The World S Rejection of Christ

The World’s Rejection of Christ 28th February 2010 am

I was hoping to start a new series today but several things that happened on Friday really spoke to my heart and as a result the Lord has changed the direction that I was going in for this morning. I want to talk about the rejection of Christ today.

Friday night during youth we had several older boys turn up (one has caused trouble since BLAST started) and Jamie and I had the opportunity to spend some time with them outside. A lot of things that they said really disturbed me.

Why is there such a hatred for Christ? Is this a new thing? Is it just today’s culture? Whose fault is it?

John 12:37-50

When you read through this passage of Scripture, the one word that you notice being repeated is believe (believeth, believed). It is mentioned 8 times in these 14 verses.

Background

I. The Reason For The Rejection – Verses 37-43 a. Purposeful Unbelief – Verse 37

There are only 36 miracles of Jesus recorded in the Gospels but we are told that the Lord did so much more than what is recorded for us John 21:25 And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.

John uses an interesting word here in verse 37 so many miracles, so many (tosootos) so vast as this, that is in quantity, amount, number or space, so great, so many, so much. The Lord’s public ministry was amazing. He performed miracle after miracle each one giving further evidence to Who He was.

He proved His deity. He showed His Lordship over creation...

 He had the power over the forces of nature Mark 4:41 And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?  He had the power over sickness and disease Mat 9:6 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.  He had power over demons Mat 8:16 When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick:  He had power over death Joh 11:43 And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. After all the miracles that the Lord performed, after all of the people that He healed and helped, after all He had done the people believed not on Him. This means that they purposely did not put their faith in Him, their unbelief therefore in the face of all the miracles He performed was deliberate.

Voltaire, that strange combination of freethinker, deist, and rabid denouncer of Christianity, gives little comfort to atheist’s agnostics and every other unbeliever in some of his pronouncements. "The world embarrasses me," he said, "and I cannot think that this watch exists and has no watchmaker." And in the same vein he confesses, "To whatever side you turn, you are forced to acknowledge your own ignorance and the boundless power of the Creator."

b. Prophesied Unbelief – Verses 38-41

Did this unbelief catch the Lord out? Not at all, it was prophesied hundreds of years earlier by Isaiah. Verse 38 quotes Isaiah 53:1

The Old Testament spoke of the Lord’s fingers, the Lord’s hand, and the Lord’s arm. The Psalmist declared that the heavens were the work of God’s fingers (Psalm 8:3). The exodus from Egypt is said to have been wrought by God’s mighty hand (Exodus 32:11). The Holy Spirit dismisses the creation of all the suns and stars of space as a very small thing with God, the work of His fingers. The miracles of Jesus, by contrast, are said to be a demonstration of the power of God’s arm. Yet the Jews had written off such displays of power. (Exploring Gospel of John P. 241)

Verses 39-41 There seems to be a “judicial blindness” that God permits to come over the eyes of people who do not take His truth seriously, one example that springs to mind is Pharaoh who continued to harden his heart until there came a time when God hardened it for him. (Drusila – Acts 24:24)

The Jews were acting just like Pharaoh and Isaiah had warned about this behaviour in his prophecies. A time comes in the lives of those who refuse to repent when at last they cannot repent Isaiah 55:6 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:

c. Potential Unbelief – Verses 42-43

What I mean by this is a half hearted belief, a pathetic belief, one the one had you had those who would not believe and then you had these who believed but wouldn’t openly confess Christ, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathaea both belonged to this group initially (John 19:38-39) Think of what they missed out on. They could have been among the disciples in the upper room; they could have heard and seen the Lord far more times than they did, if only they’d had the courage to confess the Lord.

What Is the Difference...  Between the atheist who would not dream of financially supporting the church and the Christian who will not financially support the Lord's church?  Between the sceptic who does not believe the Bible and the negligent Christian who never reads it?  Between those who do not believe in Bible classes and those who choose never to attend a class?  Between the atheist who does nothing to build up the Lord's church and the Christian who finds fault with others but does nothing himself?  Between a man of the world and a person in the church who lives like a man in the world?  Between a man of the world who lives for self, and a person in the church building who lives for self, not God?

These are tough questions for Christians who live in a tough world. The fact is that Christians make no difference until they are different.

Steve is about to start a new ministry next week, he was offered a new job (more pay etc,,) he turned it down because he didn’t want it to affect this new ministry and his boss called him weak (“don’t be such a wimp”) – he’s not weak, he took a stand for the Lord!

Who else was among the many rulers who believed but did not confess? What was the reason for their lack of confession For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.

That was the problem then, and it is a huge problem today. Professing Christians are not wholly sold out for the Lord, why? Because they love the praise of men more than the praise of God. Lost people remain lost why? Because they love the praise of men more than the praise of God. Christ is rejected, why? Because those who reject Him love the praise of men more than the praise of God.

II. The Result of the Rejection – Verses 44-50 a. Belief Bring Justification – Verses 44-47

The Lord brings people back to His deity, Verse 44. That is the most important question, who is Christ to you? He is, always was, and always will be God!

The Lord Jesus Christ was willing to come down to this earth in the form of a man, and be totally dependent upon His Father, so that the invisible God might be made visible in Him. He never once denied His deity, He never rejected the idea that He was God, yet He deliberately made Himself of no reputation and He made Himself wholly available to His Father in heaven and His Father in heaven made Himself wholly available to His Son on earth.

Because of this when people believed in Christ they believed in the One who sent Him. Likewise when people reject Christ, they reject the One who sent Him.

Verse 45 Christ always brought people back to the light. He came to show people the way to God, He came to light their path. What is the first thing you do when there is a power cut? You go for a torch or candles. The darkness is dangerous, you can’t see if there’s anything on the floor, you’re moving about by touch, it feels uneasy and there is a relief when the candles are lit or the torch is found.

The lost are walking around in darkness, why then do they seem to like it? If you are in a dark room long enough what happens? Your eyes eventually become accustomed to the darkness, you can see outline etc... You know why the lost like the dark 2 Corinthians 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. They have become accustomed to the dark and the darkness appears normal to them.

Verse 47 When we reach the end of life’s journey there is one of two places to go: to go out into a light beyond the brightness of the noonday sun and to bask in that light forever, eternally entering into more of God’s wisdom, power and love, in ever expanding horizons and dimensions of bliss, or to go out into the horror of great darkness, the blackness of eternal doom.

b. Unbelief Brings Judgement – Verses 48-50

Verse 48 Thayer says that the word for “rejecteth” is atheteo and it means, to do away with, to set aside, disregard, to thwart the efficacy of anything, nullify, make void, frustrate, to reject, to refuse, to slight. Strong says that it is to cast off , disannul, to despise.

It is a terrible thing to reject the Lord and the words that He has spoken. That last day of judgement will be terrible and every person will be held accountable for what they have done with Christ and the Word of God. Ignorance will be no excuse, especially for those living in countries where the gospel is known. Matthew 12:36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.

Romans 14:12 So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.

Romans 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

Verses 49-50 The words of anyone else are just that, words. Words of human beings may have influenced millions over the years through poetry, philosophy, biographies, etc, think of the influence of “Mein Kampf” and Mao’s little red book... but the difference is that they have no divine authority.

You see the words of Jesus are the words of God. It is a terrible thing to reject those words, there were many who were not interested in what Christ had to say they wanted Him dead and many people today are not interested in what you have to say about Christ. They hate Him, and reject Him but unfortunately for them, it is Him that they will ultimately have to answer to.

Many people reject the truth simply because of the fear of man (John 12:42-43) Among those who will be in hell are the fearful Revelation 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. Better to fear God and go to heaven than to fear man and go to hell (Warren Wiersbe Bible Exposition Commentary, New Testament Vol 1, p. 343)

Conclusion

As Dr. Harry A. Ironside preached one day, he noticed a man in the crowd writing on a card, which he presently handed to the speaker. The man was Arthur Lewis, an agnostic lecturer, and he proposed a challenge to the speaker to debate the subject, "Agnosticism versus Christianity," and offered to pay all expenses involved. Dr. Ironside read the card aloud to his audience and then said: "I accept on these conditions:

"First, that you promise to bring with you on the platform one man who was once an outcast, a slave to sinful habits, but who heard you or some other infidel lecture on agnosticism, was helped by it and cast away his sins and became a new man and is today a respected member of society, all because of your unbelief.

"Second, that you agree to bring with you one woman who was once lost to all purity and goodness, but who can now testify that agnosticism came to her while deep in sin and implanted in her poor heart a hatred of impurity and a love of holiness, causing her to become chaste and upright, all through a disbelief in the Bible."

"Now, sir," he continued, "if you will agree, I promise to be there with one hundred such men and women, once just such lost souls, who heard the gospel of the grace of God, believed it and have found new life and joy in Jesus Christ our Saviour. Will you accept my terms?"

As might be expected, the atheist could only walk away silently.