Freedom Through Surrender: God's Glory

Freedom Through Surrender: God's Glory - John 12:23-26
(Speaker: James Armstrong)

The Cross as our salvation and as our example.

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James: 00:06

So we're gonna continue this morning to, study this concept of freedom through surrender. Now it's a counterintuitive concept, but not altogether unfamiliar to us. Back in 1971, Janis Joplin released a hit song called Me and Bobby McGee. I don't know if, I see some people nodding their head. Those are the wild ones back in the day, I assume.

James: 00:31

You know, they kinda gave yourself away there. But the iconic line from the song is freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose. And I recognize the fact that people could become enslaved to the things they have, and freedom to really do what you wanna do is best attained from giving up your devotion to all that stuff. Now similarly today, we often hear the expression less is more. Alright?

James: 00:58

Where to make the point that if when you assert yourself too heavily on a particular situation or you want work too hard for a particular outcome, you kind of underperform in some important way, and so when you surrender the effort, you become free to succeed. You know, if you ever played baseball, you would have been coached that if you really wanna smash the ball, you gotta grab the bat loosely. Right? Same true... Same is true of golf.

James: 01:27

You have to grab the club loosely if you really wanna hit a long drive, and that's why you want the handle of the bat or the handle of the club to be very sticky or tacky so you don't have to grab it tightly. And so it's counterintuitive at first, and so you have to practice it, and it takes repetitive coaching until you're able to, get the hang of it and do it under pressure. Now the concept of this... Of freedom through surrender is reiterated throughout the Bible by the holy... By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to prepare our minds to fight off the natural instinct of believing that we could save ourselves.

James: 02:09

Alright? If you go way back into the book of Genesis, you remember that God was pleased with Abel's offering of the simple lamb, but was not pleased with Cain's offering of the produce from his garden. I suppose it was pretty ornate arrangement that he put together and took him a lot of work, and maybe that's why he was so upset that God rejected it. And then later on, we see that God did not use Moses when he was young and he was strong and he was confident, but much later in his life, when he was unsure of his ability to even speak to Pharaoh, that God, you know, used him to go confront Pharaoh and lead his people out of slavery. And then to defeat Jericho, God told Joshua just to march around the walls, those great walls of Jericho, once a day, seven times on the seventh day.

James: 02:59

No storming of the walls, no building catapults to launch rocks into those walls, no shooting flaming arrows over there. Just simply walking around it, and the walls collapsed. You know, God reduced Gideon's army from 32,000 down to just 300 before sending him out to defeat the Midianites. God used also a young shepherd boy with a sling and a few stones and no armor to defeat the mighty Goliath. Right?

James: 03:32

And to launch his church, he chose ordinary, uneducated fishermen instead of the elite religious scholars. Paul tells us in first Corinthians one twenty seven to 29 that all these examples are in the scripture for a purpose. He says, but God has chosen the foolish things of the world put to to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things that are mighty, and and the base things of the world, and the things which are despised, God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence. You know, the extreme of this concept of freedom to surrender is at the heart of the gospel. You know, if you remember back earlier in our series, Dan ran...

James: 04:20

Dan, read a verse, Romans four five, and it makes a remarkable statement in that verse. In fact, it says it so starkly. It says this, it says, but to him who does not work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted to for righteousness. You know, in other words, if you try to add your works at all to salvation, you're gonna miss it. If you grab the bat too tightly, you're gonna strike out.

James: 04:54

It's only when you surrender your will, surrender your pride, and humbly recognize that you have nothing to offer and accept the free gift of the one who justifies, it is that that gets you to heaven. That's what Paul is saying. And all those examples in scriptures are really just coaching us to accept that very truth of Romans four:five. And so this morning we're gonna be taking a look at another facet of that concept and how it applies to the new life we have in Christ. So if you could turn with me in your Bibles to John chapter 12 and look at verses 23 through 26.

James: 05:33

So that's gonna be our primary text for today. Let me just read that to us. And Jesus answered them saying, the hour has come for the son of man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains, alone, not alone, I'm sorry for the typo there, but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to to life eternal.

James: 06:00

If anyone serves me, he must follow me. And where I am, there my servant will there my servant will be also. If anyone serves me, the father will honor him. Alright, so let's just take a look at the first two verses up there. Jesus answered them and said, the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

James: 06:20

Let's just stop right there for a second. I think if Jesus took a pause there, and I don't know if he did take a pause there, but the whole place would have erupted if he took a pause there, because that's exactly what they were waiting to hear. The hour has come that the Son of Man might be glorified. Now why would that be met with such excitement? Well, it's because the term son of man is a messianic term.

James: 06:41

It's found in Daniel chapter chapter seven, and the Jews were all familiar with that passage. In fact, the opening verses of Daniel seven, it kinda lists out the major powers of... In history, in the world, the major nations in the world there. It lists the Babylonians, the media... You know, media Persians, the Greeks, the Romans, all the major powers there, and he identifies them and chose them to be evil by representing them as beasts, and you may remember that from the time we studied Daniel.

James: 07:12

Then all of a sudden, onto the scene of that vision there in Daniel seven thirteen comes the son of man, and he has all the power and dominion and authority, and he crushes all his enemies and he sets up his kingdom. And so the Jews are all aware of that, right? And that's what they're expecting when Jesus says the hour has come that the Son of Man might be glorified. In fact, that expectation is growing during the whole time of Jesus' ministry. And when it comes to the Palm Sunday, which happened just before the event that we're looking at here in verses 23 through 26, earlier in the chapter, in fact, in chapter 12, that event is where the general populace of the Jews tried to make Jesus king, because they saw his signs and they said, hey, we recognize that prophecy, and that's what they're trying to turn them into there.

James: 08:06

But then, so when they say it's time to be glorified, I suppose their hearts leapt there, and maybe even there was some kind of audible cheer that came from somewhere when he said that, you know, something like, All right, You know, it's about time. You know, let's go. I guess it's the expression today. And then Jesus gives him the shocking analogy that we just read here. He says, truly, truly, I say to you, and he has to say truly, truly, because this just can't really be true.

James: 08:38

Right? It's too shocking. He says, truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. The news flash here, what Jesus is saying is that there can't be any kingdom unless I die.

James: 08:57

There can't be anybody in any kingdom unless I die. There can't be any conquering unless I die. The divine table has come, the hour that the son of man is to be glorified, but that glorification is not going to be through some kind of earthly conquest, but it's gonna be through my substitutionary death. That's what he's saying there. Jesus did not come to smash his way to an earthly kingdom.

James: 09:21

He didn't storm the walls of Jericho, so to speak, but his kingdom is gonna be attained through his death. So he kinda turned their dreams of some kind of physical conquest into visions, really, of death here, and he does it through this analogy. He explains in a way that really resonates, I think, with them. It definitely resonates with me. I spent a bunch of years in grad school in Indiana, so I kinda get the analogy pretty well there.

James: 09:52

And as long as the seed remains in the granary, it is protected by its outer shell. And until you plant it, only when you plant it into the ground does it begin to decompose and rot, and when the outer shell decays, the life inside it begins to flourish. And that flourishing of that life grows into a great plant, which produces more seeds and more seeds and so on and so on it goes. Your grain remains alone, producing no fruit bearing no fruit, producing nothing until it dies. If I don't die, Jesus is telling them right here, I remain alone.

James: 10:31

If Jesus didn't die, heaven will be empty of human beings. No one would be there. It is only through his death that spiritual harvest is produced, and that's why Jesus said to his disciples in Luke 24 that we kinda looked at this morning at breaking of bread. He told his disciples that the Messiah must suffer and die because that is the only... On that road to Emmaus, he said they must suffer and die because that life giving power that he's imparting to us is only accomplished through his death.

James: 11:10

The only way he could put away sin is through the sacrifice of himself, and that happened at the cross. You know, it's been a stumbling block to all those who do not acknowledge sin and how profound sin is and how it's impossible for us to remedy judgment or to remove judgment or to escape punishment on our own. You know, you may not think that the cross or the idea of the cross is intellectual. You may not think it's sensible. You may not think it's reasonable.

James: 11:42

The Bible says it's foolishness to those who are perishing, but it is the truth, and Jesus said it. He said, I must die. That's what he's saying right here. And the history kinda bears it out. The history of Christianity is one long history of a miraculous spiritual harvest that was produced out of one seed dying, and that's at Calvary's Cross.

James: 12:08

Only through the sacrifice himself can he impart life to others. Without death, nothing happens. His example couldn't found any kingdom. His transfiguration couldn't found any kingdom. His wisdom couldn't found any kingdom.

James: 12:27

His knowledge couldn't found any kingdom. His kindness couldn't find it... Found any kingdom. It was only through his death that there were spiritual harvest, and that's why that was the joy that was set before him as we read in Hebrews chapter 12, and why he endured the cross for the spiritual harvest that his death would produce. And Jesus said, you know, you might remember this, Jesus said when, later on here, he says, and if I be lifted up, right, I will draw all men, all men and women to myself.

James: 13:03

And he was lifted up for our sakes. And remember he told his disciples there in that great commission, go out, the harvest is plentiful, go into all the world, the harvest is there. And we're testimonies of that great harvest from one seed that's dying. So let's just... I wanna pause there for a second and make a couple observations before we move on here.

James: 13:28

You know, if you listen to certain kinds of teaching from pulpits around the world, there is a heavy emphasis on the moral teachings of Jesus and ethical teachings of Jesus. Right? And he did he did teach ethics and he was moral. And there's also, you'll find a heavy emphasis on the miraculous signs that Jesus performed. And if there's any mention of the cross in some of these pulpits, it seems to be along the lines of what a selfless what an example of a selfless act that was, right?

James: 14:02

With the whole inferences, you know, maybe in our business we should be more ethical, maybe we should be more selfless in our dealings with other people. But not a bad idea, you know, to to be able to to do that, but that is to miss the entire point of the gospel itself. Christ's substitutionary death was absolutely necessary. He is our savior and is by his death that our penalty was paid, and that is what made him our savior. Now, if you think about this a little bit, even his disciples didn't get it because it was so counterintuitive.

James: 14:40

Right? You know, if you remember after Jesus, for the first time, pulled his disciples aside and said, who do you say that I am? Right? And Peter got the right answer. Right?

James: 14:50

He says, thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. And Jesus responds, saying, flesh and blood has not revealed that to you, but my father who is in heaven. So in other words, Peter, you get an A plus for that answer. Why don't you just move right up here to the front of the class, right? And then right after that, he begins to talk about his death.

James: 15:11

Remember that? And Peter begins to rebuke him. And Jesus is like, wrong, Peter. You get an f in that answer. You go to the bottom of your class.

James: 15:22

He says, get thee behind me, Satan. You know, you don't have in mind the things of God, you have in mind the things of man. So if they didn't get it, we shouldn't be surprised that others don't get it either. They did not wish him to die. But to wish him not to die is as foolish as taking a grain of wheat, putting it into container, refusing to plant it, and expecting it to be fruitful.

James: 15:49

So Jesus says, truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat, in other words, unless I descend into the earth and die, there will be no fruit. But if I die, and he did, the fruit will be there to be seen. Alright? So this is very important for us to get straight. This is the heart of the gospel.

James: 16:08

We need to understand this well. Christ died for our sins once for all, the just for the unjust in order to bring us to God, bring sinners to God. First Peter three eighteen. That is the heart of the gospel. We need to make sure we're clear on that.

James: 16:24

So then Jesus explains, continuing on in our passage here. So then Jesus explains that these, you know, these... This is at the heart of things, that death is the key to life, his death is the key to our life, surrender is the key to freedom, his surrender is the key to our freedom, and then he applies this principle to the life of his followers here. Notice the two words in verse 25, he who and he who. Alright?

James: 16:52

He who loves his life and he who hates his life. Right? And then later on in verse 26, you see if anyone, and then later on that verse, if anyone. So now he's talking to everyone, he's talking to us, he who is just a general term, talking about everyone, and if anyone, if anyone is obviously a general term as well. So he's not just talking to the Jews in front of him, he's not just talking to anybody in front of him, he's not just talking to the people of his day, but this is a general principle that he's laying out for us here.

James: 17:20

He says, he who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternity. He's talking about here he's talking about salvation in this particular verse. He goes on and he explains this particular principle of in relation to what it means to become a Christian and what it means to live as Christian. Here in verse 25, he's talking about salvation right here because he says it is unto eternal life. So what is he saying here?

James: 17:53

What is he telling us here? Is he saying that we need to hate ourselves? Well, not by our definition of the word hate. Alright? The way we define hate is typically as an emotion.

James: 18:12

Alright? We might say we hate lima beans and anchovies and liver because we don't like the taste of them, even though they could be very healthy. And in fact, we may prioritize it in our diet. We may eat lima beans, anchovies, and liver because of the omega threes and the vitamins and the fiber, because it's healthy for us, right? And according to the biblical definition of love and hate, we actually then love lima beans, anchovies, and liver because we prioritize them in our diet, and we hate donuts and milkshakes and Twizzlers because we tend to want to stay away from those things in our diet.

James: 19:04

Right, so the term love and hate in the Bible is used to compare the relative priorities and the values of two choices. Okay, it's a relative statement, it's not a statement of emotion. I'll give you a very clear example of that from a parallel passage in Luke chapter 14 verse 26. Says this, and some of you may have wondered about this particular verse. It says, If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

James: 19:41

Now that is a pretty stunning statement by our definition of the word hate. Alright? But what Jesus is saying there is that our relationship with him takes priority over even our earthly relationships. And we know that's the definition that he's saying because in Ephesians and Colossians, we are told that a husband should love his wife. And in first Timothy, we are told that if a man does not provide for his family, he has denied the faith and he's worth...

James: 20:12

Worse than an unbeliever. And we're told explicitly in the 10 commandments that we should honor our father and our mother. Alright? So what Jesus is saying here is not an emotion at all. It's a priority on a relative scale, not on an absolute scale.

James: 20:28

Okay? So what he's saying here in chapter... In verse 25 here is that if you cling to the life that you have, right, if the values and the worldview and the ambitions of this life are number one priority, right, you're gonna lose your life forever. You're not set up to accept God's way. But if you abandon, you're willing to abandon your life in this world, the willingness is there.

James: 20:58

If you're willing to abandon, full of its sin, its self centeredness, its hopelessness, its godlessness, If you hate that and you're willing to abandon that and accept God's way, you will receive eternal life. That's what Jesus is saying here. Hating your life is really what is called repentance in the Bible. Forsaking your way and choosing God's way is what repentance is. And God's way, of course, is not through our own works getting to heaven, but is to come through the sacrifice of his son.

James: 21:29

Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the father but through me. So it's how you look at yourself that leads to accepting a true acceptance of God's way. That's what Jesus is saying here. And this is why there's so many false converts that are out there and even in Jesus' day, they love the life that they had, and they would not...

James: 21:54

There's no willingness to abandon it and go God's way in a true in a true decision. And, you know, the whole book of Hebrews, the whole backdrop of the book of Hebrews is really addressing false converts as well. So it's a prevalent thing then, and we see it even today. So whoever loves his life, Jesus is saying, loses it. You keep it now, you lose it forever.

James: 22:18

And whoever hates his... This life in this world, in other words, you see your life the way it is, the way God sees it, and that leads to true acceptance of God's way. And so that particular principle is all through, it's a difficult principle, it really puts it to us, but it's a principle that's all through the Gospels. We see in Luke chapter nine twenty three and twenty four, it says this. It says, then he said to them all, if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

James: 22:52

Whoever desires to save his life will lose it. Save his life in this world will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. Again, it's a matter of priorities that he's talking about there. Jesus never made this footnote, this principle a footnote in his ministry. It's there over and over again in the Gospels.

James: 23:12

Okay, so now it's important to realize in verse 25 that Jesus is talking here about a mindset change, alright, not a change in behavior. Alright, that's an important distinction to be clear. It's a change in mindset, not a change in behavior. In fact, your change in behavior happens after you're saved, and that is really a lifelong process of changing your behavior. Alright?

James: 23:35

And to make this point very clear here, I'm gonna pop up another verse, and that's Ephesians... A set of verses, and that's Ephesians two eight through 10. Alright? So let's just take a look at this because this is a critical distinction to be able to understand. It says, for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

James: 24:00

Alright? So it's very clear from this statement that our salvation is by faith. Alright? It's a change in our mindset that leads to this faith. Okay?

James: 24:11

But then in verse 10, it goes on and it says this, for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. That is to say that after salvation, the Holy Spirit prompts us towards good works. And what do we mean by good works? It's not what we think are good works, but it's works that glorify God. You know, we're told over in second Corinthians chapter five that we're ambassadors for Christ, right, as a believer.

James: 24:42

So what does an ambassador do? An ambassador does whatever the leader of the nation tells him to do. We're representatives. You know, ambassadors are representative. And so we're ambassadors of Christ.

James: 24:53

That means we do the works that would glorify the Lord. That's the definition of good works. And so the willingness to respond to these promptings of the Holy Spirit is what we call sanctification, and that is progressive through life, because it takes spiritual maturity to be able to resist the temptation of our old self, the flesh that we have for our whole life while we're here, and be able to then choose to walk in the newness of life, the new man that is in us, that is born into us, the Holy Spirit that is born into us when we are saved. Alright? That takes spiritual maturity.

James: 25:32

It's a struggle that we're gonna have right as long as we have... We're in the human flesh, we're gonna have that struggle. Alright? And Paul captures that struggle of a Christian in Romans seven nineteen, if you just, I don't have it up there, but if you just listen to it, he says, For the good that I will do, I do not do, but the evil I will not do, that I practice. Alright?

James: 25:59

So as believers, we have made the decision to follow Christ. That is what we want to do. Alright? And the Holy Spirit stokes that desire in us. But in practice, at times, because we're still in the flesh, we stumble.

James: 26:15

Alright? And the whole smoothing out of that process of being able to walk in the spirit more reliably and increasingly more reliably is a lifelong process. Second Corinthians three eighteen says, and we've looked at this first earlier, I'm covering some ground that we've already covered, but it says, We all with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as the... Just as by the spirit of the lord. So I think we get that.

James: 26:45

We've covered this before, but I think what could be an eye opener to us is what Jesus says in verse 26 here. Alright? He says, if anyone serves me, let him follow me. What does he mean here by if anyone serves me, let him follow me here? Well, the answer from this context is follow him in what he just described by denying yourself and as a planted seed, produce fruit for eternity.

James: 27:18

In other words, when we serve the Lord, we follow this principle of surrendering ourselves, putting to death part of our life to reap the fruit that God wants us to reap. Alright? And so this is a key kind of point for us, and progressive sanctification is really a step by step process of putting to death fleshly desires as we kind of understand them, because even in life, as we go through life, we suddenly dawns on us, there's a part of our life that we think, hey, this isn't really glorifying God. And we don't know that, sometimes for years. And then we realize as we're growing in the Lord, I don't think this is the right thing for me to be doing, and you put that to death, and that's a process that happens throughout life.

James: 28:08

And so this is a key important passage here to understand, that all spiritual growth really follows this pattern of putting to death, surrendering your will, and choosing God's will. So let me give you an example of that to kinda bring it on home so we could kind of internalize it here. He says, so all of you guys here this morning have put to death a part of your Sunday morning to be here. Right? Now if you showed up at breaking our bread, you put to death a lot of your Sunday morning because we know how long the mornings are at Hillview.

James: 28:45

Alright? And as you drove over here, you passed through the aromas of dark roast coffees and lattes and the visions of people lounging with their newspapers in the various cafes, and you know that's appealing to all of us, but you put that to death to be here. Right? And some of you put to death some of the activities on Saturday night in order for you to be here. And some others of you with particularly athletic children might have spoken to the coach and said, hey, my kids don't play on Sunday morning.

James: 29:22

Right? And if you're in middle school or high school, you might have made that... And you're a believer. You might have made that decision yourself. Right?

James: 29:31

And what you're putting to death there is the dream of a college scholarship in most cases. Alright? At least in your mind, you're putting that to death. There's exceptional circumstances where that doesn't bear out that way, but that's what you're doing. Right?

James: 29:50

And what is the fruit that comes from that? Well, by being here, get spiritual growth and development. You get encouragement and peace from hearing what the Bible has to say, but you also impart spiritual eternal blessings on others. You're an encouragement to others by being here, and you're actually a testimony to your friends, your families, you're a testimony to your neighbors when they see you get up and you go to church every Sunday, and you're a testimony to your coaches, if that's the particular case that you're in. You know, my college roommate came to know the Lord after college, and we've spoken a number of times after college.

James: 30:38

And I think the biggest testimony that I had on... You know, I had with him, and we spoke about spiritual things in the gospel late at night sometimes when we're laying in bed, But I think what really brought it and make it made it real to him, that it was real to me, was the fact that I got up and went to church every Sunday morning in college. You know, and there's a lot of activity on Saturday nights in your dorm room. Things don't settle down to two in the morning. Right?

James: 31:11

But every Sunday morning, I'd get up, I'd throw on a tie and jacket. You didn't have to do that just when you're speaking back then. You did it did it all the time. Threw on a coat because I was up in the Northeast going to college, you know, during college years, the weather during the year there, mostly during the winter months, right? And so it is either snowy or the weather's bad, and I remember schlepping down about a half mile to Lot 23 where my car was, and a lot of times in the ice and and the snow, and I'm scraping away the little keyhole on my door, you know, to get my key in there, and you're jiggering it in a certain way so it gets open, so it's not frozen shut, and then you're sitting there while the car is getting going.

James: 31:54

I think a lot of you guys understand that. That's why we're living here. Right? That's why we moved to California. We don't wanna deal with that.

James: 32:01

But I tell you, you do that, you put to death sleeping in and the conveniences of Sunday morning for the spiritual fruit that that bears. You may not see it right away, but it bears spiritual fruit, you know, over time. So, you know, just a little side note on that particular thing. Woody Allen said 70% of success is just showing up. And I think there's a lot of wisdom to that, a lot of wisdom.

James: 32:30

Don't underestimate the impact it has on others just by showing up at church. Alright? But this principle of putting to death your will, surrendering your way, and choosing, and then the result is spiritual fruit, is all part of any kind of spiritual growth. So if you look at, you know, Friday night studies, you're doing the same sort of thing. If you look...

James: 32:56

If you think about serving in the church in some way, you're putting to death your time or even your convenience or whatever it may be. If you're evangelizing, you're putting to death your ego because people would mock your faith at times, right? But that death, it brings forth life is what Jesus is saying, and his death brought forth life. But our death and following them in that way and through his example brings forth life in others. And I think a good example of a good summary of this principle, Paul makes gives a great summary of it.

James: 33:35

In second Corinthians four seven through 12, I think I did copy it in here, says this, but we have this treasure in earthen vessels. Okay? That's our salvation in our bodies. So that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed, perplexed, but not despairing, persecuted, but not forsaken, struck down, but not destroyed, always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.

James: 34:12

For we who live are constantly be... Delivered over death for Jesus' sake so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death works in us, but life in you. I think that's a good example of this whole principle here. And then Jesus adds here a few encouraging words at the end of this passage here.

James: 34:40

What is the benefit to us in all of that? And he says, and where I am, there my servant will be also. If anyone serves me, him my father will honor. Alright? And so what do you get out of giving up this life?

James: 34:57

What is the benefit to you? Alright? End of verse 25, we see it's eternal life, eternal life in all its fullness. And we don't... We get a sense of it in this life, but we don't understand the full abundance of life until we're out of this body.

James: 35:16

But in all its fullness, eternal life forever in the fullness of life. And where does that happen? Verse 26. Where I am, there my servant will be. And where is Jesus?

James: 35:29

He's in heaven. He's ascended up into heaven. He's at the right hand of the father in the eternal glories where God is preparing for us things, the kind of things that we can't even comprehend. You know, we have a sense of, you know, we go out into nature and we could see this world and there's some beautiful things that we still see in this world, right? The things that God is preparing for us is beyond comprehension.

James: 35:55

He's the maker of this world, but imagine the things that he's providing and he's preparing for us in the world to come. Alright, that's where it is, full abundant life forever there. And one more thing he says here, the father will honor you. See, it says that in there, and the father will honor you, and that's a general invitation. You hate your life, you abandon your life with all your sin and self righteousness, and you accept God's way and you serve him, and if need be, you face death because the value is so vast that no price will be too high.

James: 36:33

You know, the promise is the promise of being with him, and the prospect is the prospect of honor. You'll be with me, and if you serve me, the father will honor you. Amazing. How would the father honor us? Who forever in eternity, father is honoring us?

James: 36:54

You know, you'd be a fool to give that up, to try to cling to the ashes of this life. You get to your mid-40s and there's something called, what is it, midlife crisis. I think that's one of the things that's out there. You know what triggers midlife crisis? Is that this life is fleeting.

James: 37:19

That's the trigger. Everyone, you know, whether you're a believer or not, you start realizing it's slipping away. It's turning to ashes. I better try to jam a bunch of more stuff in here. I don't want it to disappear, but you get a sense of it.

James: 37:34

Why would you cling to that, which is obviously a losing battle, right, and give up the glories that are there to follow? You know, I think we could go down the line of people that we admire, who have lived out this principle. Certainly, Hebrews chapter 11 gives us a list of that. There are some modern day examples. One of them that comes to mind is this guy named Jim Elliott.

James: 38:06

I think you... Some of you may know him. Born in '19 born in 1927. He was dead at 28 because he took this principle seriously. He was the one who wrote in his journal while he was just a college student at Wheaton College.

James: 38:22

He said, a man is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep. In other words, who surrenders what he cannot keep, gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. Right? Freedom through surrender. I don't know exactly what he was thinking when he wrote all those words down, but we do know what happened to him when he was martyred in Ecuador serving the Lord because he took that principle seriously.

James: 38:52

And then just in conclusion here, I just wanna read a quote from Alastair Begg. I thought it was a very good quote. It's fitting for the sermon today, so I just want to read it read it to you. And it says, the more we experience loss, disappointment, pain, hardship, the more clouds descend upon our experiences, and I know some of you have been feeling that from just looking at the HBC list. Right?

James: 39:25

But as he goes on, he says, the more we realize the deepest joys and the lasting realities are not found underneath this canopy, not found in this world. They are found beyond, and it is in that realm that we live, and that is the truth. Let's just close in prayer. Dear heavenly father, we come before you now and we recognize that these are stern words to us, and we recognize that we have to make a decision in life. Is it this life that we prioritize, or is it the life to come?

James: 40:10

And, Lord, we are... We see through a glass dimly, as you say, because we're limited by our faculties. But you came, you know what heaven's scope is, and you say, don't fear the man who could kill this body but fear him who killed the soul and body. And Lord, we recognize what you have in store for us is so vast as you articulated to us. You know both sides.

James: 40:40

You know what it is here, and you know what it was in heaven. And you say, life in heaven compares to nothing here. And we take that by faith. And Lord, we pray that we can make we could dedicate our lives to your glory, put to death the... Our seed, the life here on this earth, our ambitions, and our prioritize.

James: 41:06

We... Our priorities and ambitions of this life, Lord, and we could bear fruit for your glory, Lord. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.