Do you Glorify His Name!

John 12:20-50

Those who thought they were saved were wrong, while those who sought after Jesus were Saved!

In this passage is a group of Gentiles who sought Jesus out. Whoever these Greeks may have been is not important to us now. However, their passion to know Jesus is. So Jesus shows us a contrast between those perceived to deserve the receipt of God’s blessings and those who did not, a snub to the Pharisees; the Gentiles responded to Jesus and the religious leaders did not (John 7:35; Acts 6:1; 8:27; 13:26). As Jesus turns the tables on these pious fraud religious leaders and proclaims, “Draw all men to Myself.” Meaning salvation will be offered to “all kinds of people.” (This does not mean that Christ gives universal salvation or that we do not have to receive Christ to be saved, nor does it mean His death will save all people.) It means that Christ's sacrifice is powerful enough to save all, but it is each person’s responsibility to receive this work as stated later in this passage. All will not believe, but one day all will submit. This makes a major paradigm shift of the Gospel Message; see context notes (Rom. 8:19-22; 14:11; Phil 2:9-11; Col. 1:19-23).

The Greeks sought Him out; they asked to meet with Him and bore witness to a most incredible event that very few in all of humanity outside the of the Old Testament Prophets ever witnessed: the audible voice of God!

The character of these Greeks is the prime focus we bring to worship—our desire to know and praise Him. It is a desire to know Him more—not the pretentiousness of the religious leaders who scoffed or of some of the people whose pride and busyness and/or fears got in the way, but a surrendered act of reverence to know Him more. So much can disturb and distract us from worship; the attention of our fears, the thunder of our will, and the messengers of our desires clog our hearts and minds so that what we bring to worship is the noise of our will and the conceited and congested nature of our hearts. We may be in our churches physically, but are we there in the reality of desire and devotion? We tend to think church is to give to us, when truthfully, we are to come and give to Him. We think it is about us, when it is really about Him. We think we are the audience that needs to be entertained, when in fact it is all about Christ, who is the audience of our praise. We must bring, not take; we bring our hearts and minds and seek after our Lord with sincere, audible praise—to seek more of Him and less of ourselves

Questions to Ponder

1. Why would a person choose what is temporary and fleeting rather than God and His Truth that is eternal?

2. Is church about your needs or about His glory? Do you think much about yourself and little about the things of God? How does this influence how your church is run and its influence to the neighborhood?

3. Why do some Christians tend to think church is to give to them, when in reality, we are to come and give to Him?

4. How can you and your church have a better biblical mindset and accept that it is not about us, it is about Him?

5. What can you do to make sure your will and attitude are more interested in Christ than in yourself? What are some of the things that disturb and distract you from worship? What can you do about it?

More here: http://www.intothyword.org/articles_view.asp?columnid=3803&articleid=66743