Glad Gone is Gone? (John 14)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.600 --> 00:00:07.790 You may be seated and let's turn to John Chapter Fourteen. Just previous to 2 00:00:07.950 --> 00:00:17.670 this chapter, Jesus has talked about betrayal. Most immediately before this chapter, 3 00:00:17.710 --> 00:00:25.980 Jesus tells Peter that he will deny him three times before the morning comes. 4 00:00:27.379 --> 00:00:31.059 And so, in light of that and several other things which I'll mention in 5 00:00:31.140 --> 00:00:36.130 a moment, Jesus begins with these words. Let not your hearts be troubled. 6 00:00:36.210 --> 00:00:43.289 Let's hear God's word this morning from John Fourteen. Let not your hearts 7 00:00:43.369 --> 00:00:50.359 be troubled, troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In 8 00:00:50.520 --> 00:00:55.280 my father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, what I 9 00:00:55.359 --> 00:00:59.280 have told you that I go to prepare a place for you, and if 10 00:00:59.320 --> 00:01:02.840 I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will 11 00:01:02.920 --> 00:01:07.189 take you to myself, that where I am, you may be also, 12 00:01:07.269 --> 00:01:11.269 and you know the way to where I am going. Thomas said to him, 13 00:01:11.590 --> 00:01:15.750 Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we 14 00:01:15.870 --> 00:01:19.859 know the way? Jesus said to him. I am the way, the 15 00:01:19.659 --> 00:01:25.420 truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me. 16 00:01:26.219 --> 00:01:29.739 If you had known me, who had have known my father? Also, 17 00:01:30.540 --> 00:01:36.010 from now on, you do know him and have seen him. Philip said 18 00:01:36.010 --> 00:01:38.129 to him, Lord, show us the father and it is enough for us. 19 00:01:38.170 --> 00:01:42.290 Jesus said to him. Have I been with you so long and you 20 00:01:42.409 --> 00:01:47.799 still do not know me? Philip, whoever has seen me has seen the 21 00:01:47.879 --> 00:01:51.599 father. How can you say, show us the father. Do you not 22 00:01:51.760 --> 00:01:57.200 believe that I am in the father and the father is in me? The 23 00:01:57.359 --> 00:02:01.269 words that I say to you, I do not speak on my own authority, 24 00:02:01.870 --> 00:02:07.590 but the father, who dwells in me, does his works. Believe 25 00:02:07.829 --> 00:02:09.870 me that I am in the father and the father is in me, or 26 00:02:09.949 --> 00:02:15.379 else believe on account of the works themselves. Truly truly, I say to 27 00:02:15.460 --> 00:02:20.099 you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do, 28 00:02:20.900 --> 00:02:24.379 and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the 29 00:02:24.500 --> 00:02:30.689 father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that 30 00:02:30.810 --> 00:02:35.250 the father may be glorified in the son. If you ask me anything in 31 00:02:35.330 --> 00:02:39.490 my name, I will do it. If you love me, you will 32 00:02:39.530 --> 00:02:45.599 keep my commandments. And if, and I excuse me, Verse Sixteen and 33 00:02:45.719 --> 00:02:49.280 I will ask the father, and he will give you another helper to be 34 00:02:49.479 --> 00:02:53.240 with you forever, even the spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive 35 00:02:53.400 --> 00:02:58.830 because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he 36 00:02:58.870 --> 00:03:04.150 dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as 37 00:03:04.270 --> 00:03:07.189 orphans. I will come to you yet a little while, and the world 38 00:03:07.189 --> 00:03:10.710 will see any won't see me no more, but you will see me, 39 00:03:12.310 --> 00:03:15.300 because I live, you also will live. In that day, you will 40 00:03:15.379 --> 00:03:20.379 know that I am in my father and you in me, and I in 41 00:03:20.539 --> 00:03:24.180 you. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves 42 00:03:24.219 --> 00:03:28.530 me, and he who loves me will be loved by my father, and 43 00:03:28.729 --> 00:03:32.889 I will love him and Matt and manifest myself to him. Judas not a 44 00:03:34.009 --> 00:03:37.689 scariot, said to him. Lord, how is it that you will manifest 45 00:03:37.770 --> 00:03:42.639 yourself to us and not to the world? Jesus answered him. If anyone 46 00:03:42.759 --> 00:03:46.120 loves me, he will keep my word, and my father will love him 47 00:03:46.360 --> 00:03:49.759 and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does 48 00:03:49.840 --> 00:03:53.719 not love me does not keep my words, and the word that you hear 49 00:03:53.840 --> 00:03:57.949 is not mine, but the father's, who sent me these things. I 50 00:03:58.069 --> 00:04:00.469 have spoken to you while I am still with you, but the helper, 51 00:04:01.389 --> 00:04:05.469 the Holy Spirit, whom the father will send in my name. He will 52 00:04:05.550 --> 00:04:10.099 teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to 53 00:04:10.180 --> 00:04:15.180 you. Peace I leave with you my peace. I give to you, 54 00:04:15.259 --> 00:04:19.899 not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts 55 00:04:19.980 --> 00:04:25.689 be troubled, neither let them be afraid. You heard me say to you 56 00:04:25.850 --> 00:04:30.009 I am going away and I will come to you. If you loved me, 57 00:04:30.689 --> 00:04:32.810 you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the father, for 58 00:04:32.930 --> 00:04:38.129 the father is greater than i. and now I have told you before it 59 00:04:38.290 --> 00:04:42.600 takes place, so that when it does take place, you may believe I 60 00:04:42.720 --> 00:04:46.639 will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is 61 00:04:46.720 --> 00:04:50.199 coming. He has no claim on me, but I do as the father 62 00:04:50.319 --> 00:04:56.589 has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the father 63 00:04:57.509 --> 00:05:02.189 rise. Let us go from here. God bless his word to us. 64 00:05:08.420 --> 00:05:11.899 Was I mentioned before? I read the disciples have a lot of reasons to 65 00:05:11.939 --> 00:05:18.379 be troubled, grieved distressed, if you can try to put yourself in their 66 00:05:18.459 --> 00:05:26.250 shoes for a moment. Here they are on the last night before Jesus is 67 00:05:26.449 --> 00:05:30.769 crucified, and he is spoken to them before that he will die. They 68 00:05:30.889 --> 00:05:35.959 certainly know about the pressure that is bearing down on him from the authorities in 69 00:05:36.040 --> 00:05:45.000 Jerusalem. He is talked just recently about a betrayal from among them. Even 70 00:05:45.720 --> 00:05:55.709 Peter is publicly called out in a way and he says I'm leaving, I'm 71 00:05:55.829 --> 00:06:00.389 going. Even if that didn't mean his death, it would still be extremely 72 00:06:01.269 --> 00:06:12.860 distressing. Why? Will? Imagine that you had experienced what the disciples had 73 00:06:12.899 --> 00:06:17.540 experience, that you had witnessed the glory of God coming into the world in 74 00:06:17.689 --> 00:06:26.089 human flesh. Imagine that the long promised and coming Messiah is now here. 75 00:06:27.370 --> 00:06:33.160 Imagine that you have given up friends and family and livelihoods to follow him because 76 00:06:33.279 --> 00:06:39.360 you believe are. You've come to believe that he is from the father, 77 00:06:39.839 --> 00:06:43.079 that the father is in him, that he is in the father, that 78 00:06:43.199 --> 00:06:49.269 he is the Messiah, the Christ, the promised one. You've willingly put 79 00:06:49.310 --> 00:06:57.990 yourself against the rulers and authorities of your community by being in connection with him. 80 00:06:59.470 --> 00:07:03.540 And now he tells you that he's going to leave you and that where 81 00:07:03.579 --> 00:07:12.139 he is going you cannot follow. You've done everything you can to follow him. 82 00:07:12.819 --> 00:07:16.970 He said, follow me and I will make you fishers of men. 83 00:07:17.089 --> 00:07:19.970 Follow me, and the disciples went and father is how the book of John 84 00:07:20.050 --> 00:07:24.449 Begins. But this call, these calls to the disciples to follow him. 85 00:07:24.449 --> 00:07:29.050 And now he's saying you can't follow me where I'm going. But I thought 86 00:07:29.050 --> 00:07:32.079 that was the whole point, Jesus. That's what I've been doing there the 87 00:07:32.079 --> 00:07:39.920 last three years, is following you, giving my life for you. And 88 00:07:40.040 --> 00:07:42.560 now, on top of all of that, he not only says you cannot 89 00:07:42.600 --> 00:07:46.709 follow him, but he says you won't follow him, that you will betray 90 00:07:46.750 --> 00:07:57.310 him, that you will leave him. and well, this distress is troubling, 91 00:08:00.180 --> 00:08:07.379 not the distress of Jesus leaving the promise of Your own faithfulness should certainly 92 00:08:07.459 --> 00:08:11.660 be distressing as well. Imagine being Peter. I will go with you to 93 00:08:11.740 --> 00:08:16.089 the very end. No, you won't. I promise you that before the 94 00:08:16.209 --> 00:08:20.170 morning comes, you will deny me three times before the Rooster Crows, he 95 00:08:20.250 --> 00:08:28.800 says. What does that say about our hearts? There's a lot to be 96 00:08:28.920 --> 00:08:33.039 distressed about here. There's a lot to be a troubled about, even we 97 00:08:33.120 --> 00:08:37.480 might say, legitimate things. And yet Jesus says to us and to the 98 00:08:37.559 --> 00:08:45.509 disciples, they're let not your hearts be troubled. He understands the weightiness of 99 00:08:45.549 --> 00:08:50.149 the things he saying and the impact that this is having on his disciples even 100 00:08:50.309 --> 00:08:54.860 justified in many ways. And yet, nevertheless, he has things to tell 101 00:08:54.980 --> 00:09:00.700 them. He wants them to know certain things that they might have peace. 102 00:09:01.700 --> 00:09:05.940 That's how this chapter begins and ends. Let not your hearts be troubled. 103 00:09:05.259 --> 00:09:11.370 Don't be overwhelmed by the things that I am saying. And then at the 104 00:09:11.409 --> 00:09:15.169 end, in Verse Twenty Seven, peace I leave with you. My peace 105 00:09:15.330 --> 00:09:18.490 I give to you, not as the world gives, do I give. 106 00:09:18.529 --> 00:09:26.120 Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. So in 107 00:09:26.200 --> 00:09:31.559 this chapter, Jesus gives to his disciples a message intended to calm their hearts, 108 00:09:33.720 --> 00:09:37.399 intended to encourage them, intended to speak to them in the midst of 109 00:09:37.789 --> 00:09:43.590 their distress. Now, maybe they won't experience that it encouragement right away. 110 00:09:43.710 --> 00:09:48.190 In fact, that seems likely, because Jesus promises them a helper, a 111 00:09:48.350 --> 00:09:52.659 spirit, who will come later and remind them of the things that have been 112 00:09:52.779 --> 00:09:58.500 said. It seems that in some way, maybe the things that he is 113 00:09:58.620 --> 00:10:03.259 saying now are going to pay the greatest dividends, not at the moment but 114 00:10:03.299 --> 00:10:09.929 later. Nevertheless, these spiritual words, these seeds that are planted, because 115 00:10:09.970 --> 00:10:16.049 they are planted by the Lord and intended for these things. They will grow, 116 00:10:16.090 --> 00:10:22.480 they will produce fruit, and not only peace which he gives to them, 117 00:10:22.639 --> 00:10:28.200 but other things too, as we see throughout the acts of the apostles, 118 00:10:28.440 --> 00:10:37.230 that second half of the gospel of Luke zeal, boldness, confidence and 119 00:10:37.789 --> 00:10:43.830 amazing amounts of hope, hope and heaven, peace and joy in the things 120 00:10:45.350 --> 00:10:50.340 of this world. Now this message is, of course, not only for 121 00:10:50.500 --> 00:10:54.940 the disciples but also for us, because we are very much in the same 122 00:10:54.980 --> 00:11:01.620 situation in that the Lord is not here. He left this world and he's 123 00:11:01.059 --> 00:11:07.929 still not here. The same kind of troubles that they would experience, our 124 00:11:09.049 --> 00:11:16.610 troubles that we do experience. To try to and want to follow the Lord 125 00:11:16.730 --> 00:11:24.200 and yet have him not here in the flesh with us, was a challenging 126 00:11:24.320 --> 00:11:26.320 thing for them and it's a challenging thing for us, and there's all kinds 127 00:11:26.360 --> 00:11:31.919 of ways that people try to overcome that challenge, but often ways that are 128 00:11:31.200 --> 00:11:37.070 not good. It is the essence of human life. It is what we 129 00:11:37.230 --> 00:11:43.470 were made for to be in the present of God, to know him and 130 00:11:43.669 --> 00:11:50.179 to be unified with him, to be intimate with him, connected, not 131 00:11:50.379 --> 00:11:54.539 at war, but at peace. This is what God made us for. 132 00:11:54.820 --> 00:12:00.740 We were made in his image as his children. You think about back in 133 00:12:00.820 --> 00:12:05.730 the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve walking, the Lord walking with them, 134 00:12:07.090 --> 00:12:13.409 God dwelling with his people. This is this is what we want. 135 00:12:13.610 --> 00:12:20.960 We want to be with the father. Jesus tells US I am the way 136 00:12:20.200 --> 00:12:28.720 to the father. You must understand me and know me to know him. 137 00:12:30.470 --> 00:12:33.669 So how does Jesus Comfort us? How does Jesus Comfort the disciples and give 138 00:12:33.710 --> 00:12:39.870 us this peace? What is the powerful message? It's simply this that even 139 00:12:39.909 --> 00:12:48.299 though Jesus is absent in the body, he is still present with us and 140 00:12:48.460 --> 00:12:52.740 the Holy Spirit. He is still active in this world, doing particular things 141 00:12:54.059 --> 00:13:01.850 right now, in a mission that will not only continue on but expand and 142 00:13:03.649 --> 00:13:09.649 come to a glorious conclusion. So I want to think with you this morning 143 00:13:09.690 --> 00:13:15.639 and pay close attention to what Jesus says about this mission in the present, 144 00:13:16.240 --> 00:13:20.600 the promises of the age to come and the the foundation on which all this 145 00:13:20.279 --> 00:13:26.480 stands, and my hope is that in hearing these things you too will find 146 00:13:26.519 --> 00:13:33.669 the peace of the Lord. First, what is Jesus doing in the present? 147 00:13:33.870 --> 00:13:39.470 What is he promise to do. Well, Jesus is saying that they 148 00:13:39.750 --> 00:13:43.740 cannot follow him in a particular way, and yet and another way they do, 149 00:13:43.019 --> 00:13:48.659 are able to continue following them because he says, I am the way, 150 00:13:50.139 --> 00:13:54.500 the truth and the life. This is how we come to Jesus. 151 00:13:54.809 --> 00:14:01.490 He also tells us that he is sending someone, the spirit, a helper. 152 00:14:01.250 --> 00:14:07.850 One translator translate its this as a true friend, that the Holy Spirit 153 00:14:07.929 --> 00:14:13.039 is a true friend, and I liked that translation as well. His reasoning 154 00:14:13.200 --> 00:14:16.679 for it is, you know, who is the one who comes and when? 155 00:14:16.720 --> 00:14:20.519 You would you're sort of sick and they're having a really hard time. 156 00:14:22.039 --> 00:14:24.909 Who is the one who comes and helps you in that moment? We would 157 00:14:24.909 --> 00:14:28.549 say a true friend, and that is what the Holy Spirit here is. 158 00:14:30.230 --> 00:14:35.070 I'm to give to US love, knowledge, assistance, help, all kinds 159 00:14:35.110 --> 00:14:39.500 of things. Jesus promise, misses us, that he will give us this 160 00:14:39.700 --> 00:14:43.460 spirit. Look at verse eighteen. Though he says he is leaving and we 161 00:14:43.539 --> 00:14:48.379 cannot follow in one way, he also says in another, I will not 162 00:14:48.460 --> 00:14:52.210 leave you as orphans. I will come to you, of course, on 163 00:14:52.330 --> 00:14:58.850 the last day, but in between we have the Holy Spirit. Look at 164 00:14:58.850 --> 00:15:03.850 Verse Twenty Six, but the helper the holy spirit, whom the father will 165 00:15:03.889 --> 00:15:07.399 send in my name. He will teach you all things and bring to your 166 00:15:07.399 --> 00:15:13.639 remembrance all that I have said to you. Look at Verse Fifteen, or 167 00:15:13.759 --> 00:15:16.720 Sixteen Rather, and I will ask the father, and he will give you 168 00:15:16.759 --> 00:15:22.669 another helper to be with you forever, even the spirit of truth, whom 169 00:15:22.750 --> 00:15:26.669 the world cannot receive because it neither sees him or nor knows him. But 170 00:15:26.830 --> 00:15:31.870 you know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. 171 00:15:35.309 --> 00:15:41.539 God promises to make his home in us, and not just individually. Jesus 172 00:15:41.580 --> 00:15:45.820 is speaking to them here as a community, a community of people that will 173 00:15:45.860 --> 00:15:50.289 stablish a great community at Church. God promises that in these ones that he 174 00:15:50.370 --> 00:15:54.250 calls out of the world, in us, he will dwell in us, 175 00:15:56.370 --> 00:16:00.730 as the Holy Spirit once dwelled in the Temple of God, that place where 176 00:16:00.730 --> 00:16:04.759 God put his name and dwelled among his people. He promises to dwell in 177 00:16:04.960 --> 00:16:11.639 this body, the body of Christ, and in us he will produce love 178 00:16:12.080 --> 00:16:15.799 in such a way that if we don't love, we can say we don't 179 00:16:15.799 --> 00:16:18.190 belong to him, and if we do love, we can say that we 180 00:16:18.389 --> 00:16:22.710 do belong to him, because that's what he's doing. That's what God is 181 00:16:22.789 --> 00:16:29.509 doing. He produces love in us, he creates a community that is different 182 00:16:29.750 --> 00:16:36.299 and is changed. In addition to these things, Jesus says that his mission, 183 00:16:36.340 --> 00:16:42.100 I'm very remarkably, will even be expanded. Notice what he says in 184 00:16:42.139 --> 00:16:47.169 verse twelve through fourteen, and I want to ask you right now, do 185 00:16:47.289 --> 00:16:52.289 you believe what Jesus says here? I'm going to read it and you ask 186 00:16:52.370 --> 00:16:56.809 yourself, do I believe this? Truly truly, I say to you, 187 00:16:57.970 --> 00:17:03.160 whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do, and greater 188 00:17:03.359 --> 00:17:07.119 works than these will he do, because I am going to the father. 189 00:17:08.200 --> 00:17:11.960 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do in the father may 190 00:17:11.960 --> 00:17:17.190 be glorified in the son. If you ask me anything in my name, 191 00:17:17.230 --> 00:17:22.509 I will do it. So the first thing to note here is not only 192 00:17:22.789 --> 00:17:30.420 is this passage in the Bible, but it begins with these words Amen, 193 00:17:30.700 --> 00:17:34.059 Amen, or truly truly, I say to you, this is the way 194 00:17:34.180 --> 00:17:42.980 that Jesus does underlining and highlighting for us pay attention to this. Right I'm 195 00:17:44.059 --> 00:17:51.049 telling you something really, really important. Truly truly, I say to you, 196 00:17:51.690 --> 00:17:55.730 whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do. And 197 00:17:56.049 --> 00:17:59.759 greater works than these will he do? Because I am going to the father. 198 00:18:00.480 --> 00:18:03.680 Whatever you ask in my name this, I will do that. The 199 00:18:03.839 --> 00:18:07.000 father may be glorified in the son. If you ask me anything in my 200 00:18:07.200 --> 00:18:11.359 name, I will do it. So, before we think about what he 201 00:18:11.480 --> 00:18:17.549 says here, what I want to impress on you is if your first instinct 202 00:18:17.710 --> 00:18:22.869 is to explain these a way or to downgrade them in some way or to 203 00:18:22.990 --> 00:18:27.140 ignore them, then you're not reading it right. Your first instincts being to 204 00:18:27.180 --> 00:18:30.819 say, what is he saying here? That sounds really important. Want to 205 00:18:30.859 --> 00:18:34.660 make sure I get this and believe us. Okay, so just an attitude 206 00:18:34.660 --> 00:18:41.220 check there. So what is he saying? What should we be committed to 207 00:18:42.009 --> 00:18:48.690 and how in the world can we do greater works than Jesus Right? Jesus 208 00:18:48.809 --> 00:18:53.970 has turned water into wine. Jesus is caused paralyzed people to walk again. 209 00:18:55.450 --> 00:19:00.200 Jesus has healed people from a distance. Jesus has a UM, has caused 210 00:19:00.240 --> 00:19:06.799 a dead man to rise up. Jesus has taught with such authority that those 211 00:19:06.880 --> 00:19:15.789 who are rulers don't understand him, can't explain him. I'm Jesus is about 212 00:19:15.789 --> 00:19:22.869 to go to the cross atone for the sins of all his people, be 213 00:19:22.069 --> 00:19:29.740 buried and then rise again from the dead. And then he's going to commission 214 00:19:29.779 --> 00:19:34.579 apostles and prophets will go out into all the world establish a foundation on which 215 00:19:34.579 --> 00:19:41.130 the Church of the Living God will be built for the next few Millennia. 216 00:19:42.849 --> 00:19:48.049 Well, what do you mean? Greater Works Right? How do we understand 217 00:19:48.250 --> 00:19:52.000 this? Well, the way that the church has always understood this, and 218 00:19:52.079 --> 00:20:00.039 I think rightly, is not greater in terms of quality, not as in 219 00:20:00.519 --> 00:20:07.079 more powerful than Jesus, but in terms of quantity, in other words, 220 00:20:07.470 --> 00:20:12.509 the way there is a way in which the Kingdom of God grows, expands 221 00:20:14.390 --> 00:20:21.390 moves that is different than when Jesus left them. When you think about the 222 00:20:21.579 --> 00:20:25.980 size of the church now, for example, and compare that to the size 223 00:20:26.059 --> 00:20:33.539 of Jesus's disciples, Twelve, eleven disciples. I'm here on this night in 224 00:20:33.660 --> 00:20:41.210 which he would be betrayed. A lot has happened, hasn't it? And 225 00:20:41.410 --> 00:20:48.769 it happened, Jesus says, because he left. That's why, later he 226 00:20:48.970 --> 00:20:52.160 says, if you had loved me, if you understood the things that I 227 00:20:52.240 --> 00:20:56.000 was saying, you'd be happy that I was going. All I would just 228 00:20:56.119 --> 00:21:02.839 so hard for us to understand. Until we understand what he's saying, until 229 00:21:02.920 --> 00:21:06.869 we make the connections that he's making, and when we do, brothers and 230 00:21:06.950 --> 00:21:11.230 sisters, we will find encouragement. I titled The sermon. I'm not very 231 00:21:11.269 --> 00:21:15.150 good at titling sermons. I'm really sorry for that, but I titled The 232 00:21:15.190 --> 00:21:21.220 sermon something like I got to look now, Glad God is gone. Question 233 00:21:21.339 --> 00:21:26.220 Mark. Right. Should we be glad that Jesus leaves? Right? Obvious 234 00:21:26.339 --> 00:21:30.019 answer would seem to be no, right, because we presence with God, 235 00:21:30.339 --> 00:21:34.930 communion with Christ, all of these things. And yet Jesus himself says that 236 00:21:36.089 --> 00:21:40.329 you should have rejoiced when I told you that I was going to the father. 237 00:21:41.730 --> 00:21:44.730 Well, it's cause. So how we answer this to question will, 238 00:21:44.730 --> 00:21:48.240 of course, depend on what we mean by gone. If we mean separate 239 00:21:48.440 --> 00:21:52.480 from God, that God turns his back on us, that God turns his 240 00:21:52.640 --> 00:21:56.680 face with from us, well then of course there's no reason to be happy 241 00:21:56.720 --> 00:22:03.190 about that. But if we mean the God is continuing his work of redemption 242 00:22:03.829 --> 00:22:07.910 and that, in going to the father, Jesus will send to us that 243 00:22:07.029 --> 00:22:12.029 the spirit, and then we'll build his church, will call in the elect 244 00:22:12.349 --> 00:22:18.099 and will bring these things to a full consummation. Well then there's a lot 245 00:22:18.339 --> 00:22:22.339 to be happy about there. Yes, Jesus leaves us for a time and 246 00:22:22.500 --> 00:22:27.259 yes, there is suffering and yes, there is trials and distress and imprisonment 247 00:22:27.339 --> 00:22:33.410 and beheadings and all kinds of terrible things that Christians have had to undergo for 248 00:22:33.490 --> 00:22:40.690 the sake of Christ it seems like up till this point that everyone was kind 249 00:22:40.690 --> 00:22:44.089 of hoping, and maybe a lot of people still do hope, that the 250 00:22:44.599 --> 00:22:47.759 Christian life would just be this, you know, point a to point, 251 00:22:47.839 --> 00:22:52.799 be road to glory without any suffering, without any distress, without any trouble. 252 00:22:52.839 --> 00:22:57.480 and Jesus says it's not going to be that way. But I'm not 253 00:22:57.589 --> 00:23:03.589 going to leave you alone and I will use these things, even my departure 254 00:23:03.829 --> 00:23:11.710 from you, to bless you and to bring into full consummation the Kingdom of 255 00:23:11.789 --> 00:23:18.779 God. The greater works that we do are the expanding works on his works, 256 00:23:19.099 --> 00:23:22.900 and these are not an expansion apart from him, because he says here 257 00:23:22.980 --> 00:23:27.609 in this passage that these are the works that are done in us by him. 258 00:23:29.970 --> 00:23:33.849 They are not sort of non Jesus works, they are Jesus works in 259 00:23:34.049 --> 00:23:41.160 us. So Jesus continues his works, as he pours out apostles and prophets 260 00:23:41.200 --> 00:23:48.400 and evangelist and teachers and others, as he mentions and Effesians for and because 261 00:23:48.480 --> 00:23:51.279 of these things, because of his promise to us, because of the ways 262 00:23:51.359 --> 00:23:56.549 that he is working, we have this promise for prayer as well. Be 263 00:23:56.869 --> 00:24:02.109 Bold, he says, whatever you ask in my name, I will do. 264 00:24:03.269 --> 00:24:06.910 Jesus is on a mission and he wants us to be involved in that. 265 00:24:07.069 --> 00:24:10.940 He wants us to pray for the things that are according to his will, 266 00:24:11.660 --> 00:24:18.259 that are in his name. If you are asking for things in such 267 00:24:18.299 --> 00:24:22.420 a way that the father will be glorified through the son, that the Gospel 268 00:24:22.460 --> 00:24:26.769 will be made known, that the Cross of Christ will be preached, that 269 00:24:26.049 --> 00:24:30.250 the elect will be brought in, that the angels will rejoice and all of 270 00:24:30.369 --> 00:24:37.369 these wonderful things will happen, you can bet that God is going to answer 271 00:24:37.410 --> 00:24:41.200 your prayer. This is what God wants. This is not a promise to 272 00:24:41.279 --> 00:24:45.240 us that we can turn God into a vending machine and sort of pull that 273 00:24:45.359 --> 00:24:49.160 lever and just get anything out of there that we we happen to desire. 274 00:24:51.400 --> 00:24:55.910 It's things that we pray in his name. He says it twice in my 275 00:24:56.069 --> 00:25:00.549 name and my name. What are the things that Jesus is wants? That 276 00:25:00.630 --> 00:25:07.700 Jesus wants, I was telling US right here. He wants us to persevere, 277 00:25:07.619 --> 00:25:11.579 he wants us to grow, he wants his spirit to be at work 278 00:25:11.660 --> 00:25:18.460 within us. He wants us to love one another. He wants us to 279 00:25:18.500 --> 00:25:25.130 find victory through the cross. And that brings us to the age to come, 280 00:25:25.289 --> 00:25:29.089 the things that are promised by Christ. One day there will be a 281 00:25:29.529 --> 00:25:34.960 final removal of suffering, entrance into the presence of God, and not just 282 00:25:36.680 --> 00:25:44.960 eleven men, not just a big room full of dozens of people, but 283 00:25:45.160 --> 00:25:52.829 an innumerable host, as many as the stars, as many as the grains 284 00:25:52.950 --> 00:26:00.150 of sand by the ocean. Entrance into the presence of God, and not 285 00:26:00.430 --> 00:26:07.660 in the old way of pilgrims in ten smoothing from place to place, but 286 00:26:07.779 --> 00:26:17.740 in the home of the Lord Almighty, many rooms. Jesus goes to prepare 287 00:26:17.740 --> 00:26:22.970 a place for us, to prepare us for the place, for us, 288 00:26:23.329 --> 00:26:30.450 to get things ready to enter into the presence of the father in his glorified 289 00:26:30.769 --> 00:26:37.000 state, that we all might join him in that. And this is what 290 00:26:37.519 --> 00:26:45.880 the apostle talks about. In Philippians chapter two. I'll turn there and read 291 00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:52.750 to you, and Philippians two, verse five. The Lord's Apostle says, 292 00:26:52.829 --> 00:26:57.190 have this mind among yourselves, which is yours, in Christ Jesus, who, 293 00:26:57.269 --> 00:27:00.819 though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with 294 00:27:00.940 --> 00:27:06.339 God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of 295 00:27:06.380 --> 00:27:10.740 a servant. Being born in the likeness of men and being found in human 296 00:27:10.819 --> 00:27:15.730 form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even 297 00:27:15.769 --> 00:27:22.410 death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly Exalted Him and bestowed on 298 00:27:22.490 --> 00:27:26.930 him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of 299 00:27:26.049 --> 00:27:30.240 Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven, on earth and under the nerve 300 00:27:30.319 --> 00:27:37.720 earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of 301 00:27:37.920 --> 00:27:44.589 God, the Father There for my beloved, as you have always obeyed. 302 00:27:44.630 --> 00:27:48.710 So now, not only in my presence but much more in my absence, 303 00:27:48.269 --> 00:27:52.910 work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who 304 00:27:52.910 --> 00:28:00.940 works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure. In 305 00:28:02.059 --> 00:28:08.259 the same way that Abraham cast his eyes on Canaan and trusted that God would 306 00:28:08.299 --> 00:28:12.329 give this place to him. We look up to heaven, where our Lord 307 00:28:12.529 --> 00:28:18.690 is, and we know that we will go there someday, we will enter 308 00:28:18.730 --> 00:28:21.890 into the presence of God and there will be no more suffering, no more 309 00:28:22.089 --> 00:28:27.119 trial, no more distress, because God is with us and has been with 310 00:28:27.279 --> 00:28:34.440 us all the way to the end. Now, why is this true? 311 00:28:37.880 --> 00:28:41.109 All of this is true. These promises are true, both now and in 312 00:28:41.309 --> 00:28:52.069 this age and in the age to come, because Jesus is God, because 313 00:28:52.109 --> 00:29:00.539 he is in the father and the father is in him, and because he 314 00:29:00.779 --> 00:29:10.049 loves you. That is why Jesus is the way, the truth and the 315 00:29:10.369 --> 00:29:15.970 life, and no one comes to the father except through him. We have 316 00:29:17.410 --> 00:29:25.240 paired in the Gospel these two amazing truths, the awesome, Almighty power of 317 00:29:25.359 --> 00:29:30.480 this glorious God. Who says of the Devil, who Jesus says? Remember, 318 00:29:30.480 --> 00:29:34.319 he says that the devil is coming. The devil is is coming the 319 00:29:34.519 --> 00:29:37.839 this is verse thirty. I will no longer talk with you much, for 320 00:29:37.920 --> 00:29:42.789 the ruler is coming. And yet the second thing he says is he has 321 00:29:42.910 --> 00:29:48.589 no claim on me. Right, they are about to go through all kinds 322 00:29:48.670 --> 00:29:53.099 of intense suffering, Jesus himself and them as people are accusing them and trying 323 00:29:53.140 --> 00:29:56.779 to find them, and are you as disciple and are you as disciple? 324 00:29:56.539 --> 00:30:03.460 Satan is coming and he's bringing is a game and Jesus will die and Jesus 325 00:30:03.539 --> 00:30:11.130 will be buried and Jesus will stay buried for a time. But they have 326 00:30:11.369 --> 00:30:15.849 to remember, and we have to remember, he has no claim on me, 327 00:30:18.250 --> 00:30:23.640 he has no claim on me. Even in the suffering, even in 328 00:30:23.759 --> 00:30:27.400 the trials, even in the darkness, they have to remember that the devil 329 00:30:27.480 --> 00:30:33.279 has no claim on Jesus and he is no claim on those who are in 330 00:30:33.519 --> 00:30:37.430 him. So this awesome power of God in which he can look the devil 331 00:30:37.589 --> 00:30:41.869 in the eye and say, you got nothing, I will rise from the 332 00:30:41.910 --> 00:30:47.589 dead and I will use everything that you're doing to accomplish my perfect salvation for 333 00:30:47.710 --> 00:30:52.500 my people, and this awesome power, in this glorious of this glorious God, 334 00:30:52.099 --> 00:30:59.140 coupled with this amazing loving grace in which he speaks to us and he 335 00:30:59.299 --> 00:31:06.849 says come unto me, all you who are distressed and wearied and heavy laden, 336 00:31:06.930 --> 00:31:10.049 and I will give you rest, because I am the way, the 337 00:31:10.250 --> 00:31:17.490 truth and the life. There's this amazing I think it's amazing, this wonderful 338 00:31:17.569 --> 00:31:19.960 scene. A metaphor of this in the silver chair that see us, Lewis 339 00:31:21.680 --> 00:31:26.839 tells in us one of his books in the chronicles of Narnia. I'm paraphrasing 340 00:31:26.880 --> 00:31:33.190 and I'm sorry if I get some of the details wrong, but Lucy sees 341 00:31:33.349 --> 00:31:42.309 as land and she's very, very thirsty, just very thirsty. And as 342 00:31:42.390 --> 00:31:45.390 land shows her the water and says here, this is the water that you 343 00:31:45.470 --> 00:31:52.019 need to drink. And she says, but I'm scared of you. What 344 00:31:52.140 --> 00:31:56.500 if you eat me? You're not going to eat me, are you? 345 00:31:57.339 --> 00:32:02.609 And he says, I've devoured men and women and boys and girls and even 346 00:32:02.690 --> 00:32:07.849 whole empires and kingdoms. She says, well then, I guess I'll have 347 00:32:07.930 --> 00:32:13.849 to go find another stream. And as land says to Lucy, there is 348 00:32:14.009 --> 00:32:20.960 no other stream. So she has a choice to make. She has a 349 00:32:21.039 --> 00:32:27.279 choice to make. What will she do and will will she die in her 350 00:32:27.480 --> 00:32:34.269 thirst or will she trust this awesome, fearsome lion? That's the same thing 351 00:32:34.390 --> 00:32:37.789 for us. We can't change Jesus. We can't, we don't want to, 352 00:32:38.630 --> 00:32:44.980 we shouldn't, but he's our everything. We don't make him any less 353 00:32:45.019 --> 00:32:47.339 than he is. But because he is who he is. He is our 354 00:32:47.460 --> 00:32:55.099 hope, he's our confidence against our sin, the world and the devil too. 355 00:32:59.690 --> 00:33:02.009 So what do we do with all of this? Well, we do 356 00:33:02.210 --> 00:33:09.890 is Jesus calls us to do, to believe, to trust him and to 357 00:33:09.970 --> 00:33:15.640 find our life in his life. And when you do that, you will 358 00:33:15.680 --> 00:33:21.759 know that it will be eternal life, forever life, abundant life, glorified 359 00:33:21.920 --> 00:33:30.750 life, and the age to come anticipated even now. So let's pray and 360 00:33:30.869 --> 00:33:35.029 ask that God would help us to believe as he calls us to