John 12:12-19 “Follow the Son to Eternal Life”

1:32And friends, that is the same choice that is before every one of us. The choice to take the broad, easy path of the world or the hard and narrow path of Jesus. And what we're going to see today in John chapter 12 is that we can follow the world into darkness or the Son of Man to eternal life. So let's pick up here in verse 20. If you were with us last week, you know that that previous section ended with the Pharisees lamenting that the world had gone after Jesus.

2:07Well, now you see right here in verse 20 that John notes that some Greeks, or at least some Greek-speaking Gentiles, they come to Jerusalem for the Passover feast. And so they've come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. So these are at least God-fearers, people that have reverence for Israel's God, if they're not full-blown converts to Judaism. And you have to understand, Judaism was attractive and it was persuasive to many Gentiles for a lot of reasons, but there were challenges to becoming a convert if you were not Jewish.

2:43I mean, think about the fact that Judaism is very closely tied in with Abraham and his physical descendants. And so it just looks and seems and feels like an ethnic religion to many people. It's one that you wouldn't leave your culture for very easily. But then also, keep in mind that it was difficult to feel. Accepted if you were a Gentile, not least of which because of the situation that you encountered at the temple when you came to Jerusalem to worship.

3:10Remember, Gentiles couldn't actually go into the temple. And so the one place that they could worship of any kind and pray in any way was in the courtyard. But a lot of the religious leaders had allowed the merchants into the courtyard of the Gentiles to sell. They had turned this place that was supposed to be a place of prayer, a place of worship, into a place of commerce, a noisy place of commerce with animals everywhere. So we learn from the other three gospel accounts that right after Jesus has this triumphal entry into Jerusalem that we read about last week, he actually goes to the temple. And I want to pick up in Matthew 21 so we can read what happens after he goes to the temple. Take a look on the screen.

3:52And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple. And he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, It is written, my house shall be called a house of prayer, but you make it a den of robbers. So maybe, in addition to already being attracted to Judaism on theological grounds and on moral grounds, maybe these Gentiles heard that Jesus had cleared out the temple. The only place that they could pray, the only place that they could pray. Worship.

4:31And that sent a very strong message to them. This man is not just the Savior of the Jews. This man is the Savior of the whole world. He's come not just for these people, these physical descendants of Abraham, but he's come for us as well. And he's proven that he wants us and he will accept us by making space for us to worship in that sacred place of the temple. And friends, all of that lines up with what the prophets foretold. Take a look on the screen at Isaiah 49.

5:01And now the Lord says, He who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, and that Israel might be gathered to him. For I am honored in the eyes of the Lord, and my God has become my strength, he says. It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel. I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.

5:32So, what Isaiah is saying is that God is so gracious and so merciful that it's too light of a thing, it's too small of a thing for him to just save the descendants of Abraham. That's too easy. No, he's going to save all of the nations, people from every tribe, tongue, and nation around the world. And this echoes what Jesus Himself taught: that he came not just for the Jews, but also for the world. Remember what he said back in John chapter 8. Take a look.

6:01Again, Jesus spoke to them, saying, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. So these Gentiles who were already drawn to the God of Israel were also drawn to Jesus, who taught that he came to give his life for the whole world and proved it by clearing out the court of the Gentiles so that they would have a space to worship. So the Greeks find Jesus' disciple Philip, as we saw, and said, Sir, we wish to see Jesus. Now we know from other texts that Philip comes from the north. He is from Galilee, just like Jesus. And in the north, there's a lot more Gentile influence than Judea, the region in the south. You've got Galilee in the north, Samaria in the middle, and Judea in the south. Judea is a lot closer to Egypt. It's a lot more removed, a lot more Jewish influence and Jewish culture there. But up in the north, it's a lot closer to Asia.

7:01And so there's a lot more Gentile influence. Philip is from there. And maybe these men assumed that Philip would be sympathetic to their request. And they're right. Philip tells his friend Andrew, perhaps because Andrew is Peter's brother, and Peter is in the inner circle with Jesus. And together, Philip and Andrew go and get Jesus to secure an audience for these Gentiles. Now, you might be wondering, why spend so much time just thinking about this little situation? Here with the Greeks.

7:31I think it's really easy to skim over this section, and it doesn't seem like a big deal, but I assure you, it is. Because what it tells us is that Jesus came to save both Jews and Gentiles. And that is great news for nearly every person here because almost none of us are ethnically Jewish. Jesus came to save Jew and Gentile. All people, all ethnicities, all cultures. And so maybe you came today like these Greeks because you wish to see Jesus.

8:06You didn't show up this morning for a concert. You didn't come for comedy. You didn't come looking for advice on how to live a better life. You came this morning to see Jesus. And friends, here he is, right here in the scriptures, revealing his love for all people in word and in deed. He came to lay down his life for all people and proved it by ministering to Jews and Samaritans and to Gentiles. He became the way of salvation through his sinless life, his death, and his resurrection.

8:45So I don't know where you are. Maybe it was hard for you to come today because just like these Greeks, you feel intimidated by religious people and religious spaces. And maybe it was difficult for you to come this morning. I have. No doubt that it was difficult for these Greeks to travel to Jerusalem year after year for the Passover feast when it seemed like the message that was being sent in the temple was, We don't want you here.

9:11What you need to understand is what they needed to understand, and that's that Jesus did want them there. Jesus did want them there, and he wants you here this morning. He wants you to hear the good news about him and join his flock, the flock of the good shepherd, by faith. Let's pick up in verse 23. And Jesus answered them, The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. What an interesting phrase. Now that these Gentiles have come seeking Jesus, he knows that his hour has come, the time is finally here. And that is really significant because up until this point, what has Jesus been telling everybody who finds out about him? My time is not yet. My time has not come. My hour is not here. He has said that so many times. But as soon as these Gentiles come seeking him, he says, My hour has come. The time is now.

10:16Now, as we saw last week, that does not mean it's time for Jesus to assume an earthly throne because his glory is going to come through suffering. And that's what he says in verse 24. Look there. 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. Now that agricultural metaphor helps us to understand a spiritual truth, that death precedes life.

10:52Just like so many other things in God's kingdom, it's backwards. Death precedes life. But we have a picture of it in agriculture. For a seed to bear fruit, it has to fall to the ground. It has to be buried in the ground. It has to die if there's going to be a fruit-bearing plant or a fruit-bearing tree that's going to sprout from it. And in the same way, what Jesus is saying is that spiritual fruit comes through death.

11:19For him to bear the spiritual fruit of salvation, saving people from sin's power and penalty, Jesus was going to have to die. And unless he died, he would remain alone, just like that grain of wheat that doesn't fall to the ground, that isn't buried and doesn't die. Take a look on the screen at John chapter 16. Jesus is going to say this in a few more chapters. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.

12:01Have you ever considered that before? I mean, so many of us, Christians, we say things like, I wish Jesus was still here with us today. But Jesus actually says, these are his words, not mine. That would be disadvantageous. That would not be a good thing for us if Jesus were still here. Because if he were still here, then he is confined to one body, one place, at one time. But since he ascended into heaven in that resurrected body and sent the Holy Spirit, now the Holy Spirit is present everywhere. Christians are present. He comes to dwell inside each one of us through faith. So now the Holy Spirit is everywhere. Jesus is everywhere. The Christians are.

12:51And so we see that spiritual fruit comes through death, and that's illustrated most perfectly and completely in Jesus' life, whose one death secured salvation for all people who believe, and whose resurrection ensured that we'd never be alone, but we'd be filled with the Holy Spirit. He continues in verse 25. Whoever loves his life loses it. And whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Friends, the same spiritual principle applies to you and me. If we want to bear much spiritual fruit, then we also have to die.

13:39And in most cases, the death that's being referred to here is not physical. Rather, this death is a daily decision. It is daily choices that we make where we say, I love God and His ways and His people more than I love this world and the things of this world. It is choices that we make every single day to value the eternal over the temporal. We don't literally hate our lives. I mean, Jesus Himself taught us to give thanks to God for the many good things that we enjoy. In His life, Jesus enjoyed friendship. He enjoyed good food and drink. He enjoyed doing the work that the Father had sent him to do. Jesus enjoyed the good things of this world, and he gave thanks to the Father for them, and we should too.

14:36But compared to our love for God and for our longing for the new heavens and the new earth that's going to be established when Jesus returns, the way we feel about our lives in this world should look like hatred. And that requires choices that feel like little deaths every single day. The choice to speak up and share the good news of Jesus, knowing that you might be mocked or excluded for your faith. The choice to act ethically at work or in school when making compromises would probably get you ahead in your career or in your program.

15:26The choice to give rather than to hoard what we have, knowing that that will mean that we cannot buy all of the clothes and food and homes and cars and experiences that everyone else seems to be able to buy. The choice to serve others in our church and the community, knowing that that will mean that we will not be able to be served as often as we would like. The choice to bear the cost and forgive rather than to seek revenge when we're wronged.

16:03All of these choices is essentially a little death. It is dying to what comes naturally and what seems right in everyone else's eyes. That's why the Apostle Paul exclaimed, I die every day when he thought about all of the sacrifices that he made to take the gospel to the Gentiles. I die every day. Church, it is hard to die. Every day. The world offers us good things now without waiting and without suffering. And that is really hard for our generation because we are not used to having to wait for anything. We are not used to suffering.

16:50But the whole reason that people wait for all sorts of things in this world is because we believe that whatever is coming in the future is better than what we could have today if we just reached out and snatched it. And I think marriage is a great example of this, and marriage is a particularly important example in our community with so many young people. It is hard to wait until you're married to enjoy physical intimacy with the person that you love.

17:23But friends, love that is shared in the context of a marriage covenant is unspeakably greater than love shared with someone who has not or maybe will not promise to love you and never leave you, never forsake you. It is hard to wait for that, but it is infinitely better. And so Jesus tells us that if we hate our lives in this world, then we get to keep our lives eternally. And he doesn't mean that this life as we know it just goes on forever. That would not be a gift.

18:08You know, you hear people say all the time, I don't want to live till I'm 100. I don't want to live to be 125. I don't want to live forever. And that's because in this life, there is suffering. In this life, our bodies get sick and they ache. Now that I'm 40, I wake up sore every day from sleeping. All of those things, there's war and there's famine, there's difficulties, there's natural disasters. This life doesn't go on eternally. That would not be worth waiting for. That would be a curse, not a gift. No, what we are waiting for and what we are hoping for is life in the new heavens and the new earth, in new bodies that are free from sin and sickness and death, where there's no more crying or pain or tears anymore, where we get to live forever in a perfect place ruled by a perfect king who governs with perfect justice and wisdom. That is what we're looking forward to. That's what we're waiting for and longing for.

19:08So, friends, dying daily is hard, but it is absolutely worth the wait. Jesus concludes in verse 26. Take a look there. If anyone serves me, he must follow me. And where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. That's a very straightforward and simple principle. The servant goes where the master goes. That's what Jesus is saying here. We cannot claim to serve Jesus if we don't follow him.

19:52I mean, Jesus told the disciples to follow him. That was literally the language that he used. Come follow me. And they didn't say to Jesus, what do you mean? It was very straightforward. When he said, follow me, he means literally, I want you to get behind me, and I want you to go where I go. I want you to learn from me and learn to think like I think and talk like I talk and act like I act. That's what I'm calling you to do.

20:22And friends, even people who did not become his disciples understood what he was asking perfectly well. In Matthew 19, this rich young man comes up to Jesus and he asks what he needs to do to be saved. And so Jesus says, you need to keep the commandments. And he lists a few of them. And I want you to look on the screen and pick up with the rest of this conversation. The young man said to him, All these I have kept.

20:54It is that easy. I have already kept all the commands. What else do I have to do? I mean, if you think you've kept all of God's commands, you do not understand God's commands. What do I still lack? Jesus said to him, if you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. And come, follow me. When the young man heard this, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

21:29You see, this guy wanted eternal life. And so Jesus told him what he's telling the crowd here in John chapter 12: if you want to keep your life eternally, you've got to lose your life here. You've got to serve me and follow me and die every day. But this rich young man was unwilling to do that. He did not want to part with his earthly possessions because he loved the world. In other words, he could not serve Jesus because he would not follow Jesus. He was unwilling to die every day, and so he went away sad.

22:11And friends, I think so many people are like this rich young ruler. As Christians, sometimes we think that if people just understood what Jesus was asking, then they would come to him. Like, we think that it's a comprehensive. Issue. Like, if we could say it differently or better or louder, people would come to Jesus. But friends, when we read the scripture, really the opposite thing becomes clear. Many people said, I don't want to follow Jesus because they understood exactly what he was asking them to do.

22:53They decide that they don't want to follow Jesus because they're unwilling to serve him. And they're unwilling to serve him because they're unwilling to follow him. And they're unwilling to follow him because they're unwilling to die every day. That's what it comes down to. But here's the deal: if you lose your life here and follow Jesus, you will keep it eternally. And Jesus says that if you serve him, you will be honored by God the Father.

23:22So it is a hard life of waiting and suffering, but it's worth it to hear well done from the Father. Let's pick up now in verse 27. 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. 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. Now is the judgment of this world. Now will the ruler of this world be cast out. 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.

24:29Jesus is very honest. Now that his hour had come, his soul is troubled. That word can also be translated stirred up or unsettled. When he thought about his upcoming betrayal, his arrest, his beating, his crucifixion, and most specifically, about the Father forsaking him as he took on the sins of the world, his soul was troubled. And this mirrors what he prays in the Garden of Gethsemane, doesn't it? Where he prays for the Father to take the cup from him.

25:14But just like in the garden, he doesn't pray for his own will. He prays for his Father's will to be done. He acknowledges, This is the entire reason that I came. This is why I'm here. The cross was not a defeat for Jesus. No, rather, he said all along that he came to willingly lay down his life for the sheep. Friends, Hebrews explains for us, in light of the new covenants, how to understand the old covenant. And we learn in Hebrews 9 and 10 that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. We learn that it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins because, in shedding the animal's blood, all it is is it's a reminder of our sin year after year. It is not taking it away, it is a reminder of our sin. So, for us to be saved, we needed a representative like us who could stand in our place.

26:14But we also needed a representative who is unlike us in that he never sinned and obeyed God perfectly. So, Jesus came to be that representative and to shed his blood for our forgiveness, not as a reminder for sin, but to take away sin. Jesus knew this, and so he did not ask God to save him from this hour. Instead, he prayed, Father, glorify your name. And then God the Father answers from heaven, I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.

26:49Now, this is the third time in Jesus' life and ministry that God the Father has spoken audibly for other people to hear. The first was at his baptism, the second was at his transcription. Transfiguration. And the third is right here in this time in front of the crowd. But wouldn't you know that most of the crowd who heard the voice dismissed it and they said it had thundered? Others heard the words, but then they misappropriated the source, saying an angel has spoken to him.

27:24And I think what this does is it illustrates the way so many people respond to Jesus. Many people think that Jesus is nothing special, and that any so-called miracles that he performed were just natural phenomena that could be explained away. So when God the Father speaks from heaven, it's not really God the Father speaking, it's thunder. Or when Jesus multiplies food and feeds thousands and thousands of people, that was just generous people sharing what they had with each other.

28:02Or, and there are lots of people out there who really believe this, Jesus didn't actually die on the cross. He swooned, he fainted. And then a few days later in the tomb, he woke up, the disciples rolled the stone away, and then he walked out of the tomb alive. Many people believe that Jesus is nothing special. Other people think that Jesus is special. He is a unique messenger from God, but he's not the special. Of God. So he is holier than us, and he hears from angels and stuff. But that's it.

28:38So Jesus clarifies for them. He says, this voice has come for your sake, not mine. He did not need any reminders about who he was. At his baptism, the father said, this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. At his transfiguration, the father said, this is my beloved Son. Listen to him. Jesus knew who he was. He was the Son of God. He did not need any human to testify to that fact. But the people did not know and believe the truth about him. So the Father speaks audibly in front of this huge crowd, promising that he's going to glorify himself once more through Jesus. And how is that going to happen?

29:24Jesus says in three ways. He says, the hour has come for the world to be judged, for Satan to be cast out, and for him to be lifted up and draw all people to himself. So first, the world is going to be judged. The sinfulness of humanity is about to be on full display as common enemies, the Jews and the Gentiles, unite together to execute the only sinless, guiltless person who has ever lived. The world is going to be judged, and Jesus is going to bear the sin of the world on the cross, taking the judgment that we deserved so that we could be saved.

30:10Second, Satan is going to be cast out. In Scripture, he's often referred to as the ruler of this world. Not in the sense that he has some kind of power over it that God doesn't have, but in the sense that he has taken the entire world captive to do his will through temptation and sin. That's why Jesus tells the Pharisees back in John chapter 8 that they are of their father the devil, and they live to do his will. Because anyone who sins is a slave to sin. Jesus came to cast him out by defeating sin and death.

30:47And then, third, he says that he's going to draw all people to himself when he is lifted up. His death on the cross is going to be this massive spectacle that's going to draw people from miles away who can clearly see that he's crucified with these two other criminals up on this cross. And they're going to come to stare at him and gawk at him. But also, the spiritual symbolism of Jesus being lifted up on the cross is that God is exalting his son for the entire world to see. And when he exalts his son, he's going to be lifted up with his arms spread wide, giving a visual representation of what he said in John 6: anyone who comes to me. I will never cast out.

31:33He has come to save all who believe. So, friends, what we learn in these three things is that Jesus is coming to address our greatest hopes and our deepest needs. We all long for justice. We cannot stand it when the guilty go unpunished. We hear about injustice every day in our own community, in our nation, and in the world. We cannot stand it when the guilty go unpunished. But what the cross tells us is that divine justice is carried out.

32:14Every sin will be paid for, either by Jesus on the cross for those who trust in him, or by the sinner for his or her sins in hell. We all long for justice, and justice was carried out on the cross. We all long for freedom, every one of us. All those who sin are slaves to sin, and the worst slavery that the world has ever known is slavery to sin. All of our misery can be traced back either to our first parents and their sin, or the sins that we willingly commit every day against God, against others, against ourselves.

33:00We long for freedom. And freedom was won at the cross when Jesus defeated sin and the power of sin, which is death. And finally, we all long for salvation. Hanging over every one of us every day of our lives is the reality that we are going to die. And Scripture tells us that the reason we're going to die is because the wages of sin is death. The works that we have done are sinful. And we are going to get paid for that sin with death.

33:41We all long for salvation, and Jesus defeats sin and death, the consequence of sin, on the cross. Salvation was won on the cross. So, friends, do you see that? Justice, freedom, salvation, our greatest hopes, our deepest needs, they're met through the substitutionary death of Jesus on the cross. But the crowd is puzzled by these statements. They don't understand them. Look at verse 34. So the crowd answered him, We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?

34:30So, the crowd rightly understood that he was claiming to be the Christ, the Son of Man, but they had no idea what he meant by being lifted up. Lifted up where? And I think Daniel chapter 7 sheds some light on their confusion. Anyone who's read this passage is going to be confused by that statement. I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven, there came one like a Son of Man. And he came to the ancient of days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom, one that shall not be destroyed.

35:18So, do you see why the crowd is confused? If he's claiming to be the son of man, which he is, Daniel says that the son of man is going to have an everlasting kingdom which won't pass away and will never be destroyed. Isaiah talks about this king that's coming that's going to be enthroned forever, whose government is only going to increase throughout eternity. So, if he's the son of man, what does he mean by he's going to be lifted up?

35:45And then their second question: who is this son of man? is one that we all have to answer. In fact, this is the very question that Jesus asked his own disciples. Look at Matthew 16. Now, when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, who do people say that the Son of Man is? And they said, some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. He said to them, but who do you say that I am? Simon Peter replied, you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.

36:27See, it's not just the disciples who have to answer that question. It's the crowd who has to answer that question too. People say all kinds of stuff about Jesus, weird stuff. I mean, this is a monotheistic religion that has the Old Testament scriptures. And if you walked around Israel in those days and you were like, who do you think Jesus is? People are like, I think he's reincarnated, man. He's Elijah or one of the prophets. It's like, they don't even believe in reincarnation. Where did that come from? That's so bizarre. And then today, you ask people, who do you think Jesus is? Oh, he's just a good teacher. He's a wise sage. He's a revolutionary who wanted to give the world a picture of sacrifice. What?

37:10He didn't say any of that stuff. Never once did he claim to be any of those things. But Peter confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. And so, friends, you've got to answer that question. But what about you? Who do you say that Jesus is? Jesus is. The crowd didn't know what to think, so they asked, who is this Son of Man? Look how Jesus answers, verse 35. So Jesus said to them, 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.

38:05In response to their question about his identity as the Son of Man, he speaks metaphorically using one of his favorite images, light. And you may recall that at the outset of John's Gospel, John wrote that Jesus has life in himself, and that life was the light of men. His light shone in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. That's what John said. And remember Jesus' own words back in chapter 8: I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.

38:40But he's not going to be around much longer, so they needed to walk in the light while they could. Otherwise, they'd be stumbling around in the darkness. They wouldn't know where they were going. And in Scripture, darkness is always a picture of spiritual blindness, an unwillingness to see and acknowledge the truth. Jesus doesn't want them stumbling around in the dark, and so he says, Walk in the light and believe in the light, so that you may become sons of light.

39:11And that seems like a really strange answer. The crowd asked him, What do you mean by being lifted up? And who is the Son of Man? And Jesus responds with, Walk in the light, believe in the light. It's like he totally changed the subject. But friends, I think Jesus is doing this on purpose. The crowd doesn't understand who he is, but the reality was, neither did the disciples. But Jesus had given all of them every reason to trust him through his authoritative teaching, through his miracles, through his sinless life.

39:50And so, what Jesus is doing here is instead of giving them information, he's pointing them back to himself, saying, You don't need to know all things, you need to trust in me. But I think so many of us, when it comes to spiritual things, we're like, I don't know if I can trust God. I don't know if I can walk the Christian life because I don't understand everything. But, friends, we don't act like that in any other realm of our lives.

40:21Very few of us understand how an internal combustion engine works. And yet, we get into cars every day believing. That they're going to get us to where we want to go without exploding and killing us, even though we don't have the foggiest idea how that thing works. We all invest our money in the stock market, believing that magically one day our money will have had children and that we can retire. We don't know how all that works, but we trust it. So, when it comes to spiritual things, like Paul says in Romans 11: who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been his counselor? We should not expect to understand all things. The crowd did not understand all things about Jesus, but they didn't have to. And I think that's why Jesus doesn't answer them directly. Instead, he points them back to himself as the light of the world, saying, You don't need to know all of those answers right now. What you need to do is trust me, follow me, and I will lead you to eternal life.

41:27Friends, there are really just two choices before us: we can follow the world into darkness or the Son of Man to eternal life. That's what this passage boils down to. We can follow the world, and that's the choice that most people make. And Jesus says the reason that most people make that choice is because the gate is wide, the path is broad, the way is easy. That's why so many people find themselves on it. But Jesus says that if you take that path, it leads to destruction. It leads to squandering or wasting. We will squander or waste our lives if we take the broad, easy path that most of the world takes.

42:19And worse yet, if we follow the world, it's not just that we're squandering and wasting our lives here. Jesus says that we will lose our lives for eternity. And so you may be here this morning and realizing that you love the world. You love the things of the world. You've passed through that wide gate and you are on the easy way that leads to destruction. And if that's you, then you need to turn around this morning. That's one of the ways that you can define the word repent, to turn. You need to turn around and follow Jesus.

42:58He will lead you to a small gate in a narrow path that's very hard. And the gate is small because there's only one way through it, and that is faith in Jesus Christ. No other way leads to that narrow path that goes to life. Every other way is the broad gate that leads to destruction. And like I was just saying, you might say, but I don't understand everything about Jesus. I don't understand everything about Christianity. I don't either.

43:30No Christian does. But we believe that Jesus claimed to be the Son of God. We believe that he lived a sinless life and performed many miracles. And most importantly, that he lived, died, and rose again as he promised that he would, so that any who trust in him will be forgiven and reconciled to God. We don't know everything as Christians, far from it, but we trust Jesus. We believe he's the Son of God and that he will lead us to eternal life. And so I want to encourage you to do the same this morning. If you've never put your faith in Jesus, let today be the day that you turn from your sin, that you turn around on that path that you're on, and you start following him.

44:16And if you're already a Christian, I want to encourage you to remember this morning that every sacrifice that we make on the hard path of following Jesus is worth it. Every sacrifice you make individually as a Christian, as a church member, they will all be honored by God the Father. And so when life is really hard and you're making those sacrifices, I want you to remember what Jesus said, that the goal is to get to the end of your life where you will not remember all of those sacrifices and all those hard things anymore because you will see him face to face and God will say to you, well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into my life. The joy of your master.

45:04Life with Jesus is our goal. So, friends, rather than following the world into darkness, let's follow the Son to eternal life. Let's pray. God, it is so tempting to walk through that broad gate and travel down the easy path. Not just because the gate is so big and the path is so wide and easy, but because everyone else is doing it. And we feel that pressure on campus, in the classroom, in the office at work, among our neighbors and family members and roommates and friends.

46:24We feel that pressure to follow everybody else on that broad road. And so we pray this morning that you would help us to stay on that hard path, believing that we are following the Son to eternal life. Amen. Thank you for listening to the sermon audio from New Life Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. For more information or to support our ministry, visit us online at newlifecs.net.