Sermon nuggets Weds Aug 6
Theme: Principles from the Master
Verses John 12:27-29 "Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour'? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.
28 Father, glorify your name!" Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and will glorify it again."
29 The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.(NIV)
The Principle of GLORY through FAITHFULNESS
I am glad Jesus does not denying emotions. In fact, Jesus is admitting personal emotional turmoil as He thinks about going to the cross. Jesus says, "My heart is troubled." Do you ever have a troubled heart? You do if you’re human, or honest. All of us struggle at times with a troubled heart. It encourages me to know Jesus did also. Even the Apostle Paul, the apostle of Joy if you read Philippians,struggled with discouragement and troubled heart. But he kept going.
Jesus knew that by following the will of His Father in heaven He was about to face to the cross. That troubled His heart. We see that portrayed so graphically in the garden of Gethsemane as He prays that this cup would pass from Him. “However, not my will by Thine be done.” Ultimately He does not want the Father to save him from the cross. No. It was for this very reason He came to the earth. “Father glorify you name." He prays.
There would have been no virtue in Jesus' obedience to God at all, if it had come easily and without cost. Real courage does not mean being fearless. There is no virtue in doing a thing if to do it is an easy thing. Real courage means to be terribly afraid, and yet to do the thing that ought to be done. Jesus is to be faithful to God's will.
In vs. 23 we see the cross not only brings glory to the Father, but to the Son of man Himself. We also see that when the Father receives glory, Jesus receives glory. The Jews looked at glory as conquest, the acquisition of power, the right to rule. Jesus looked on glory as a cross.
For Jesus, to die meant the salvation of many. By being faithful to His Father's plan He would be glorified in his death and so he was. His glory came through faithfulness to carry out the purpose that was God's plan, regardless of the circumstances.
I noticed that the word glory is used primarily in the NT in reference to the divine. There are very few times that it relates to humans. The English word relates to magnify, honor, revere, exalt. That our desire in faithfulness to so honor God. He is honored through our faithfulness. He is exalted in our carrying out obediently his plan. In seeing and honoring God we too are beneficiaries of God's good grace.
If we are looking for comfortable lives, then we will protect our plans and desires, save our lives, and never be planted. But if we yield our lives and let God plant us, we will never be alone but will have the joy of being fruitful to the glory of God. Mark 8: 36 tells us, "If any man serve Me, let him follow Me."
It was Charles Spurgeon that said, "When we cannot trace God's hand, we can trust God's heart!" God always works to a purpose. For Jesus these are not just words, but He illustrates it for us on Calvary. It is illustrated for us in the lives of the disciples in the years that follow. It is illustrated for us in the history of the church. In our service, God is glorified and we will be blessed.
Pastor Dale
