possibly can get you to fall. And so the question is, what are you going to do about it?

37:44Well, the good news is the cross also provided an answer for that. And it says, we keep going in our text, verses 34 through 36. So the crowd answered him, we've heard from the law that the Christ remains forever. Now what they mean by law, there's not the Torah, not Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, but the Tanakh, which is the entirety of the Jewish scriptures. They would often refer to that as the law.

38:04And so what they're saying is we know from our scriptures that the Christ, the Messiah remains forever. It's possible they're thinking of 2 Samuel chapter 7, the Davidic covenant. That there was going to be one that would sit on the throne of David whose kingdom would never end. Or maybe they're thinking about Daniel chapter 2 and the visions of the 5 kingdoms, and the 5th kingdom is the rock that's cut out of the mountain as without hands, and that rock is the Messianic kingdom which will reign forever and ever without end. Or maybe they're thinking about Isaiah 9, the one on whom the government would rest upon his shoulders and he would reign forever and ever.

38:35And they're thinking to themselves, wait a minute, what's all this talk about you being lifted up? Now notice they understand he meant his death there. The crowd got it. They're saying, how can you talk about dying? The Christ is supposed to remain forever.

38:46And then they say, who is this Son of Man? The question there— Son of Man was a messianic title, massive implications. Daniel chapter 7, the Son of Man is going to be the one that returns on the crowd— on the clouds with glory. And so they're saying, what type of Son of Man are you purporting to be? What type of Son of Man are you claiming to be if you're talking about dying?

39:08Jesus is not going to get distracted by their question. Instead, he's going to beckon them to do what they really need to do, which is to believe in him. And that's where he goes next when he says this. So Jesus said to them, the light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you.

39:26The one who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light that you may become sons of light. The next verse we're going to pick up in next week, or the last half of that verse at least. But Jesus says, the light is among you for a little while longer. Now, in John's Gospel, the motif of light has come up time and time again.

39:46John introduced Jesus as the light. John 1:4-5, in him was life, and the life was the light of men. John 1:9, the light was coming into the world. John 3:19-21, the light has come into the world, but the people love the darkness more than they love the light. John 8:12, I am the light of the world.

40:07And so Jesus is referring to himself and he's saying, I'm here for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest the darkness overtake you. Well, what does that mean to walk while we have the light? Well, he answers the question for us. Look at verse 36, while you have the light, what does he say?

40:24Believe in the light, believe in the light. So The call to Jesus is they're saying, what type of Messiah are you talking about death? Jesus is saying, what you need to do is you need to believe in me, believe in the light. And that then is how you walk in the light. 'Cause that begins this process wherein we begin a life in a pattern that's marked by a life of walking in the light and not in the darkness.

40:47And so the third way that the cross transforms our life, church, the third way that the cross reorients us. As believers is it changes what we're living for, and it provides a way for us as we navigate the spiritual warfare like we were just talking about a moment ago. It gives us the answer to what does that look like and how do I do that. It's our 3rd and final point this morning. If I can get the clicker to work here, it is— go ahead and advance it a couple there.

41:10There you go. Thanks, guys. Is this: seek refuge from the darkness in the light of Christ. Seek refuge from the darkness in the light of Christ. The safest place for any Christian is to be in the light.

41:22And that begins by coming to faith in Christ. That begins by being drawn to the Father through the Son as the Son is lifted up. That begins at the cross, but it doesn't stop there. I made a really horrible t-shirt because it just didn't land right back when I was our college pastor in California. It was for a series on sanctification.

41:39It was called The Cross Applied. And so it was, it was this cross. You may have seen some people around here wearing it. It was a cross and then it was an arrow. Right?

41:47And I'm thinking to myself, well, it makes sense, right? Because the cross isn't the end of your Christian life. You go, you move forward from the cross. It propels you onward. But everybody was like, what does this mean?

41:56The cross that way? Like the cross to the right side? It was a horrible t-shirt, but the idea behind it, I think, was biblical. I think it landed. And what we're talking about right now, the cross begins this life of walking in the light for us.

42:13And that's how we battle. That's how we go to war. That's the spiritual warfare component of things. There's safety in the light of Christianity. We are from an early age trained to think safety in light, aren't we?

42:26My twins, who are still of the age to have some nightmares, they will get up out of their bed at like 2:00 AM, walk through their dark hallway, down the dark stairs, through the other dark hallway, to my room, come into our bedroom, walk around their mom's side of the bed, and come and stand 2 inches from my face and just wait for me to somehow sense that there might be demonic presence in the room.

42:55And then when I open my eyes and I go, ah, and then they jump and they're like, Dad, you scared me. I'm like, I scared you?

43:02And they'll be there and they're like, I had a bad dream. I'll be, great, go upstairs, turn your LED lights on, and go back to sleep. And they're like, okay. And they turn around, they walk back through the dark house, back up the dark stairs, back through the dark hallway. They get into their bed, they turn on their LED lights and everything's okay.

43:15See, we're trained from an early age to think light equals safety. That's a good thing, Christian. Light does equal safety. That's part of what it means to follow Jesus. 3 ways I want to suggest you do that.

43:25Number 1, be discerning. Be discerning. If you want to seek refuge from the darkness, be discerning about darkness and light in your life. We have to be careful because darkness can often disguise itself as light. 2 Corinthians 11:14, Satan is said to disguise himself as an angel of light.

43:46So we have to be aware. Church, in that context, Paul was talking about false teaching. False teaching in the church today is just as much of a threat as it was then. In fact, perhaps even more. Because the false teachers don't have to come to you.

44:01You bring them into your home. There are so many podcasts and books and preachers out there preaching and teaching and writing under the name of Christianity that are peddling thoughts and ideologies and philosophies and theologies that are anything but Christian. So church, be discerning about whose voice you're listening to as you seek to follow the light. What's the standard? Listen, it's the standard for me too.

44:30It's this: the Word of God, the Bible, is the standard. That's what's true.

44:39And so be discerning. Second, be intentional. You want to walk in the light and avoid the darkness? Be intentional. Don't just let life happen to you.

44:49That's what the enemy wants. That's us living in the state of spiritual slumber, thinking I'm in Texas, I'm a conservative, I go to a good church, I'm okay. Don't just let life happen to you. Be intentional about your life. Think about your entertainment choices.

45:08Don't just turn on the TV and let entertainment happen to you. That's a good way to be filled up with darkness. Ask yourself, is what I'm being entertained by Does it exalt the light or the darkness? If it exalts the darkness, it doesn't have a place in your life.

45:26Be intentional. Be intentional with your calendar. Don't just let your calendar happen to you. Don't let your family's calendar be filled up with all kinds of things without intentionally thinking to yourself, is this serving the light or is this serving my flesh? Is this serving the light or is this about the darkness?

45:42Does this help me walk in the light? Does this help me serve the Lord? Does this help me pursue the lost or does this pull me away from it? Don't let your calendar happen to you. Be intentional about your commitments in a similar vein.

45:58Don't be so committed to so many things that you can't be committed to the things that God wants you to be committed to. And I will unashamedly tell you, church, at the top of the top of that list is the bride of Christ. It's the church.

46:12This and being a part of this is eternal.

46:17This is what you're investing in and sowing in, in eternal relationships. And so commit here first and then ask, Lord, how in my other commitments can I serve you and pursue the light in my other commitments?

46:33So be discerning, be intentional, and third, be thankful. Be thankful. That's another way to make sure that you are walking in the light, because here's the thing, church. Paul tells us in Colossians 1:17 that whatever you do in word or deed, we're to do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. If you want a good litmus test for is this light or is this darkness, ask yourself, while I'm doing this, can I give thanks to God for what I'm doing?

46:59While I'm doing this, can I thank God for this thing?

47:06It's a good litmus test for, is this the light or is this the darkness?

47:14Listen, I get it's basic. You've heard that before.

47:24But can I just be honest with you, church? I don't think we're doing it.

47:32I think we're asleep. We're playing the game.

47:41Because I think if we were doing this, I think our neighborhoods would look different. I think our workplaces would look different. I think our families would look different. I think our churches would look different.

47:59I don't know if we fully grasp how all-consuming our relationship with Christ is really supposed to be.

48:10He died for you.

48:16What does Paul say? I have been crucified with Christ. It's no longer I who live, but he who lives in me.

48:26Elsewhere he talks about the Son of God who gave himself up for me, that I might no longer live for myself, but for him.

48:35What would that look like if we really did that?

48:40What would our lives look like? What would our families— what would our marriages look like? What would our parenting look like if we really, truly Said, in every square inch of my life, I'm going to live not for myself, but for him.

48:56I'm going to walk in the light and not in the darkness.

49:04Say, Pastor, nobody's perfect. Amen. And I'm at the top of that list.

49:15Listen, y'all, sanctification is not about perfection but direction.

49:21Yeah, you're never going to be all the way like Jesus this side of eternity, but that's your goal. That's your goal.

49:32Every single day you wake up, I want to be like Jesus. I want to be like Jesus. Make me like Jesus.

49:43The cross saves us, but the cross also redirects us. It presents a different way of living, a different approach to trials, a different response to the darkness around us. And so when we look at our life, I wonder, in comparison to our neighbors or the thousands of people who attend Joel Osteen's church down in Houston or the Hindu family on your kid's soccer team. How has the cross made your life different?

50:13Why do you look different than that? Yes, the cross has changed your eternity, but what about your present? What about today? What difference is the cross making in your life tomorrow? Let's pray.

50:28Will you stand with me as we pray?