As for anyone who hears My words and does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I have not come to judge the world, but to save the world. Sermons I. CHRIST'S PRESENCE AMONG MEN IS THE PRESENCE OF GOD. This, indeed, is the meaning of the incarnation of our Lord. God's works we see on every side, proofs of "his eternal power and Godhead" - witnesses without which he has never left himself. But God himself no man hath seen at any time. Yet he would have us know him; not only know something about him, but know himself. Hence "the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." He is "the Image of the invisible God," "the Brightness of his glory, and the express Image of his Person." Christ was conscious of this relation, and both assumed and declared it. Nowhere in language more definite and simple than here: "He that seeth me sooth him that sent me." What wants were met in this manifestation! One fancies the exiled Hebrew, panting forth his heart's deep want, exclaiming in religious fervor, "My heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God! When shall I come and appear before God?" Some glimpse of his majesty and his grace the devout psalmist might hope to gain in the temple, which was the scene of his presence, his service, and his praise. But what language would that ardent spirit have found to express its wondering gratitude, could the vision of Immanuel have flashed upon it? One fancies the Athenian philosophers, "seeking the Lord, it haply they might feel after him and find him;" the Athenian poet, by a stretch of imagination and in a rapture of natural piety, rising to the conviction, "We are also his offspring." But what satisfaction, what joy, would have come to such hearts, yearning for the unknown God, had the Divine Man come to them, with the declaration of marvelous simplicity and grace, "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father"! But this was a revelation, not only for saints and prophets, for sages and for poets, but for all mankind. When the husbandman hailed the rising sun, and the seaman gazed upon the steadfast pole-star, this question must have arisen - Is this the handiwork of God? When the father looked upon the lifeless form of his beloved child, what thought could soothe and temper the bitterness of his bereavement and his woe, except his confidence in the supreme Father's care and love? And when the old man came to die, what could light up the dark future into which he was hastening, save the uncreated light which comes from the unseen? In their manifold questionings and doubts, sorrows, infirmities, and fears, men have looked above, and we do not say they have not received some tokens of Divine sympathy and love; they have ' cued unto God with their voice," and he has heard and succored them. But how dim has been their vision! How faint their faith! How inarticulate the response which has reached them from afar! They would fain have believed; from many a soul went up the eager and intense inquiry, "Who is he, that I might believe?" Nothing did they so deeply desire as to see him, who is the Author of all being and the Arbiter of all destinies; but as they strained their vision, it was as those peering into the scarcely penetrable twilight, with eyes suffused with tears. Who can by searching find out God, or know the Almighty to perfection? Why this want was at once awakened, and allowed to remain so long unsatisfied, we cannot tell. It is one of those mysteries upon which eternity may shed some light; for time has little to yield. It is enough for us that "in the fullness of the time God sent forth his Son," that this Son of God is the one Object of human belief, the Center attracting the gaze of all eyes, and the love and reverence of all hearts. In human form, through human life and death, with human voice, God, the unknown, makes himself known to us; God, the unseen, makes himself visible to us. For we can believe on Christ, our Friend, our Brother; we can behold him, the human Immanuel. We greet him as he comes to us from heaven; we listen to him as he speaks to us in earthly language. For us the problem is solved, the chasm is bridged, the impossible is achieved; as Jesus says, "He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me. And he that sooth me sooth him that sent me." Some persons have found it hard to believe that "God was manifest in the flesh." But it seems far harder to believe that God was not in Christ, that Christ was not "God with us." It seems hard to imagine how otherwise we could be brought to realize the unspeakable nearness of our heavenly Father, how otherwise we could look into his face, recognize his voice, love him and delight in him. God is in nature; but can it be said, "He that believeth in physical law, that sooth material glory, believes in and beholds the Father above"? He spake by the prophets; but could Moses assert, or Elijah, "He that sooth me sooth him that sent me"? The incongruity must strike every mind; such language from human lips would send a shock through every Christian heart. There are good men living now; will the best of them stand up before the world, and, claiming to come from God, declare, "He that seeth me sooth him that sent me"? But how naturally do such words come from Jesus of Nazareth! How simple! How free from exaggeration and assumption] And how justly and confidently do many hearts rest in his Divine, his welcome, his precious, his authoritative assurance, "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father"! II. CHRIST'S WORDS ARE THE WORDS OF GOD. This is indeed the meaning of the ministry of Jesus, as a ministry of teaching. In the context this truth is brought out with special distinctness and power. "I have not," says the great Teacher, "spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak Whatsoever I speak, therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak." It is true that all human language is imperfect, and that, if it is not capable of expressing all the thoughts, and especially all the feelings of men: it is not reasonable to expect that it shall utter in completeness the mind of the infinite God. This objection is brought by some against a revelation in words - against the Bible itself. But it is no valid objection. Because the most high and eternal God cannot make himself fully known to man, inasmuch as no means by which he can communicate can do other than partake of human imperfection, shall he therefore refuse to commune with us at all? His fatherly pity will not consent to this. He "spake to the fathers by the prophets," and "in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son." And what words they are in which our Lord has addressed us! Who can believe them without believing the Father, who sent as Messenger his own honored and beloved Son? He is indeed "the Word," being, in his own faultless Person and sacred ministry, the very speech of the Divine mind, appealing to humanity with the summons, "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." His words were true. Of himself he could speak as "a Man who telleth you the truth." The unbeliever may come to believe his words, and so to believe in himself; the Christian believes in him, and therefore receives his utterances with an unquestioning faith. On the highest themes, on themes of the deepest and most imperishable interest for man, Christ has spoken; and his words are final, never to be questioned, never to be disproved. His words are words of power. As he himself declared, "The words which I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." His words are immortal. "Heaven and earth," said he, "shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." His words are more than human; The officers were conscious of the authority of his teaching, when they returned and said, "Never man spake like this Man!" III. CHRIST'S LOVE IS THE LOVE OF GOD. This is the meaning of the ministry of Jesus as a display of character and disposition, as a constant extension to men of healing, pardon, grace, and help. Our Savior struck the key-note of his ministry in the words he addressed to Nicodemus: "God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved." The worst evils which men suffer they inflict upon themselves; the greatest blessings which they experience are given them by God. How could men be convinced that God is a Savior? The best answer to this question is the fact that they have been so convinced by the mission and the ministry of Christ. As he "went about doing good;" as "he healed all manner of sickness and disease among the people;" as he pronounced to the contrite and believing sinner the gracious words, "Be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee!" - men felt, as they had never felt before, that God was visiting and redeeming his people. Human sorrow awakened the response of Divine sympathy, and human sin the response of Divine clemency and forgiveness. It was not the timely but casual interposition of a human friend; it was the one typical eternal intervention of a God. The ministry of our Redeemer in Judaea and in Galilee was the outward and visible sign of the unchanging pity of our Father's heart. It was "the acceptable year of the Lord," but it was a year that has no end. In Christ, the God of all grace is forever addressing mankind in the language of an unfailing gospel, and is saying, "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth." "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that God loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins? IV. CHRIST'S SALVATION IS THE SALVATION OF GOD. This is the meaning of Immanuel's death and sacrifice. What it is wished especially to draw from this passage, as elucidating redemption and salvation, is this - that in the cross of Christ we do not so much behold Christ reconciling us unto God, as God in Christ reconciling us unto himself. The gospel is the setting forth and publication in time of the great truth and reality of eternity - that God is a just God and a Savior. To believe in Christ is to believe in God's purposes of mercy; God's method of mercy; God's promise of mercy. What follows from the truths now stated? How do they practically affect us? V. THE ACCEPTANCE OR REJECTION OF CHRIST IS THE ACCEPTANCE OR REJECTION OF GOD. These words were uttered at the close of our Lord's public ministry in Jerusalem, probably on the Wednesday of the Passion week. On the whole, Christ's teaching had met with unbelief and hostility. Pharisees and Sadducees had been rather silenced than convinced. Many of the chief rulers, indeed, believed on Jesus, yet they had not the courage and honesty to confess him. In this very chapter, whilst we read that "many believed" on Jesus, we are informed of others that "they believed not on him." It is clear that there was general interest in Christ's teaching and claims; but that those who acknowledged the Prophet of Nazareth as the Messiah were few and timid, whilst his opponents were bold and bitter and determined. It was the very crisis of our Lord's ministry. His "hour was come." The cycle of his public teaching and beneficence was complete. He had now only to lay down his life, and thus to carry out his fore-announced intentions, and to finish the work his Father had given him to do. And these words and those which follow are Christ's final testimony to the Jews. He sums up in a brief compass the truth concerning himself, and then the practical bearing of that truth upon his hearers. He has come from God. He has come, with Divine authority, as the world's Light, and as the world's Savior. He has come with everlasting life in his hands, as Heaven's choicest gift. Yet he sees around him, not only those who hear, believe, and receive him, but those also who reject him. It is not for him to judge; for he has come to save. But judgment awaits the unbeliever. And what is the witness which the compassionate Savior bears as his last solemn message to mankind? How does he bring home to their souls the awful responsibility of association with him, of enjoying a day of Divine visitation? He does this in this sublime statement, in which he identifies himself with the Father from whom he came. No one can disbelieve and reject him, can close the eye to his glory, without in so doing rejecting God, turning away from the sight of God, and stopping the ear against the voice of God. This was, and is, a truth at which men may well tremble. Here we are brought face to face with the great probation, the great alternative, of human life and destiny. Only those who are thoughtless or hardened can think of this truth without the deepest seriousness and solemnity. It may justly be said to men, "You have been so framed by the Divine Maker of all that you must either accept or reject him. In either case it must be your act, and you must be answerable for it. And there is no third course open to you; for not to acknowledge, honor, and trust the Christ of God, to be indifferent to him and to his salvation, - this is to spurn the most sacred privilege, to neglect the most precious opportunity with which God himself can favor you. It is to shut the eyes to the light of heaven; it is to disbelieve and to reject the eternal God himself." - T.
If any man hear My words. I. AS LAWS TO BE OBEYED. Christ's words are not like poetry for entertainment, or abstract science for speculative thought; they are laws to be kept; not so much a creed as a code. It is only as they are embodied in actual life that their mission is answered, that they are of any real or lasting service to man.II. AS A MEANS OF SALVATION. Had Christ come to judge the world, His words would have breathed the indignation of insulted justice. But He came to save, and hence His words are full of all that can restore man to holiness and God. The salvation which Christ came to effect is restoration from spiritual ignorance to intelligence, from selfishness to benevolence, from bondage to freedom, from inward conflict to inner harmony, from social perniciousness to social utility. To this His signs and words are adapted. "Save the world," not a class. III. AS CRITERIA OF JUDGMENT (ver. 48). The man to whom Christ has spoken, and who rejects or nullifies His words, needs no other judge but His words. These words will judge him in his conscience and will condemn him for ingratitude, folly and rebellion. (D. Thomas, D. D.) When the Duke of Argyle was taken in rebellion in Scotland, and brought before James II, the king said to him, "You know that it is in my power to pardon you." It is reported that the prisoner answered, "It may be in your power, but it is not in your nature" — a speech which, whether true or not, cost him his life, He died like a stoic, executed at Temple Gate. But Christ has both the power and the disposition to pardon sinners. He that rejecteth me...hath one that judgeth Him.I. CHRISTIANITY MAY BE REJECTED NOW. It is possible to accept Christ's creed and to reject His authority.II. THOSE WHO REJECT CHRISTIANITY NOW, MUST BOW TO ITS JUDICIAL FORCE HEREAFTER. "The last day" is the retributive period that awaits us all. Then the "Word" which has been trodden under foot will rise from the dust and take the throne. 1. There is nothing arbitrary in the decision or procedure of the last judgment. The glorious words of mercy which are rejected will spring from their graves, and conscience will invest them with judicial authority. 2. Man should be profoundly cautious as to how to treat the words of Christ now. His words are not sounds but things — terrible things. They must live forever in every soul into which they have fallen. Old sermons will be preached again by memory many ages on. "How shall we escape." (D. Thomas, D. D.) The word that I have spoken, the same shall Judge Him. I. THERE IS A LAST DAY. The world shall not always roll on. God shall interpose at length. In one sense there is no last day either to righteous or wicked. But in reference to the existing order there is a winding up, a reckoning. "Tomorrow" shall then cease, and that word of mystery and procrastination and suspense be known no more. II. THAT DAY SHALL BE ONE OF JUDGMENT. The long unsettled cases of earth shall be settled then. Time's riddles shall be solved and its wrongs righted. The oppressed shall be vindicated and the evil-doer be put to shame. The judgment shall be just, undoing the evil and establishing the good. III. CHRIST'S WORD SHALL JUDGE US. Not that the word is to supersede the Judge, but it will form the ground of judgment. We can imagine in connection with that word such questions as these: 1. Did it reach you? 2. Did you listen to it, or spend your lives in listening to someone or thing else? 3. Did you treat it as a true word? Professing to receive it as true, did you treat it as untrue? 4. Did you treat it as Divine? by reverence and submission. 5. Did you accept it as suitable, as meeting your case? or did you reject it? By this word, then, let us judge ourselves now, that so we may not be condemned by it at the great day. (H. Bonar.) People Andrew, Esaias, Isaiah, Jesus, Judas, Lazarus, Martha, Mary, Philip, SimonPlaces Bethany, Bethsaida, Galilee, Jerusalem, ZionTopics Anyone, Believe, Doesn't, Ear, Gives, Hears, Judge, Listens, Regards, Salvation, Save, Sayings, TeachingsOutline 1. Jesus excuses Mary anointing his feet.9. The people flock to see Lazarus. 10. The chief priests consult to kill him. 12. Jesus rides into Jerusalem. 20. Greeks desire to see Jesus. 23. He foretells his death. 37. The people are generally blinded; 42. yet many chief rulers believe, but do not confess him; 44. therefore Jesus calls earnestly for confession of faith. Dictionary of Bible Themes John 12:47 1611 Scripture, inspiration and authority Library Easter DayChester Cathedral. 1870. St John xii. 24, 25. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal." This is our Lord's own parable. In it He tells us that His death, His resurrection, His ascension, is a mystery which we may believe, not only because the Bible tells us of it, but because … Charles Kingsley—All Saints' Day and Other Sermons December 28 Evening September 8 Evening September 22 Evening May 8 Morning February 29 Morning June 12. "We Would See Jesus" (John xii. 21). November 19. "We Would See Jesus" (John xii. 21). May 8. "Except a Corn of Wheat Fall into the Ground and Die" (John xii. 24). April 14. "I if I be Lifted up from the Earth Will Draw all Men unto Me" (John xii. 32). After Christ: with Christ The Universal Magnet The Son of Man Love's Prodigality Censured and vindicated A New Kind of King A Parting Warning The Praise of Men. The Saviour Lifted Up, and the Look of Faith. On the Words of the Gospel, John xii. 44, "He that Believeth on Me, Believeth not on Me, but on Him that Sent Me. " against A Christ Lifted Up Israel and Britain. A Note of Warning Sermon for St. Stephen's Day Answer to the Jewish Rabby's Letter. Our First Proposition Was, that There is Satisfactory Evidence that Many Pretending to be Original... Links John 12:47 NIVJohn 12:47 NLT John 12:47 ESV John 12:47 NASB John 12:47 KJV John 12:47 Bible Apps John 12:47 Parallel John 12:47 Biblia Paralela John 12:47 Chinese Bible John 12:47 French Bible John 12:47 German Bible John 12:47 Commentaries Bible Hub |