John 12:20-26 - Following Ch..

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com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. John chapter 12 from verse 20. Well brothers and sisters, we continue back in the Gospel according to John the 12th chapter after having a brief excursion last week for Resurrection Sunday, but now we're back and the words of our Lord here in these verses that I read for you this afternoon are absolutely jam-packed with meaning, jam-packed with incredible truths that we will do well to consider.

Now we've been in this portion of text for about a month or so. We've worked our way through from verse 20 through to 25 last time, but the context is the same. So nothing has changed. Jesus is still in Jerusalem He's only about a few days or so away from his crucifixion that will take place at the time of Passover. According to Luke, we know that most of the teaching of our Lord in the last week was taking place in the temple.

So it's very likely, although John doesn't tell us, it's very likely what we have before us in the monologue, even the dialogue of our Christ a little later on, is taking place in the temple. And we also know that the city is very heavily populated about now. People are still trickling in but it's bursting at the seams because the preeminent feast of the Jews is at hand and you know that feast to be the feast of Passover only a couple of days away, three days at the very most. My intention over the next two Lord's Days, Lord willing, is to spend some time unpacking the verse that we're up to. In fact, verse 26.

I want to meditate upon the veracity of our Lord's words here in verse 26. And it's going to take me a couple of weeks to speak to you and to share with you what the Lord has placed upon my heart. The verse reads like this. If anyone serves me, he must follow me. And where I am, there will my servant be also.

If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. Now, you may remember, I hope, that it was just recently, a day or two earlier, that the Jews in mass were celebrating when Jesus made His way down the Mount of Olives into the Eastern Gate, into Jerusalem. They were celebrating and declaring Him, Hosanna, Hosanna, blessed be He who comes in the name of the Lord. They were declaring Jesus to be the King of Israel, declaring Him to be the Messianic King, the long-awaited Messianic There was a stir in the place. There was a buzz of celebration that went far and wide like no other time.

The commotion and the excitement surged through the city, both affecting the Jews and even the Gentiles. Because we're told in the text that I read in verse 20, 21, in fact, a group of Greeks who'd come to worship at the feast, perhaps they'd heard of the commotion and the chanting, asked to speak to Jesus. Now, if they were God-fearing Greeks, which seems to be the case, that is, converts to the religion of Judaism, they've come to worship the only true God, Yahweh. If that is them, and it seems to be the case, they would have a reasonable understanding of Scripture. And a key tenet of the religion of the Jews is this, that the Messianic King is coming.

And when the Messianic King comes, He will establish His Messianic Kingdom. With Him, He brings the kingdom. So according to our Lord's words in verses 23 through 26 it's likely that these Greeks were seeking to speak to our Lord because they were desiring to subordinate themselves under the authority of this king. It's perhaps that they deemed him to be the king and now want to ask the question How do we subordinate ourselves under this king? We can't be sure of this.

It seems that's what's going on, especially in light of the master-servant relationship that is emphasized in our Lord's words in verse 26. Because although Christ will reject the type of kingship that the Jews have in mind, he is king. And He declares Himself as King. In fact, in a few days time, He will profess that truth before the authorities. You would remember from what we went through, the text we went through last week when we're looking at the narrative leading to His crucifixion.

And in fact, when Jesus sent His 12 and His 72 into the world, you remember, He sent them out to declare that the Kingdom of God is at hand. The king has come to establish his kingdom. But the confusion was, what sort of kingdom has this king come to establish? He is king indeed. However, his kingdom is a spiritual kingdom.

It's not as the Jews had suspected. And as a king, he has a kingdom. And in his kingdom, he has many servants. And in these verses before us, Our Lord, our Savior, Jesus Christ, the true King, he'll stipulate what that master-servant relationship will look like in his kingdom. And so he declares in verse 26, if anyone serves me, he must follow me.

Our Lord is making a very significant point in these words. If anyone serves me, he says, he must follow me. In other words, what Jesus is saying is this, if you deem me worthy to be your king, if you deem me worthy to be your master, your Lord, you must follow after me. You must follow after me is what he's saying. In other words, a servant in my kingdom is not one who merely gives me lip service.

He's not one who comes to me and says, Lord, Lord, and that's as far as he goes. No. If you seek to be my servant, Jesus is saying, that privilege comes with practical obligations. There is no passive relationships in my kingdom, is what Jesus is saying. You can't merely be a spectator, happy to sit back and watch.

No, if that's what you want, my kingdom is not for you, is what Jesus is saying. If you wish to be my servant, you better be ready to get your hands dirty because you need to be willing, willing to actively follow after me. Beloved, that whole lordship controversy that began Well, it's begun a long time ago, but really hit fever pitch a few decades ago. Jesus is refuting that right here, right now. There is no such thing, according to the Word of Scripture, there is absolutely no such thing as Christ being your Savior, but not your Lord.

The Scripture knows none of that. He's either your Saviour and your Lord, you're either a disciple of His or you're not in the Kingdom. That's all there is to it. There are no spectators in the Kingdom of God. There are no spectators, no servants who are not also following after the Lord.

If He is your Saviour, He is your Lord, He is your Master, and from the heart of the servant ought to be, you command and I will do your will. No lip service is acceptable before our Lord. Now I want to make it clear, our Lord is not speaking about ways of being saved. That's not what He's speaking about. He's not emphasizing that by serving Him, by following Him, that's the way you enter into the Kingdom.

He's not saying that at all. Over and again, our Lord, from His own lips and the lips of His apostles who come after Him, who speak the words of Christ, and their words are just as authoritative as His Himself, He's declared over and again that salvation comes by the grace of God. Through faith in Christ and in Christ alone. It's not by the works of His hands. His hands are only worthy and able to produce corruption.

There's nothing in us that can be favorable in God's eyes. No, no. Salvation is of the Lord. The Lord has made that clear over and again. But what He is saying is this.

The faith, true faith, is never alone. We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone, but that faith is never ever ever alone. We are saved into a life of service to our King. Through faith we are empowered by His resurrected life to do good works that He has prepared for us beforehand to do. Ephesians chapter 2 verse 10.

And James makes it ultra clear that faith without works, faith without deeds is what? It is absolutely dead. It's meaningless. It's an oxymoron. There's no such thing.

Faith, true faith, genuine saving faith is given by God. It's a working faith. It's a faith that serves. It serves our Savior. You want to be my servant, the Lord is saying.

I'll lead, but you must follow. I'll lead, but you must follow. And I'll be your example, is what Jesus is saying. And the relationship begins by what he says in verse 24 and 25 before us. Remember those words, we explored them a few weeks ago.

Our Lord says, Truly, truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if he dies, he bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. I said last time that verse 24 is speaking about Jesus Christ. He's the one like the kernel of wheat, the grain of wheat that falls into the ground and must die in order to produce a harvest of righteousness.

That's Christ. But then he brings it out in verse 25 and he says, You do like I do. I lay down my life willingly and you must do likewise in service of me. That's what the Lord is saying. The master-servant relationship must begin with your willingness to die.

And that doesn't come before you've apprehended the Lord Jesus Christ by faith, and by faith alone, right? Faith in the finished work of the Saviour. Faith that He bore my sins upon the cross. Faith that He bled and died for my sake. Faith that He has cleansed me from my sin and now He's reconciled me to a good, holy, thrice holy God of the universe.

Reconciled me with the God of the universe to have the greatest privilege to know Him as my God and to be known as His child. What glorious reality. That's how we start our journey in the Kingdom of God. Not by anything we've done with these hands. Not at all.

By the grace of God, because of His love upon us. But He's saying that those who enter must, must be willing to put self to death. There's no fruit otherwise. If that kernel of wheat doesn't die, there's no fruitfulness. It remains alone in its unfruitful.

That's what the Lord is saying in verse 24. And so when he applies that to us, it's as though the Lord is saying, you have a new king right now. You have a new master. You have a new Lord. The old must die because the new has come.

You must be willing to put off all the remnants of the old self. Your previous masters must be put to death. His shameful passions must be put to death. Sinful ambitions must be put to death. All must be put to death in order to follow after Christ.

Hear this exclusively. Total commitment is what is required, and nothing less. Absolute, total commitment. You know what that means. That means a total abandonment of every other path there is in this world because Christ is the only way unto the Father.

Your heart and mine has been allured by many things of this world that must come to an end. Christ must have exclusive rights over your heart and your soul as well as mine. I love the way He's so upfront about it. There's a great cost, but there's no surprises. He's completely upfront with His words.

He's so transparent. He's so brutally honest, our Savior. So is Scripture. You see what Christ is doing here in verse 26? He's laying down the terms of this relationship that he's going to have with his servants.

In other words, he's revealing the cost of being a servant in his kingdom. The cost of being a disciple. In no unclear terms, he says, you ready for it? It'll cost you everything. And let me make a distinction before we move on.

The New Testament speaks of both the subordinate relationship to a master, to a lord. It speaks of both a slave and a servant. A slave is one who is purchased at a price and he becomes the personal property of the master. A slave does what he or she is told without question, sometimes even against their will or even with force at times. That's a slave, a servant on the other hand is one who serves willfully, a servant engages into an upfront agreement with the master and if the terms are agreed upon and accepted, he or she enters into servitude with the master Now, although both slave and servant are terms used in the Bible in relation to our relationship with our Lord and our Savior, we're both slaves and we're both servants.

This New Testament speaks to both. Here, in verse 26, our Lord specifically uses the word for servant, not for slave. Because the emphasis our Lord is making, I believe, is this. Consider. Consider the exceedingly great cost of entering into this relationship.

Consider the cost. Because it'll cost you, as I said earlier, everything. You see, when hiring a servant in the ancient Near East, It was incumbent upon the master to be up front and forthright with at least two elements. It was critical. From the beginning, he needed to be clear upon two elements.

The first being the type of work the servant is expected to do. The type of work the servant was expected to do. What exactly am I signing up for is the question on the servant's mind. What is required of him? That's the first.

And the second is the remuneration, the wages. What's he expected to receive? If I become your servant and I do what is required of me, then what will I get in return? What will my reward be? Now, Lord willing, we'll consider the work this evening, because there's two elements here in verse 26.

I want to consider the work this evening, and Lord willing, next week, we'll consider the reward. So the work this evening. Now, we have to recognize a righteous master would be fully transparent on both, on what is the work expected, what is required of his servant, as well as what the servant is expected to receive in the way of reward. He'd leave no room for surprise, a righteous master. No, master, no room for the servant to come back with complaint.

Hey, but wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. You weren't forthright with me. You didn't tell me up front. You withheld information from me. Had I have known, it may have impacted my decision.

No, no, no, no, a good, righteous servant, a master, my apologies, would be completely up front with that information. And quite often they are not, and we know instances of such, but our Lord is a righteous master. He's up front, and as I said earlier, he's got nothing to hide. You remember the scribe that came to Jesus back in Matthew chapter 8? And he was so excited because our Lord's words were so filled with power and authority.

He explained the scripture, the Old Testament scripture, like no one else, no one spoke with the authority that Christ spoke with. And he was all excited and he came to Jesus and he said, I want to be your disciple. I will follow you anywhere, he says. He says, teacher, I will follow you wherever you go. Remember our Lord's response to this scribe?

That's great! Just sign here and let's get started! No. No, no, no, no. Our Lord looks at him and says, Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.

Not exactly a great marketing campaign or recruitment campaign, is it? You wouldn't use those words to recruit people onto your site. But Jesus is just so honest and forthright. If you think my servants have a life that walks down the primrose path, if you think my servant is to be a servant is a walk in the park, then think again is what Jesus is saying. It's a life of suffering.

It's a life of pain. It's persecution. In a word Jesus says in verse 25, it's death to self as you know it. The pattern of life for my servants is death daily, death daily. You remember last week I quoted for you Luke chapter 9 where our Lord says, if anyone would come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross daily, daily and follow me.

Everything you once held to be near and dear, the Lord is saying, the creature comforts of this world, your friendships, your reputation, your position, even your stuff. Even your own life will be asked of you. Your own life. King Jesus demands it all. Self as you know it must be put to death.

Are you ready? My life? What's more valuable than one's life? The Lord said if you can receive all the stuff in this world for exchange for your soul, that's a bad deal. It's so much easier to give our stuff, isn't it?

So much easier to give our possessions. We all live in Australia, and we all have spares of something that we'd be willing to give up. It's easy to give up some of our money as well. We may not have a large saving account, but we all have a little bit of money saved up, and it's not too painful for every now and then to write a cheque and give that away. But my life?

That's the command of our Lord. I want you, He says, every part of you. It's to abandon self, it's to deny self, it's to die to self and follow after this Jesus. These are heavy words. Can you feel the weight of them?

I don't know about you, these are very heavy words. Because our Lord is not asking that you go away and purchase with your own money a gift and then bring that gift as a sacrifice upon the altar. The Lord is saying, I want you on the altar as a living sacrifice. That's what the Apostle Paul tells us in Romans chapter 12. He got it.

He says, I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Count the cost. Christ is our example. It'll cost you everything, are you ready? For those who seek to serve the Lord, a good question would be, what exactly does this service look like?

What exactly is it to put self to death and follow after Christ? What is it to be Christian, we could say. Well, for starters, I said earlier that the journey starts by placing our faith in him. Before you think about what you should do, you need to be thinking about in whom you must believe. Because apart from faith in Christ, there is no hope.

Whatever path you take, whatever journey you go on will lead to destruction. But it means to follow after Christ is once one's place, their trust in the Lord and the Savior, Jesus Christ. To follow is to tread the path that he has treaden or trodden upon. It's to follow in his footsteps. It's to trust, but it's also to obey.

It's to walk as he walked, or as the Apostle John says in 1 John 2, verse 6, to walk in the same way or the same manner in which he, that is Christ, walked. Remember, Christ is our example, beloved. And so we must secure our eyes upon Christ. After all, he is the author and the founder. He is the finisher and the perfecter of our faith.

He is the Alpha and the Omega and everything in between. There is no part of the Christian faith, there is no part of the journey and the path that the Lord would want us on. The path of righteousness is no part in that, that Christ is not part of, is not essential to, is not the focal point of. If we believe that He is the author and the perfecter of our faith, therefore, Jesus should be the focal point of our hearts and our minds. Not by the strength of our own arms, our own strength or our own intellect.

It's not about us, it's about Him. It's about Jesus. Beloved, it is Christ. It is Christ who cuts the path. It is Christ who's trodden down that path as an example for you and I to follow.

It's Him that places us upon the path. It is Christ who empowers us to walk down that path. And it's Christ who brings us to the finish line. He's the one who takes us home. It's Christ.

It's all about Jesus Christ. Let me ask, how do we follow in the Lord's footsteps? We know ultimately he's doing the work. And apart from him, we can do nothing. You remember he said that in John chapter 15.

But how is it that we follow into his footsteps? Well, let me submit to you, to answer that question, how do we follow in his footsteps? We need to ask the question, how did our Lord walk the path that was set before him in the incarnation? That would be a good place to start. And there's so many, so many things I can say right now, but I'm going to narrow it down to five ways.

Five ways that we can walk in the footsteps of our Lord. And the first is this, our Lord walked the path set before him in obedience to the Father's will. The purpose for our Lord and our Savior Jesus Christ in the incarnation on His earthly ministry and in everything He did. He did according to the will of the Father. In John chapter 4 verse 34, our Lord says, My food, My nourishment, My joy, My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.

In John chapter 8 verse 29 he says, and he who sent me is with me, he has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him. How is the Father pleased? Through perfect righteousness. I always, always, always do what is pleasing to him. The Father's will is my food and I only, I only do what is according to his will.

How glorious is that? In John chapter 5 verse 30, he goes on and says, I can do nothing on my own. This is the Lord speaking. I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge and my judgment is just because I seek not my own will, but the will of Him who sent me.

Every moment of every day in the Incarnation, on the Earth, our Lord, our Saviour was manifesting a life that was in perfect obedience to the will of the Father. Absolutely faultless in His perfection. absolutely faultless in His perfection. Placing Himself under the authority of the Father, submitting to the Father's will, even when it hurts. Even when it really, really hurts.

Because in absolute agony, our Lord prayed on the night He was betrayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. Absolute agony, He prayed. Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me. Nevertheless, not My will, but Your will be done. Listen to that prayer.

A soul that was deeply troubled, we're told by John. He gets on his knees three times before the Father and says, remove this cup from me. I'm in anguish, sweating great drops like blood, but not my will. Your will be done. If this is the path I need to take, I will not divert from it.

If it's your will, I will continue the father Jesus is saying. I will not veer to the left. I will not veer to the right because my food, my joy, my very purpose is to do the will of the father. I am ready to do your will. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered, we're told in Hebrews chapter 5 verse 8.

Our Lord walked in obedience to the father's will and according to the father's word. He is our example. We ought to follow after his example and do likewise. The second thing I want to say is our Lord walked the path set before him in humility. The veracity of this truth is exemplified in a text that also speaks to his perfect obedience to the will of the father.

I'm thinking of Philippians chapter two, verse three to eight. Do nothing, the apostle tells us, from selfish ambition or conceit. But in humility, count others more significant than yourself. That's the lesson. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Have this in mind yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. What condescension. What humiliation, what humility that the eternal God will take the form of a servant even though he is eternally God through and through. Humbled himself to the point of death, even death on that cursed cross. Beloved, the ways of Christ are so antithetical to the ways of this world.

Humility is not coveted by the world. No, they will say, you need to blow your own trumpet or horn. I don't know how the saying goes. But we need to know that the world is darkness and he is light. Many things in this world are antithetical to the things of God, are they not?

How often do we look in our society and see what is absolutely evil and it's called good? How often do we see what is righteous before the Lord as seen as unrighteous in this world, and what is purely unrighteous in the eyes of the Lord is deemed as righteous in this world. Top up is down and left is right. This world is twisted, is completely inverted. Humility is weakness in this world, but in the Word of God it is strength.

God opposes the proud, but He gives what? Grace to the humble. In Christ, our brother read it today, the first shall be last and the last shall be first. Listen to how he explains this by way of question to his disciples in Luke chapter 22. He says to them, for who is greater, one who reclines at the table or one who serves?

And then he goes on to answer the question. He says, is it not the one who reclines at the table? You can imagine the apostles thinking, Yeah, yeah I think so. I mean who reclines at the table? Who sits at the table in a relaxed fashion?

It's the master, it's the Lord and he's served by his servants. But then Jesus says the unexpected. But I, I am among you as one who serves. Our Lord walked in humility. He is our example, beloved.

We too ought to walk likewise. I'm not going to apply any of these to your souls because simply for a matter of time, but I do believe the Spirit of God is the one who brings application to your soul. So simply what I'm going to make, what I'm going to do with these examples of our Lord is point you to Christ. That's what I'm going to do and may the Lord do as He pleases in your hearts. The third example I want to give you is our Lord walked the path set before Him in faith.

Although He is the Son of God, eternally God, He walked on this earth completely entrusting Himself to the Father. This was so clearly evident in our Lord's deeds, in our Lord's words throughout His earthly ministry. Gethsemane is not being the least, right? He prays and says, whatever your will, I will do. I'm going to trust in you.

Listen to how Peter, the Apostle Peter and 1st Peter, makes this point in chapter 2 verse 21. He goes, "...for this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he reviled, not in return.

When he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued," hear this word, "...continued entrusting." himself to him who judges justly. God is sovereign. Christ was completely trusting in the sovereignty of the Father.

The same apostle a few chapters or two chapters later says this to apply it to the hearts of the Christians. He says, therefore, let those who suffer according to God's will entrust, that word again, entrust their souls to the faithful creator while doing good. This is the path. This is righteousness. This is according to the word of God.

Don't you worry about the outcomes. Leave that in His hands. Just be faithful day in, day out as you look to Christ in faith. Christ is our example of this. He entrusted Himself to God the Father and as our example we ought to follow likewise.

Let me give you the fourth. Our Lord walked the path set before Him in sacrificial love. There is no greater virtue than love. God is love. And our Lord exemplified love in all of his words, in all of his conduct.

After all, the summary of the law is what? Love God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. That's not the gospel. No. That's the summary of the law.

That's how those who have come to trust in the gospel, by faith, alone, in Christ alone, right? Only in Christ. That's how they ought to conduct themselves in love. Love to God, and love to others. And we see the life of our Savior just absolutely saturated with love.

We see His love for the Father as exemplified for us in John chapter 14 verse 31. He says, I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know I love the Father. The obedience of Christ was rooted in His love for the Father. That's what He's saying here. We also see the love of Christ clearly evident in His love or His love in the manifestation of His love clearly evident for His sheep or for His people also.

In John chapter 5 and John chapter 15 verse 13 we read, It's only earlier that the Lord said, I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for His sheep. No greater love, no greater manifestation of love than what God has displayed for his people in sending his son to be the propitiation for our sins. No greater love. We even see his love for his enemies whilst hanging upon the cross, bleeding.

He looks upon those who crucified him, his enemies, those who drove those nails in his feet and in his hands. And then he says, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do. What love. The Apostle Paul says it this way in Ephesians chapter five, he says, therefore, Now that you know the love of Christ as he was exemplified for us in his life. This is therefore be imitators of God as beloved children and walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself for us a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Love is a command commanded by our Savior. He looks at the disciples and he says to them in John chapter 13, a new commandment I give to you, that you love one another just as I have loved you. You also are to love one another. By this, all peoples will know that you are my disciples. How?

If you love one another. Our Lord walked the path set before him with this incredible sacrificial love and we ought to do likewise. Number five. Our Lord walked the path set before him with his eyes fixed upon eternity. In Hebrews chapter 12 through 1 through 2 we're told these words.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin that clings so dearly, so closely, my apologies, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and the perfecter of our faith, who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. He endured our Savior, the terrible suffering, the horrific pain, the persecutions, the abuse that they inflicted upon Him. He endured the wrath of God upon unrighteousness, the one who knew no sin became sin upon that cross. Because He bore our sins in His body. He endured all that.

while fixing his eyes upon eternity. The joy of accomplishing the work of redemption for his people, and to be seated once again at the right hand of the Father, but this time as the God-man, having purchased a bride, who because of his finished work will spend all eternity with him in the bliss of heaven forever. With eyes on the glorious Eternal, our Lord endured the suffering of the temporal. Did you hear that? With eyes set upon the glorious Eternal, our Lord endured His suffering in the temporal.

The Apostle Paul understood this. The Apostle Paul endured horrific persecutions and tribulations and pain and suffering in this world. But then he writes for us these words. He says, so we don't lose heart. Though the outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.

For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. Beloved, hear these words, please. Please listen to these words. As we look not to the things that are seen, but the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

2 Corinthians 4.16-18 What glorious words. Our Lord endured because of the joy that was set before Him. Because of what is yet to come. He's our example in this.

We should do likewise. This is just a handful, a handful of principles. How do we, how we put ourselves to death, serve our Lord and follow after Him, following after His footsteps. Principles that are example for us in the incarnated Savior, Jesus Christ, to follow Him in His obedience, to follow Him in His humility, to follow Him in His faith, to follow Him in His sacrificial love, and to follow Him with fixing our eyes not on the temporal, but on the eternal, on the food that perishes, but that which endures into eternal life. And the final thing I want to speak to you about this afternoon, and I'll end with this, is about how we as servants are to follow after Christ and its And it's blatantly obvious, but I must say because I fear that it is the most neglected.

How are we to follow after Christ? Christ is the example, and I gave you five examples, but I want to give you one more. We are to follow after Christ by following after Christ. Do you see those words? We are to follow after Christ by following after Christ.

I know it sounds so obvious to your ears, but by nature, our sinful nature, the flesh doesn't want to follow. He wants to lead. He doesn't like to be told. He wants to tell. Our sinful nature, beloved, this wild beast that remains within, it doesn't have dominating power over us.

Praise God in Christ Jesus, that has been broken. But it's so antithetical to follow after Christ who leads. It's we want others to follow after us. We want to cut the path. We want to do what we want to do.

We want to do what we want to do when we want to do it. And it's just so simple that the Lord is saying, follow after me. He called the disciples, He said, follow after me. If you want to serve me, you need to follow after me. And that's what it is.

He leads and we must follow. He cuts the path and He says, now follow. Now come where I've been, come and follow after me. And it's up to us to simply follow. He's a good shepherd, he calls us by name, and he says, karma, and his sheep hear his voice, and they follow after him.

You see, beloved, there is a key element we must not neglect to understand when following after our Lord. And that is, like I said, that he leads, and we must follow. It's not the other way around. And beloved, it's that way, not simply because we need to make sure we don't get lost in the journey, although He is the way, the truth, and the life. But when Christ leads and we follow, I ask you this question, where are your eyes?

They're steadfast upon the Savior. You don't follow after Christ backwards or sideways. You look to the Savior. Your eyes are fixed steadfast on the author and the perfecter of our faith. And you follow after him as he leads the one who is light, lights of the path.

Beloved, that is so critical that we understand this. Because I can tell you for certain, without a shadow of a doubt, that the path that He has us on cannot be trekked alone. It can't be done in your strength. It cannot be done in my strength. We are not strong enough to walk that path that He has called us to walk.

The terrain is too brutal. The mountains are too steep. The valleys are too deep. The predators, the world, the flesh, and the devil, every moment of every day are seeking to devour your life and mine. This world without Christ is too strong for us.

The path is brutal. Attempt to walk it by your own strength, and I can guarantee it will break you. That's a guarantee. And I stand upon scripture when I say it. You cannot do it alone.

It is impossible. Beloved, these words are meant to move us to the core. You know, I say these words and I've said over and again in the last few weeks as well, that we must put self to death. That's the command of our Saviour. That we put self to death every day, daily, putting self to death.

Our ambitions, our dreams, our goals, the things that we fixed our hearts upon, put those to death because Christ needs to be ultimate. We say it over and again and I've said even this afternoon and previously that we need to carry our crosses daily and follow after Christ. And we take these words without a second thought. If we only knew the depth of what those words mean, it would cause us to tremble. If we knew the depth of those words, it would cause us to faint.

We squirm at the thought of cutting our finger And yet we're okay with the idea of being crucified daily. These are seriously weighty words that we must, we must not allow to go over our heads. They must pierce our hearts. Let them pierce our hearts. It's okay.

Christ provides the balm, not me. He will. He'll provide the balm to bring healing. But these words are weighty. The path before us, beloved, the path that the servants are to follow.

When Christ says, come and follow after me, that path is actually a brutal path. Putting self to death, we're talking about putting self to death. It's brutal, it's bloody, it's vicious, it's violent. And I submit to you, it's terrifying. Going by the news that we see daily, it's only gonna get worse.

Because our battle, our battle is not against flesh and blood. It's against rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of the present darkness. It's against spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places. If we could only see with our eyes what is taking place spiritually, I suspect we would lose our minds. If we could see what's going on.

So why is it so critical that we recognize that Jesus is the one who leads and we are the ones who follow. We are the ones who fix our eyes upon Christ, not the other way around. Why is it critical that he leads us and we follow after Christ? As I said earlier, beloved, it's not to avoid, it's not merely to avoid losing our way. As I said, Jesus is indeed the way, the truth and life.

I believe that wholeheartedly. But it's also, beloved, because of this, because Christ, Christ Jesus our Lord, he's the provision of God's strength for us to endure in this brutal self-sacrificing journey. Christ has been provided as our strength. to walk the walk, to track the path that he's called us to track. Our faith in Jesus.

That is, when we lock our eyes upon Christ, it's not simply just looking. It's embracing, it's apprehending. It's apprehending all that Christ is. His promises, His word, His strength, His love. Everything about Christ is apprehended by the Christian through faith.

And when we apprehend Him by faith, that is when I say to look to Christ. He empowers us with the power of God itself to walk in this sin-killing path of righteousness. Jesus is our strength. We can't walk this path without Him. We cannot.

It's not merely just reading these words and saying, I'm okay. No, every day and every moment you need to be aware. You need to be aware of the battle that is taking place. You need to be aware that this battle is going to overpower you and it's going to overpower me if Christ is not our strength. I'm so glad that we cannot see the spiritual realm around us for obvious reasons.

but also because we've been called to walk by faith and not by sight. And our faith is pure, is good, and is holy because of the object of our faith. The power is Christ. The power is not your faith. Your faith is the instrument.

The object of your faith is Jesus Christ. He's the powerful one. He's the one provided by God to empower you by the power of His Holy Spirit to walk in righteousness. It's not your faith. Your faith is the instrument.

You get that. Christ is everything. Through faith He empowers us. We are weak, we are frail, we are... We'll fail.

The world is too strong for us. It will overcome us. It will. It will overcome us. It's impossible.

We can't overcome this world on our own. He can, it is, and He has. He has. The victory is ours in Christ Jesus. He has overcome.

Listen to these wonderful words he speaks to the disciples there in the upper room in John chapter 16. In the world you will have tribulation, but take heart. I have overcome the world. The victory over this world and its passions and the system that is this world. The victory over the world and the flesh and the devil, your enemies and mine, Christian, has been overcome.

through the person and the finished work of our Lord and our Saviour Jesus Christ. It has been put to death in Christ Jesus our Lord. Death has been put to death and sin has been put to death according to Romans chapter 6. Christ has done it all. When he declared upon that cross it is finished, he meant those words.

It is finished. You and I have to go through this life in real time to see His plan unfolding. But He sits at the right hand of the Father. Why does He sit? Because His work is done.

He is now interceding on behalf of the saints. But the work is done. The enemy knows his time is limited. The foot of Christ has crushed the head of the serpent. It's done.

The victory is Christ. And we enjoy that victory. We partake in that victory as we are united in Christ by faith. Listen to what the Apostle John, the same Apostle, says in 1 John 5, 4-5. He says, For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world.

Jesus said in John chapter 16, in the world you will have tribulation, but take heart, I have overcome the world. And now John is saying, on the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, for everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. Our faith in Jesus. You never disconnect your faith from Christ.

You disconnect your faith from Christ, you have no faith. You have nothing. Apart from me, you can do nothing. Faith in Jesus. And then he goes on to say, and he reiterates what I just said, he says, who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes, here's your faith, in Jesus, that Jesus is the Son of God.

to get it. Our union with Christ is the basis for everything. When Jesus leads, we follow because we apprehend him by faith and his victorious resurrection life, the power of his life flows through us and he gives us the ability by his grace to put sin to death, to put self to death, to carry our cross daily, and to indeed follow after Him. Christ is our strength. The impossible made possible only through Jesus Christ our Lord.

This is how the Apostle Paul is able to say, I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Fix your eyes upon Christ. Let Him lead and you follow. Let us pray.