The Plowman

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Gospel of John #34: An exposition of John 13:1-17. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, August 14, 2011.

Intro:
Nothing reveals the true heart and character of a person like extreme trial.  Let a person live under what seems an unbearable strain and you’ll soon learn what they are made of.  Placed into the fiery forge some are ruined while others are refined.  Some crumble others are confirmed.  Haven’t you been amazed by how some people handle adversity?  There are those who face dark, troublesome days with grace, dignity and strengthen.  They shine in the midst of adversity while others fail.  But no one ever shined as brightly as the Lord Jesus in those dark hours before the cross.  As we approach the 13th chapter of John’s Gospel, we slip quietly into the “holy place.”  His death is imminent.  Eternity has been aimed at this very moment.  Life and death; heaven and hell hinge on this moment.  God’s eternal plan is unfolding.  History’s greatest moment lies just ahead.  God’s lamb is being prepared for slaughter.  The weight of eternity is on His heart.  The God/man, the Lord of Glory, the creator of all that is, the Eternal One is about to become sin for us.

The hour of His glorification has come.  Seated at table with the 12 He does a most remarkable thing.  Knowing His time has come; knowing He has already been betrayed; knowing that all things have been put under His power He got on His knees and washed the feet of stubborn, sinful men and taught us the meaning of servanthood.  Our text this morning is found in John chapter 13 beginning with verse 1.

Text: John 13:1-17

Jesus has withdrawn from “public ministry.”
We are in the last hours of His earthly life.
One of the great interpretive difficulties in NT studies is harmonizing John’s Gospel with the synoptics.

We have the reference, “Before the Feast of Passover” yet there is no reference to the Passover Meal.  It appears this is a different evening meal yet immediately after this scene we have the farewell discourse and language that appears in the synoptics as part of the events the night of the Passover Meal/institution of the Lord’s Table.  Scholars are divided as to whether this is a separate meal or the same upper room experience from a different perspective.  Whether it is the Passover Meal or another the point is the same.  We are hours from the cross and this event points to the cross and the cleansing accomplished by the Atonement and demonstrates the servant heart of the Lord Jesus.

The key, for me, in interpreting this significance of this act is found in the last 3rd of this text when Jesus asks if they understand what He has done.  This is about love and servanthood.  Thus I think the message for us is that…

Thesis: Christlikeness demands a life of humble service.

This is unexpected and yet in keeping with John’s whole theme.
His triumphal entry to the city to the shouts of, “Hosanna!”  (Save us!)
Yet riding on an under-seized donkey.
“Now is the hour for the Son of Man to be glorified.”
“Unless a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die…”
“Hold onto your life and you’ll lose it…give it up and keep it for eternity.”

Here is the King of the Universe, great, powerful, majestic and awe-inspiring He can speak and a universe comes into being yet He washes feet?  His ways are not our ways, neither are His thoughts our thoughts.

Three things about servanthood are reflected in our text.

1. Genuine love expresses itself in service to others.  (13:1-5)
2. The experience of grace positions you for service.  (13:6-11)
3. The example of Jesus demands a servant lifestyle.  (13:12-17)

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Gospel of John #33. This is an exposition of John 12:37-50. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, August 7, 2011.

Intro:
It is interesting if you do a study of preaching and teaching of the church over the last 100 years.  you will discover that as we have advanced in knowledge and sophistication we have shed our crude exterior and have taken on a more refined appearance.  certain words and concepts have been removed from our vocabulary.  We talk of love, acceptance and tolerance.  we no longer speak of hell, judgment and righteousness.  We are big on “brotherly love” but downplay the thunder of Sinai.  The prophetic voice of the church has been all but silenced.  Gone is the bold declaration of “Thus says the Lord” and in its place is the weak, anemic declaration of popular psychology – “I’m okay, your okay.”  We have sought to replace the thundering voice of God with the soothing voice of a “kinder, gentler Savior.”  While this tickling of the ears may draw greater crowds we are in danger of losing the Gospel.

We need a return to bold, unapologetic preaching of the whole gospel.  The Gospel is good news but the good news can only be understood and appreciated in light of the bad news.  Grace must be seen in light of God’s wrath.  The extent and the wonder of God’s grace must be seen in the light of His sure and certain judgment.  Our text this morning is found in the 12th chapter of John’s Gospel.

Text: John 12:37-50

We are in the last week of Jesus’ earthly life and ministry.
This week takes up 47% of John’s account of Jesus’ life.

In the face of trouble and threat of death – Jesus made a bold, public statement with His entrance into the city.  He then entered the temple and performed another cleansing.  Over turning the tables of the money changes He declared that His Father’s House was to be a House of Prayer for all nations.  He then spoke to the crowd declaring that the hour had come for the Son of Man to be glorified.  This no doubt caused great excitement.  “Messiah is about to overthrow our oppressor,” was the reaction of the crowd.  Then Jesus spoke of death, “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies it abides alone.”

How is it glory and dying go together?
And what about this keeping life and losing it, letting go of life and finding it?

In verses 35-36 – Jesus warns that the offer of life is not open ended.
The light is among you for a little while longer.
Walk in the light while you have the light.
While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.

37-43 is a summary of the results of Jesus’ words.
44-50 are Jesus words to His disciples.
This passage serves to remind us that…

Thesis: The faithful preaching of the Gospel sounds an urgent warning to those who would reject the Gospel of the Lord Jesus.

In other words, faithful preaching warns of wrath as well as promises grace.

Occasionally people will ask, “What about the innocent native in Africa?  What happens to that innocent native who has never heard the gospel?  They’ve not rejected Jesus because they’ve never heard of Jesus.”  Well, I have to say, the innocent native in Africa has nothing to worry about.  In fact innocent people have nothing to worry about regardless of where they are from!  Of course I have to add there are no innocent natives in Africa or anywhere else.  The real question before us is what about the guilty who have heard and yet rejected the Gospel?

there are three things I want us to see.

1. Those who reject the Gospel have only their own blindness to blame.  (12:37-41)
2. A surface level commitment that refuses to pay the price, is no better than outright rejection.  (12:42-43)
3. Those who reject the Gospel stand under the judgment of God.  (12:44-50)

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Gospel of John #32. An exposition of John 12:27-36. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning July 31, 2011.

Intro:
We are a “gospel people.”  That is we are a people born out of the gospel, held together by the gospel and kept safe by the gospel of the Lord Jesus.  The gospel is something more than what we believe.  It is who we are.  Too often people think of the gospel as just the story about how we are saved.  The gospel is the good news that God is for us.  It is the message of all that God has done, is doing and will do for His beloved.  The gospel is the story of the plan, the will, and the program of God from before time began to all eternity.  This is why it is true to say, “We never outgrow the gospel.”  We never move beyond the gospel to the “deeper things” of God.  We grow into not out of the gospel.  One of the dangers of the Christian life is familiarity.  We become familiar with biblical truths and thus become comfortable.  We handle the sacred until it is “common.”  We know the story so well it loses its wonder.  Nowhere is that more true than the story of Christ’s Passion.  We’ve read about it, we’ve sung about it, we’ve seen it performed, we’ve rehearsed it again and again until it’s become just another story.  We no longer feel the pain.  We do not see the agony.  We hear the faint echo of His cries but we fail to sense the wonder of it all.  Its glory escapes us and we are unaware of the urgency of its message.  That’s too high a price to pay.  I encourage you, no I beg you, come this morning with a fresh perspective and experience the wonder, the glory and the urgency of the gospel.  Our text is found in the 12th chapter of John’s Gospel.

Text: John 12:27-36
It’s Passover.
Jerusalem is buzzing with excitement.
Our Lord enter the holy city making a bold, public announcement.
His entrance was a declaration, “I am Messiah.”
He used the inquiry of some Greeks as the occasion to announce His hour had come.

With one sentence He ignited the crowd, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”

In the next breath he sent them reeling, “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”

Glory and death?
How do these go together?
Lose your life and keep it – hold on to it and lose it?
What does all this mean?

It’s about to get more confusing for the followers of Jesus as He reveals His troubled soul in the shadow of the cross.

Thesis: The experience of Jesus as He approaches the cross reveals the wonder, the glory and the urgency of the gospel.

There are three things I want you to note.  Things that, when they get hold of you, will forever change your perspective on the gospel.

1. The wonder of the gospel is found in Jesus’ persevering commitment to God’s eternal plan.  (12:27-28)
2. The glory of the gospel is displayed in the certainty of God’s fierce judgment and the loving attraction of the cross.  (12:29-33)
3. The urgency of the gospel is manifested by the impending darkness.  (12:34-36)

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Gospel of John #31: an exposition John 12:20-26. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, July 24, 2011.

Intro:
I’ve always like the short stories of O’Henry.  I love the surprise ending.  You’re reading along, convinced that you have it all figured out.  You know exactly where this story is heading.  You saw it coming from a mile away and as you are patting yourself on the back you turn the page and…wait a minute!  How did that happen?  You couldn’t have been wrong.  After experiencing the ending you look back and wonder how you could have missed it.  The ending did not “come out of nowhere.”  This is where the story was heading all along.  The problem was your reading into the story elements that weren’t there.  The author had not miss led you.  Your conclusions, your bias, your speculations miss led you.  That’s how it was for the followers of Jesus as they sat dumbfounded by Jesus’ grand announcement during the last week of his earthly life and ministry.  They were so certain they knew were all this was heading.  They were certain they knew the end of the story.  Boy, were they ever surprised.  Our text this morning is found in the 12th chapter of John’s Gospel.

Text: John 12:20-26
John tells us that there are many other things he could have told us.  There were other things that Jesus said and did that could have been written but these things are written that you might know that Jesus is the Christ and that you might have life by believing in His name.  His purpose is to bring you to saving faith.  He wants you to know who Jesus is and he wants you to put your faith and trust in Him.

47% of his Gospel is taken up with the events of the last week, the week of Passion.
John began this section with the “Triumphal Entry.”
That bold, dramatic, deliberate statement that He is the Messiah.
The religious establishment is determined to kill Him.
They’ve made it clear, they are not hiding anything.
Why such a public spectacle?
Why such an antagonistic move?
His time had come.
The time set by His Father in eternity past.
The time of redemption.
He entered Jerusalem at Passover as the Lamb of God on His way to the altar.

John tells us about an event that signaled the time had come.
As the story unfolds I want you to understand that…

Thesis: God’s eternal plan and program shatters the preconceived notions of man-centered religion.
His ways are not our ways, neither are His thoughts our thoughts.  You cannot put God in a box.  He just will not fit.  I don’t care what size box or what shape.  He will not conform to your way of thinking.

I want you to see three shocking revelations about God’s economy, God’s way of doing things.

• In God’s economy death produces life.  (12:20-24)
• In God’s economy losing your life enables you to keep it.  (12:25)
• In God’s economy service is the path to greatness.  (12:26)