Whose Praise Do You Want?

(John 12:42-43)

I. Introduction.
A. Orientation.
We saw this morning,
The Jews still didnt believe in Jesus
Even though they had so many reasons to do so
Even though He had done so many miracles,
Even though they had seen them,
Even though He was the greatest preacher,
And was bringing them Good News
The message Messiah was to bring.

But we also saw why they didnt believe:

Its because they couldnt.
The Lord had blinded their eyes
And darkened their understanding
As an act of judgment against them for their sins.
He didnt create this evil in their hearts,
But used the evil that was already there:
He pulled back His restraint
Which they didnt deserve in the first place
And let their own sin do its work:
The result was that they rejected Jesus.

This had to happen,

Or He would never have been handed over
To the Romans for crucifixion,
And we never would have been saved.

B. Preview.
This evening,
John tells us that this judicial hardening
This blinding from God
Was not universal:
There were also those who believed
Not just from among the people,
But among the Jewish rulers themselves
Even though outwardly
This might not have appeared to be the case.
He also tells us
Why it didnt look like very many believed in Jesus:
Because they kept their faith secret
They were afraid of the consequences.

Tonight, lets consider

That this is a very real fear we all have to face:
What others think about us.

II. Sermon.
A. First, John tells us in verse 42, that many even of the rulers believed in Him.
These rulers were the members of the Jewish Sanhedrin
The governing body of Israel,
The chief priests and elders,
Some of whom were Pharisees.
Its interesting that these believed,
Because they were those
Who had the most to lose
If they became disciples of Jesus.

John gave us an indication

That even early in Jesus ministry,
Some of the rulers believed:
One of them was named Nicodemus.
He writes in 3:1-2, Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a
ruler of the Jews; this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, Rabbi, we
know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs
that You do unless God is with him.
Nicodemus was both a Pharisee and a ruler
Who had come to believe
That Jesus was sent from God
Through the miracles He did.

Notice he uses the word we:

Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher (v. 2).

There were others

Presumably among the rulers
Who also believed.

We discover later
After the crucifixion
Another who believed: Joseph of Arimathea.
We read in Luke 23:50-52, And a man named Joseph, who was a member of the
Council, a good and righteous man (he had not consented to their plan and
action), a man from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who was waiting for the
kingdom of God; this man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.

John tells us in our passage

That by this time
There werent merely a few,
But many that believed.

B. But notice that they were keeping their faith secret

Because they were afraid of being excommunicated.
John writes in verse 42, Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but
because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear that they would
be put out of the synagogue.
The particular verb tense John uses
Shows that their silence
Wasnt a one or two time occurrence,
But went on over a period of time.
They didnt want to draw the displeasure of their peers.

John will tell us later that this was certainly the case with Joseph.
We read in John 19:38, After these things Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of
Jesus, but a secret one for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away
the body of Jesus; and Pilate granted permission. So he came and took away His
body.
The same was true of Nicodemus and the others.

Even before the Jewish leaders made the decision

To excommunicate those who believed
Which were told about in John 9:22
These men still kept their faith undercover.

When the rulers sent the Temple officers

To arrest Jesus as He preached at the Feast of Booths,
And they returned without Him,
The rulers asked them why they didnt bring Him.
The officers answered, Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks. The
Pharisees then answered them, You have not also been led astray, have you?
No one of the rulers or Pharisees has believed in Him, has he? (John 7:46-48).
As far as they were concerned, no one had
Because these men were doing a pretty good job
Of keeping their Christianity a secret.

C. But being put out was only part of the problem:

Their real concern was what they would lose if that happened:
The respect and honor of their peers.
This is something

They apparently werent yet willing entirely to give up.

Notice again what John says,

Particularly in verse 43,
Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the
Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear that they would be put out of
the synagogue; for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of
God.
They were finding it difficult
To do what Jesus said they must
If they were to be His disciples:
Pick up their crosses,
And follow Him.

They loved the approval of men

More than the approval of God.
They were more concerned about
What their peers thought about them
Than what God thought.
There was a struggle
Between their convictions about Jesus
And the corruption/sin in their hearts.
For a while, at least,
They wanted to hold onto both.

This has led some to believe

That they didnt really have a saving faith,

But only an historic faith
They only believed the facts;
They werent trusting Jesus;
They didnt really love Him;
They really werent following Him.

Jesus said that one of the conditions

Of His owning us in heaven,
Is that were willing to own Him on earth.
We read in Matthew 10:32-33, Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men,
I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies
Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.
These didnt appear to be willing to confess Him.

On the other hand,

We need to consider Christian imperfection:
That we dont become mature Christians all at once
That growth takes time.
Nicodemus and Joseph appear to be true believers,
But we see them doing the same thing.
I think we need to assume
That each time they had the opportunity
To confess Jesus, and didnt,
They also secretly repented in their hearts.

But lets not forget at the same time,

There were men, such as the disciples,
Who were willing openly to pay the price:
Who had left everything to follow Jesus,
Who werent so concerned what others thought,
Who were willing to identify with Jesus
Even though they stood to lose everything
Even their own lives,
Who werent so concerned to be thrown out of the synagogue,
Since the synagogue leaders had rejected Jesus.
Lets not forget,
Theirs is the example we are to follow,
Not that of the rulers,
Anymore than we should follow
The example of Davids adultery.

D. Now what can we learn from these men?

1. First, we need to learn to be honest with the truth.
These men looked at the claims Jesus made,
Either witnessed or heard about His miracles,
Listened to the truth He taught,
Concluded He was the Messiah,
And so believed in Him.

If you are convinced that Jesus

Is who He claimed to be,
Thats what you must do.
Have you trusted Him?
Have you received Him as your Lord and Savior?
Are you following Him?
If you arent,
Then youre not being honest with Him or with yourself.
Stop riding the fence
And come to Jesus.

2. Second, having come to Him,

We must not be afraid to confess Him before the world.
Why wouldnt we want to do this?
Maybe for the same reason
They didnt want to do it:
Because of what it would cost them
Because of what they would have to give up.

a. We need to understand
That identifying with Jesus isnt optional:
As we heard Him say earlier in Matthew 10:32-33, Therefore everyone who
confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is
in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before
My Father who is in heaven.

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Its not enough that we dont deny Him,

Jesus says we must confess Him.

b. If theres something we want more than Jesus,

That would make us either not confess Him
Or deny Him by the way we live
Such as the approval of men
Thats an idol that needs to go.
What was the problem with these believing rulers?
They loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God (John
12:43).
Paul tells us in Romans 1:25,
That one of the reasons God gives men
Over to their sins as judgment
Is their idolatry
For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the
creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
Idolatry doesnt always come in the form
Of worshipping an image of a false god:
We are guilty of it whenever we love anything more than God.

c. We need to believe that the honor that comes from God

Is far better than the honor that comes from the world.

If they had loved Gods approval more,

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They would have been bolder in their confession.
The desire for the praise of man here
Is one of the most powerful pressures Satan can apply
To keep us from confessing Christ.

But think about this:

Anything we gain in this life,
Is something we can only enjoy in this life.
Anything we gain here,
Will either be lost or forgotten
Once were gone
If we gain anything at all.
Some spend their whole lives
Chasing the honor and wealth of this world
And get nothing of it.

But everything we do for Jesus

While were here
And here is the only place
We have the opportunity to do it
Will be honored by Him,
Will be remembered forever by Him,
And can never be taken away from us.

We must believe this is true,

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And be willing to give up

What we can see now with our eyes,
For something we can only see now by faith
But one day will see with our eyes.

3. Third, it shows us that when we fail

To confess Jesus as wed like,
There is grace.

If when we find ourselves

Hiding our lights under the bushel,
We are secretly confessing
And repenting of our sins,
And praying that the Lord
Would help us to be bolder next time,
We can know He will forgive us
And help us.

We should never use His grace

As an excuse for our sins,
But its good to know its there
When we sin.

4. Fourth, it reminds us
That there may be more believers

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In the world than we think.

John said there were many rulers that believed.

I wonder how many of the believing rulers
Were aware of how many there actually were
If they were all keeping their faith secret.

Elijah thought he was the only one left in his own day,
But God revealed to him that there were seven thousand
Who had not caved in and bowed the knee to Baal
Who had remained faithful to Him (Rom. 11:3-4).
We cant always see the faithful.

Perhaps if one or more of the rulers had taken a stand,

They might have discovered
There were more of them that believed
Than they thought.

Perhaps well find

As we step out in faith
And make our faith known,
That there are more Christians
In our neighborhood, workplace or city
Than we thought.
May the Lord grant

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That that would be the case. Amen.

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