John (Quality: Good)

[0:00] Trusting once again in the help of the Lord, we'll turn to the Gospel according to John, chapter 12, verse 24.

[0:16] The Gospel according to John, chapter 12, verse 24. Verse 24.

[0:54] The dear Lord, he now brings before us one grain or one corn of wheat.

[1:13] And it is something that is familiar. Of course, we not all perhaps have set corn, but undoubtedly each of us knows something of setting some seed.

[1:31] And we know that if that seed, whatever it may be, is not planted, it will fall, as the Lord says, into the ground.

[1:43] And die, it abideth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. This forms a part of the answer, and that the Lord spoke.

[2:07] And when his disciples came to him and said, and there are certain Greeks come up to worship, saying, we would see Jesus.

[2:22] And Jesus now, he compares himself. This goes far, far beyond my poor little comprehension.

[2:37] That the dear Lord says, that the dear Lord Jesus compares himself unto one grain of corn.

[2:48] Verily, verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone.

[3:00] But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. And I would just direct your attention also to the circumstances or the time when our dear Lord spoke such language as this concerning himself.

[3:26] We read in the previous verse, and that Jesus said, the hour is now come.

[3:38] That the Son of Man should be glorified. That hour, that all hours were counted up to.

[3:49] And now, that hour, it doesn't mean, of course, and particularly one hour. It means the time had come when the Son of Man should be glorified.

[4:06] And in the anticipation of those great events, for my dear friends, there was never an event that surpassed or even can come up in any ways that had ever happened upon this earth.

[4:29] And in respect to this time, and when the hour had come, when the Son of Man should be glorified.

[4:41] And yet, look at the humbleness. And that way, the Lord compares himself in the very moment or act of his being glorified.

[5:01] He compares himself to a corn of wheat falling into the ground. And that way, the Lord will not be glorified.

[5:40] And he is now in that state of humiliation. He is coming now almost to the last act of his state of humiliation.

[5:54] For he humbled himself. And he became obedient unto death. The death of the cross.

[6:06] The wonder of it. He who laid in the bosom of the Father from all eternity, now comes to that time of his greatest humiliation.

[6:24] And he condescends to set before his disciples, that precious person of the Lord Jesus Christ as a corn of wheat.

[6:43] Which, of course, undoubtedly we are all familiar with. Now he says, verily, verily. Two verily's.

[6:54] I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground. First, as of course, let us just remind ourselves.

[7:07] And these Greeks, and they would see Jesus. And dear friend, what an unspeakable mercy.

[7:19] If there should be one soul. And if that one soul would be you, or that one soul would be me, that this evening, by precious faith, should see the Lord Jesus as this corn of wheat.

[7:37] The Lord grants, and that all needed faith, and whereby we may see Jesus in this wonderful similitude, as a corn of wheat.

[7:52] Now he says that this corn of wheat falls into the ground. If we just take the illustration, as of course we did touch upon it this afternoon, as the husbandman goes into the field to sow his, or drill his seed.

[8:22] He doesn't, that husbandman, my dear friends, does not go haphazardly. He doesn't go carelessly or indifferently.

[8:33] He goes at the appointed time when he knows that seed should and ought to be sown.

[8:45] And he sows it for an end design. And that end design, of course, is and that seed that he sowed may die, and it may bring forth much fruit.

[9:07] And he expects, and that increase of corn, and by his going into the field, and to sow or drill that seed.

[9:23] Now, dear friends, first of all, it was not aphazard. It wasn't by the will of man. It was by the divine appointment of God, the eternal Jehovah from all eternity.

[9:45] And that his well-beloved son, whom he sent forth, beautiful language, I often say it, and I will continue to say it, God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son into the world that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

[10:17] He's God the Father by divine appointment in those eternal councils of peace and sent forth his well-beloved son.

[10:30] And he sent him forth and that he may fall to the ground. Think of it, my dear friends.

[10:42] The Lord of life and glory and as I've already said, he became obedient unto all these things as he assumed our nature and took it into union with his deity and as he became the man, Christ Jesus, and it was by divine appointment, by the good pleasure of the will of the Father and that his only begotten son and should fall into the ground.

[11:26] All the oneness of it, dear friends, the blessedness of it and to such guilty, hell-deserving sinners and such as you and I, except that corn of wheat, except the person of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Lord, he represented himself as this corn of wheat, unless the person of the Lord Jesus Christ fall into the ground and die, it abided alone.

[12:04] Let us just look and very briefly, my dear friends, how this glorious, which I do desire to exalt, and we would, we would, dear friends, and exalt the dear, the dear Lord for this natural thing and whereby we are fed and sustained with that abundance of corn, which is so needful and necessary to our natural life.

[12:43] But, dear friends, we would not minimize these things for one moment, but when we consider the dear friends, and that the dear Lord and so obediently fell into the ground.

[13:04] Now, first then, he fell into the ground and by the infinitely inflexible justice of God.

[13:18] And the severity of it, my dear friends, sins, you and I cannot begin to comprehend. If you, if you and I have known something of, of the weight and the burden of our own sins, and there may have been that, may have been that time when you thought and that would crush you into the ground and finish you, did you not?

[13:51] And you, you felt that you couldn't sustain that awful weight which the Lord, I was going to say, I said, gently laid upon, upon you and I as his creatures to teach us the awful weight and the, and the greatness of sin.

[14:18] Now, as we consider, my dear friends, the whole of the church of God, and when infinite, inflexible, and justice, emitted out to the Lord Jesus Christ that total weight and burden of every sin and that the church should commit and from the beginning of time to the end of time.

[14:48] We know and that wicked hens as, as the apostles tell us, they took him and crucified him but it was by the determined counsel of, of God.

[15:06] These wicked hens and would have been helpless and useless if, if it had not been for the determined counsel and for knowledge of, of God and that these things should, should be and they were appointed now infinitely inflexible justice and found the sins of the whole church upon this corn of wheat or the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

[15:38] and, and, and, and the Lord Jesus fell into the ground or the events. When we consider these things and perhaps almost spontaneously and that enters into our hearts was it for crimes that I had done?

[16:05] Lord, were my sins the cause of, of you, you falling into the ground? Didst thou bear the weight and the burden of my sins?

[16:21] And that, that throughout a never-ending eternity I shall be, I shall be freed and liberated from, and from the curse of those sins, dear friends, and the, the exercise and try the minds of all, all of God's dear people.

[16:41] But, should there be a tried and exercised soul here, and this evening, may that soul, by the sweet influence of the Holy Spirit, be directed to this corn of wheat that fell into the ground, and by divine appointment and a determined counsel, and for knowledge of God?

[17:10] Or, could we, could we thank and praise him, my dear friends, for engaging himself? He freely engaged, and ever remember this, we know that the Lord sent his dear son, the father sent his dear son, but that doesn't imply that he was sent against his own purpose and against his own will.

[17:41] The father sent him, and the son so willingly, equally willingly, obeyed, to fall into the ground.

[17:52] And when we think, my dear friends, that ground, you know, God had cursed that ground, had he not? And, we can meditate upon this, on this way, and whereby he fell into the ground, and he became a curse for us, the holy Lord Jesus, and he who was separate from sinners, and he fell into the ground, and he was he who bore that curse, the curse of almighty God, and when it pleased the father to bruise him, and when the father laid upon him, the sins of all his dear people, we would see

[18:56] Jesus. Is this, dear friends, and that way, and personally, you want to see Jesus?

[19:09] In that way, and where, in all his sufferings, and all his agony, all his sweats, all his blood, all his love to the church, dear friends, for it was love, dear friends, that upheld this corn of wheat, the Lord Jesus Christ, I say unto you, accept the corn of wheat, fall into the ground, and die, these are these two operations, he must fall into the ground, and he must die, he must die, that death, which is due unto the sinner, or, let me clarify that just a little bit more, he must die for all those, that the father gave unto him, and to die for, and he died, that death, for in that day, and whereby this man shall sin, he shall surely die,

[20:22] Christ, dear friends, fell into, into the ground, and, and he died, he died, and that, that death, whereby, we, and we may have faith, in that life, and that, that he rose again, and when he, when he rose from the dead, but, and this corn of wheat, falling into the ground, and, and dying, we know, and that the soldiers, they came to him, and, and, and they, they, they was going to break his, break his legs, and, but they, but they found him dead already, and, not only, not only did, did they find him dead, dead already, but, Joseph of Arimathea, and, besought, and, and, and Pilate that, and that he would take that, that body of

[21:27] Jesus, or that wondrous body, that blessed body of Jesus, and, and lay it in, in that tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, and, and, and, and Pilate granted, and, and Joseph to take that body down, and delight in, in that, in that tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, that lifeless body of the Lord Jesus Christ.

[22:04] Now, and he, then, and then, and that body died, and, and, and, and that, and that body died, as, as the Lord himself says, that, that, if it, and accept it fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone.

[22:27] This is well worth, my dear friends, our careful and our prayerful consideration. And it, and it can, we, we can look at it very briefly in two ways.

[22:42] If we just go back, to, to the, the, the, the, the, creation, and we, we know that the Lord created Adam.

[22:54] After he had created Adam and, and, and created this world, he saw, and that, and he, and he said, it is not good for man to live alone.

[23:09] And so he caused a deep sleep to fall upon, upon Adam and he removed one of Adam's ribs and, and he made the, the woman and, and, and he presented the, the woman unto Adam.

[23:30] Adam said, and now, and this, this woman becomes flesh of my flesh and bone of my bone. This is, this is how the, the, the Lord said, it is not good for man to live alone.

[23:50] Now dear friends, now I want to stress this point and before I go any farther, we are speaking of the man Christ Jesus.

[24:02] Now mark it because in speaking of, of these things and we, we have to, we have to be very careful and to stress the importance of these things because we know this and we are certain of it and that, that supposing, I don't like bringing suppers in, especially into things like this but just supposing and the, the, the Lord had returned into heaven.

[24:38] He, he had every right, he had a rightful authority to return on, into heaven in many ways as the Son of God and of course he would have, he would have never been alone and be, because throughout that, because throughout that never ending eternity, he was ever in constant and complete union, happiness and holiness with the Father and, and with the Holy Ghost and there, and, and, and there was, there was, there was no need for any other creature or any other power because there was perfect happiness and bliss between the, these three and persons in, in, in Jehovah that one in three and that three in one God.

[25:29] But I'm speaking my dear friends concerning the man Christ Jesus. Now, now this man Christ Jesus I, I believe we, we can refer to the divine appointments of, of, of the Lord from all eternity.

[25:52] It is not good that man should live alone and that is and that, that the man Christ Jesus he should also, he should also have as this, as the 46th Psalm I believe the 45th Psalm says fellows or we can, we can also, we can also refer it to the bride or the spouse as, of course, it was in the case with Adam and Eve.

[26:25] Now, you see, if, if, if the Lord had not died and, and if he had not died for their, for their sins he could have never taken his bride, the spouse unto himself.

[26:41] They could have never come flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone so we can see the vast importance of this.

[26:52] Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die it abideth alone. The man Christ Jesus let me just emphasize this he will have been as the son of God co-equal with us with the father and the holy ghost he will have never been alone but the man Christ Jesus in our nature would have been alone he had no spells no bride because his bride his spells had fallen in sin and they had fallen in sin by the transgression of Adam and not only by that actual sin but also not only by that original sin but by their actual sin we were fallen my dear friends in sin by that first sin that our first parents and when they disobeyed and listened rather to the adversary than to the

[28:08] Lord sin and sin rushed in as a mighty power throughout the whole of this universe now what is this then that man should not live alone Christ must die he must fall into the ground and he must redeem his bride who had fallen and by sin for you do not want me to tell you we were all born we are all in a level here whatever our social status is we were all born in sin shaped in iniquity we all we all we all are the subjects of the effects of the fall now the Lord to redeem his dear people he must fall into the ground and die or else he must abide alone as the man

[29:12] Christ Jesus but blessed be his most wondrous name you know sometimes I I say this then loudest of the crowd I'll sing while heaven's resounding mansions ring to shouts of sovereign grace and that that that that that that the dear Lord and rather than be alone as the man Christ Jesus he suffered blessed yeah let's begin at the beginning he took into union you see as I believe I did just mention this morning I can't just remember the circumstances but I did just mention he took not upon him the nature of angels but he took upon him and the seed of Abraham those fallen angels I believe I did say this this this afternoon those fallen angels they haven't won vestige of hope that that mercy will come their way and they must fall into that into that everlasting pit of destruction but fallen man my dear friends fallen by actual and original sin the Lord comes now and he comes as that corn of wheat fallen into the ground and he dies and that he may not abide alone because he must have his church with him look at this unparalleled this unequaled love my dear friends and that the Lord engaged himself and to fall into the earth and die all and the wonders of it dear friends it will poor and poor stammering tongues can hardly begin and to speak the honors and the glory of the

[31:28] Lord Jesus Christ who rather than be alone he says this he was alone but he said I am not alone for the father is with me he knew something of this path of being alone when he said my God my God why hast thou forsaken me that his dear children we shall never know the forsaken hand of their loving husband their glorious bridegroom who laid down his life and that they might have eternal life and he removed my dear friends all that was offensive to the holy eyes of a holy God he recovered their lost estate and he instigated them in that state of grace and glory which can never fail because look at this bone of my bone flesh of my flesh and while as the

[32:43] Lord tells his disciples he's about to depart from him because I live ye shall live also because there is that union and of course Paul speaks of that union as between that husband and the wife husbands love your wives as Christ also hath loved the church he friends what a wonderful medication to ponder upon except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die it abideth alone but if it died well we do know this my dear friends and that that the that the Lord died you say how do you know he died because my dear friends and we have realised in some humble little measure a life through the death of his dear son and this is the only way where eternal life will come into our hearts through the death of his dear son as he recovered all that sin had destroyed and he placed them in that position whereby they could fall they could never fall again as being flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone and if it die it abideth alone but if it die he shall bring forth much fruit well dear friends what an unspeakable mercy and because and the death of the

[34:44] Lord Jesus Christ and bring him forth and that eternal life what fruit this is is there is there is there a fruit any more worthy for you to wait upon the Lord to seek and to look for eternal life not through anything of our own merits or our own works but through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ and that death the offenders if he die it bringeth forth much fruit now we do know this and that that a poor dead thing and left to itself that cannot bring forth fruit and so there is an implication here of course of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ now I know that eternal life is that glorious fruit which is brought forth by the death and the life of our

[35:57] Lord but also I want to just bring this to our notice this evening it was through the resurrection when the Lord told those two dear sisters Martha and Mary he says I am the resurrection and the life and whosoever believeth in me although he were dead yet shall he live look at the fruit my dear friends of this although he dies that natural death yet he shall live now our text says but if it die it bringeth forth much fruit I just want to direct your attention to the ancient customs of the first fruits and being waved before the

[36:57] Lord under the Mosaic law and when those first fruits those first ripe fruits were harvested and they were waved before the Lord and they were consecrated unto the Lord and not only were they consecrated unto the Lord but it was the earnest and the pledge of the full in gathering of that harvest of souls which of course this fruit sets forth oh look at the millions upon millions of souls and that this word involves it bringeth forth much fruit that number that no man can number now Christ Paul tells us is the first fruits of them that slept every man in his own order but

[38:04] Christ is the first fruits and as Christ is the first fruits of this great harvest of souls and that shall be gathered unto the Lord as his bride his spouse and it is the earnest pledge that all shall triumphantly and victoriously arrive at their purchased possession their rightful inheritance for Christ has purchased that possession and it becomes their rightful inheritance because he has that corn of wheat fell into the ground and he died and this is that fruit that brings forth eternal glory my dear friends or the wonder of it and the dear

[39:10] Paul says I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live and the life I now live I live by the son of God and that loved me and died for me he saw my dear friends the channel he saw the spring he saw the source can we not see in our little measure and we see that wondrous source of eternal life through the resurrection of our Lord as that first fruits and the earnest and the pledge of all that shall follow after but of course time would completely fail me if if I had the ability that is as well to open up to you in this bringing forth of much fruit but let us just consider very briefly just one or two things this bringing forth of the fruit in this way pardon and peace or you say in the world we shall have tribulation but be of good courage poor soul the

[40:33] Lord says I have overcome the world and he has overcome the world and we shall overcome by the blood of that lamb and there is that peace there is that pardon all these fruits my dear friends of peace and power peace by his cross hath Jesus made and by that blood of the cross he's brought us nigh unto God that blood speaks of mercy and not dear friends punishment or revenge it speaks of peace it speaks of mercy mercy for such poor sinners as you and I the fruit dear friends of his death and his glorious resurrection as now he hath risen and hath arose and entered into heaven itself their seat in the right hand of God to make intercession on behalf of such poor sinners as you and

[41:37] I to bring forth peace and pardon the blessings of his grace the blessings of his grace the blessings also of salvation the blessings of redemption the blessings of justification the blessings of glorification my dear friends blessings and but if it die it bringeth forth much fruit now dear friends we know perhaps that we feel to be such fruitless and barren poor things but as we are unable to view and Joseph Jesus is a fruitful bough running over the wall as we are unable to view the fruitfulness you know it's a beautiful script I quoted it in prayer it pleased the father that in him should all fullness dwell well what fruit this is my dear friends if but if it die it bring forth much fruit now there's just one more consideration before

[42:54] I close I just want briefly to bring before you and that is in this same gospel in the 17th chapter where we have a wonderful intercessory prayer oh it's a beautiful chapter I would not like to distinguish one chapter in the scriptures above another but there's something exceedingly precious in this intercessory prayer and particularly perhaps in the closing prayer of the dear Lord just prior to his crucifixion and amongst other things that the Lord says he prays to his father he says father I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where

[43:58] I am the Lord Jesus dying bringing forth much fruit now praise and for the maturity and the design end of all that he is about to suffer bleed and die for and that all that the father have given him may be with me where I am and to this one great end that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me just look at this fruit my dear friends it's a fruit and that will continue throughout and never ending eternity we never come to the end of it dear friends if we are by the grace of

[45:05] God and the Lord Jesus that prayed that intercessory fair that they may behold my glory our text says this even if it die it bring forth much fruit all that wondrous fruit and to sinners such as you and I throughout a never ending eternity behold in the glory of that God man man man Christ Jesus that one mediated between God and man the man Christ Jesus that they may behold my glory well dear he off he off he off he goes far beyond my poor little comprehension again but I trust I believe thy precious faith this will be the glorious inheritance of all of God's dear people this will be the fruit or some of the fruits at least of the

[46:13] Lord dying and that death and resurrection bringing forth much fruit that they that all that the Father has given me that they may behold my glory oh what a wonderful day that will be a day without clouds a day without sorrow where there's no sin no weeping but behold him the glory of that God man the man Christ Jesus may it be our blessed inheritance and our eternal we may be able to say the lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places yea I have a goodly heritage amen the collection after this service is for this little cause of truth it and make important and others will never us have to