Sermon Nuggets Mon Aug 4
Theme- Principles from the Master.
Verses John 12:20-30
20 Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the Feast.
21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. "Sir," they said, "we would like to see Jesus."
22 Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.
23 Jesus replied, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.24 Itell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.
25 The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
Principle of Life Through Death
In the teaching of Jesus there are some tough things to hear. It is easy in the comfort of a congregation of padded pews to discuss them, but in the reality of the daily living we not only need to know what to do, we also need the power to do it. Jesus practices what he preaches.
Maybe that is why the Greeks came to find out more. They had heard of the power of Jesus. Some of the God fearers sincere in their worship wanted to know all they could about God. If Jesus was from God they wanted to meet him and hear from him. They approached Philip first, perhaps because he had a Greek name. Philip, not sure if he should really take them to Jesus or not discusses the matter with Andrew and Andrew brings them to Jesus.
What we see is a good caution on the part of Philip. How does he know whether they will turn Jesus into the officials for arrest? Or perhaps his hesitation came from the fact they were Greeks, and Greeks were not Jews, part of the chosen people of God. Perhaps there was still the racial prejudice that caused Philip to be reluctant. But not so with
Andrew. If they wanted to see Jesus out of a desire to know more, he brought them to him. Jesus tells them important principles that challenge us to follow him, not out of convenience but out of conviction.
Jesus acknowledges that this is close to the time that he will die. He tells the disciples, and I believe in the hearing of the Greek guests, that he will be glorified-but in a different manner than they think. He uses an illustration of a seed that will be buried into the ground.
“Unless it dies it will not bear fruit.” This principle of life through death is seen in the plant world. The kernel must perish as a kernel if there is to be a plant. A seed must either germinate or terminate - one or the other. In order to produce life it must be sacrificed.
Jesus is going to his death, and through his burial and resurrection there will be faith that will grow in a greater way that even in his life without death. He not only calls them to commitment even if that meant death, he follows that for Himself and then through the supernatural power rises from the dead and tells us this power can be ours as well.
This principle is not reserved only for Jesus. The man who loves his life in this world will lose it, but the one who is willing to lose his life will keep it for eternal life. This is a principle we see in the spread of God's Kingdom. We are well familiar with the famous phrase:"The blood of the martyrs was the seed of the Church." It was because of the violent deaths of many believers that the church became alive and spread like wildfire. It is always because men have been prepared to die that the great things have lived.
The birth of our country was built on those willing to die for freedom.
It is a principle from the Bible. For those in Jesus there is a far greater dimension of spiritual truth. If we live for ourselves and our own wants in this world we will lose our eternal life in the presence of God. If we are willing to commit our lives to Jesus Christ regardless of the cost we ultimately will not be disappointed, we will find life everlasting.
This is also true in a personal way. It is when a man buries his personal aims and ambitions that he begins to be of real use to God. Then he understands that abundant life that the Bible talks about. People that seek security by hoarding all kinds of things and building for themselves fame and fortune alone will lose it and have lost everything.
The only way to have a fruitful life is to follow Jesus Christ in death, burial, and resurrection. Remember the quote on the poster. "What's done for me on earth will pass. What's done for Jesus, alone will last."
Pastor Dale
