Glorify your name. Then a voice came from heaven. I have glorified it, I have glorified it, and will glorify it again. The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said an angel had 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'm 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. So the crowd answered him, we have heard from the Lord that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man? So Jesus said to them, the light is among you for a little while, 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 the light. We continue in our study of the Gospel of John. And this morning, we find ourselves in verses 28 through to verse 33 of chapter 12 of the Gospel of John. And in this last phase in the prediction of the Lord Jesus Christ, we see that in this phase of his prediction, as he's talking about his own death, it begins with the voice of God the Father, and it ends with the voice of God the Son. And sandwiched between these voices are the voices of confused humanity. And when you analyze what is happening there, you see that nothing could have more highlighted the sovereignty of God in initiating the plan of salvation than the contrast of voices that are recorded for us in the Gospel of John. God speaks into uncomprehending human history. His son comes to his own, and his own did not receive him, but still the lost will be saved, hearts will be changed, and will be changed because God has initiated the plan of salvation himself. And so we see God's free grace which reaches into the blind souls of human beings. And God does this by the gospel of his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And what we see in this account this morning is that only the voice of God is the voice that is worthy of our ears, worthy of our attention. We live in a world dotted with so many voices, so many opinions. each fighting for our attention, each calling for our attention. But there is a voice that remains true and remains constant. It's the voice of God. The voice of the Father, the voice of the Son, the voice of the Spirit, the voice of God remains constant, ever in agreement. And it's the voice that calls out to human beings. And yet human beings continue in their confused humanity to chase after many other voices except the voices that bring life. And so as we open up those few verses, ask yourself, which voice keeps on ringing for your attention. Oh, which voice are you listening to this morning? Is it the voice of God or the voice of public opinion? And so we see John recording for us three voices that were heard that day. And the first voice is the voice from heaven, the voice of the Father, and you see this in the second half of verse 28. Father, glorify your name. Then a voice came from heaven. I have glorified it and will glorify it again. In this voice from heaven, we see nothing but a great miracle on display. It is a voice, as John records for us, a voice from heaven which is described in our text as a sound that felt or sounded like lightning or like thunder. The people present actually thought that it had thundered. Now, the voice is in response to the prayer that the Lord Jesus Christ had just given. He said, Father, save me from this hour. But he said, but for this purpose, I have come to this hour. Then he said, Father, glorify your name. And at this moment, the Lord Jesus Christ had focused his attention to Jerusalem. And as he focused his attention to Jerusalem, he knew that this is why he came. The time had come. And previously, we would read in the gospel, when you would be requested to do many things, and the Lord Jesus Christ would say, my time has not yet come. But when you begin in verse 27 of John 12, you see the Lord Jesus Christ now saying that his time had actually come. And this is by the coming of the Greeks, as we saw the last time we were in verse 20. And when the Greeks came to the Lord Jesus Christ to inquire of Him, we see the Lord Jesus Christ saying, now the time has come. And having prayed to the Father, the Father responds to Him, and John records for us that a voice from heaven was heard. And it says, I have glorified you and I will do it again. And the answer to the Lord's request, the Lord just Christ's request was immediate. And the Lord Jesus Christ received the assurance of God the Father that he was with him, and you continue to be with him, and everything about his life was bringing glory to him, God the Father. Three times in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ, We've witnessed in the gospel where the voice was heard. You remember in the time of his baptism, again when the Lord Jesus Christ was beginning his public ministry, again a voice was heard from heaven, this is my beloved son. And then on the Mount of Transfiguration, when you read in Matthew 17 and also in Mark chapter 7, again a voice was heard. This is my beloved Son. Listen to Him. And now on this occasion, just before His death, Again, a voice is heard from heaven, and this time the voice is assuring the Son that, I have glorified my name and I will do it again. And on each of these occasions, these three periods in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ, when God the Father spoke audibly, and as the Gospel writers record for us, those present did hear what He was saying, although they could not comprehend or understand what the Father was saying. We see John on each, rather the Gospel writers on each occasion, writing to us, confirming something about the Lord Jesus Christ. And on this account, we see the Father expressing this intimate relationship, this unbroken union between the Father and the Son. And it is recorded for us there to see that throughout the history of the Lord Jesus Christ, or throughout the period while the Lord Jesus Christ was on earth, there was still this unbroken relationship between the Father and the Son. throughout the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was still in perfect union with the Father. And so on this occasion, God speaks from heaven. to confirm that this is His Son. But it's not just His Son. He had come to accomplish a purpose and this purpose will soon be done. And He says, I have glorified it and I will glorify it again. And the tenses that are used there signify that in the near future, again, I will glorify my name, says the Father. And this was pointing to the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. That when he dies, as an offering for sin, and he's drawing many to himself, the name of the Father will be glorified. And so the Father spoke. and saying, I have glorified my name throughout your ministry, through your incarnation, through all the miracles you did, and I will glorify it in your death, your resurrection, and your ascension. And the Lord Jesus Christ prayed, and the Father responded. And what we see here is that the voice of the Father was for the confirmation and the endorsement of the genuineness of His own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. It was not for the sake of Christ as we'll be seeing it. It was for the sake of the hearers and all those that will be reading these historical accounts, this gospel account, that when the Father spoke, He was endorsing the genuineness, the fellowship, and the relationship with His Son. And we see that this was not just an ordinary voice. It is the voice of God the Father. And in the Father doing that, He is saying, my Son has come to accomplish a task, and this task is for the benefit of humanity. You must listen, you must follow, and you must know that there is no one greater than Him. There is no one who has this fellowship, this relationship With me, He is my beloved Son, and He's come to be the Savior of the world, to atone for the sins of this world. He's come so that He may pay the penalty for the sins of humanity. And you see that even today, the voice of the Father continues to publicly acknowledge the Sonship and the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. The voice of the Father continues to endorse this rich relationship he has with the Father. And this is seen in the salvation of sinners. And each time a person turns away from sin, the Bible says there is rejoicing in heaven. But it's not just rejoicing in heaven, it's the confirmation of the voice of the Father that what my Son came to do, He has done it and the effects continue to be felt, the benefits continue to be felt, and each time a sinner turns away from sin. It's an endorsement that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And what he came to do was a fitting gift for the father, and the father accepted it and is well pleased. The son came to save sinners. And each time a person turns away from sin, it's an endorsement of what the Father had said about His Son, My beloved Son. Listen to Him. Each time someone turns away from sin, it shows the genuineness of the work of Christ. The complete work of Christ, that Christ came, died on the cross, and every time there's a testimony of salvation, heaven rejoices, and it is again for the kingdom of God. But more importantly, it's confirming the Father's voice about His beloved Son. So that was the voice, the first voice, the voice of the Father. But the second voice is that of the people. The voices from the people, verse 29. The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said an angel has spoken to him. The voice or the voices of the people is proof that natural man is incapable of entering into divine things. It is proof that natural man or human beings in their natural state, they are incapable of understanding the things of God. And we see the difference in opinion as to what exactly this voice was or this sound was. There was a difference in the masses as to the source of this sound. One group said it had thundered. Another group said an angel had spoken to him. Both of them were obviously unwilling to believe that God had spoken to the Lord Jesus Christ, but they were also unwilling to link what has happened to what the Lord Jesus Christ had said about himself and about his relationship with his father. They were willing to find some explanation. apart from what God himself had confirmed and the testimony of Jesus Christ himself. So either ways, whether it had thundered or an angel had spoken, this sign made them even more guilt for their stubborn refusal to believe the Lord Jesus Christ. Because the Lord Jesus Christ had just prayed to the Father And obviously, they must have heard his prayer. And something happens immediately following the prayers of the Lord Jesus Christ. Whatever rational explanation that the people would have come up with, it still made them more guilty before God, because they refused the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ. And one even wonders, why they actually thought an angel had spoken to Christ. Did they know the voice of the angel? Has the angel ever spoken to any of them? But it was in an effort to try and convinced themselves that this person is not who he says to be. They wanted to find some explanation as to what exactly had happened. Calvin calls the former deaf, those that believe it had thundered, and the latter dull. And he rightly notes that this remains the common response to the claims of God in this world. God speaks plainly enough in the gospel, in which is also displayed the power and the energy of the Spirit, which ought to shake heaven and earth. But many are as little affected by the teaching of the gospel, as if it only proceeds from a mortal man, and other considers the word of God to be confused and cruel. as if it were nothing else than a thunder. And so we see the voices of the people showing us the state of human beings. And what is interesting that this is a group which had heard about the raising of Lazarus from the dead. And maybe some of them were even present and witnessed what Jesus had done, raising Lazarus from the dead, and news was spreading. Some of them were even part of the triumphal entry of the Lord Jesus Christ into Jerusalem. They must have heard, they must have witnessed, and yet they still come to this conclusion that there must be some explanation as to what has happened, and showing to us this morning that natural devotion, sinful devotion, religious devotion may attract us to the Lord Jesus Christ, and it may even make us feel His fascination, but it will not change our hearts. It will not make us to be true disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the grace of God that helps us to understand the things of God and to respond to His words. We see something similar in the account of Saul on the road to Damascus recorded in Acts chapter 9 and verse 4. When you recall that account, Saul, in his pursuit to destroy the church, and as he was heading to Damascus, there was this lightning from heaven. In fact, Acts says there was this light from heaven, and a voice spoke to Saul. Those who were around him were terrified. but could not understand the voice. Later on in Acts chapter 22 and verse 9, when the apostle Paul is talking about that event, he says, those who were with him were terrified by the light, but did not hear and understand the voice. And showing to us that human beings in their natural state, in their state of sinfulness, in their state of rebellion, they do not understand the things of God. They can hear, but they will not understand. And the reason is simple. It's because of the hardness of their hearts. The hardness of their hearts is the root cause of all this doubtness to hear God. The truth of the gospel is proclaimed. Many hear, but do not understand. And this is why the Scriptures warn us, recorded in Hebrews chapter 3, if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart. And it is not because the revelation of God's Word about Jesus Christ is unclear. It's because people don't believe because of the hardness of their heart, because of their sinful rebellion, because their hearts are perverse and they continue in stubborn refusal, suppressing the truth of God in an unrighteousness. And we see this account. the response of the people, where they heard the voice, but they made different conclusions. Thunder, an angel, had spoken. And this continues to be true even today. So many voices giving different opinions about the Scriptures, some very authoritative. Yet each of those voices, when analyzed against the revelation and the historical accounts of the Scriptures, you find that they are devoid of the truth of God's Word. And the explanation is simple. It's the hardness of their hearts. They refuse to believe God's Word. They select what to believe in God's Word. They choose what suits them and leave out the rest. Only Christ can set you free from this self-conscious, foolish rebellion. Only Christ can set you free There are so many misleading voices today, but only the voice of God remains true and constant. And it is that voice that pierces your heart, shows you that you are a sinner, and points you to the way out of your sin, Jesus Christ. While many voices point to how good you are, And that with a bit of effort, you'll be the best person, the best man, the best woman, the best boy or the best girl. And yet God's word says you are born in sin, dead in sin, until God brings life into you. To understand God's word is something that comes from God himself. And only God can help us to appreciate the truthfulness of his word. And hear the voices of the masses show us the common reaction of human beings to the word of God. And then in the third place, we hear the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. The third voice was that of Jesus Christ. Verse 30 to 33. Jesus answered, this voice has come for your sake, not mine. Now is the time of this world. Now is the judgment of this world. Now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I'm 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. The Lord Jesus Christ was going to talk about the most decisive event of all time. And the people hearing were standing right on the verge of that event. And the importance of what the Lord Jesus Christ was going to say had already been underlined and confirmed by the voice of the Father. And seeing the disbelief and the indifference around what had happened, around the voice from heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ comes in and says, this has been done for your sake and not mine. And the Lord Jesus Christ states four things about the voice from heaven. And the first thing he states is that God spoke audibly for the sake of the hearers. And may I add, for the sake of those of us who will be reading the scriptures many years later. And this is what the Lord Jesus Christ is saying. Christ knew the Father. He knew His mission. He knew why He had come on earth. He knew that He had come to accomplish salvation. And this meant by Him drinking in the wrath of His Father. Hanali tells the masses and telling all of us here that the voice from heaven was not for his sake. It was for your sake to understand that the father was confirming what the son was doing and ultimately his death on the cross would have had the approval of his beloved father. And here, The Lord Jesus Christ is stating that this is for our sake, that when we read years later and begin to imagine a voice from heaven and begin to use our minds as to the possibility of such a thing happening, looking at the earth and the distance between heaven and earth and beginning to ask ourselves, how could this be? John is saying it is for your sake. It was a historical fact. It happened and it's been recorded for your sake. But also we see, secondly, that God in this way gave notice of the judgment to come and the destruction of the evil one. Verse 31, now is the judgment of this world. Now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And the Lord Jesus Christ states in a defensive strike on the offense of the cross. He's saying his death would seem like victory to the world. Like the world is winning. All is lost. His disciples are grieving. But when in actual sense, in actual fact, his death was victory over the ruler of this world. And the Lord Jesus Christ shows us there that while the world will cry crucify him and those who are there would seem as if all hope is lost. It was in His death that the judgment of the world as destruction of the evil one. On the cross, the Lord Jesus Christ would defeat Satan. And His death means the defeat of Satan, the defeat of all those who are in rebellion against Him. but right from his birth, the Lord Jesus Christ had been plundering the kingdom of darkness. And now that decisive moment was coming when the evil one would be completely destroyed, completely defeated, that even though he's allowed to roam to and from this earth, he roams as a defeated enemy of God. And Jesus is saying, this is why that voice came. It's to show that judgment has come and the evil one is defeated. But thirdly, we see there that the Lord Jesus Christ confirms that the voice from heaven foretells Jesus' death by crucifixion. It foretells what kind of death Jesus was to die. 32 and part of verse 33, and I, when I'm lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. And he said this to show by what kind of death he was going to suffer. And here the Father is confirming that there's no other way of obtaining salvation apart from His Son dying on the cross. There was no other way. Jesus had to die. And His death was by crucifixion. He was going to be crucified and Him being lifted up. We are seeing there that his death is tied to his resurrection and his ascension. That when he dies, that's not the end. He will be lifted up, he will rise from the dead, and then he will ascend into heaven. Exactly the thing that the Lord Jesus Christ was telling them, that I will destroy this temple. and I'll build it up, I'll raise it up in three days. Showing that he was going to die, but that was not going to be the end. His death and glory are linked in his exaltation as the risen savior. And we see in the fourth place there, the Lord Jesus Christ confirming that the voice of God signified the salvation of the nations, Jews and Gentiles. And it says, and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. And here the Lord Jesus Christ is saying that this is why the Father spoke, to signify the salvation of the nations. He came to His own and His own did not receive Him. And yet to those who believe, He gave them the right to become children of God. And we see it there. The phrase lifted up. signifies the idea of his glorification. The son of man was glorified by being crucified. And he said, when I'm lifted up, I will draw many, all the people to myself. And the phrase, I will draw, means that following the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ was going to put forth this invisible power as to effectually draw to himself all those who are God's elect, those who come to believe in him for the forgiveness of sin. By his power, he will draw them to himself. and all those who are scattered in the world, he will bring them to himself. And here we see the Lord Jesus Christ saying, this is why this voice was spoken. The Father was doing it for your sake and not my sake. It's that when I die, in my death, it will open a door of salvation that those who come to Him in faith and in repentance will find life. Why? Because the death of Christ has reconciled God and man. The death of Christ has brought peace between God and man. And therefore, those who come to Christ find peace because Christ's death has brought peace between God and man. And we see that divine wisdom is concentrated there. The cross of Christ proclaims peace to sinners because Christ has purchased that peace. It brings reconciliations to sin because Christ has achieved that reconciliation. And we see that the voice of the Son was in agreement with the voice of the Father. And the Lord Jesus Christ is saying, while you may not understand what the Father has said, this is why he spoke. For your sake, to show that judgment has come, to show that salvation has come to the world, but to also show by what death the Son of God will die. And the question I have this morning is this, do you listen to Christ? Do you listen to Christ and subscribe to His words, absolute authority? Or is the truth determined by what you think and not what Jesus says. Or do you distort the truth of God because of your sin-distorted mind and you decide what is fair, what is just, what is reasonable, what is acceptable and not what God says? Where is your authoritative starting point in all matters of life and doctrine? Where you place your starting point determines with what you end up with in terms of truth and justice. Your starting point will determine your end. will determine what you believe to be true. And if what you believe to be true is not the voice and the words of Christ, then you are simply deceiving yourself. The voice of Jesus Christ is a voice that is constant, that is truthful, that is authoritative. It is a voice that is in agreement with His Father. It is a voice that is confirmed by the Holy Spirit in His Word. It is a voice that confirms that what He says, He's achieving it in this world. When people turn away from their sins, it is the voice of Christ that is being confirmed because He came to die in order to save sinners. The voice that is ringing in your mind, if it's not the voice of God, it's just a matter of time, it will fizzle out. It's inconsistent. It does not matter. You have no authority to claim anything other than the authority that God himself says in his word. The many voices that are calling for attention, the opinion polls in this world do not matter. Only the voice of Him who is from eternity, Him who knows all things, Him who knows your heart, your mind, your sin. It is a voice that is worthy of your attention. It is a voice that is gentle. It's a voice that is authoritative. And it is a voice that demands that everyone bow his knee and worship the Son. And it is a voice that also exhorts us to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for our sake or else be perished. In a world of many conflicting views and opinions, which voice will you follow? In a world where many voices cannot even distinguish between a man and a woman, which voice will you listen to? The voice of God. The voice of God. It's the voice of God that calls for your attention. It's the voice of God that says the truth about you. It's the voice of God that says who you truly are. that you are born a sinner in rebellion against God, and to continue in that state is heading into eternal destruction. The voice of God says, I have sent my Son into the world, and everything He says, He will say that which I have taught Him to do, which I have sent Him to do. That even to this point, we see when Christ was about to be crucified, He still pleaded with His Father, and His Father confirmed everything and endorsed the authority of the Son. And meanwhile, He hung on the cross. He cried to His Father, My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me? And as He hung on the cross, He had you in mind. He was made to be seen who knew no sin, so that in Him, you might become the righteousness of God. And that voice finally said, it is finished. It is finished. And on the third day, he was raised from the dead. And the Father's voice says, all authority in heaven and on earth is given to him. Every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. And it is that same voice that comes to you this morning. saying, turn away from sin today. You may suppress the truth today, but a time will come when that voice will call everything to order. and with the authority it has, the Son of Man will appear, and every knee will bow, even these stable knees of yours that are refusing to bow today, they will be made to bow that day, and your tongue will confess that truly Jesus is the Son of God. But for you, that will be too late if you'll be forced to bow. and you'll be ushered into the lake of fire. Listen to the voice of God today. And that as we sing that beautiful hymn in closing, that it will be true of you, that we have heard the joyful sound, Jesus saves, Jesus saves. This is the sound that is coming today. And this is the voice that we need to hear today. Not the voice of the preacher, but the voice of God through the preacher that Jesus saves. And that's a joyful sound. And that's the news we want you to go with. That when you leave this place, you can sing with joy that Jesus saves. And how will the world know? Because he has saved you today. Don't follow the misleading voices of the opinions of the world. When only one voice matters, the voice of God. Amen.