Before we begin, I started to
write a little note and I ended up typing the whole page out.
When you sit under someone that God has made faithful, when you
sit under a pastor faithfully for 10 years, for 20 years, for
35 years, sooner or later you're going to learn something. Now,
even those that are never regenerated, those that sit underneath the
gospel and they hear it for decades and decades and God never works
in them, even they're gonna pick up some things. They're gonna
pick up on some good sayings or some good habits, something,
ain't it? When you're around believers,
mature believers, for a long time, and you see them walk,
and you see them talk, and you see them go through trials, and
you see them fall down, and you see them brought back up decade
after decade. In person, not on TV, not in
a book, not that you read about it, not paper, not digital. Iron
doesn't sharpen by digital means and paperback. Iron sharpened
by iron, that's in person. Decade after decade, you're gonna
learn some things. One of the things you're gonna
learn is that preacher or pastor made faithful by God, they're
just sinners saved by grace in need of mercy. There ain't no
difference. James spoke of Elijah. Boy, what
a prophet. What a prophet. There was apostles,
and there's prophets, and then there's teachers, and then there's
miracles. That's what Paul said, wasn't
it? He was a prophet. And James said, Elijah was a
man subject to like passions as we are. He ain't no different. But he prayed earnestly that
it might not rain. And guess what? Three and a half
years rained in Paul. an old sinner saved by grace.
You will learn also sometimes it will be through a shameful
experience and it's going to be well learned. If that's the
case, you ain't gonna forget it. To wait on the Lord. Just to wait. Several of us were
about to go to a conference together, and there's gonna be a lot of
people there that do not regularly hear the gospel. They do not
sit underneath the gospel preacher. And there may be some tensions.
They're gonna hear some things, We're going to say these things,
and they might have some passions, and they may have some ideas.
They may think things. What's that? Heresies, isn't
it? We're going to learn. Takes a long time, don't it?
Decades. We're going to learn to leave them alone. The Lord
might be dealing with them. Henry, Clay, Don, I've heard them say
these several times. You've heard them say this several
times. If you hear somebody preach and the Lord's working in you
and hit, boy, just get you. And it makes you, sometimes we
get mad. Sometimes we get sad. Sometimes we get a little fired
up, don't we? I've heard him say it over and over again. You've
heard him say it over again. If something, they say something,
a faithful man of God, you go and you study that. passage,
and you go and you pray about that passage, at least, that
topic or that passage, at least as long as that preacher has,
before you go accusing and correcting and fighting with them, of which
I strongly caution against. Don't do it. I saw a mixed martial
artist, women fighters. They gave him a clip. Another
guy that fights for a living, a drunk come up to him and pushed
him and screamed and cussed. He said, what do you think about
that? He goes, I think that drunk fellow has never been beat up
real good. That professional fighter just let him go. I could
knock you out right now. He let it go. I'm gonna say some things tonight.
that's gonna offend natural man. If we have two natures, and we
hear these things, that new man's gonna love it. You hear these
things, you're gonna say, them things are right. Boy, that's
good. And that old man's gonna kick
against the bricks as hard as he can. And say, I know of some
obscure verse that means that that ain't what that means. Calm
down. Just see what God has to say,
okay? 63 times in John alone, we hear about these things. He
said these things, he did these things. These things is what
took place. And all this we've been reading
since chapter 13. It's taking place the same night. When we pick up there and the
Lord washed their feet and they sucked, in chapter 13, no one's
been asleep yet all the way up to our text. This is the same
evening. Look here in John 13. John chapter 13. The Lord washed the disciples'
feet, gave them some warnings, told
them some things, and he said, one of you is gonna betray me.
And John said, Lord, who's it gonna be? Verse 26, John 13,
26. And Jesus answered, he it is
to whom I shall give a sop when I have dipped it. And when he
had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of
Simon. And after the sop, Satan entered
into him, into Judas. Then said Jesus unto him, that thou doest do quickly. Now,
no man at the table knew for what intent he spake this unto
him. From John 13, 31 to the end of
chapter 16, our Lord speaking with the 11. He sends you this
way. He's speaking with the 11. And
I want to consider that what we just read. This hour has come. He tells Satan and Judas, that
thou doest do quickly. He's about to drink of that cup
the father has given him. We read that in John 18. His
hours come. That's heavy. That's heavy. And he spends the remaining time
teaching and preparing his apostles. He didn't say, leave me alone.
I got some heavy things going on. Go over there. I want to
tell you some things. I'm going to tell you that I
have some things I need to tell you. I got a lot more I'm going
to tell you. You can't handle it right now. But I'm going to lay
these things down, this groundwork, and you're going to remember
it later on. And from 13 through 16, he pretty well says the same
thing over and over again. He says it often. I've heard
preachers, my pastor and others, and they say things 100 times,
200 times, 500 times, and somebody says, I never heard you say that
before. We read it in our text. They
say, oh, now you're speaking plainly. He spoke plainly that
whole evening, hadn't he? For three and a half years, he
spoke plainly to them. He tells him he's about to be
glorified. He's gonna glorify the Father. He's gonna go to
the Father. He said, I'm going away and y'all gonna need one
another. I'm gonna put you to work, because
that's what servants do. They don't sit around the house
and play games all day. Servants work. And he said, you're gonna
work. I'm gonna send you out, and you're gonna need one another.
Look at verse 34. He says, a new commandment I give unto you,
that you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also
love one another. By this shall all men know you
are my disciples, if you have love one towards another. Did
he say, by your doctrine, everybody's gonna know you're right, because
you got the right doctrine? Did he say, by the church that you
go to, everybody's gonna know you're my people? Did he say,
by the right preacher, that real famous preacher that everybody
knows, I said underneath him, that's how they're gonna know?
He said, by love. By love, how you gonna know one
another? Peter said, where you going, Lord? Where are you going? Verse 36, Simon Peter said to
him, Lord, where goest thou? And Jesus answered him, whether
I go, thou canst not follow me now, but thou shalt follow me
afterwards. I'm going somewhere you can't
go, but later you're gonna go with me. You're gonna be where
I am. That's plain, isn't it? If we
believe and we trust him, okay. Go eat a ham sandwich. Calm down. People tell me I doubt too much.
I've ate a lot of sandwiches, look at me. Pretty calm. Peter
said unto him, Lord, why can I not follow thee now? I will
lay down my life for thy sake. Our pride and ability, our faith,
our love, our dedication, our motivation of us, it will all
be put in its place in the dust. It'll be put in the dust, and
we will be made to need, to cling to, and to praise His ability,
His faith, His love, His dedication, His motives. That's going to
happen. Jesus answered him. Verse 38,
Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Peter said, I'll die
with you. Oh, really? Will you? Remember that time I said, he
said, can you be baptized with the baptism? I'm going to be
baptized. I said, we can. He just said, yeah, you're going
gentle and tender and kind. He said, will thou lay down my
life for my sake? Barely, barely. Truly, truly, I say unto you,
the cock shall not crow until thou hast denied me thrice. Three
times, Peter. That's where your dedication
unto death's gonna go. You're gonna deny me. You're
gonna deny me. I have work to do. You don't. But you're gonna love one another,
and I'm gonna go to the Father, and I'm gonna bring him. And
you're gonna have trouble, and I'm gonna send a comforter to
you. And you're going to be comforted because you'll see me, and what
I did, and my love, and my steadfastness. And you'll be comforted. You'll
have joy when you see me. And everything's going to be
smooth. And you know what's going to happen? You're going to start
thinking, you made it smooth. And you're going to start thinking,
you understand now. And you're going to start thinking,
you were faithful. And you're going to end up in a bunch of
trouble. And you know what's going to happen? You're gonna be in trouble, and
your brethren will have to forgive you, and I'm gonna send a comforter,
and he's gonna show you me, and you're gonna see me and my faithfulness.
We're gonna see it over and over and over again. Chapter 14, he
tells him, as soon as he tells Peter, he says, you're gonna
deny me before the cock crows three times. And he said, don't
let your heart be troubled. You believe in God. Did Peter believe
in God? God said Peter believed in God. He did, didn't he? That's what matters. When Peter
said, Lord, you know, I love you. Peter did not say, Lord,
I know I love you. He said, you know it because
you're God. That's the difference, isn't
it? He said, you believe in God, Peter. He said, you believe also
in me. He said, I'm going to go prepare a place for you. And
I'm going to come back. I'm going to receive you to myself.
I'm going to do all this. And they were worried. He says
he's going to leave him. And I said, well, how do we know
where you want to go? We ain't even got a map. We don't
know what you're talking about. And he says, I'm the way. I'm
the way. And I said, you're going to the
father. And you said, well, he's going to end up at the father's? And this father
that you said loves us and we believe him, how are we going
to see him? And he said, if you've seen me,
you've seen the father. These things are too much for
you now. He said, I'll send the comforter. You can't absorb all
what I'm telling you right now. I'll send the comforter. When
this plays out, you'll say, I know what he meant now. That spirit
of truth is going to come to you. And he's going to bring
into remembrance all the things I said. And you're going to be
troubled and you're going to be afraid. It's going to happen
again. Look at verse 25, John 14, 25. He said, these things
have I spoken unto you. being yet present with you. I'm
here in the flesh, I'm telling you this in person. Verse 27,
peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you, not
as the world giveth, give I unto you. He says, let not your heart
be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Why? Because your heart's troubled
and your heart's afraid when I say these things. You have
sorrow in you, don't you? He goes on chapter 15, he says,
we're one. He said, I might no longer be
seen by your eyes of flesh, but I'm the vine, you're the branches.
That's his, where does one start and where does one end? We can't
tell. That's unity, isn't it? We are united. And this is because
of my love. And now during the hard times,
y'all hug up close to each other. When you physically don't see
me no more. John 15 verse nine says, as the father hath loved
me, There's no words our brains could understand. As the father,
after this manner, the same way the father hath loved me, so
have I loved you. Continue ye in my love. John 15 verse 11. He says, these
things have I spoken unto you that your joy might remain in
you and that your joy might be full. I've told you these things
to give you joy. He said, this is my commandment,
that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love
hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
You are my friends. If you do whatsoever I command
you. What did he command him? Love one another. I don't know
if I can do that. Well, stop doing it. I can't
do that either. Quit loving. I can't. And when
we can, start loving. It's His love in us, isn't it?
It's shed abroad in us. What makes that necessary? That
you love one another? Well, one, He commanded it. Yes,
I understand that. That makes it necessary. But
what makes it necessary as the commandment to love one another
plays out? You're going to be hated by the world. You're going
to need somebody to love you. You're going to need to love
somebody. They won't let you love them. What strengthens that love? You're
going to be hated by the world. And when only your brethren love
you, that's gonna make you love them all the more. We're in it through thick and
thin. We're just the same. He's kept both. Me and brother
Luke Coffey sat down and talked one day. And I said, we're the
same age, we're the same grade in high school. And I said, Lord's
kept us our whole lives. As hard as both of us try to
run, just as fast as we can go, he's kept us, he's sustained,
isn't that good? Let's thank him. Let's thank
him. That knits it a little tighter,
don't it? These things gonna keep happening.
He said, I'm going, my father, I love you. You love one another.
Your brethren's gonna fall and they're gonna fail. Now you pick
one another up and you forgive one another, because next time
it's gonna be your turn to fall and fail. The world's against
you. And whenever that gets just so
deep and dark, I'm gonna send the comforter and you're gonna
see me and you're gonna need me and you're gonna learn of
me and then you're gonna testify of me. all over again. Look at verse 26, John 15, 26.
But when the comforter has come, whom I will send unto you from
the Father, even the spirit of truth, which proceedeth from
the Father, he shall testify of me. That's what's gonna happen.
And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me
from the beginning. Because you've always been in
me, because that unity, you're gonna testify. In chapter 16,
verse one, he said, I've told you these things, But I told
you all this, that you should not be offended, that you don't
fall into scandalous things. The world's going to kick you
out of their religious circles. They're going to kick you out
of the synagogues because they don't know the father and they
don't know me. But you do. That's why they're
mad. That's why. Remember all those
good churchy people you grew up with your whole life, and
then the Lord saved you, and now all of a sudden you can't
be friends with them? They don't want nothing to do with you?
Why? You ain't got nothing in common.
You ain't got nothing in common. They're gonna run you out of
town. Kill you if they can. And if they kill you, they think
they're doing God a favor. I tell you what, I'm gonna sort them
out. Both sides kind of look the same.
Peter's going to sort some ears off of people, wouldn't he? Verse
four, John 16, four. But these things have I told
you that when the time shall come, you may remember that I
told you of them. He's the only one that can stir
up the pure mind. He's the only one that can make
that word like a two edged sword and cut. He can wound and heal
in one blow. He's the only one that can do
it. Verse six, but because I've said
these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart. Verses
seven through 15, he says, you're going to be down the road and
you're going to be sad. You're going to be afraid and you're
going to be troubled. And I'll send the comforter spirit truth. And he'll
point you to me again. Verse 16, he says a little while
and he shall not see me. And again, a little while and
he shall see me because I go to the father. Then said some
of his disciples among themselves, what is this that he saith unto
us? A little while, and ye shall
not see me again, and a little while, and ye shall see me, and
because I go to the Father. And they said, therefore, what
is this that he saith a little while? We can't tell what he
saith. They were confused. The Lord's telling them these
things over and over and over again, and they don't get it.
We have to be told things over and over and over again. Sometimes
we don't get it. Ain't that right? They were like
little children. They were confused because they
didn't understand. They were troubled. It bothered them. If
the God, man, and human flesh is explaining something to you
over and over and you don't understand it, you know what I'd be? I'd
be afraid. What'd he tell them? Let not your heart be troubled.
Be not afraid, right? Verses 19 through 24, he said,
I'm going to my father and you're going to be sorrowful just like
a woman in labor. and you're going to prevail, and then when
I'm revealed in your hearts, there's going to be joy. When
you see me manifest in you, there's going to be joy, just like that
woman having a baby. You're going to forget all that pain. See that
pattern? These things are repeating. He
says, for my name's sake, you ask what you will, and you'll
receive it, and your joy is going to be full because it's from
me. Now in our text, verse 25. These things have I spoken unto
you in Proverbs, that the time cometh When I shall no more speak
unto you in Proverbs, but shall show you plainly of the Father.
At that day, that ain't this day, is it? When
that day comes. At that day, you shall ask in
my name, and I say not unto you that I will pray the Father for
you, for the Father himself loveth you. He said, you pray right
to the Father. That's how he taught us. He said, hey, teach
us how to pray, Lord. And they said, all right, like
this. Our Father, who art in heaven. That's who we pray to,
isn't it, the Father? He said, for the Father himself loveth
you, because ye have loved me and have believed I came out
from God. And here's the sum of it all in one sentence, verse
28. I came forth from the Father, he descended from on high, and
am coming to the world, made like as we are, made under the
law. Again, I leave the world, I finish the work, and go to
the Father. I'm on my throne, I'm gonna wait
till my last child knows me. That's it, that's it, that's
substitution, satisfaction. All of it right there, isn't
it? His disciples said to him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly,
and speakest no proverb. You said you was going to, that's
right now, you're speaking plainly right now. Now we are sure, we
wasn't sure before, but now we are, that thou knowest all things. You didn't know he knew all things
before this? That's what they said. Now we are sure that thou
knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee.
By this, by what we just experienced, by what you just said, we believe
that thou comest forth from God. They had their wisdom, their
intellect finally got a hold of it. They finally discerned
things, didn't it? What fleshly understanding they
were assuming. What a poor attitude. They're
blaming God for their not understanding all these things before. They
said, you was talking to us the way, now you're speaking plainly.
I'd understood before if you'd have just spoke, right? It's
what they're saying. If you'd just been clear, brethren,
we are helpless, hopeless, ignorant maggots apart from Christ who
loved us and gave himself for us. We have no wisdom but his
wisdom. Well, we think we do. And guess
what? We're gonna get in trouble. That pattern's gonna go over
it. We're gonna get down. We're gonna need mercy. He's
gonna have to send a comforter. Show us him again and we'll have
joy. Verse 31, Jesus answered him,
do you now believe? They said, now we believe. He
said, oh really? Do you? Did your intellect sort this
out? Did your discernment? I've heard people say that before.
I said something one time and somebody said, you know what
I've been thinking and I've decided you're right. What changed? What was the difference? What
happened? Yes, they come to a better end. I've came to the doctrines
of grace. I found the right path. I found the right things. I found
that church was wrong. That church was wrong. That church
is wrong. But I found the right church. You ain't been wrong
yet. You get that? God's gonna have to teach us
that. They said, now we believe. He said, do you? Do you now believe? Remember what he's asking Peter
just a little bit earlier? He said, I'll lay down my life
for your sake. He said, will you lay down your
life? You going to? You're going to run for the hills,
Peter. You're weaker in pond water. I'm your strength. I'm your strength. That's getting
down to splitting hairs. No, it ain't. It's getting down
to salvation and damnation is what it's getting down to. Hey,
the Christ is our all. He'll reveal himself and he keeps
us and it's him all 100% or we're gonna be cast in a lake of fire
forever. Thankfully, he's faithful to
keep his children. He's faithful to teach his children. Not me,
not you, not somebody else. He is, he's faithful to do it.
Verse 32. You think you're gonna believe?
Verse 32. Behold, thou cometh, yea, is now come. Here in just
a short little bit of while, you're gonna be scattered. You
ain't even gonna hold hands on your way out the door. Every
man for himself, scattered. You're gonna look out for number
one. That's what you're gonna look
for. And it says every man to his own. Did he say 95% of y'all
is gonna go to y'all? That means your own house, your
own abode. You're gonna go find your own
place to dwell. And you ain't gonna dwell with me, you're gonna
run. Oh, now we believe, do you? Every one of you is going to,
without me, is going to run away and shall leave me alone. Cause
he's about to tread the wine press. He's about to shed that
blood and you ain't going to have a part in it that say, you
know what I did? I pushed on that, that trendle on the wine
press a little bit. I made sure that that spigot
was closed off good on that wine press. You ain't going to be
in town when it happens. He said, I'm going to do it. I'm going
to finish this work and I'm going to go to the father. He said,
you shall leave me alone, and yet I am not alone, because the
Father's with me. He's the Son of God, He is God.
You cannot and will not in yourselves uphold your end. I'm about to. And you'll thank me for it. You'll
thank me for it. We're gonna have peace only in
Him. Not in our doing, not in our
understanding, not in our learning, not in our discernment. We'll
have it in Him only. And that's it. Look here in verse
33. These things I have spoken unto you that in me you might
have peace. That don't sound peaceful. You
said, I ain't going to uphold my end. I said, I believe you.
You said, do you believe? I said, I'm going to lay down
my life. You going to lay down your life? How's that supposed
to be peace? Because it's not going to be
of you, it's going to be of me. And the only way peace is found
is in me. He said, I've said these things to you. And in me,
only in him, in the person, you might have peace. Not in your
faith, not in your attendance, not in your prayer, not in your
conference attending, not in your reading, not in my preaching.
I've preached the Lord's used me to save people. Nope, that
ain't peace. It don't give me a lick of peace. He gives me peace. My peace is
in him. In him alone. Peace. How does
that hit us? Feelings come and feelings go
and feelings are deceiving. We don't know nothing and we
can be knocked unconscious with one little swing of an acorn
off a tree. Be out of our minds. But we do
have feelings. We do. We have the feeling of
peace, don't we? Calm, tranquility, restfulness,
contentment. The Lord gives us those things.
We can have peace in the mind and peace in the heart, peace
in the family, peace in our job. At times, can't we? We can have
those things, but that means absolutely nothing if the foundation
of peace is not established. That's what he's going to do.
He's preparing a place. He's making peace. People say,
I've made my peace with God. No, you ain't. He's the peacemaker,
not you. He's the one. Well, I feel pretty
warm and fuzzy on the inside. Well, you might be drunk on the
wine of Babylon. I don't know. There's preachers all across
this world. They're plentiful, most of them.
Some of some people I know listen to. They cry peace, peace, where
there's no peace, because it's giving you something to do. They're
telling you, you can tough it out. You can stick with him.
You can lay down your life for him. He needs you. That's a lie. It may give you a warm fuzzy,
but that has no foundation. That's not the verb of peace,
it's the noun of peace, the foundation. What's that? There's no war.
Speak ye comfortably, speak to the heart, speak peace to my
people. There's no war. There's no wickedness left in
you, who he died for me, for his people, before, now, and
after. There's no more wickedness for
God to be angry at. Christ is born. That's where
he's going. Hours come. Romans 8, 1, Paul said, there
is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus.
We're in him. That's peace, buddy. War's over. I did all the making of the condemnation. I earned all that. And he settled
it. He took care of it. He was my
substitute. We just read, looked at Psalm
45 the other day. Psalmist was writing, my heart's
gushing with a good matter. That's good news. You ever been
at war with God, been an enemy of the state, of the king? If
you are, buddy, I got good news to tell you. My heart's gushing
about it. I speak of things which I made touching the king. That's
who he was talking about. He said, grace pours from his
lips. He said, I've said all these things, you have peace.
That's pretty good, isn't it? Because I'm laying down my life. You're
my friends. We'll see at the end, I'll jump
to it. Be of good cheer. He says, be of good cheer. You
can be of good cheer. I said, you may want to pack
a parachute. I don't know. He says it. Grace pours from
his lips. He girds up his sword on his
thigh. He's going to battle for us. He's our defender. He's the
captain of our salvation. He commands it as the commander.
His throne's forever. He's holy. He smells like royalty.
Remember that myrrh? That I love? Oh, he smells good. Smells like sanctification and
substitution. Smells like grace. He does. That's peace, isn't it? substitution
and he's called his bride he's provided everything for his bride
he's gave her her wedding garments he's provided the feast he's
going to serve her at the feast and we rejoice with him psalm
45 15 says with gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought
is he going to lose one uh-uh he's going to go get her That's
peace, and they shall enter into the king's palace. Where's that
found? Where's this peace found? There's
no more war of God, the holy God we offended, and more than
what's just setting Adam back to zero, more than restoring
that, the war made one with him. Joint heirs. Count your blessings. You're
gonna need more than one pencil, I can tell you that. You'll run
out of paper, there ain't enough trees on earth. Where's all that's
found? Verse 33 said, these things I've
told you, these things I've spoken unto you, that in me you might
have peace. Does that get old? Does that get tiresome to you? You can go read Ephesians 1,
but blessed be the God and Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ, who
has blessed us with all spiritual blessings and heavenly places
in Christ. Where was we chose? He elected
the people in Him. We're predestinated to the adoption
of children by Christ, to the praise of His grace and glory.
We've been accepted, accepted in the beloved, in Him, in whom
we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
That's what it is. That's the no condemnation. It's
not just as if I had not sinned. We're justified. Ain't no record. Go look it up. You can't, can't
Google it, ain't there. There's no Wikipedia page on it. It's
gone. He put it away as far as the East is from the West, the
forgiveness of sins. He's just in doing so, and he's
the absolute only one that justified. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,
saith the God. Speak ye comfort to Jerusalem, crying to her that
her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned. I've took care of it. She's received
double for the Lord's hand for all her sins. Now that foundation,
feelings don't matter. That foundation, if I don't make
you have a good feeling on him, if we're turned to him and that
comforter comes and we see him and all he's doing, I'll tell
you what, baby, we're happy. It's happenstance, it's every
now and then, but it's right now. That's good. That's good. In him, you're going
to have peace. That in me, you might have peace.
In the world, we're going to have trouble. Believer has two
lives. One's in Christ, he's in us.
One's in this world. I'm passing through this world,
I'm dead to this world, but guess what? I'm here. Are you? You gotta go to work tomorrow
morning? You gotta get up and go to people in this world that
doesn't understand you, it doesn't speak like you, it doesn't think
things that you do. They say, well, Lord did that. They say,
what's wrong with you? Those are old fashioned values. They say all kinds of horrible
things, don't they? Or trying to be nice. We had some friends
try to be nice to us, and they say what they think that's right,
and you just gotta grin and bear it. They don't know what they're
talking about. They're dead. They can't speak like the Lord's
people do. In the world, you're gonna have trouble. He said,
these things are spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace.
In the world, it's where we are now, you shall have tribulation. Everybody's preaching health
and wealth and prosperity and all that stuff. The Lord said, you're
gonna have tribulation. Get ready for it. Here it comes. Why? I'll give you three quick
things. Why do we have tribulation in this world? One, everybody
does. We're members of the human race.
Do you know that? How many races are there? Nobody
asked that question. There's one. Adam's race. When we sin
against God, we're in trouble. That'd be a good thing to tell
everybody on the news. We fell in Adam. We ain't living in that
garden no more. Job said man's born a woman and in a few days
I'm full of trouble. We're humans, this body's dying
from the second we're born. It ain't gonna get no better.
The heathen gets sick, I get sick, you get sick, you get a
cold. You get tennis elbow, I don't know, everything happens. They
have family problems, I have family problems. They have a
rough day at work, guess what, I have a rough day at work. You
have a rough day at work? That's just a part of being alive, isn't
it? They age because of sin. I'm getting older because of
sin. They haven't appointed a day. We haven't appointed a day. People
die all around them, their loved ones, their enemies. So do our
friends, our family, and our foes. They die too, don't they?
We're just humans. We're going to have trouble.
That's just the baseline, isn't it? Secondly, we're going to
have trouble because we're believers. if God gave us life. We're believers. Those that hate God cannot be
friends with those that God's friends with. He said, you're
my friends. And if they hate him, they're
going to hate his friends too. Ain't they? We're believers. We're not of this world, but
we're in it. We don't think like the world does. We don't talk
like the world does. Why? We have a new creation inside
of us. His handiwork, different. Did Ishmael, Catch a hard time? Nah, he had it pretty easy. What
about Isaac? Oh, buddy, that's the chosen one. We don't like
him. He's gonna get ridiculed. He didn't get picked on. We'll
have trouble in this world because we're the descendants of Adam.
We're children of the almighty sovereign God who's on his throne,
and we know him to any degree that a man can, and we understand
his will, don't we? He's gonna glorify himself, and
he's gonna take care of us. That's so, makes us different. And being
a child of God, if you've dozed off, catch up with me now. Here's
where it's going to be good for us, okay? Being a child of God,
we're going to have trouble because he's going to teach us some things.
He's going to teach us some things. To have it too easy is bad. You
children are going to have hard times coming. I hope so. You're
going to be spoiled rotten. He chastens those that he loves.
And we're going to have trouble in this world like, so we don't
like this world. I've been asked to pray for people
around the world and sometimes it's very pointed. I'm told what
to pray for. That's a trial be lifted. It'll
be eased that if there's the illness, that'll be total healing
or something. That's not good. You hear me? That's not good. I don't want to walk out of the
valley and I don't want you walking out of a valley unless we're
holding his hand when we go. He's gonna teach us to cling
to him. He's got a hold of us. He's gonna teach us to hold onto
him. That might be why we have trouble in this world. I don't
want to move from darkness. What if I feel like he's hid
his face from me and I can't see him? You talk about dark
times. You start feeling like you've been left alone. Do I
want some kind of, I want that to end too quick? Do I want to
have some kind of false hope? I don't want to come out from
that darkness and I don't want you to come out from that darkness
unless we've been led by his light and we see him as the only
light. Let's return to him. Unless it's
accomplished what he sent it to accomplish. I don't want relief
from a sickness unless my great position does the relieving.
I'll wait on him. Now he may send the mains and
I'll take the mains, but I want to see him before I troubles
lift. Our troubles in this world, they turn us from the world,
and from our knowledge, and from our intellect, and our wisdom,
and they turn us to a person, our peace, the Lord, our righteousness.
That's what the trouble's for. In the world, you're going to
have trouble. You're going to. Trouble's the medicine that turns
us from the world and ourselves to Christ our King. Paul said
that we just read Romans 8, peace comes first. Ain't you thankful
for that? Ain't you glad? Thank you, Lord. You gave the
sweet, we had dessert first. Isn't that good? I'm glad. You need that sometimes. He said,
just be a little while. If I said, you know what, it's
gonna be, it's gonna be real rough for an hour and then it's
all gonna be good. I can stand on my head for an hour. I can
probably just grin and bear it and take it real, just for a
little bit, can't we? That's tender and kind, isn't it? Paul
said, we read in Romans 8, there's therefore now no condemnation.
How'd he get there? In Romans 7, he said, I see a
law of my members warring against the law of my mind, bringing
me into captivity of the law of sin, which is in my members.
Oh, wretched man that I am. Who shall deliver me? Not what?
Huh? because he's learned something.
Ooh, shall deliver me from the body of this death, this trouble,
this world. What's the rest of it say? You
know, I thank God through Christ Jesus our Lord, period. That's
his answer. He's the deliverer. There's therefore
now no condemnation. That's good, isn't it? Paul says,
wherein you greatly rejoice, though now for a seasoneth deep
be, you're in heaviness through manifold temptations. You may
have heavy trials, and a manifold, a whole bunch of them, that the
trial of your faith, being much more precious than that of gold
which perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found
unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.
whom you have not seen you love and whom though now you see him
not yet believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full
of glory when we see him, don't we? When we think about smelling
him, don't that make you happy? Receiving the end of your faith,
the salvation of the soul. Because that's him, he's the
salvation. It says in verse 33, these things have I spoken unto
you that in me you might have peace, In the world, you shall
have tribulation, but be of good cheer. When he says you be of
good cheer, you be of good cheer. Why? I've overcome the world.
We're still in this world, we're still alive, we're walking through
this world, but we know He's conquered it. We know it's finished. We know He's our peace, don't
we? And we're walking in faith. That's for our good. It ain't
a time I've ever been chasing. It ain't for my good, and it
wasn't for His glory, and it wasn't for our brethren, too. In Acts 2, it says they were
continuing one accord of breaking bread house to house, and they
ate their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising
God and having favor with all the people. And what'd the Lord
do? He added to the church daily,
it should be saved. What's going to use that? We're going to go
through low times. So we rejoice in him. And he's
someone who said, what, who are they talking about? I want to
be happy. Like they're happy. I want to
be, they'll call it resilience in our day, don't. Somebody asked
me one time, I said, how are you so resilient? I said, God
sustains me if he sees fit. That's how resilient, that's
how anybody is. Peter said also, he said, whom
resisteth steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions
are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. The Lord
may give us afflictions in this body and in our mind and our
family. That way, when our brethren go
through that, we can look at them and say, I've been through
it. You want me to tell you what's going to happen? You're going
to see Christ at the end of this, and he's going to comfort you
in that. Believe me, I know. If Lazarus came to you and said,
you're about to die, I died before, let me tell you what's going
to happen. You're going to open your eyes and see him. That's
what you're going to see. And I said, my brother has been
through that. He loves me. Because he said, love one another, don't
he? He said, Lord may give us troubles and trials to put us
through so we can just be of a comfort to one another. He comforts us in all tribulations
that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble.
By the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. The same
thing he comforts us with. Ain't nothing different. Lord
was sending out those 12 and he warned them the trouble to
come. And he said, fear not them which
kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul. Rather fear
him, which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. That's
who we're concerned. That's who we honor. That's who
we fear, isn't it? These things have I spoken unto
you that you might have peace. Told you all these things. In
the world, you're going to have trouble. You shall have tribulation, but
be of good cheer. Be a happy people. Be a thankful
people, be a merciful people, because I have overcome the world. Told Satan, he said, go do what
you're gonna do and do it quick. And he spent the rest of that
night telling the same things to a bunch of thick-headed worms. Guy's just like me. And he was
patient and long-suffering and tender to him and he wanted to
have peace. And he gave it to him and he did. And that was
it. Chapter 17 verse one, these words
speak Jesus. He told him all these things
and he lifted up his eyes to heaven. He wasn't talking to
them no more, but they could listen. And he said, father,
the hours come glorify thy son, that thy son may also glorify
thee. I've got a glimpse of his glory.
who he is, what he's done, as much as his pea brain can understand
it. I'm happy. That gives me peace. And then
when that trouble that shall come, I'm a little bit good cheer. I can go eat a sandwich, sit
underneath the shade tree and be all right. Why? He's overcome
the world. He said it, I believe him. Do
you? Do you now believe? We will,
won't we? Amen. Let's pray together. Father, how patient and long-suffering you are with your children. Lord,
we're thankful. Thank you for these words that
you moved John to write for us and record our Lord speaking
and us seeing his tenderness and his strength and power, his
kindness towards sinners. Make us kind and tenderhearted
and long-suffering and patient, Lord, through the trouble that
you send us. Keep the trial that you've given each of your children
until it accomplishes what you've sent it to do. Give us trials that we may comfort
those that are in trials, Lord. Make us cheerful during them,
not as those that don't have hope, Those that know the true
and living God who's revealed himself to us, we're thankful.
Thank you for this day, Lord. Thank you for our brethren and
thank you for our King. It's in his name only that we
ask it. Amen.