to John chapter 14, if you would,
John chapter 14. And what I'd like to do tonight
is for us to consider the relationship to something that the Lord says
in John 14 when he says, because I live, you will live also. And
then in John 15, he refers to himself as the true vine. I am
the true vine. and speaks of his people as the
branches. And I'd just like us to consider
briefly tonight the relationship between those two things and
trust that the Lord would bless us in that. So let me read those
first, John 14 and verse 19. Jesus says, a little while longer,
speaking to his disciples, A little while longer, and the world will
see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you will
live also. At that day, you will know that
I am in my father, and you in me, and I in you." And then just
over to chapter 15, and let's read just the first five verses
there. Jesus says, I am the true vine,
and my father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does
not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that bears fruit
he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean
because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and
I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it
abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I
am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in
him bears much fruit, for without me you can do nothing. And in that last statement, I'll
tell you I prayed that before coming to preach tonight, that
the Lord would would be pleased to help me and give me the words
to preach and that he would give me something
because without him I can do nothing. And it'll be a prayer
I'll pray every time before I preach for the rest of my life. Because
it's true, it is absolutely true And it's true not only of preaching,
but it's true for every one of you is the Lord's people. There's nothing that you can
do that is pleasing to God, that is honoring to God, that is good,
that is righteous, unless it's given to you by him. and how
much more dependent we should be upon our Lord and our Savior. Recognize that without him we
can do nothing, we truly can do nothing. But having said that, I think in these verses, in this
text that he speaks to his disciples at this critical time, we find
tremendous blessing and tremendous encouragement. And I think before
we consider these two short passages, I'd like to remind us of the
context that these words come in. I think you well know that
The context in which something is said can often, not necessarily
change, it can't even change the meaning of something, but
it definitely can shed a different shade of understanding on it.
And these verses, particularly in John 15, are verses that are
very important to understand the context. And so let's just
consider that, Jesus, As you know, leading up to chapter 14,
Jesus had told his disciples that he would be leaving them.
He said, little children, I will be with you a while longer. And
then he speaks about the fact that he's going to be leaving
them. And upon hearing this, you know that the disciples were
troubled. They were very disturbed about
that. And they were distressed. And it's understandable, isn't
it? Think about this. Every day. Every day with Jesus. This is
the life of those disciples. Every day. To be his friend and
his companion. to be taught by him, to go forth
in the ministry of the gospel and see the glories of his preaching
and the miracles that he performed, to see his compassion for lost
sinners, to see and witness and experience
his love and his mercy and his grace continuously. and the beauty of His holiness.
It's hard to comprehend, isn't it? Every day, they witness this. And John, as we know, says in
that first chapter, we beheld His glory. His glory. Well, what kind of glory? The
glory as of the only begotten Son of the Father, full of grace
and truth. Every day. And that's what John
writes again about too in his epistle, doesn't he? He speaks
about, we held him. The wonder, you can hear the
wonder in him when he speaks about that. Our eyes looked upon
him. We touched him. The things we've
heard, that which was from the beginning, which we have heard,
which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and
our hands have handled concerning the word of life." You know,
people speak about heaven on earth, and there never will be
heaven on earth, not in this earth, but this is about as close
as you can get, isn't it? It had to be, it had to be, to
be with Jesus. And he tells his disciples, I'll
be leaving you. What a shock. What a shock that
must have been. No wonder they were troubled. And you would be too, wouldn't
you? And Jesus, of course, he knows
this. He understands this. He understands
their heart, he knows all things, and he begins to speak to them
in John 14, as you know, those well-known words, let not your
heart be troubled. This is how he begins John 14,
and that's his purpose, because he knows they're troubled, and
he begins, let not your heart be troubled, and then we have
three glorious chapters of great gospel truths just overflowing
and running down and they culminate with that magnificent chapter
17 where Christ prays that high priestly prayer to his father. For who? For his disciples and
for all those who would believe on him through their word. That's
you and I, isn't it? And all those who come to him.
And what was Christ's purpose in doing this? Well, he tells
us. It's to quiet their troubled
heart, I guess we could say. It's to give them peace. It's
to give them truth to comfort them, truth to bring joy so that
their hearts might not be troubled. Not only now, but in the future. And not only for them, but for
you and I also, and for all believers who would read this word of truth.
But don't take my word for it. Let's just look at a few of the
verses that we find here in chapter 14 and 15 and 16. I grabbed a few here and there. Here, 14 verses 2 and 3, what
does he say? Let not your heart be troubled.
Why? Because I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go
and prepare a place for you, I will come again. There's comfort
in that, isn't there? I will come again. We tend to
focus on him preparing a place for us, but what really matters
is him coming again. I will come again and receive
you to myself. that where I am, there you may
be also. That's the heart concern of every
disciple, isn't it? To be with Christ, to be received
by him, to be with him where he is. And in verse 16, we see
he says, I will pray the Father. So he'll pray for them, he'll
pray the Father, and he will give you another comforter that
he may abide with you forever, not only Is he comforting them,
but he tells them of the fact that he's gonna send another
comforter. And he'll abide with them forever.
The spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because
it neither sees him nor knows him, but you know him. Now listen
to this. For he dwells with you and will
be in you. Now there's comfort in that,
isn't there? There's encouragement, there's
joy for them, for you and I to know that this unique aspect
of the saving work of God in sending his spirit to indwell,
that's a promise of the covenant, isn't it? The covenant of grace
to dwell. with you and be in you. I will
not leave you orphans. I will come to you. You see,
you even see Christ's love and concern for the disciples in
the words that he uses, don't you? That it's just everywhere
in these chapters. It's everywhere in the word,
but it's especially in these chapters. And you can't help
but think it was, the time was pressing. It was coming near
to his sufferings and death upon the cross. And he's concerned
for these little children of God. And verse 27, he says, peace I leave
with you. My peace I give to you. There
is no greater peace. Not as the world gives do I give
you. Yeah, there's a peace in the
world, isn't there? They've searched for all sorts of things to find
peace, and they find peace, but not this peace. Not this peace. Not the peace that that God gives
his people. Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid. Now these are verses to encourage
those disciples, aren't they? Verses to encourage them, to
strengthen them, to relieve that troubled heart and cause them
not, they would have been afraid, wouldn't they? I would have been. Being with Christ and then suddenly
he's leaving? And what are we going to do?
And they're afraid. That's what they're afraid of. Just jump down to John 15 and
verse 11. Why here? Well, Jesus, there's
a lot of verses in this passage where Christ says, I've spoken
to you. Here's one of them. These things
I've spoken to you. that my joy may remain in you
and that your joy may be full. Now that's wonderful, isn't it? That here he's telling them the
words that he's given them and the same is true of us as he
speaks his word to us. So much of the word of the Lord
is for exactly this purpose. That his joy may remain in us
And not only that, but his joy in us would be full in all circumstances. In chapter 16, you don't need
to go there, but in verse 22, Jesus says, therefore you now
have sorrow. He understands that. But I will
see you again and your heart will rejoice. and listen, and
your joy, no one will take from you. Now that's a joy, isn't
it? Boy, I'll tell you, joy can be
taken away in an instant. In an instant, I mean, the joy
of this world, that the joy that Christ gives, no one will ever
take from you. That's comfort, that's comfort. And so, as we turn to look at
these texts, in 14, turn back to 14, and we'll begin in verse
19 again. Let's keep in mind that's the
context of what he begins to say here, and then we'll go on
to in chapter 15. He's encouraging these disciples. concerning their troubled heart
and seeking to comfort them and give them peace and give them
joy in these circumstances and the coming circumstances. And
what does he do to do that? What he always does. He communicates
gospel truth to enrich their understanding. And that's the
only way we're going to find help in all circumstances. It's by the truth of the Word
of God delivered to us, being communicated to us, being preached
to us, that we read it, that we learn from it. And the Spirit
takes these words and applies them to our hearts. And this
is what Jesus is doing. This is why he's speaking these
words to them. So these words will bring peace
and joy to them. Well, in John 19, there again,
it says, a little while longer, and the world will see me no
more, but you will see me. And then he says, because I live,
you will live also. Now, If there was ever a truth
to bring peace and joy, this has to be it, wouldn't you say? As the Lord's people, what determines
our life, our eternal life, our eternal being, our righteousness,
our holiness? Well, Jesus says right here,
because I live, you will live also. So much of the gospel is bound
up in that one statement. The life spoken of here, now
let's think for a minute. What life is Christ speaking
of here? His life is the eternal, self-existent
son of God? No, no, he's not speaking about
that life. That is his life that belongs
only to him as God. He's not speaking about that
life. He's speaking about the life as the God-man, as the mediator,
as the one who came as a substitute for his people and worked out
a perfect righteousness for them and satisfied justice. And as
a result of that, he was raised in the power of the Spirit. never to die again. This is the
life that he's speaking about, the life that he worked out for
his people, for every one of his people. And we see that referred
to in many, many places, of course, but just recently in Romans we've
been hearing about these things, haven't we? You can turn there
in Romans, I'll just pick this verse in Romans 6, there's many
in Romans 6 that speak to this because, of course, it's speaking
about the union of Christ and his people and the consequences
of that union in terms of their life. But in verse eight we read,
now if we died with Christ, which we have, he's speaking of believers,
now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live
with him. That's the life that he's speaking about. Knowing
that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more,
death hath no more dominion over him. For the death that he died,
he died to sin once for all. He did that for you and for me,
for his people. The death that he died, he died
to sin once for all, but the life that he lives, he lives
to God. This is the life that he's talking
about, this life. Because I live, because I live
in the fulfillment of this ministry given to him by the Father, because
I live, you will live also. Romans 5, for if by one man's
offense death reign through the one, much more those who receive
abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness that gift
given by God to every one of his people, that gift of righteousness,
the righteousness of his own son, what will happen? They'll
reign in life through the one. That's the life that Jesus is
referring to here. The life of the believer is not
in himself. I'll never weary of preaching
that, and I hope as the Lord's people, you'll never weary of
hearing it. The life of the believer is not
in himself, but it is in Christ. The life of the believer is not
because of what he does, but because of what Christ has done.
The life of the believer is not because of who he is, but of
who Christ is. The life of the believer is not
because of his own righteousness. We know that, don't we? But because
of the righteousness of Christ. Because I live, you will live
also. I think this is such an important,
turn to Psalm 21. I want us to look at something
that is prophesied about that life, Psalm 21. And this is a
Psalm of Christ is, you know, I'm beginning to feel that, I
think Spurgeon said this, and I'm beginning to agree with him.
The more I read the Psalms, the more I feel that they're all
about Christ. We tend to have this thought that there's the
Messianic Psalms and other Psalms, and they have multiple application,
we know that, to David, to the historical situation and everything
else, but anyway, what we do know, let me not get this, what
we do know is this is a Psalm speaking of Christ, and it's
wonderful. Verse 21, in terms of, his accomplishment of the work
given to him by the Father. Now listen, the King shall have
joy in your strength, O Lord, and in your salvation how greatly
shall he rejoice. You have given him his heart's
desire and have not withheld the request of his lips. For
you meet him with the blessings of goodness. You set a crown
of pure gold upon his head. Now what was his request? Here's
his request. He asked life from you and you
gave it to him. Length of days forever and ever."
Now that's life. That's the life that Christ is
speaking of when he says, because I live, you will live also. You can read that verse. The
disciples could, that verse could come to their mind. You could
read that verse and say, well, that's the life. And he's been
granted life, days of life forever and ever. Well, that's my life
too. That's my life too. Because he
lives, you will live also. The life of a believer is a never-ending
life. We know that. We know that. But
so often we're just like, well, we have eternal life. Well, think
about what that means. Did you notice too, that was
his heart's desire, wasn't it? His heart's desire for his people.
Now, the heart desire of Christ for his people. Well, turn back
to John 14. John 14. Listen to what he says. At that
day, verse 20, John 14 and verse 20, continuing there, he says,
because I live and you will live also. At that day, you will know
that I am in my father and you in me and I in you. Jesus wants them to understand
that he is, as he's told them, he is leaving them. He is leaving
them. But he's leaving them in terms
of his bodily presence. He's leaving them, but he isn't
leaving them because of this spiritual union between Christ
and his people. That's what he says, I and my
father and you in me and I in you. He tells the disciples these
things because of the spiritual union which exists between himself
and his people. And why is that? How can this
be? Well, it's because of that promise of the Holy Spirit, because
of that indwelling of the Holy Spirit in every one of his people. In verse 23, you can look down
there. What does he say? Jesus answered
and said to him, he says, if anyone loves me, he will keep
my word and my father will love him and we will come to him and
make our home with him. To make our home with him, what
does that mean? To dwell with, to dwell within.
What a wonder. I can never read that verse without
thinking, here is the God who inhabits eternity. And he says
he makes his home in his people. It's too much to comprehend.
It really is, isn't it? It's too much to comprehend,
and there's no question, too, that the disciples, there's much
of this that they wouldn't have understood, particularly at this
time. They did later, as the Spirit
led them into all truth, brought the words of Christ to them,
and revealed these things to them. There's no question, but I think that's one of the primary
reasons that Christ gives this illustration in chapter 15. He
knows they're not going to understand a lot of these things. Even though
they can be encouraged by certain aspects of this, he knows this
particularly with respect to this. union, which we find difficult
with all that we have compared to what the disciples had at
that point in time. We find it difficult to understand this,
but we know it's true. And so I think Jesus brings in
chapter 15 then this analogy of the true vine and the branches
to help them have some understanding of what this means. Now let's look over to John chapter
15 and beginning in verse one we read, I am the true vine and
my father is the vine dresser. Now Jesus uses the picture of the
vine because this is something too that was very familiar to
every Israelite. In fact, we just heard that read
in a text in Isaiah 5 before the service, didn't we? And so
let's look at another one of those. These turn to Psalm 80,
and we'll see another example of this. The people of Israel
are often spoken of in the Old Testament scriptures as the vineyard
planted by the Lord. So Psalm 80, and beginning there in verse
one of Psalm 80, if you're there, it says, give ear, O shepherd
of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock, you who dwell between
the cherubim, shine forth. And then jump down to verse seven. Now, well, I should say, That
this is a response to what is a similar situation as we heard
in Isaiah five. And here they are in desperate
strains. They've forsaken the shepherd
of Israel. And here is this cry, this cry
for help. And let me begin again. Give
ear, O shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock,
you who dwell between the cherubim, shine forth. And then verse seven,
restore us, O God of hosts, cause your face to shine and we shall
be saved. Verse eight, you have brought
a vine out of Egypt. You have cast out the nations
and planted it. You prepared room for it and
you caused it to take deep root and it filled the land. The hills
were covered with its shadow and the mighty cedars with its
boughs. She sent out her boughs to the
sea and her branches to the river." Now what Jesus is doing here
in John 15 is teaching the disciples that this vine pictured here
In another portions of the Old Testament scripture, which pictures
the nation of Israel, was a type, as we know, was a type. Who's
the true vine? It's Christ. Christ and his people
are this true vine. That's what he's speaking about.
And he wants, when he says, I am the true vine, he's drawing their
thoughts, their minds to these things that they know, that are
part of the history of the nation of Israel. And Jesus is presenting
this picture, this type before them, which he draws from the
Old Testament of this of himself and his people, and what is he
saying? He's saying, I am the true vine, a living vine, a fruit-bearing
vine, a vine which has spiritual life, all the spiritual life,
and that flows in me, and into, because he's the root, and it
flows into the branches. This life is diffused through
all the branches that are in the vine, and the branches are
nourished, grow, and bear fruit. This is the picture he's presenting.
Christ is the true vine and like the Israel of old, he too was
brought up out of Egypt, wasn't he? Isn't it wonderful how perfect
all the types are fulfilled in the New Testament? Remember that
when he was a babe and his parents were in fear and where did they
go? They took him to Egypt. Where did Christ came up out
of Egypt? Yes, that's what that Psalm is
speaking about. He was brought up out of Egypt. Christ is the true vine. God
brought this vine out of Egypt. This vine was planted by the
Lord. He prepared room for it. He caused it to take deep root
and it has flourished. and brought forth fruit and fills
the land. Today, how much of the land?
How much? The whole world. The gospel has gone out throughout
the whole world, hasn't it? Aren't there branches in all
the world? Here in Houston and throughout
the US? in Australia, in Europe, in all
these nations, in Papua New Guinea. Think of the wonder of that.
That's quite a vine, isn't it? But it's a living vine because
he's the true vine. And he's impressing this upon
the minds of the disciples, and it's an analogy that's easy to
understand, isn't it? Here's the vine, here's the root,
the root's in it, the life is in the root, and the branches,
every branch draws life from that root. And without that root,
what? They're dead, nothing there. And then he says, my father is
the vinedresser. This vine, the true vine, is
brought forth according to whose will? Not man's will, no. No, it's brought forth entirely
by God. Jesus says, my father is the
vinedresser. He's the vinedresser, he's the
owner, he planted it. It's according to God's will,
it's accomplished by God's power, it's brought about by God's wisdom,
It's the, as he says it, it's the planting of the Lord that
he might be glorified. It's his property and the vine
grows and it spreads and it brings forth fruit by the will and the
power and the wise care. of the divine vinedresser. That's what Jesus says. My father
is the vinedresser. So what does that tell you and
I? What are you? If you are in Christ, if you
are of his by faith, what does that tell you? That the father
is your vinedresser. He's my vinedresser. Do you think
he's lacking any wisdom to do that? These are things to bring tremendous
encouragement to these disciples and to you and I. All those who believe are united
to Christ through a real living spiritual union brought about
by the Holy Spirit. If you're united to Christ by
faith, the life of Christ flows in you. And this life flows in you, spiritually
nourishing you, causing you to grow, causing you to bring forth
fruit to his glory. Jesus is showing the disciples
that yes, though he's leaving them for a time in his physical
body, he's not leaving them at all. because they're spiritually
united to him. They're in him, he's that root,
he's that living vine, and they are united to him by faith. They're
in him as the branches are in the vine, forever united to the
wellspring of what? The wellspring of life in all
things. As he said to them, because I
live, you will live also. Now look down in verse two. Verse two, he says, every branch
in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away. Now here's the
reason I said it's helpful to see the context of these things. Remember the context. He's encouraging
his disciples. He's not pounding them over the
head. He's encouraging his disciples. But here's the reality. In the
visible church, there are false believers. There are branches
that are not united to the one true vine, and Christ deals with
it. He has to deal with it. Let's think for a minute. Why
is a vine planted? Why does someone plant a vine
in this context? to bring forth fruit. Why else
would you plant a vine? You plant a vine to bring forth
fruit. Well, if God plants a vine, certainly
he plants it to accomplish what he planted it for. He planted
it, we know, his word tells us specifically, to bring forth
fruit. Will it bring forth fruit? Oh, it will, it will. To me, this is a wonderful encouragement. We see it bring forth fruit in
terms of the son that he sent, didn't we? What fruit he brought
forth. But he brings forth fruit in
every one of his people as a result, doesn't he? This is his purpose
in planting the vine. But here Jesus says there are
branches that do not bear fruit. Who are these branches? And as
I said, clearly there are those in the visible Christian church
who give every appearance of being a Christian. But the life,
what's lacking? They give every appearance of
being a Christian, that is you and I think they're Christians. But what's lacking? If they're
these branches that Christ is speaking about. What's lacking? The life of Christ is not in
them. That's what's lacking. That's
what Jesus is telling these disciples. Outwardly, they're joined to
the vine. That is, they're outwardly in
terms of the visible church. Outwardly, they're joined to
the vine, but inwardly, there's no connection with the root,
which is Christ. The life of the vine does not
flow in these branches, and as a result, they bear no fruit. They bear no fruit. Now, they
may bear many good works, but they bear no spiritual fruit. This gets back to what I said
at the very beginning, when Jesus says, without me, as he goes
on farther, without me you can do nothing. You cannot bear fruit
without Christ. The life of Christ in you. What
will the vine dresser do to these branches which do not bear fruit?
Well, as we know, he takes them away. These ones are cast out as a
branch, withered, gathered together with other branches, thrown into
the fire and burned. Christ says this the Father will
do. I can't help but think that Christ
bringing this in at this time as well was prompted by the fact
that just prior to when he began speaking he spoke of the betrayal
of Judas. Just look back there at chapter
13, verse 21. Chapter 13, verse 21, and he's
with his disciples, as you know, shortly before they go out. And
he says, when Jesus had said these things, he was troubled
in spirit and testified and said, most assuredly, I say to you,
one of you will betray me. And what did the disciples do? They all turned their head and
looked at Judas. No. No, look. It says, then the disciples
looked at one another, perplexed about whom he spoke. And it's
made even more clear in other portions of the Bible. It is
clear they had no idea that Judas would betray Christ. No idea at all. Now think, Judas
had been with all of the disciples in Christ's ministry. He'd done
everything that they did. He was with Christ during this
time. He witnessed all the things that
I spoke of earlier, that John spoke of. He preached. He was sent out. You remember
that, when Christ sent out the disciples to do miracles? Judas was included in that. every appearance that he was
a true branch. But he wasn't, he wasn't. And
this is what Christ is speaking about here. Or I think, or I
should, let me take that back. I think that this is one of the
reasons he brought up this point at this particular time. In Matthew 7, we read these sobering
words. Not everyone who says to me,
Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the
will of my father in heaven. Many, many will say to me in
that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name,
cast out demons in your name and done many wonders in your
name? And then I will declare to them,
I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice
lawlessness. Now, I don't want to spend a
lot of time on this, but in saying these things, Christ is saying
exactly what I just said, that there are ones who, this is speaking
about ones who have every appearance. They worship the Lord, they preach
in his name, they call on his name, they prophesy, but they
will be found want. There is this group that will
be found wanting in that last day. Christ will say to them,
I never knew you. I never knew you. Depart from
me, you who practice lawlessness. But let me just say, I don't
want to say much about it. The best message I've ever heard
on this was preached by Henry Mahan from, I think, Matthew
7, I think. But you can find it, and I encourage
you. Go and listen to that message.
It's the best message on. It's a great message. It's one
of the best messages. It is the best message I've heard
on this passage. and will be profitable to you. And Jesus continues, he says
there in verse 15, he says, in every branch that bears fruit,
he prunes that it may bear more fruit. Every true branch bears fruit. Now, I don't know what you think,
but to me, that's an encouragement. You know, sometimes I think,
I don't bear any fruit. But everyone who's been saved
by the grace of God bears fruit. And that's a wonderful thing
to know, isn't it? Why? Why? Because we're united
to Christ. The life of Christ is in us,
and if I can put it this way, we can't help but bring forth
fruit because we live. Because he lives, we live also. What does the vine dresser do
with every branch that brings forth fruit? He prunes it. He prunes it. For what purpose?
That it brings forth more fruit. That's the Father's will, that's
his desire, and that's what he does. The vine dresser knows
what's necessary to prune. Let's be at peace about that.
I have to tell myself this all the time. He's pruning and he's
got a good reason for it. And I'm going to need a lot more
pruning, a lot more. But why is that? So that we bring
forth more fruit. And the sufferings and trials,
you know, these dark circumstances of our lives that the Lord brings. We know they're for our good,
don't we? We do. We know from the word, we know
from the messages preached to us. We know that. But one of the good things to
know is it's that they do bring forth more fruit, more fruit
to the glory of God. And that's a great privilege
for us, isn't it? To have that privilege to bring
forth fruit to the glory of God and then bring forth more fruit
according to his will. By this, what does, look down
there in verse eight, we didn't read it, but Christ says, by
this my father is glorified that you bear much fruit. And haven't
you found that to be true? Haven't you found that to be
true in spite of ourselves, in spite of all our weaknesses,
in spite of all our faults, all of our failings, that in the
midst of the trials that the Lord brings upon us, that we
persevere. And there's ones, you know, I
haven't suffered anything to speak of, but there's believers,
I'm sure you know, you know, some who sometimes suffer extraordinarily
difficult circumstances. And in the face of those, they
bear testimony to God's grace, God's mercy, God's goodness to
us, And in all that, they're bearing
fruit to his glory. What an honor, what an honor
he's given to us, to bear fruit for his glory. You know, in terms
of this, I always think of the pilgrims, of the dispersion that
Peter writes of in his first epistle. Just turn there and
we'll close with that. In 1 Peter, that's 1 Peter chapter
one. 1 Peter chapter 1 and let's just look beginning there
in verse 3. We read, Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant
mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead. See here, these believers, they're
suffering terribly. And as we go on down, you know
this passage. It speaks as if they're tried
by fire, a smelting fire. These trials are no small thing. Let me just say that. These trials
are great trials that they're facing. And here is the comfort
that the Holy Spirit brings through the Apostle Peter to them. What
does he remind them of first? that blessed God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy, what has
he done? He's begotten us again to a living
hope. Through what? The resurrection
of Jesus Christ. There's that life, isn't it?
There's that life. And he continues, to an inheritance
incorruptible and undefiled that does not fade away, reserved
in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God through faith
for salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. Now listen,
in this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while,
if need be, you have been grieved by various trials. That the genuineness
of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes,
though it be tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor,
and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ. of whom having
not seen you love, though now you do not yet see him, yet believing,
you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory. Think of this. Think of this. The fruits of these saints in
the face of these circumstances were to the praise of the glory
of his grace. and they're still bringing praise
to the glory of his grace. Today, as I'm preaching this,
and wherever it's preached in the world, isn't that marvelous
to think about? What an honor we have as the
Lord's people. All because he lives, we live
also. Amen.