Help Me Lift Jesus

Help me lift Jesus

By Pastor J.W.T. Spies

John 12:32

Intro: I need you all to be praying with me this morning and if you pray with me I promise not to be long. I don’t have a long word this morning but I do have a strong word.

John 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. 12:32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. 12:33  This he said, signifying what death he should die.

There are three things I want to bring out in this passage:

1.  The judgment of the world

2.  The prince of this world being cast out

3.  And Jesus being lifted up

I. The judgment of the world

There is no question about it - judgment is certain.  When you do wrong, there will be a time of reckoning one way or another, and eventually we are going to have to see Jesus.  

Jesus stated that he did not come to judge or condemn the world (Jn 12.47; 3.17), in other words he said I didn’t come to point fingers and judge people like some of us do, Jesus said I came not to judge the world but rather I came to save the world.

We know that the final judgment will come and that judgment begins at the house of God.  And we know that God is the judge, and that He has given judgment to Jesus (Jn 5.27 9.39).

But in a very real way, we judge the unrighteous every time we do righteousness.  Our works of righteousness cause light to shine in the darkness, and judgment begins with the righteousness of God.

II. The prince of this world is cast out.

Jesus said, "...now shall the prince of this world be cast out."  

I just have one question. If he is casts out of the world, then who is causing so much trouble here on this earth? If he’s casts out then who is it that’s causing mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, sisters and brothers to fight against one another? If he’s casts out where is all of this chaos of hate, murder, killing and the unlawful deaths coming from? The overwhelming evidence seems to suggest that Satan is alive and well right here on planet earth.  

Then what did Jesus mean? Apparently he meant the job is not over yet. He meant that we as men and women of God has a job to do. Because remember Luke 10:19 Jesus gave us power over serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. That means that we are partners with God in driving out this enemy of our souls.

The prince of this world is casted out when we take our rightful authority at the side of Christ and cast him out. The prince is casted when we stand up for what is right. The prince of this world is casted out, when we cry Holy, Holy, Holy. But understand that I'm not talking about simply casting demons out of people like Jesus did at the cemetery.  

I’m saying that we must learn to take control of our lives by taking authority over him [the devil] and not allowing him to rule our lives. We must take control when we don’t allow him to make us feel less than. We take control when we stand up for what is right.

We must learn to crucify our flesh, which means the things that we know is not good for us or to us we must learn to say no to them, we must learn to discard, abandon, reject, eliminate, and cast them out.

For when we crucify the flesh, deny the sinful nature, and resist the devil, you cast him out; (which means that we strip him of his power, deny his control, we blot out his influences, and dismiss his authority). The prince of this world is cast out when we make him unwelcome in our lives, uncomfortable in our churches, uninvited in our homes, ignore him on our jobs, and kick him out in our communities.

We must learn to make satan and all of his imps feel uncomfortable in every part of our lives. How do we do that pastor? May I tell you that when we lift up the name of Jesus, when we praise his name, when ever we glorify him and when we recognizes him as Lord of our lives, then it makes him feels uneasy, uncomfortable, it confuses him. He know that you are going through, he knows that you are battling with some strong holds, when he knows that you are trying to kick some habits, and you are going through pure hell, but yet you are lifting up the name of Jesus, it makes him uncomfortable.