1. Our Lord said in John 12:24, "Verily, verily, I say unto you..." We see these words twenty-five times in the Gospel of John and they always introduce a statement of great importance.
2. In John 3:3, our Lord said to Nicodemus, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
3. Our Lord said in John 5:24, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life."
4. A group of us went to a pastors' meeting the other day, and we heard Pastor Clarence Sexton preach from this text in John 12.
5. Brother Sexton emphasized death to self in his message, and from the standpoint of the spiritual life, that is the lesson the lesson taught in this text (12:24, 25).
6. Self renunciation is the way to life and fruitfulness (12:24, 25).
7. Our Lord used the analogy of a corn (grain) of wheat. Although a corn of wheat in the ground dies, it produces the blade, the ear, and then the harvest.
8. The kernel of wheat must die in order to bring fruit. Our Lord demonstrated that what is true in the natural world is also true in the spiritual realm.
9. Dr. Walter Wilson was riding on a train, and as the train passed through a cornfield he said to the woman sitting next to him, “See, what a large cemetery that field is, for at the foot of every stalk of corn is a tiny grave."
10. Dr. Wilson then explained how Jesus said, “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone” (John 12:24).
11. There is a divine principle that life comes through death, and this principle is operative in both the natural sphere as well as the spiritual sphere.
12. The corn of wheat (grain of wheat, or kernel of wheat) must fall into the ground and die that it may produce fruit.
13. W. Graham Scroggie said, "Fruit is by dying not by doing: sacrifice is the secret of productiveness: this is true in the realms of the soil and of the soul" (The Gospel of John).

I. ETERNAL LIFE COMES THROUGH THE DEATH OF CHRIST

1. Eternal life comes through the sacrificial death of the one corn (grain of wheat or kernel) of wheat – i.e. the Lord Jesus Christ. He had to be “lifted up from the earth” on the cross (12:32, 33).
2. The corn of wheat may be stored in the granary but it is useless there. In order to be a blessing, to reproduce itself, to bestow life, the corn of wheat must be put into the ground and die. And then, out of death life springs and much fruit results.
3. Think about this – like the corn of wheat in the granary, if our Lord had done nothing but live a perfect life, and teach beautiful lessons, and perform marvelous miracles, He would have “abideth alone” (12:24).
4. Our Lord repeatedly told His disciples, how that He had to go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and He had to be killed, and be raised again the third day.
5. But Peter did not like this and began to rebuke our Lord, saying, "Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee" (Matthew 16:22).
6. Our Lord turned, and said to Peter, "Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men" (Matt. 16:23).
7. Then our Lord said to His disciples, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Matt. 16:24-26).
8. This is the secret to fruitfulness. There first has to be death (John 12:24).
9. Jesus did not come to save us through His teachings or by His example or by His instruction. We are saved today because He went to the cross and died for our sins – “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die…” (12:24).
10. "But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit…” – think of all the millions of people down through the centuries who have been saved by the blood of Christ – this indeed is “much fruit.”

II. WE MUST DIE TO SELF AND LIVE FOR GOD

1. Death is the prelude to blessing so far as salvation is concerned, and death is the prelude to blessing so far as Christian life is concerned.
2. The same principle applies, and this same principle applies to every one -- Jews (12:19), Gentiles (12:20), and "all men" (12:32).
3. We must die to self. A pastor friend of mine was badly mistreated by some of his church members. He was going to resign, but first he went to visit his father, who was also a pastor.
4. He complained to his dad, and after his father listened patiently he said, "But you are dead! Dead men do not complain about getting their feelings hurt."
5. We must die to self. We must deal with his own selfishness. We must abandon our pride and self-centeredness and worldly conformity.
6. Men like to be recognized, and admired, and appreciated. This is the flesh and it must be suppressed.
7. Self seeks to assert itself, and justify itself.
8. F.B. Meyer said, "If we would help men, we must be content to be helpless. If we would receive grafts of the wild olive, we must be content to bear the gash of the pruning knife. If we would fill the world with a sweet savour of the precious ointment, we must be content to be broken boxes. The most fruitful boughs are those from which the foliage and shoots are cut away with unsparing hand, that the sap may accumulate in the swelling clusters" (The Gospel of John).
9. Man must die to self or else he “abideth alone” (12:24).
10. But when a Christian dies to self and lives for God, he too will bring forth “much fruit” (12:24b).
11. F.B. Meyer said, "God has nailed the likeness of my self life to the cross. The cross is the symbol of degradation and curse. Cursed is everyone that hangs on the cross. If then God has treated the likeness of my sinful self, when borne by the sinless Christ, as worthy of His curse, how terrible in God's sight it must be for myself to hug it and embrace it and live in it!"
12. One of my favorite books is George Muller of Bristol by A.T. Pierson. In this biography, A.T. Pierson wrote, "George Mueller had no monopoly of holy living and holy serving. He followed his Lord, both in self-surrender to the will of God and in self-sacrifice for the welfare of man, and herein lay his whole secret. To one who asked him the secret of his service he said: 'There was a day when I died, utterly died;' and, as he spoke, he bent lower and lower until he almost touched the floor ? 'died to George Mueller, his opinions, preferences, tastes and will ? died to the world, its approval or censure ? died to the approval or blame even of my brethren and friends ? and since then I have studied only to show myself 'approved unto God.'"
13. Once a Christian understands this principle, he or she will be fruitful. Self lifted up repels. People are nauseated when people are full of themselves -- Kanye West, Kim Kardashian, Donald Trump, and many others who shamelessly promote themselves.
14. Self lifted up repels, but Christ lifted up draws (12:32).
15. When evangelist J. Wilbur Chapman met William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, he asked him what was the secret of his success. General Booth said, "I’ll tell you the secret. God has all there is of me. There have been many men with greater brains than I, and men with greater opportunities; but from the day I got the poor of London on my heart, and a vision of what Christ could do for them, I made up my mind that God should have all there was of William Booth. And if there is anything of power in my work it is because God has all the love of my heart, all the power of my will, and all the influence of my life.”
16. These men were great preachers and greatly used of God, but an even greater preacher said, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me" (Gal. 2:20).
17. There is an important Biblical principle here (John 12:25): if you live for worldly pleasures, you will lose your life some day anyway. And a godless life is a wasted life.
18. The other night I met a man who was sitting on the bench by our front door. I gave him a Gospel tract and he read it. I had to go inside for prayer meeting but I saw him again after prayer meeting.
19. He said he liked the tract and was particularly impressed with one Scripture. With his finger he pointed me to it -- "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Mark 8:36).
20. From there we spoke about the suicide of Robin Williams, a man who "gained the whole world" -- fame, success, money, etc. but he lost his own soul and died a miserable death.
21. How sad -- a godless life and a godless death and then eternity in a godless hell!
22. So many people -- even many Christian people fail to recognize that the soul is more important than the body (cf. Luke 12:16-21).

III. WE ARE SAVED TO SERVE (12:26)

1. John 12:26 reminds us we are saved to serve! In order to be an effective servant there first has to be self-denial, self-sacrifice, and surrender (12:25).
2. But today, most churches are not preaching this.
3. F.B. Meyer said that many people complain about being lonely, but they "have never learnt that the cure of loneliness comes through the sowing of oneself in a grave of daily self-sacrifice. The corn of wheat must fall into the ground and die, and it will abide no longer alone."
4. Our Lord said in John 12:26, "If any man serve me, let him follow me..." People say, "Follow your conscience." Others say, "Follow duty." Most people follow other men, some good, but most bad.
5. But our Lord says, "Follow me" (12:26).
6. In Matthew 4:19, our Lord said, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." That is why we are here.

CONCLUSION:

1. A pastor once said, "Do you know that G. Campbell Morgan came to this country, and preached one sermon that destroyed forty years of my sermons?"
2. "Forty years I had been preaching on the duty of sacrifice - denying things to ourselves, giving up this and that. We practiced it in our family. We would give up butter one week, and try to use the money in some way that God would bless. Another week we would give up something else. And so on. G. Campbell Morgan said that what we needed to give up was not things but self. And that was the only thing we had not given up in our home. We had given up everything under the sun but self" (Sunday School Times).