Bible once again and turn with
me to the gospel according to John Chapter 13, John 13. I'm going to look at verse 33.
John 13, 33. Our Lord. had just assured His disciples
that He would straightway, I mean right now, very soon, verse 32,
be glorified. He was going to be shown to be
God's Lamb. And in being shown to be God's
Lamb, He said, Verse 32, if God be glorified in him, God shall
also glorify him in Himself in a straight way. He said, I'm going to be glorified
as the Lamb of God, and my Father is going to be glorified as the
God who showed mercy, peace, comfort, compassion to His people. Then he said in verse 33, little
children, You see, Judas is gone now. Now
he's just talking to the eleven. The only time he ever referred
to his disciples this way was right here, little children.
Yet, a little while, I'm with you. What he was saying is, just a
little while, the way that we've had fellowship over these last
three, three and a half years, going to be over. Be mindful, he told them. Be
mindful. This precious time. Cherish these
moments. He told them, he said, you shall
seek me. And as I said unto the Jews,
whether I go, you cannot come, so now I say, to you." Now, the
Lord, He said that He said the same words to the Jews. That's
what He said He said. Yet a little while I am with
you, you shall seek Me as I said unto the Jews. He said, I said
these very things to the Jews. But the Word And again, I looked
it up. I wanted to know what exactly
did he say to the Jews. He said, I say, you shall seek
me. That word that he used, seek,
it had two different meanings. And the difference was totally
concerning the users, which was the Lord, it was totally made
different concerning the intent that He used the word. Just like
the word judgment. If I say judgment, well, is that
good or bad? Well, it all depends. If a man is brought before court,
before a judge, and the judge looks at the evidence and says,
guilty, That's judgment. If the judge looks at the evidence
and he says, not guilty, that's judgment. He made a judgment.
He made a call based on the evidence, judgment. The word seek is a
word just like that. It means either to seek for the
purpose of worship or it means to seek as to plot against life. Whichever one. He said, I'm telling
you, little children, verse 33, yet a little while I'm with you,
you shall seek me as I said unto the Jews. Whether I go, you cannot
come, so now I say to you. So he used the very words to
his disciples that he used to the Jews. Same word. One of them
meant one thing. The other, the same word meant
another thing to the Jews. Turn back just a couple of pages
here to John 7.32. Let me show you exactly what he said to the
Jews. This is what he said. John 7.32. The Pharisees, John 7.32, heard
that the people murmured such things concerning him, and the
Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take him. Then said Jesus unto them, Yet
a little while am I with you, and then I go unto him that sent
me. You shall seek me and shall not find me. And where
I am, thither you cannot come.' Then said the Jews among themselves,
Where will he go that we shall not find him? Will he go unto
the dispersed among the Gentiles and teach the Gentiles? of saying
is this, that He said, You shall seek Me and shall not find Me.
And whether I am thither, ye cannot come. What does He mean
by that? Here He revealed that very soon
He was going to be leaving. Leaving this world. He was going
to be crucified. He was going to be buried. He
was going to be raised from the dead and ascend unto the Father. And he told them, he said, you're
going to seek me. But this is what he meant when
he said, you're going to continue to look for the Messiah. You're going to be waiting. And
the Jews, by and large, are still waiting for the Messiah to come
for the first time. He said, you're going to seek
me. You're going to be looking for God's Christ. And He gave them these sobering
words. You're not going to find me. All they did while He was here
was seek to kill Him. Listen to the words, Matthew
21, 46. But when they sought to lay hands on Him, they feared
the multitude because they took Him for a prophet. Listen to
Mark 14, 1. Mark 14, 1. says this, after two days was
the feast of Passover and of unleavened bread and the chief
priest and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft
to put him to death. The Lord said, you're going to
seek me. But they were seeking him to
kill him. That's what he just told them.
You're seeking me, but you're seeking me to put me out of your
misery. They did seek, but the Lord revealed
something that was indescribably sobering. You're not going to
find Me. Many seek Him today, but seek
Him for their own pleasure, according to their own will, according
to their own thinking. And the Lord said, many are going
to say unto Me in that day, Lord, have we not cast out devils
in your name? Haven't we done many marvelous
works in your name?" And he'll say, I never knew you. I never
knew you. Why? Why do men not find Him? Let me read something in Proverbs
1. Verse 24 to 29. Proverbs 1. 24, 29. Because I cried and you
refused. I've stretched out my hand and
no man regarded. But ye have set at nought all
my counsel and would none of my reproof. I also will laugh
at your calamity. I will mock when your fear cometh. When your fear cometh as desolation,
and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind, when distress and
anguish come upon you, then shall they call upon Me, but I will
not answer. They shall seek Me early, but
they shall not find Me. Why? For that they hated knowledge
and did not choose the fear of the respect of the Lord." I think to myself, Lord, if You give me not a heart
to believe this, I don't have any hope. I have no hope. They sought. The Lord told His
disciples back in John 13. He said, Little children, yet
a little while I'm with you. You shall seek Me as I said unto
the Jews. Whether I go, you cannot come.
So now I say to you, They sought to plot against His life. They
sought Him. But to His disciples, His words
were words of mercy and hope that revealed that they were
going to seek Him for the purpose of worship. He said, You are
going to seek Me. Now, you know, this certainty
And I do know, John 6, 37 says, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. Shall come
to me. I've said before, how many of
God's elect are going to be found in heaven? All of them. All of
them. All of them. All that the Father
giveth me. But that certainty right there.
that His people shall seek Him to worship Him may at times appear
to be doubted because of the frailty of the flesh and the
presence of unbelief. I've told you before, it would
just embarrass me to no end if you knew my heart when I try
to pray. I am so embarrassed. And I apologize
to our Lord, apologizing for the waywardness of my thoughts. He said, You are going to seek
Me. You are going to seek Me. But I know this, our God is faithful
and He is faithful to His Word. And when His people doubt His
purpose, stands. Psalm 119, 89, Forever, O Lord,
Thy Word is settled in heaven. When He said, I will never leave
you, I'll never forsake you. Oh, when I find myself in that
waywardness, that mode of thinking, I wish I could tell you that
I never doubted, that I never found anything in me that was
disrespectful. And that's not so. And it's not
so in you either. I know it's not. After the Lord
was crucified, He told them. He told them right here. He said,
little children, a little while I'm with you, you shall seek
Me. You shall seek Me. This is for
the purpose of worship. After the Lord was crucified,
the very one that said, When Christ asked Him, we looked at
this a while ago, Will you go away also? And Peter said, Lord,
to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. We believe we're sure. We're sure. Thou art the Christ,
the Son of the living God. Listen to the words of Peter,
John 13, 37. Lord, I will lay down my life
for Thy sake. Listen to Peter, Matthew 26,
33, "...though all men shall be offended," that is, tripped
up or stumble, "...though all men shall be offended because
of thee, yet will I never, never be offended." I'll never stumble. The same Peter that said these
words of his faithfulness and belief and steadfastness
when our Lord was crucified and was buried, you know what Peter
said? I'm going fishing. And they say unto him, the others,
we also go with thee. And they went forth and entered
into a ship immediately. And that night they caught nothing. You want to know why? Because
they were going to meet the Lord the next morning. That morning. And He was going to ask them,
have you caught anything? Well, he said, cast your net
on the other side. And Peter said, we fished all
night, but at Thy word. Oh, the mercy of God toward His
own. After the Lord was raised from
the dead, Mark 16 reveals that Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother
of Jane, and Salome had brought sweet spices that they might
come and anoint Him, the body of our Lord. And the Scripture
says that a young man, an angel, was there. They were afraid.
And he said, Be not affrighted. You seek Jesus of Nazareth which
was crucified. He's risen. He's not here. Behold
the place where they laid Him. Go your way, tell his disciples
and Peter that he goeth before you into
Galilee. There shall you see him." And after the Lord revealed Himself
unto Peter there on the seashore, He asked Peter three times. He
said, Lovest thou me more than these? And the third time he
asked Peter, the Scripture says Peter was grieved with himself. And Peter said, Lord, Thou knowest
all things. Thou knowest that I love Thee. The two on the road to Emmaus,
talking together, the Lord hid Himself from them. Closed their
eyes that they shouldn't know it. And the Lord asked them about
the words that they were saying. They were talking about the crucifixion
that happened three days before. And he said, what things are
these? And they said, well, you must
be new to the area. Talking about Jesus of Nazareth.
We trust it. that it had been Him which should
have redeemed Israel. But after He opened their eyes,
gave them understanding, this is what they said concerning
the words that He had just spoken to them as He opened unto them
all the Scriptures beginning with Moses. All those things
concerning Himself. They said, Did not our heart
burn within us while He talked with us by the way and while
He opened unto us the Scriptures? He told His disciples, you shall
seek Me. He told the Pharisees the same
thing. He said, you're going to seek
Me to kill Me. You're not going to find Me. But to His disciples,
He said using the same words, you shall seek Me. You shall
seek Me. I'm going to show mercy to you.
I'm not going to leave you to yourself. Old Thomas. This is what Thomas said. except
I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my
finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into
his side. I will not believe." Yes, you will. Yes, you will. Later, our Lord appeared to him,
and He said to Thomas, I want you to do what you said you wanted
to do. And Thomas said, My Lord and
my God, You that would not leave me to
myself, yes, some will seek Him and not find Him because they
will not have this man to rule over them. If God leaves a man
to himself, That's what He's going to say. But to those that
He's everlastingly loved, Almighty God said, You're going
to find Me. In closing, John 13, verse 36,
Simon Peter said unto Him, Lord, whither goest thou? And Jesus
answered him, Whither I go? Thou canst not follow Me now,
but thou shalt follow Me afterwards. In verse 2 and 3 of chapter 14,
In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so,
I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and
receive you unto Myself, that where I am, there you may be
also. Now let me ask you this. Who
made the difference? The Lord told some Pharisees,
He said, You're going to seek Me and you're not going to find
Me. But to His disciples that did really and said, just like Thomas,
the same things those Pharisees said, except I'm not going to
believe it. I'm not going to believe Him.
But Almighty God who said, I will have mercy on whom I'll have
mercy. I will have compassion on whom I'll have compassion.
Paul the Apostle summed it up and he said this, I am what I
am by the grace of God. Lord, I realize this. You saved me or I'm going to
perish. For Christ's sake, Amen.