It's good to see you this morning
and I pray that the Lord might be pleased to bless His Word
today to the salvation of sinners. Sinners. That's who he came to
this world to save. He came to seek and to save that
which was lost. Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the gospel of John chapter 7. John chapter 7. We'll begin in a moment in verse
32. But before we begin, let's ask
our Lord's blessing. Our Father, this morning we come
before you asking, seeking, knocking. Lord, would you bless, would
you help us to worship and keep our hearts and minds upon you.
Lord, we're so prone to wander in our minds. Forgive us for
Christ's sake. Amen. I've entitled this message this
morning, Having Him for a Little While. A marvelous thing had been witnessed
in the streets of Jerusalem. The last verse that we dealt
with, verse 31, it said this, And many of the people believed
on him, and said, When Christ cometh, will he do more miracles
than these which this man hath done? It is by the grace of God that anybody
believes God. Man by nature does not believe
the Lord. He has no heart to believe God. Men must be given a new nature,
a new heart, a new mind. Man must be born again. Man cannot
hear from God. As he is born in Adam, he cannot
hear from God. He doesn't have ears to hear.
He doesn't have eyes to see. He's blind. He's deaf. He's dead. Spiritually dead. And he does not know that he's
dead until God makes him alive. And then he knows, I was dead
in trespasses and sins. Many of the people believed on
Him. He gave them a heart to believe. And they rested in that which
He said, and began to question everything that they had heard.
The Pharisees and the rulers, they questioned, when Christ
comes, will He do more miracles than these which this man hath
done? So I said last week, oh yes, we're real familiar with
little faith. But little faith is true faith.
True faith. Oh, ye of little faith, how thankful
I am that the Lord made that statement and that we have faith. Well, in verse 32, here's where
we start this morning. It says, "...the Pharisees heard
that the people murmured such things concerning him. And the
Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take him." Well,
they had their spies. They had their cronies that would
kind of go around and kind of listen. Listen to what's being
heard. And they heard that the people
were starting to wonder, starting to doubt what they were saying
concerning this man. They had set their hearts. They were going to kill him,
take out the shepherd. And the people were murmuring,
just talking among themselves. And so these Pharisees, they
got some high ups. Some officers. They sent some
officers to take him. You know, from the fall, my fall
in Adam, man is threatened. He's threatened by
the God of all grace. He despises God Almighty and
His sovereignty. Because this is the way it is.
Either God is sovereign, or He's not. Now that's an either-or. Either Almighty God is in control,
and either Almighty God does as He will in the army of heaven
and among the inhabitants of the earth, and no man stays His
hand. Nothing happens but that God
Almighty allows it, permits it. sees fit to allow it to happen. Nothing happens. A believer is
hedged about by the power and will and purpose of Almighty
God. Now, either God is sovereign
or He is not. And if Almighty God is sovereign
and God is in control, then that means that man is not. And man
by nature hates that. These Pharisees heard that people
were murmuring, discussing, debating the things of Christ in their
minds, that is, the people's minds. They were beginning to
be openly unsettled. And that bothered the Pharisees.
They liked the praise of men. They wanted people to kind of
give them the attention. So they sent these officers to
take the Lord Jesus. They weren't going to do anything
to the people. Just get the shepherd. Get the
one that these people are starting to talk about and wonder about.
And it was their own selfish honor. That's what they cared
about. Themselves. Oh, the horrible
effects of man's fallen nature. that he would even desire to
take God down. Can you imagine? Isn't that silly? Doesn't that reveal the silliness
of man? That he would not give God Almighty
the due honor Oh, how true we see the Lord's words. He said,
you neither, when He talked to those Pharisees, you neither
go in yourselves into the kingdom, neither suffer ye them that are
entering to go in. You know, isn't it amazing how
much the unregenerate truly wants no part of God Almighty? It wants no part of Him. I heard
Brother Henry say one time, talking about anti-Christ, he said, man
by nature is not anti-religious. He's not anti-self-moral. He's anti-Christ. He despises
the Christ of this Bible. that were sending these officers.
That's what they were. They were religious people. I
mean, they went to church. And it's not, even today, it's
not that people don't want you to go to church. It's not that
they don't want you to be religious. I mean, it's popular. They just don't love God. Not
the God of this Bible. Not the sovereign God, not the
electing, choosing, predestinating God of all grace. It's a miracle
of God's grace that any wants Christ totally for His honor
and His glory and His praise. I was reading something this
morning in Luke, if you want to turn there, Luke 18. Luke
18, verses 10 to 14. Luke 18, 10-14, it's talking
about, now here's the heart. Here's the heart of a believer
manifested. Luke 18, starting in verse 10,
two men went up into the temple to pray. One a Pharisee, the other a Republican.
And as I was reading that this morning, I thought, you know,
men do what they do. because they want to. Now, these
two men went up into the temple, the scripture says, to pray.
One of them out of a true heart, the other one obviously to be
seen of men. And the Pharisee, verse 11, stood and prayed thus
with himself, God, I thank Thee that I am not as other men are,
extortioners, unjust, adulterers or even as this publican. Now
understand, they are praying silently, not saying anything
outwardly. Scripture says they stood and
prayed thus with himself inside. This is how his prayer went. And nobody knew it concerning
this parable, nobody knew what he said but himself and Almighty
God. Verse 12, he said, I fast twice
in the week. I give tithes of all that I possess. I deprive myself twice a week. There's things that I could take
for myself, whether it's food, whether it's pleasure, whatever. I deprive myself. And I'm proud
of it. And I give tithes of all that
I possess. That's good. God's people are
giving people. As the Lord prospers a man, God's
people give. They're faithful, faithful, faithful
givers. But they don't have anything
to glory in because they give. This man did. But that publican,
Verse 13, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as
his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God,
be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down
to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone
that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth
himself shall be exalted." Here's the attitude of a believer. They
struggle with themselves concerning their walk, their attitude toward
Almighty God. These Pharisees back in John
7, they had heard the people murmuring, debating, talking,
discussing. They had been watching the Lord
Jesus Christ and seeing the miracles that He had done. They heard
the words that He preached. And then they listened to what
the Pharisees were saying. They questioned, when Christ
comes, will He do more miracles than this man? Verse 33, back in John 7, when these officers came to the
Lord, then said Jesus unto them, now listen to these words. Now
here they are. They're on a mission. These Pharisees
had sent them to go get Him. Go get him. You go get him. You
bring him to us. We'll handle him. We'll take
care of this. And listen to the words of our
Lord. Then said Jesus unto them, Yet a little while am I with
you. And then I go unto him that sent
me. Oh, how these words ought to
ring in the ears of every believer and unbeliever. Just a little
while. Am I with you? The time is short. This life is just a vapor. It's just a wind. It's just a moment. Those that were sent to take
Him, they couldn't. They couldn't. Because of divine
restraint, His purpose could not be stopped. His time had
not come yet. They came up to Him. He knew why they were there.
This is the omniscient, omnipotent God of all grace right here.
And here they are to take Him. Take Him by force. Be obedient
to those Pharisees, you know. And oh, these words. How these
words still ring through. Can you imagine these that heard
the words of our Lord that day? I'm just with you a little while.
Soon his ministry on this earth is going to be over. He was going
to lay down his life for the sheep. He was going to rise from
the dead, send back to the Father that sent him. You that know not the Lord. You that possess a heart that
resists the sovereign glory of Almighty God. May God have mercy
and call you out of spiritual darkness. For you that believe, may Almighty
God quicken our hearts fresh and revive our hearts, realizing
the time is short. Walk as children of light. Walk
looking toward Him, asking, seeking. Lord, help me. Lord, leave me
not to myself. Lord, teach me afresh. The time
is short. Just a little while, I'm with
you. And then I go unto Him that sent
me." Verse 34, "...you shall seek
Me, and shall not find Me. And where I am, fither, you cannot
come." Can you imagine what these men were thinking while they
heard the Lord speak those words which soon they were going to
say when they didn't come back with Him. We'll see this later,
but they'll come back with Him now. The Pharisees will ask Him,
where is He? They said, no man ever spake
like this man. This man, this is what He told us. He said,
I'm just going to be with you a little while. And I'm going
back to the One that sent me. He said, you're going to seek
Me. And you're not going to find Me. Where I am, you cannot come." He said, you're going to be like
those who were in Sodom. You remember when those two angels
went into Sodom, they were going to get Lot and his family. And
they went to Lot's house. And you remember those men of
Sodom, they found out that there was These two men, they thought,
in town. And they came and they started
surrounding Lot's house. And they wanted those two men.
Send those two men out and we'll have them. And Lot said, don't
do this. Don't do this. I'll give you
my two daughters. No, we don't want your daughters.
We want those men. They started coming in and those angels came
out and blinded them. And it says, and they groped
for the door. They couldn't find it. They desired
to find it, but they couldn't find it. The Lord said, you're
going to seek Me. I'm just here a little while.
Listen. It's going to be over. And in
that day, you're going to look. And you're not going to find.
All that will not have this man to rule over them, they're going
to look. They're not going to find him.
Oh, that rich man in Lazarus, remember? That rich man, he fared
sumptuously every day. Old Lazarus was out there in
the streets and had boys all over him. He scraped himself
with broken pieces of pottery, the scripture says. The dogs
licked his wounds. And Lazarus died and went to
the bosom of Abraham. The rich man died too. And he
lifted up his eyes out of hell. And he said to Father Abraham,
Father Abraham, I'm tormented in these flames. Would you send
Lazarus, if you'd just let him dip his finger in some water
and just touch my tongue?" And Father Abraham said, no,
there's a great gulf that's fixed and there's no crossing over. Remember. Remember. the indescribable pain of memory. Just from that scripture, Mark,
I wonder, I wonder, will those in hell be able to view eternally
the peace and comfort of God's sheep in the bosom of Abraham
and have to remember that they sat under the gospel And they
heard. And they would not come. Remember. Oh, many in that day of judgment,
they are going to say, Lord, Lord, we prophesied Your name. We cast out devils in Your name.
We did all these marvelous works in Your name. The Lord said to
those that came to get Him, He said, You are going to seek Me,
and you are not going to find Me. Not in mercy. Men that want Him not now shall
eternally have what they want. You're going to have it. That's
what you're going to have. You don't want Him? You'll not
have this man. You'll not bow to this Christ.
This is God Almighty. This is the Lord of glory. This
is God Himself in human flesh. And He said, just a little while,
I'm with you. Just a little while. Just a little
while. You're going to be on this earth.
Just a little while. I have said before, it's just
a few more rising suns, setting suns. Just a few more. It's going
to be over. This is God. Now, He's on this
earth in this Scripture right here. But He said in verse 34,
where I am, tether, you cannot come. Where I am right now, as
God Almighty, I can't understand with perfect clarity. By faith,
I believe this. But with perfect clarity, I cannot
perceive the depth of the certainty of that Scripture. Why He stood
on that earth, on this earth right here. Why over there in
places that people will go and they'll spend all kinds of money
to go over to a holy land, they want to go where the Lord at
one time walked, and they won't bow to Him now. But over there,
he actually did. I'll admit that. He actually
did. He walked over there in Jerusalem. He really did. And while he was
walking in Jerusalem at that moment, he said, where I am. This is God. Never relinquished
His throne. Not God. One with the Father. No man, John 3.13, hath ascended
up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son
of Man, which is in heaven." While on earth in heaven, I can't
understand right now that God's people, that God's elect are
seated with Christ right now in the heavenlies. That's what
the Scripture says. Seated with Him right now. Not
going to be seated, which we shall, but seated now. Can you understand that? I can't
either. You're going to seek me. Not going to find me. I was reading something in Proverbs
1.28. Let me just read this to you.
Proverbs 1.28. Then shall they call upon me. But
I will not answer. They shall seek me early, but
they shall not find me." Oh, today is the day of salvation.
I'm telling you. I'm telling you based on this
word right here. Today is the day of salvation. Today is the
day of God's grace. If a man or a woman desires to
come, they desire by the grace of God. Because the Lord said,
1 Kings 3, thy people, thy people, thy people, your people, your
elect, your chosen, shall be willing in the day of your power. They shall come. Thanks be unto
that. If you want to come, come. How
does a man come? Oh, God will draw him. Does he want to? Does he desire
to? Where I am, thither ye cannot
come." Oh, to those that believed him not, the Lord set forth the
penalty of unbelief. I know this. I know that he's
going to have to give a heart. I know that. But oh, when he
gives a heart, that bows to Him, how thankful that God's people
are that they want to come. They desire to come. Hebrews
3.12. Hebrews 3.12. Take heed, brethren, lest there
be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from
the living God. But exhort one another daily
while it is called today, lest any of you be hardened through
the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of
Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto
the end, while it is said today. if you will hear his voice. Harden
not your hearts, as in the provocation. For some, when they had heard,
did provoke, howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses.
But with whom was he grieved forty years? Was it not with
them that had sinned, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness? And to
whom swore he that they should not enter into his rest, but
to them that believed not? So we see that they could not
enter in. Because of unbelief. In that
day of provocation. I went back and looked that up
again. Talking about in that day of provocation. Let me tell
you what that was talking about. It was a day, remember when the
Lord brought the children of Israel out of Egypt. They all
came out. I don't know how many there were.
Some say there were millions that came out. But all of them
came out. And there was a place that they
came to and they were thirsty out of water. And the people
began to chide, the Scripture said, they chided Moses and they
tempted God. They asked Moses, they said,
have you brought us out here so we can die? Have you left
us to ourselves? Don't you realize we're in trouble? Don't you know that we're thirsty? And Moses talked to the Lord
about it. And God told him. He said, you
take your staff. And he said, you take this rock.
And you smite that rock. And water will come out of that
rock. And it did. And the people drank. But I'll tell you this, in that
place where they tempted God, because of that unbelief, that's
what he was talking about, those the Scripture sets forth, there
was only two. And if there were millions that
came out, and I don't doubt that a bit, there was only two over
the age of 20 that came out of Egypt. There was only two that
came out of Egypt. that were over the age of 20
that entered into the promised land. And the rest of them died
in the wilderness. Why? Because they didn't believe
God. Oh, how these words ring true today. 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 ye cannot come." But I want you
to look at the precious, glorious words of God's grace and mercy
to His people. He said some words very similar
to this to His apostles in John 13. Look at 33-36. Here's the
Lord speaking to His people. Now, he told these that came
and didn't believe him. He said, now, you're going to
seek me. You're not going to find me. Listen to what he said to
his people. Little children, John 13, 33.
Yet a little while am I with you. And you shall seek me. And as
I said unto the Jews, whether I go, ye cannot come. So now
I say unto you a new commandment I give unto you, that you love
one another as I have loved you. And ye also love one another.
And by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if
ye have love one to another. Simon Peter said unto him, Lord,
whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I
go, thou canst not follow me now, but thou shalt follow me
afterwards. Now let me tell you the difference
of what was being said. There were some that didn't believe
Him. And the Lord told them, He said, you're going to seek
Me and you're not going to find Me. But to His people, when He
said, whether I go, you can't go now, but you shall follow
Me later, He was referring to going to the cross. He was going
to suffer as the substitute of all of the sheep that the Father
had given him in electing grace. Ephesians 1.4 clearly sets forth
that God has a people. Ephesians 1.4 says that God chose
a people. Out of every nation, kindred,
tribe, and tongue. That's found in Revelation chapter
4. And He gave them to the Son,
the surety, as the one that would live and
die, redeem everyone that the Father gave Him. And when He
went to the cross, and this is what He was talking about when
He told His disciples, He said, where I go, you can't go now. But you will go with Me later.
When he went to the cross, when he laid down his life for the
sheep, he died as the federal head and
substitute of every one of God's elect. Now, I can bear this out with
Scripture. I can prove this with Scripture. He said, I lay down
my life for the sheep. Told those Pharisees, he said,
The reason you don't believe me is because you're not my sheep.
My sheep hear my voice, and they follow me. He told his disciples,
you can't go with me now. Isaiah 63.3 bears this out. I have trodden the winepress
alone, and of the people there was none with me. There was one
body, there was one man hanging on that cross. But I will tell
you this, in a very real and spiritual sense, every one of
God's elect was there with Him. We were all there. That's what
Paul the Apostle says. I was crucified with Christ.
Listen to Romans 6. Knowing this, this is what the
Apostle Paul says, Romans 6, 6. Knowing this, that our old
man is crucified with Him. That the body of sin might be
destroyed. That henceforth we should not
serve sin. This old man. Oh, the miracle
of God's grace, mercy, and power. That Almighty God would choose
a people and give them to the Son and consider them always
in the Son Himself, the federal head. And when He came into this
world and walked in this world, God's sheep were in Him, walking
with Him, obeying God with Him. He died with them, buried with
them, rose with them, ascended with them, seated in the heavenlies
right now. Mystery of all mysteries. And
here we are walking in this earth today, just for a little while.
Just for a while. Not long. Not long. And very
soon, this corruption is going to be laid in the ground. But
it won't stay there forever. Almighty God has set forth, we're
going to rise again. All men are going to rise again.
Those that sleep in the Lord, That body is going to be reunited
with that soul. It's going to be changed. It's
not going to be the same. It's going to be a glorified
body just like His. Isn't that a miracle? And we'll
be with the Lord forever. And those that died without Christ
are going to be raised from the dead too. And they're going to
be given a new body. We're all going to change. Paul
says we're all going to be changed. And those without Christ, We'll
live eternally under the judgment of Almighty God. We're all going
to be changed, though. But this old man, crucified, the Lord told his people, he
said, you can't follow me now, but you shall follow me afterwards.
You shall be with me. For all that he died for, they
would follow him and be with him where he is. But for those
that will not come, that they might have life, those that are
totally ignorant of Almighty God and His mercy and His grace,
separation is their final state. Last two verses, 35-36, Then
said the Jews among themselves, when He told them, He said, Where
I am, thither you cannot come. Then said the Jews among themselves,
Whither will He go? that we shall not find Him. Will He go into the dispersed
among the Gentiles and teach the Gentiles? What manner of
saying is this, that He said, You shall seek Me and shall not
find Me, and whether I am there that you cannot come? For a believer, they understand
exactly what the Lord said. They understand that. By the grace of God, God has
given them a heart. You understand. You understand.
That without Him, There will come a time without him. Men
will desire to be relieved from their suffering. But they won't. But for these that heard his
words and didn't understand, 1 Corinthians 2.14 says, The
natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God,
for they are foolishness unto him. Neither can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned. No amount of culture
or natural religious training can ever give a man the ability
to understand the things of God. If Almighty God gives light,
then you understand and you hear. I pray that today, that the Lord
might be pleased to bless these words to the salvation, as I
said at the beginning of this message, of sinners. My question is this, do you want
Him? Do you want Him? Do you desire
Him? If you do, I promise you this,
it wasn't from a natural inclination of your old heart. Almighty God
has done something for you that you could not do for yourself.
If you desire Him, if you desire to come by faith, not come, not
walk down this aisle. I mean, I told you before, the
only difference from where you are and where I am is just a
few feet. People don't walk down an aisle to get saved. They come
to Christ in their heart, where you are. You believe Him. And if the Lord has given you
a heart to believe Him, then confess Him in baptism. That's
scriptural. Walking down here and praying.
What am I going to say? What do I have to say? If the
Lord calls a man or a woman out of darkness, they'll be just
like that publican. Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner. May the Lord bless these words
to our heart, for Christ's sake.