You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama.
Our passion is to experience and express grace.
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Before we jump back into John's gospel today, let me give you a heads up that next week
we are beginning a summer break from our study of John, which by the way we are over nine
months into and over halfway through.
I think that's pretty good.
We're going to get back to the events of the final week of Jesus' life leading to the cross.
But as we've been seeing in John the person of Jesus lifted up over and over as the one
in whom we are to find life, I want us to spend a few weeks talking about what it actually
looks like for us to live with Jesus, to depend on His grace, to walk with Him day by day.
So that's what we're going to do this summer.
I'm excited about that series.
But before we break for that next week, let's see this morning Jesus in His glory held up
before us again.
Jesus has just entered Jerusalem where He's hailed as the coming King, but on a humble donkey,
not a mighty war horse.
And then as the Gentiles come to see Him, He begins to recognize the hour of His death has
come.
The hour, John has so often pointed out to us, is not here yet, is now upon Him.
God has made that clear to Jesus' spirit.
And we'll pick up the reading at verse 27, where as He discusses His coming death, Jesus says,
Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say?
Father, save me from this hour?
But for this purpose I have come to this hour.
Father, glorify Your name.
Then a voice came from heaven, I have glorified it and I will glorify it again.
Then the crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered.
Others said an angel has spoken to Him.
Jesus answered, This voice has come for Your sake, not mine.
Let's pray.
God, might we gathered here this morning hear Your voice.
Would we see Your glory?
Oh, Holy Spirit, we need Your help for that.
So would You speak to us clearly?
By Your Word, we ask it in Jesus' name.
Amen.
You and I are on a quest for glory.
We long to make a difference in the world, don't we?
To have a lasting, memorable impact on those around us.
To be significant to someone.
In the Bible's terms, as we'll see, we are seeking glory.
In fact, every person who has ever lived since the beginning of history
has been doing this all of our lives.
As I track this quest through different seasons of life here for just a minute,
you see where you recognize or remember yourself.
As kids, we desperately want to fit in, don't we?
Not to be left out or ignored, overlooked or picked last.
To be valued by a group of friends or eventually by that special someone who will tell me that I matter.
Or failing that, I'll have to stand out so that they'll call my name and I get a diploma at graduation
or a trophy at the end of the season or a medal at awards day and I'll hear my name and that will tell me that I'm important.
The quest for glory.
It's why young adults often go on a journey to find themselves, right?
It doesn't always happen in that season of life, but I've met with several people in their 20s recently
and heard a very similar theme from several of them.
I've chased money, women, career, and as one of them told me, quote,
I'm trying to decide what really matters.
Or in the words of another, I just want to settle down and focus on what's really important in life.
So can we talk about God?
The quest for glory is why parents of teens hurt so deeply when they feel ignored or unappreciated
by someone that they've spent day after day for years pouring their lives into.
That's why many people around my age hit a midlife crisis, right?
They wonder if they're really investing their lives in something worthwhile
or if their investments are actually going to last or if they should do something entirely different.
The quest for glory causes many in retirement to struggle with what to do with themselves
because their work has made them feel significant like they mattered for so long
and now, well, what am I going to do now?
It's especially challenging as we get older and we fear being alone.
Who will care for me?
We fear being forgotten.
Will I matter to anyone?
Or we even fear forgetting.
What if I can't remember why I'm important?
Or who values me?
See, the lifelong quest for glory is one that God created us for, but it is fraught with failure.
Trying to get my significance from other people or, as many have tried more recently,
to give value to myself.
I'll matter because I believe I matter.
It just doesn't seem to work.
Wherever you are in that quest today, and I'd say we're all somewhere,
look at how Jesus guides us.
It is really hard and yet so hopeful at the same time.
Jesus' soul is troubled.
Just as at Lazarus' tomb, he's stirred up, unsettled, deeply emotional in the face of death.
It's like that moment in Gethsemane when he prays that this cup would pass from him,
and then he prays,
Father, not my will, but yours be done.
It's that kind of moment here.
Look at the beautiful submission as he wrestles with God,
asking him to deliver him from this hour, this death,
this agonizing separation from his Father.
And then Jesus says,
What?
No, this is the hour I came for.
It's why I've obeyed at every turn.
And he concludes,
Father, glorify your name.
Wow.
The biblical words for glory bring the idea of weight, heaviness.
Something like a mountain or an ocean has glory because it has matter.
It literally matters, right?
You don't ignore it when you're considering getting from one side of it to the other.
It is glorious.
There's a weight to it.
Nick Saban's opinion about football matters more to you than mine does.
I'm confident of that.
If it's overtime and the game's on the line and you run his play rather than my play,
you're giving him the glory.
If that's what glory means,
to carry weight like that,
Jesus shows us who has it,
doesn't he?
Jesus is troubled,
but in the midst of that overwhelming emotion,
he is deeply committed to God's glory,
no matter what it costs him, right?
Let's run your play, Father.
Let's do it your way.
Nothing and no one matters more to me than you.
God's glory, see, weighs so heavy for Jesus.
God's will is so primary for Jesus.
God's person looms so large for Jesus
that it produces costly obedience.
In Jesus' case, all the way to death on a cross.
Father, glorify your name.
Then all of a sudden,
the people around Jesus are startled by a thunderclap, they think.
A voice that says,
I have glorified it and I will glorify it again.
Oh, there are many, many ways that God has glorified his own name,
aren't there, in creation.
And displaying his power and his majesty for us to marvel at.
But I think especially here,
God is speaking of the signs.
The signs he's been showing the people through Jesus
as he has become flesh to reveal God's character.
And then displaying his glory over creation,
over sickness, over death itself.
That's what he's talking about.
And he will, as Jesus asks,
glorify his name again,
specifically through the cross
and the resurrection of Jesus.
As Jesus seeks God's glory,
rather than valuing his own comfort or peace,
God's glory is ultimate.
He is the weightiest,
the most important.
We glorify God because he glorifies himself,
doesn't he?
Glorify your name.
What matters to you?
What carries more weight?
God's name being shared with your neighbors
or your comfort being maintained.
God's design for your sexuality being followed
or your desires being satisfied.
God's command to love your uncool neighbor being obeyed
or your longing to fit in with the cool kids being achieved.
See, those are glory issues.
Not just day-to-day decisions.
Those are glory issues.
God has true glory.
Will God be significant, big, weighty to us?
Well, maybe you say,
I'm not exactly sure yet, pastor.
How do I even engage with this true glory?
John has a consistent answer to that question.
It's echoed in this passage.
We engage with God's glory by seeing God
and believing who he is.
It's why Jesus is here, right?
To show us the glory of God
since we haven't seen God.
Remember chapter one?
Jesus says this thunderous voice has just spoken.
Why?
For your sake.
So you will see true glory
and that you'll believe.
And so Jesus then talks about both unbelief
and belief connected to glory.
That's the rest of the chapter.
I'm gonna read now first the unbelief part
at verse 37.
Though Jesus had done so many signs before them,
they still did not believe in him.
They meaning many of the Jews
who had seen these signs.
So that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah
might be fulfilled.
Lord, who has believed what he heard from us
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
Therefore they could not believe.
For again, Isaiah said,
he has blinded their eyes
and hardened their heart
lest they see with their eyes
and understand with their heart
and turn and I would heal them.
Isaiah said these things
because he saw his glory
and spoke of him, Jesus.
Isaiah spoke of a Messiah.
That's the first quotation here.
A Messiah who would not be attractive
to people.
No beauty or majesty.
We esteemed him not.
God's arm, God's strength
is gonna be revealed differently
from what most longed for their Messiah to be.
So just as in Isaiah's day
when people didn't believe God's message,
part of what was going on there
was a divine hardening
so that the Jewish rejection of Jesus,
this so-called Messiah,
would take him to the cross.
God's plan, right?
And share then the riches of his grace
with Gentiles.
God's glory would be spread as a result.
But then as always,
there's a human responsibility
for unbelief
held right there
alongside divine sovereignty.
People motivated
by what they consider
to be most weighty.
Verse 42.
Nevertheless,
many even of the authorities
believed in Jesus
but for fear of the Pharisees,
they did not confess it
so that they would not be put out
of the synagogue
for they loved
the glory that comes from man
more than
the glory
that comes from God.
They saw God's glory, right?
Intellectually,
what Jesus claimed
appealed to them.
But they loved glory from man
more than glory from God.
Their position,
their comfort,
their reputation,
their way of life
was bigger in their eyes.
It mattered more
than God did.
So they couldn't live
for his glory
as Jesus did.
It's unbelief here,
not from some atheistic philosophy,
but from a lifestyle
of self-focus.
Don't let God
get in my way
of my life.
Friends,
if you know that feeling,
one of the most
significant things
is that you listen
now to Jesus' appeal
to everyone,
especially those
who are unbelieving,
who are seeking glory
but missing this
true glory.
What does Jesus say?
He says,
believe in me.
I am showing you
the very glory of God.
Verse 35,
the light is among you
for a little while longer.
Walk while you have the light,
lest darkness overtake you.
The one who walks
in the darkness
does not know
where he is going.
While you have the light,
believe in the light
that you may become
sons of light.
Again,
verse 44,
when he's faced
with the unbelief again,
Jesus cried out loud
for emphasis.
A summary here
before he goes away
from the people,
his final appeal to them,
what is it?
Whoever believes in me,
believes not in me
but in him who sent me.
And whoever sees me
sees him who sent me.
I have come into the world
as light
so that whoever believes in me
may not remain in darkness.
If anyone hears my words
and does not keep them,
I do not judge him
for I did not come
to judge the world
but to save the world.
The one who rejects me
and does not receive my words
has a judge.
The word that I have spoken
will judge him
on the last day.
For I have not spoken
on my own authority
but the Father who sent me
has himself given me
a commandment,
what to say
and what to speak
and I know that his commandment
is eternal life.
What I say therefore,
I say as the Father
has told me.
Whoever believes,
whoever believes in me,
believe in the light
while you have it.
You, even you
who have heard before
and not believed,
even now can become
children of God
who experience his greatness,
who rest in his love
and so live your life
as you were created to
for his glory,
that can be you today.
Jesus couldn't be more urgent
in this plea, could he?
It's an invitation to you.
It is in fact a command
to believe.
Listen, friends,
believe in the light
while you have it
to point you
to the true glory.
While you sit today
under the preaching
of God's word
to reveal his glory,
today is the day
of salvation.
Tomorrow is not guaranteed
to any of us,
not a one of us.
The story is told
of Satan calling
some demons together
to pick one of them
to send to earth
with a message
that will ruin
human souls.
What do you got?
One says,
I'll go and tell them
there's no heaven.
Satan said,
nah,
they won't believe you.
There's a bit of heaven
in every human heart.
In the end,
everyone knows
good will triumph.
Another demon said,
oh,
I'll go and tell them
there's no hell.
Satan said,
nah,
they won't believe you.
Every human heart
knows not only
will good triumph,
but also evil
will be defeated.
And then one other demon
said,
oh,
I'll go
and I'll tell them
there's no hurry.
And Satan said,
you go.
Distract them
with the notions
of human capability,
of worldly fulfillment,
of living for self,
of busyness all the time,
of the tyranny
of the urgent,
the weight of the world
all the time
until they neglect
the weightier matters
of God,
the true glory,
the lasting issues
of life eternal,
and they start to treat
those weighty things
lightly
to give them attention
once a week,
to make them sidebars
in their life.
Friends,
the God of the mountains
and the oceans,
the God of your life,
of my life,
the God of all glory
came to us
in the person of Jesus
to speak words
of eternal life,
to tell you
what really matters
so that we would know him
and trust him
and find life in him.
I don't want one of you
to miss out on that
for one more day.
He is where life is found.
He's calling for you
to come believe
in him
and have life.
You say,
well,
Pastor,
I like that,
but I'm just not sure
I've got so many questions.
There's so many things
you haven't answered yet.
I'm willing to consider it,
but there's a lot of evil
in this world.
You're right.
I believe there's a God,
when I look at the oceans
and the mountains,
he must be powerful
and creative,
but I can't imagine
I could have a relationship
with him.
I see that.
Pastor,
I'm interested,
but I don't want my life
to change so much
when I start saying
that he matters the most.
That's scary.
Yeah.
So what one place,
if I'm trying to decide,
where can I look?
If I'm really wrestling with this,
if I'm brave enough
to test God out,
what's the one place
I can look to really get
the best glimpse
of his glory,
to know what he's really like?
Give me one vista
that I can look out over
and ponder for a while.
Should it be the Grand Canyon?
I mean,
that is a glorious place.
Maybe it's the Gulf of Mexico.
I got summer vacation coming up.
I go to the beach
and I'll think about it.
It's beautiful.
I want to encourage you.
I want to urge you
to go to the cross of Jesus,
to gaze on Jesus there
for just a little while.
Remember,
the way that we glorify God
is by seeing him
and believing who he is.
God is glorified
when his character is revealed.
And he says,
there is no better place
to get a glimpse of me
than the cross of Jesus,
to let the weight
of who I am
really sink in
to your soul.
This is what Jesus
tells us here.
You can hear the power of God
and the thunder,
the voice,
but that voice says
that he's actually going
to show his glory again.
Jesus explains
that this is where
it comes from.
Now is the judgment
of this world.
Now will the ruler
of this world be cast out.
Here's where it's all happening.
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.
The Gentiles,
even.
Everyone,
everywhere,
drawn to a dying king?
The people listening
understand what Jesus means,
what he's talking about.
They say,
can you really be
the divine Messiah
if you're about to die?
And what does Jesus say?
Believe me.
Now,
I'm headed to the cross
to die
and so many won't believe,
but you
can still be sons of God
simply by trusting me.
Trust yourself to me.
I'll take you to the cross
and then you'll rise
with me too.
That's where to look.
Look at the cross.
Okay,
well how does the cross
show me God's glory?
I'm looking,
what do I see?
What does it reveal
about who he is?
Let me give you
three pairs
of character qualities
for God
that I think
will allow us
to marvel together
for a couple minutes
here as we wrap up.
First,
we look at the cross,
we see God's holiness
and his nearness.
The cross shows us
God is holy,
completely other,
different,
set apart,
totally pure,
far from sinful people.
He can't stomach sin
and
he is near
to broken sinners,
isn't he?
Weeping with us,
bleeding for us,
agonizing in our place
the way only a sinner
deserves to hurt.
Do you see him
like that
on the cross?
believing
that that's
who God is
means in your life
when you suffer
or you hurt,
you embrace
the truth
that you're not alone,
are you?
Because God
is near
the brokenhearted.
If the sin
of the world
didn't keep him away,
neither will your
failure,
right?
Believe that.
What glory
there is.
Can you believe
that even the worst
you could do
can't keep God
from you?
Believe him.
Next,
God is self-exalting
and self-sacrificing.
The cross
is the moment
of great
divine victory
over his
arch enemy.
It's the moment
that Jesus says
he is lifted up.
It's the moment
that God
through darkness
in the middle
of the day
draws the spotlight
of all of creation
on himself
to show what?
Some amazing act
of grandeur,
some miracle,
some powerful sign
to show that he's
sacrificing himself,
enduring pain,
standing apparently
defeated
in the place
of his creatures.
Paradoxically,
God is so far
beyond us
that he's not
too good for us.
Do you see that
at the cross?
Do you believe
that in the sacrifice
of himself,
God displays
his highest
and greatest glory?
glory?
Do you see
how important
his glory
is to him
and how tremendously
valuable you are
at the same time?
Too good to believe
that those things
could be true together?
Yes,
he is
that good.
You gazing at the cross
with me?
There's Jesus.
He's crying out
with the only breath
that he can muster.
My God,
my God,
why hast thou
forsaken me?
What's happening?
The justice
of God
is crashing down
on the sin bearer.
God,
in his justice,
is punishing sin
as it deserves
even a glimmer
of God's glorious
justice
should make us
quake in our boots
at the seriousness
of sin.
Is the weight
of sin's
just desserts
reflected in our lives?
Or do we live
like we think of sin
but lightly
nor suppose
the evil great?
We tremble
at God's justice
and we also rest
in a God
who will judge
evil,
who will make
things right.
We need
his justice,
don't we?
He is a God
of justice
and yet the God
of justice
is a God
of grace.
Even as he totals
the unimaginable
debt of sin,
he pays it all.
The enormous price
to have us
in relationship
with him,
doesn't he?
The curtain
is torn.
You are welcomed
into God's presence.
You are set
free from all
of your sin,
past,
present,
and future
into relationship
with him.
You'll never pay
for it.
God is that
gracious.
Do you believe
that
when Satan
tempts you
to despair
and tells you
of the guilt
within?
Do you know
it glorifies
God
when you
respond,
Jesus
paid it all.
In the cross
be my glory
ever.
My faith
has found
a resting
place.
His wounds
for me
shall plead.
It is enough
that Jesus
died
and that he
died
for me.
He's holy
and he's near.
He is
self-exalting
and he's
self-sacrificing.
He is a God
of justice
and a God
of grace.
This
is the
glorious
God
Jesus
is calling
you to trust
and no other.
Seeing him
and believing
who he is
is what you
were made
for.
It's your
chief end,
your highest
purpose,
glorifying
God.
The relationship
that you
long for
is with
him,
the one
with true
glory.
Give weight
to his
view of you.
Know that
his words
matter more
than any
others.
Marvel at
him until
your heart
says,
to God
alone
be the
glory.
And when
you do
that,
you will
actually find
glory.
Your
quest
for glory
will
culminate.
And you
may ask
how?
How does
God's
having
glory
actually
help me
to find
glory?
That doesn't
make any
sense.
Listen,
I need to
connect this
dot.
Don't miss
this.
When you
soak in
the love
of God
for you
on display
most
extravagantly
at the
cross,
you
will
know
that you
matter
forever.
And it
won't be
from some
other person
who gave
you a
trophy
or someone
else who
promised to
be faithful
to you
and broke
your heart.
It won't be
a career
you threw
yourself into
so that no
matter what
anyone else
said,
you could
tell yourself
that you
were valuable
and have a
bank account
and a house
and a car
to back
it up.
It won't
be your
own beauty,
your own
capacities,
your own
performance,
or anything
at all,
which is so
wonderful because
all of those
glories can be
easily lost,
can't they?
You will
have glory.
You will
matter.
You will
be valuable
because the
God of the
universe,
the Lord
of all
glory,
gives
himself
in exchange
for you
at the
cross.
Can you
believe it?
You are
precious.
You are
valuable.
You matter.
you have
glory.
No one
and nothing
can ever
take that
glory away
from you,
even if the
person you
love dies,
or you get
to where you
can't remember
their name.
Even if you
lose your
job,
you have an
accident,
you can't
work.
You can't
care for your
kids anymore.
You will
still have
glory.
Glory from
the one who
has and
shares true
glory.
It's the only
way to have
it.
And he gives
it to you.
And Jesus
wants you to
believe this for
the first time
this morning,
or for the
thousandth time.
He wants it to
come home to
your heart.
So he gave
this sacrament
to his
followers as a
memorial of
his death.
In fact,
as more than
a memorial,
as a spirit
empowered
assurance that
he has shared
his glory with
you.
That's what you're
going to taste.
It's why he sat
with his disciples
on the night he
was betrayed
and took bread
and he broke
it and he gave
it to them.
As I'm
ministering in
his name,
give this bread
to you.
Jesus said,
take and eat.
This is my
body given
for you.
Do this
in remembrance
of me.
And in the
same way after
supper,
he took the
cup and
said,
this cup is
the new
covenant in
my blood,
which is shed
for many for
the forgiveness
of sins.
drink from
it,
all of you.
For as often
as you eat
this bread
and drink
this cup,
you proclaim
the Lord's
death
until he
comes.
God sets
this table
to eat
with us
and he also
warns us
to examine
ourselves as
we see
this table
before us
and consider
coming to it.
If you come
here glorying
only in the
cross of
Jesus,
repenting
of other
sources of
glory your
heart often
chases after,
living in
glorious peace
with his
brothers and
sisters,
then come
and celebrate
with us.
If you
examine yourself
this morning
and you find
that actually
other things
carry more
weight
than God
for you,
that other
people that
you refuse
to love
or forgive
as he has,
that there's
other hope
besides the
blood of
Jesus that
you are
holding on
to,
then don't
come take
this sacrament.
But Jesus
invites you
to believe
in him.
He invites you
to come.
You can come
up to these
tables this
morning and
have a front
row seat
to see
his love,
his sacrifice,
what he
would do
for you
to give
glory and
to show
you how
precious you
are to
him.
Come and
see his
love,
believe in
him and
have life
eternal and
glory eternal
that will
never be
taken from
you.
Let me pray
and then we'll
come celebrate
together.
Lord Jesus
whether we
know you
and come
to taste
your body
and blood
again or
whether we're
not sure
what you're
about but
we're watching
a picture of
something that's
unlike anything
we've seen
before.
Would you
work by your
spirit faith
in our hearts
that we might
believe something
we didn't even
come here to
believe this
morning,
that we might
remember our
value comes
from you,
the Lord of
glory.
We might
rest in a
God who would
give himself
for us.
Meet us in
this time,
use common
elements for a
holy purpose we
ask in Jesus'
name.
Amen.
For more
information visit
us online at
southwood.org.
bater