Today's scripture reading is John 12 verses 37 through 50. Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him so that the words spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled. Lord, who has believed what he heard from us and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed. Therefore, they could not believe. For again, Isaiah said, he has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, lest they see with their eyes and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them. Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him. Nevertheless, many, even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees, they did not confess it so that they would not be put out of the synagogue, for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God. And Jesus cried out and said, whoever believes in me believes not in me, but in him who sent me and whoever sees me sees him who sent me. I have come into the world as a light so that whoever believes in me may not remain in the darkness. If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not receive my word has a judge. The word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day, for I have not spoken on my own authority, but the father who sent me has himself given me a commandment, what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say therefore, I say as the father has told me, may the Lord add a blessing to the reading and the hearing of his word. Well, the gospel of John, if you've been with us for any length of time, you are aware that there are major themes that run throughout the gospel and these themes come up over and over again. And what these themes do in the gospel of John is they help us to understand, to understand the message, they help us to understand the mission, and they help us to understand the man, the man that is Jesus Christ. For John reminds us right over and over again that Jesus was a man, that he was a man uniquely anointed and divinely attested to man. And John makes this clear that Jesus also had a mission and it was a uniquely ordained, a glory, bringing, and heaven-sent mission. And John again makes this clear that Jesus also had a message. It's a uniquely inspired, universally important message. John again, over and over again, makes this clear. And what the gospel of John is doing is developing these themes so that we can understand and he helps us to see and how we might more clearly understand the man, the message, and the mission that is Jesus Christ. And these themes run throughout John. There's a theme of light and darkness. There's a theme of life and death. There are signs. There are festivals. There are truths and there's the theme of love and sacrifice. And these themes run throughout the gospel reminding us of Jesus. The man, the mission, and the message. And there's a theme that is particularly important to us this morning that we have seen over and over again, that is almost, it comes to its like culmination this morning in this passage that is found at the end of chapter 12. And the theme is the sovereignty of God, the sovereignty of God. If there is any theological point, that the gospel of John is seeking to drive home to his readers, it is this, that God is a big God. Did you hear what I said? God is big. You see it over and over again in John. And what is often called big God theology, big God theology. That's for the everyday theologians. And what is big God theology? Well, big God theology is the understanding that the creator God has the whole of his creation. Men, women, children, nature, events, circumstances, consequences, all in his hands. The bigness of God is that nothing is out of his control. No person and no event catches him of God. Nothing surprises him nor is there anything that causes him to be frustrated or at a loss for words. Abraham Kuiper put it this way. There is not a square inch in the whole domain of human existence over which Christ, who is sovereign overall, does not say mine, all of it, all of it belongs to him. And so when we say big God theology, all that is is an easier way of saying the sovereignty of God. The sovereignty of God. And this is what you see over and over again in the Gospel of John. You see it from the beginning to the end. So what the Gospel of John is communicating about the nature and the purposes of God. This is what John is communicating about the men, the mission, and the message. There's all in the hands of God. John chapter 1 verse 11 through 13, Bible says, speaking of Jesus, he came to that which was his own but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. How did they become children of God? Children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision, or a husband's will but born of God. You see it again in John chapter 6 verse 44 where Jesus says no uncertain terms, no one comes to me unless the father who sent me draws him again that that theme running throughout. If you're going to understand the man, if you're going to understand the mission, if you're going to send a message, you got to understand how big God is. That's what Jesus says. John chapter 10 verse 18 where he's speaking of his death. He said, no one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have the authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. And this command I received from the father. Why? Because God is big and he control of all things, even the death and resurrection of Jesus. No one else, no one else. And so as we have looked at the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, we have seen this consistent theme of God the Father, ordaining and orchestrating the life of God the Son. Has not been the case? Jesus has gone to great lengths to say over and over again that God the Father is ordaining and orchestrating the man, the message and the mission because God is in control of all things. God is in control of all things because God is big. And therefore, therefore, it should not be surprising then as we get to the end of Jesus public ministry. As we see it recorded in John chapter 12 that we see it summed up and how is the ministry of Jesus summed up? It is summed up in the context of God's command and control of all things Jesus. God's command and control of all things Jesus to explain how and what Jesus was doing. Gospel of John reveals the bigness and sovereignty of God. Everything Jesus did or didn't do. Everything Jesus said or didn't say was in service to a big and sovereign God. Now, I think this is important. That's why I'm belaboring that this morning because I think this is very important for us to remember this morning, especially those who call themselves in being in some type of ministry. There can be no more important truth and thought and motivation for us this morning than the bigness of God. There is nothing more important for us to remember that we tend to forget that God is big. Amen, brother, somebody ought to say it. God is sovereign. And therefore while the labors are ours, the results are here. They are always here. Always, always. I don't care what you are doing, beloved. Think about this. If God is sovereign over the effectiveness of Moses and sovereign over the effectiveness of David and sovereign over the effectiveness of Jeremiah and sovereign over the effectiveness of Jesus, how much more is he sovereign over our labors? What a blessed thing to remember, particularly in the midst of a pandemic. The pandemic has caused us to struggle in ways that we could not have imagined we would have to struggle. And yet the blessed thing to remember this morning whatever struggles we're having in the church God is sovereign over the passering of the church. Whatever struggles you're having in your home listen, beloved. God is sovereign over the raising of your children. God is sovereign over sin and sickness. God is sovereign over joy and pain. God is sovereign over life and death. Everything. There is nothing too big for God. I'm so beloved as we minister, as we preach, as we teach, as we serve, as we live, as we give. We should always remember that God is bigger than anything I can or cannot do. His ways are greater than my ways. His purposes are grander than my purposes or plans. His will supersedes mine. God is big, beloved. Did I say that already? God is big, beloved. And he's bigger than the biggest things in this life. And that includes blind unbelief, fearful, safe, and ultimately the saving of sinners. He's bigger than all that. No matter how daunting those things seem to be to us. He's bigger than all that. And that's what the Bible says this morning. That God is bigger than even that. To the amazement, to the amazement of those who hear this morning. And after Jesus had done all that he was going to do in this earthly ministry, all after he had said all that he was going to say, the Bible says in John chapter 12, in verse 36, that Jesus departed from the people and he hid himself away. He is making his exit. He has done the signs that he was going to do. He has said the things that he was going to say. He was done. He was finished. And you look at it and what more could he say than he had already said? What more could he do than he had already done? What more faithful witness could he be than he had already been? And you notice what the Bible says about our Lord's ministry in chapter 12, verse 37, even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. Now I think at what the Scriptures are doing here, this is the Bible inviting us to wrestle with the seemingly failed results of Jesus' ministry. We tend not to think of it that way. But this is what the Bible is inviting us to wrestle with. The seemingly failed results of Jesus' ministry because it says even after he had performed so many signs and he had done it in secret, he had done it in their presence. They still failed to believe. There was large-scale unbelief and by any measurement, any human measurement past or feel, Jesus was unsuccessful. As a start-up company, Jesus wasn't doing well. As a church platter, things weren't going good, Pastor. The crowds were coming, but nobody wanted to commit. We know how they had done with Pastor. They come, they check it out. They're like, that's nice. That's good. They come, but they were not committed. But not only were the crowds coming and not committed, beloved, the disciples were divided. All this time they had been with Jesus. They had seen the miracles. They had listened to the teachings. They had seen His faithfulness. And after all this time, they were still barely hanging on. In fact, one was already gone. The masses liked the miracles, but they didn't buy into the message. And therefore, they refused to trust the man. If Jesus had been a church platter, His sending organization would have told him that it was time to pull the plug. You had given it your best shot, but no one is coming. We got better ways to use those resources. There are better ways to allocate those funds. How do you explain this, beloved? How do you explain that? How do you explain that this was Jesus? I mean, this just wasn't anybody. This was Jesus, the one who had came to bring light. He was the one that God had ordained to open blind eyes. And yet after several years of preaching and teaching, most of the people remained in the dark. They remained in blind unbelief. The one sit, the hope to open the eyes of the blind, most still remained in blind unbelief. How do you explain this? How are we to understand the seemingly ineffectiveness of Jesus where the Bible explains it? The Bible explains it. The Bible explains by pointing out that this is not the first time. This is not the first time. The prophet Isaiah experienced this too. Isaiah chapter 53, verse 1, Isaiah says to the Lord, Who has believed our report and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed. Now understand beloved, this is Isaiah knowing the frustration of not being heard, experiencing the frustration of being rejected because if anyone should have been listened to, it was Isaiah. If anyone's words should have been heated, it was Isaiah. Why? Because Isaiah heard the voice of God. Isaiah saw the glory of Christ. Isaiah was sent directly from God with the Word of God for the people of God. And yet in the end, the Bible says they rejected him. They did not believe his word. And therefore in chapter 53, verse 1, Isaiah prayed, Lord, who has believed our report? I explain that. I explain that. Since from God to the people of God and nobody hears him. Since from God with the messes from God and the Word of God and nobody heathed, nobody believes. I explain that. But a Bible explains it this way. It is not just belief that is ordained for God's glory. It is unbelief as well. Did you hear what I said? It is not just belief that has been ordained for the glory of God. It is unbelief as well. The blind give glory to God just as those who have gained their sight. In Romans chapter 9, the Bible teaches us clearly that the glory of God will be seen in the saved and the unsaved. That the glory of God is seen in the redeemed and the lost. Why? Because God is big. And he is suffering over it all. And so unbelief does not surprise God. Unbelief does not surprise God because God is sovereign over unbelief. He is bigger than belief. He is bigger than unbelief. And your faith or lack of faith does not disturb God's will. It is governed by it. Your faith or lack of faith is governed by God. He's not shocked. He's not frustrated. It's what it says in John chapter 12 in verse 40, doesn't it? How do you explain it? This is how you explain it. That he has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart unless they see with their eyes and understand with their heart and turn and I would heal them. God's got the whole world beloved in his hands including the faith of the faithless. He's in control of it all. He's in control of it all. No one lives. Don't miss this. No one lives except God or Dane's life. There's nobody coming into the world except God or Dane that they come into the world. And therefore also no one believes except God or Dane's that faith. No one has sight. Except the Lord gives them sight. So the Bible says Exodus chapter 4 in verse 11, God's talking to Moses. He's reminding Moses. It is the Lord who gives hearing to the death. It is the Lord who gives sight to the blind and consequently therefore beloved. It is the Lord who gives faith to the unbelieving. Now Jesus wasn't disturbed by this. The Bible said he said enough. He went on and hid himself. But the potential for the disturbance is ours. The potential for the disturbance is the disciples. The potential for the disturbance is the churches. And therefore the Bible here offers us this encouraging explanation. God is big. Because we get discouraged. We get discouraged when we don't see faith in others. We get discouraged when we don't see belief in others. Especially those close to us. When husbands don't see faith in their wives don't see faith in their husbands. When mothers don't see faith in their children. When children don't witness faith in their fathers. When there's no faith in our siblings or our friends or our coworkers that we've been praying for and laboring over in prayer and sharing with. When we don't see faith, we get discouraged. And yet we should take heart this morning like our Lord this morning. Remember that faith is in the hands of our Father. Faith is in the hands of our Father. I don't know about you, beloved, but that is a comfort. That just served us as a hope. This is the assurance with which we live. This is the assurance with which we preach. This is the assurance with which we pray. That faith isn't a hands of the Father. Consider it, beloved, consider it. Consider it if the reality was that faith within my hands. If your faith this morning was in my hands and I really sincerely believe that they'd have to cart me off. I would not be a nervous wreck because I would be wandering over and over and over again. Had I said enough? Had I did enough? Had I been enough? But faith is not in my hands as Jesus understood. Faith is in the hands of the Father. As Jonah chapter 2 and verse 9 reminds us salvation belongs to the Lord. As Romans chapter 9 and verses 15 and 16 remind us God says, I will show mercy to anyone I choose and I will show compassion to anyone I choose. So it is God who decides to show mercy. We can neither choose it nor work for it. Our calling, our calling this morning is to be reminded that you cannot save anyone. Our calling is not even to guarantee that they will someday be saved as much as we would like to. Our calling is when called upon to give an answer. When asked to faithfully bear witness for the Father and yet beloved, don't miss this. Even when we fail to do that, God is still suffering. He is still in control. Even when you fail to bear witness for him. And we do because while there is blind unbelief out there, there is often, too often, fearful faith in here. And the Word of God this morning says, God is bigger than that. God is bigger than the blind unbelief out there. And he's bigger than the fearful faith in here. He's bigger than that. He's bigger than the handle, blind unbelief. He's bigger than the handle, fearful faith. Jesus' ministry was marked out by rejection, right? He was rejected by men in the Bible sets. And over and over again, he was rejected. God had ordained that most who heard him would not believe. And yet the key operative word there is most, not all. Most of Jews rejected him, but not all. Look at John, chapter 12, and verse 42. Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees, they did not confess it. So they would not be put out of the synagogue. Notice the contrast there. Notice the word there, never the last. There was rapid unbelief. Even so, yet still, there were those who did believe. They had faith, but their faith was crippled by fear. Now, again, the Bible's here is demonstrating the sovereignty of God over the mission, the message, and the man that is Jesus and explaining why there was so much unbelief. When the man, when the man, the message, and the mission was so faithful, well, one because God ordained unbelief. And on the surface, it would seem that no one believed in Jesus. It seemed like no one was trusting Jesus because no one, or a very few, were willing to bear witness for him. But again, but again, beloved, listen. Don't be fooled only by what you see, beloved. Faith is often complicated and can be crippled at times. And our text says that the faith that was present, it wasn't dead, it was just afraid. It was afraid. In Proverbs chapter 29 and verse 25, the Bible reminds us that the fear of man is a real thing. It is a real thing. It is a trap. It is a net that entangles you. It is spiritually crippling. It will stunt your growth in Jesus so much, beloved. And it will entangle you so much. That at time, it will give the appearance of not having faith at all. When I was a young boy, we didn't have a lot of TV. We definitely had no cable, anything like that. We only had three channels, ABC, NBC, and CBS. That was it. Three channels. And so if anything good ever came on TV, you were always glued to it. And every Sunday, I remember, Disney, Wild World of Disney came on at 8 o'clock. But right before Wild World of Disney, right before we got to see David Crockett and all that stuff, right before that, at 7.30, there was this show called Mutual of Omaha, Wild Kingdom. Anybody remember that? I know Bob does that. There we go. Mutual of Omaha, Wild Kingdom. And I was glued to it. It's when these animals shows, right? When they go out and they're showing you the experiences of these animals and always love the big cats. There's always been my favorite tigers and lions and jaguars and leopards and cheetahs. I love these big cats. It always amazed me. I was always amazed at how simple it was to catch one of these big cats. All they did was put a net on it. I was like, that's all you're going to do. It's just throw this big old huge net over this cat and beloved without fail. When they put that big net on a cat, that cat was done. It entangled him. It trapped him. It crippled him until he will eventually just lay there, defeated. That's what fear does to your fate. Throw the net over you until in full submission your defeated makes you ineffective and defeated. And there were those among the Jewish authorities and leaders the Bible says, who believed in Jesus, who saw the miracles and believed him to be who he said he was. And yet they struggled to know what to do with their faith, scared to be found out, afraid to lose their life or position and doubt it, doubt it, that even if they did speak up, what difference will it really make? I'm reminded of this because I've seen it that faith in Christ is not always exercised to its fullest. It's not, it's not. You ever read the Bible and want to know where you are in the Bible? Well, I can tell you where you are. You're an out of faithless ones. That's where we are. Where the sinners, where the faithless ones, where the doubters, that's where we are. Who among us this morning has never been gripped by fear or indecision in your life? Who among us has always chosen Jesus when given the opportunity? Who among us this morning has never doubted for a moment that God would provide or take care? Who can say, who can honestly say this morning that they have never left Jesus out of the conversation? That they have never left the Lord at the door? Faith has a cause that we are not always willing to pay. And it doesn't mean, beloved, that you don't have faith. It just means that any given moment, my faith can come up small. At any given moment, my faith comes up small. When I was in high school, I was a pretty good football player. I was all state in football. I got a full-rass scholarship to play football in college. But there was sometimes, you wouldn't have known it. I remember sometimes being on the field and I'm back there and have big fellows over there. And I'm thinking, I don't want nothing to do with him. At any moment, you can come up small. Faith does that sometimes. Comes up small. Who are these? Who are these with this fearful faith? Who are these with this little faith? They are Nicodemus, who was no doubt one of the authorities, who was on the council, who the Bible says in John 3 and verse 2 came to Jesus by night. Why? For fear. For fear of the others. For fear of the other authorities. For fear of the others on the council. He came to Jesus by night. There was Joseph of Amathea, who was he? The Bible says that he was a member of the ruling council. There's no doubt he was probably there. And in John chapter 19 and verse 38, you know what he is called? A secret disciple. What? Do those really exist? At any moment, beloved, at any moment, your faith comes up small. Who are these? This is Peter. Who was a member? He wasn't just a disciple, beloved. He was a member of the inner circle. If anybody went anywhere with Jesus, Jesus first said, Peter, no one was as close to Jesus as Peter was. No one saw more or heard more with Jesus than Peter did. And the Bible says in John chapter 18, verse 25, that for the fear of men, Peter denied the Lord three times. Because at any moment, faith can come up small. This should remind us, I think, this should remind us, beloved. Be careful. Be careful when you judge fear and others. Be careful for those who are fearful today by the grace and the sovereignty of God are often faithful tomorrow. This is Nicodemus, right? And in John chapter 3, he came to Jesus by night, but by John chapter 7, he was speaking up before the council for Jesus. This is Joseph Amesia, who the Bible says was a secret disciple, but eventually went to pilot and request, and requested the body of Jesus. And this is Peter. And the Bible says eventually what remind us, that you know what true faith is. True faith, beloved, is not going around beating people over the head with the Bible. I know because I've done it. True faith is not going around beating people up over the head with the Bible. True faith is this. First Peter, chapter 3, and verse 15, always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks and to give a reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect. Whenever I read that, I think about Peter being by that fire and how he probably never forget that. And here he reminds himself and us. And when I went to the fire, I didn't have to go to that fire preaching, Jesus. I didn't have to go to that fire telling everybody, I'm a disciple. I didn't have to go to that fire preaching, fire, and brimstone to everybody there. But when they asked me, I needed to be ready to give an answer. And I needed to do it faithfully with respect and gentleness. If you find yourself beloved with little faith this morning, I want you to take heart. Take heart in this. That God is bigger than your faith. Even fearful faith. Why? Because you might be afraid. But God is not. God is not. And I know, beloved, I know that there are those among us this morning who are fearful. And if that's the case, you've come to the right place this morning. Because ours is not a place to judge. ours is a place to encourage. Encourage. I want you to hear the Lord saying to you, fear not. Fear not little one. The Lord Jesus is with you. And even when you fail him, he is not going to fail you. Even when you might act like in any moment that you don't care, I want you to hear the Lord saying in 1 Peter 5 and 7, God cares for you. He's a big God. He's a big God. And he's bigger than blind unbelief. He's bigger than your faith even when it is fearful. He can handle that too. Because ultimately, he's sovereign over the saving of sinners. If there was anything that we were to get from the last public words of Jesus, God, the Son, it was this that let it be known that God, the Father, stands behind and in control of the mission, the message, and the man. And that's what Jesus says in John 12 and verse 44, right? Belief in Jesus was a call to believe in God, the Father, who sent him. God sent Jesus. That's it. That's it. That helps to make sense of everything. Oh, that's why it happened because God sent him. That's why it worked out like it did because God sent him. This is the bigness of God. This is the sovereignty of God. God sent the Savior. This is what Jesus communicated throughout his life. This is what he was communicating over and over again. This is the message, this is the mission, this is the man that God had ordered and ordained. Jesus came to save sinners. That's it. And everything he did and how it all fell out. But for the sole purpose of saving sinners, what was the best way for sinners to get saved? For God to send Jesus. What was the best message and mission in saving sinners? For Jesus to be rejected so that God could get glorified. All of it, all of it. For the glory of God. Jesus came to demonstrate and reveal the sovereignty of God in the sovereignty of grace. That's the point. That's the point. And this is our Lord's final message and revealed his mission, his final words to Israel. It's not words of condemnation of sin. Don't miss that. His final words. It's not a list of their transgressions. Last thing that he has to say to the nation of Israel is not he calling out idolaters. He's not calling them liars. He's not calling them murderers. He's not calling them adulterers. He's not calling them anything like that. Why? Because such things were self-evident. His mission and message was not judgment. His mission and message was grace. And so he said in verse 47, if anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge them. For I did not come to judge the world. I came to save the world. His mission was not condemnation. His mission was salvation. The man, the message and the mission. What the condemnation? It was salvation. Salvation. We memorized John 3, 16. There I say everyone knows that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. And whoever believes in him, son, I perish, but I shall have everlasting life. But don't stop there. What is 3, 17 saying? For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world in an order that the world would be saved through him. You want to know how important that is? That is important because we often use Jesus as a weapon. Like a Tomahawk cutting and beating people up with Jesus. Jesus didn't see himself that way. He didn't see himself that way. The father didn't send him to do that. He was sent to save. He brought grace. Not judgment to sinners. Not beloved. Don't get it twisted. Don't get it wrong. Judgment day is coming. I know it's what all you legally want to hear. So you got that. Judgment day is coming. No one understands that more than Jesus. He knows that. Judgment day is coming. But Jesus says it is not today. Today is the day of salvation. Today is the day of solving grace. Today is the day of great mercy. Jesus was sent to save. Listen, listen to me. Listen to me. Jesus did not die on the cross to send people to hell. He died on the cross to save sinners. This is the man. This is the message. This is the mission. He came to save. He came to bring grace. Forgiveness and mercy. He came to welcome sinners to himself. This is the love of God, the Father this morning. Beloved. For you do understand that Jesus just didn't come to save. He was sent. He was sent. He was sent by the Father. It's what the Bible says. And Isaiah chapter 9 and verse 6, right? He was given for unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. Christ was given to us. Not to judge us, but to save us. Not to condemn us, but to save us. The Father sent the Savior. The Father gave us Jesus. The Father gives us grace. The Father gives us faith. The Father gives us Jesus. What more can He say than to you? He has said, what more can He do than for you? He has done. Beloved, we serve and worship a big God. Well, that God is big and mercy. He is big in love. He is big and grace this morning. He is big on saving sinners. That's why Jesus came. I was the man that was the mission. That's the message this morning. Jesus says amen. Let's pray.