Turn with me this morning to
the 14th chapter of the book of John. John chapter 14. Our Lord is about to return from
whence He came. There are a lot of folks that
really don't know where our Lord came from. He came from heaven. He came by appointment. He came by commission, authorization. He came by and under the authority
of God the Father. And here in this fourteenth chapter,
he speaks as though his work that the Father sent him to do
has been finished or completed, although the literal part of his death and his burial
and resurrection is in the near future. from the time that he
writes this fourteenth chapter. But he speaks as though it was
already done. And he speaks here to these chosen few and tells them not to be in a
condition of remorse, disappointment, He's going back to the Father
which sent Him. He's going to the Father's house.
And He promises them that if He goes to the Father's house,
why, He'll come back one day in His time and receive them,
that they might be where He is. So He tells them, In that first
verse, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God,
believe also in Me, in My Father's house. That's where He's going. Verse 3, If I go to prepare a
place for you, I will come again and receive you unto Myself,
that where I am there ye may be also. And whither I go ye
know." It's strange that he said this to them when in the next verse, Thomas,
one of his disciples, said, We know not whither thou goest,
and how can we know the way? When he has already said, in
verse 4, and whither I go, ye know, and the way ye know. But Thomas said, Lord, we know
not whither thou goest, and how can we know the way? And he said unto them, I am the
way. I heard Someone say recently that
the Bible, they were stressing the importance
of the Bible, the Word of the living God, and certainly you
cannot put enough importance and value to the Word of God.
But he was stressing the value of the Word of God, the importance
of the Word of God, and he said, The Word of God is our path.
to heaven. Well, there is some truth there. The Word of God, the incarnate
Word of God, the Word made flesh, certainly, is our path. Our entitlement to glory is because
of Him. But the Word of God It's just
the Bible here. Search the scriptures wherein
you think you might have eternal life. But these scriptures, they
speak of me. They speak of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And in that realm and in that
light, He said, I'm the way and the truth and the life to the
Father's house. And no man cometh unto the Father.
but by me." No man enters into the presence of God apart from me. I mean, that's
an absolute certainty. We would not tell ungodly sinners that there's a possibility that
they might wind up in the Father's house because of their the works
of the law, the works of the flesh? No. We tell ungodly sinners there
is no way into the Father's presence except by Him, not apart from
Him, but by Him. He is the way, the truth. He
is the life. No man, no man in an absolute
sense, no man of Adam's fallen race. No man, no woman, no boy,
no girl shall come to the Father's house or the presence of God
apart from me. Everybody, sooner or later, must
deal with this man, Christ Jesus. You can read the rest of it there.
The nineteenth verse, he says, "...yet a little while," a short time, just a little while,
"...yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more." In a
short time, I'll be gone. and the world saith me no more." When he was here on the earth
in the presence of man, accomplishing the Father's purpose
in the matters pertaining to God's salvation, They seen him, but they didn't
know him. They seen him with a bodily vision. They seen him,
but they didn't know him. I noticed on one of the church
bulletins here some time ago, a bulletin board that was erected
outside of the meeting house, where it's the subject to be
discussed, coming Sunday morning at this church building was, go something like this. The only Christ that some men
will see is the Christ that they see in you, and that probably
has some truth to it too, but it's not the whole truth. Because when He was here on this
earth, they did not recognize Christ
as Christ. They'd seen Him, but they didn't
know who He was. Which leads me to say, If you
expect people to see Christ in you, you may be disappointed, even though you try hard. Because if they couldn't see
Christ in Christ, they won't see Christ in you. And there's a reason why they
won't see Christ in you. And there's a reason why they
don't see Christ in Christ. We'll talk about that later on. But he says, He had a little
while, a short time, and the world seeth me no more. But listen
to this, But ye see me. Somebody's seen Him, Jim. Somebody's
seen Him, recognized Him, and found out who He was, and believed
on Him to the saving of their soul. But ye see me. But ye see me, and because I
live, ye shall live also. Now, the latter part of that
verse, because I live, ye shall live also, does not apply to
those who he refers to in the first part of the verse, yet
a little while, and the world seeth me no more. They never
will see. But ye see me, somebody. There's some out of Adam's fallen
race that sees him. Happy is the man that sees him. Blessed is the man who sees him. For in him is eternal life. saw our Lord Jesus Christ for
a very short time. But now, he says, it saith me
no more. It only saw him with the outward
eye. And I'm afraid that the majority
of what they call Christendom today, not just what they call
the Baptists or the Methodists, the Presbyterians, Pentecostals,
the Charismatics, but the majority of all of them put together.
Only see Him with the outward eye. These here that He has, that
He primarily speaks to, when he says, it's just a short
time, but now it seeth me no more. He's saying when the clouds
received him, when he was on that mountain, and the disciples
were there. And he departed from them, going
back to the Father from which he came. When the clouds received
him, and hid him and concealed him from their bodily vision. From that time until this, this
spiritually dead world has lost sight of him altogether. If all you ever seen in the Lord
Jesus Christ is the birth of that little child.
You haven't seen him aright. Spiritual sight of the Lord Jesus
Christ does not depend upon the bodily presence of its object. These folks who had seen him
spiritually, which he refers to in the latter part of the
verse. But ye see me, those folks, because
I live, ye shall live also. These folks who see him spiritually,
with the inward eye, They saw him after he had gone out of
this world unto the Father. These others were in this spiritually
dead world that cannot see him, but these that spiritually see
him, that he has reference to, ye see me, And because I live,
ye shall live also. Listen carefully now to this
verse. Yet a little while, and the world
seeth me no more. The world seeth me no more. Spiritually dead in trespasses,
and in sins. But you see me, because I live,
ye shall live also." Now, it is a sign, and I'm not much for
signs, are you? But it is a sign, a token, or
a mark of a true follower of the Lord Jesus Christ that he
sees his Lord and his Master and his true and living God when
he is not to be seen by the bodily eye. That's a mark of a true
believer, that he sees the Lord Jesus Christ not by the bodily
eye. He sees him with his inward eye. He sees him intelligently. Most people don't do that. You
could say that. If you asked the question to
999 out of a thousand people that you would meet today or
tomorrow or the day to come, and asked them who the Lord Jesus
Christ is, they could not intelligently tell you who He is. But those that see him, Bob,
as he is not seen by these who only see him with a bodily vision,
they see him intelligently. They know who he is. They know
who he is. They are sure, and they are able
to say like the apostles, I am thoroughly sure and convinced
that which I have committed unto him, he is able to keep unto
that day. For I know whom I have believed
and am persuaded." They see him intelligently. They see him as
the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of They came to John the Baptist,
and they said, Are you he who they said would come? He said,
I'm not he. He said, Behold, the Lamb of
God will take you away from sin. They see him intelligently. They
trust him. They believe him. They look to
him for all their needs. They know him intelligently. Oh, my soul! They know Him spiritually. They
know that He is their Lord and their Master. They have discerned
His character. They know that there's no sin
in Him, but there's sin on Him. And the sin that's on Him, they
know to be their sin. They know that. They apprehend
him by faith, not by sight, but by faith. For the Scriptures
say the just shall live by faith, not by sight. They look upon
him in love and admiration and adoration. They love him because
they've found out and they've seen him. And they found out
that they love Him because He first loved them. You remember, if you be one of
His this morning, you remember that it all started by a look.
Look ye unto Him, all ye ends of the world, and be ye saved. You're saved not by the look. You are saved by the object of
the look. Your look took upon itself the
direction of the object of the look. And that look, you've seen
the Lord Jesus Christ. You started out with the look.
This business of salvation commences with the look, with the eye of faith. Oh, don't
misunderstand me now. You do not, by nature, have faith. You're void of faith. By nature,
you could never be connected with God's Christ. You never
could see God's Christ. is that which joins you to Him. It's through the look of faith. Faith does not lie dormant in
you. You have no faith. God sovereignly
dispenses faith to whomsoever He wills. So I would not want you to think
that you could turn something on and faith would come. Oh no, it's a gift of God. And the man who's a true follower
of the Lord Jesus Christ and knows Him to be their Master
and their Lord and their Savior, he apprehends Him by faith. He lays hold of him by faith. He clings to him by faith. He looks to him by faith in love
and adoration. It starts by a look. We live
by looking and we still live by looking. It starts by looking. It continues by looking. We look to Him. It did not cease
when our hearts were overwhelmed with His love and His mercy,
and when our understanding was enlightened to see that He lovingly
gave Himself in our place, in our stead, in our room, Through his obedience and his
righteousness, the fact that he become our sin buyer, he bore
the penalty due us as sinners. We did not quit looking when
we found that out, but we continue to look. It starts with the look. It continues with the look. Bless
God, it will be consummated with the look. And when we see Him, we shall be like Him, for we
shall see Him as He is. The world, listen to me now,
let me say that it's looking unto Jesus, the author and the
finisher of our faith. The world sees him no more, for
it never seen him aright the first time. So they see him no
more. But ye have seen me, he said,
and lived. Life is in look. Life's in him. I'm the way, the truth, I'm the
resurrection and the life. Life's in look. Ye see me, ye
see me, and live. And now continuing still to see
me, you remain in life. We must never think that we live
by works or feelings, or ceremonies or sentiments. No, sir, the just
shall live by faith. As I've already told you, we
do not tell the ungodly sinner the way of obtaining life is
by the works of the law. But we say, look unto Him and
live, and continue your look, and your life is consummated. Nor do we tell a believer that
the way of sustaining this life is by the works of the law or
some legalistic application to it. Our glory, the believer in
Christ Jesus that sees it, he glows. He glories that our life
is not dependent on ourselves. That's our glory. We glory in
the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul said, God forbid that I
should glory. Same in the cross of Christ. Glory in that cross. Because
my security, my safety, my salvation is not in myself, but it's in
Him. It's in Him. Not in anything
I do or don't do. It's in Him. It's tied up, shut
up, bound up, wrapped up in Him, this Person of whom Paul said,
Whom? Eternal life's in Whom? Listen, our safety is in Him. The Apostle Paul himself said,
I am crucified with Christ. And he goes on and he says, nevertheless,
nevertheless, I live. I'm killed with Him. I died with
Him. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life that I now live
in the flesh, in this body of flesh, I live by the faith of
the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Life, life,
life, life. But you've got to have, got to
have God's life in you. It's only to be found in Him. Look and live. Look to yourself
until you're old and gray. Look to yourself and to your
good deeds. Look to your good intentions
until your dying day. But life won't come that way. Being delivered from this death
doesn't come by looking at yourself. Look and live. We sing that song
many times, don't we? Look and live, because He lives,
we live, and shall forever live. We have here in this verse a
life spoken of. It does not say here, because
I exist, Ye shall exist also. That's not what it says. It says,
Because I live, ye shall live also. Now, before the disciples
believed, there was a time when they didn't believe, Jim. They
didn't believe Him. They didn't know who He was. Now, before they believed, they
existed. And there may be some here this
morning that you just existed. This life is not mere existence. These apostles existed before
they believed. and even apart from spiritual
life. Even if they hadn't been the
recipients of spiritual life in Christ Jesus or regeneration,
they still would have existed, and they would have existed under
this day. Every soul that comes forth from God When
God breathed into man's nostrils and man become a living soul, he became a living soul from
God. And he never ceases to exist. Whether he's saved or whether
he's lost, he'll exist. Life here that he's talking about
is something far more nobler, far more higher, far more wonderful
than existence. Ain't that right? Oh, yeah. What is it? What is life? Well,
we know it practically, but we don't have words to tell it out. I know it in my soul, but I can't make up a sentence
that would explain intelligently the definition of it. I don't have the capacity to
do so. The Bible says, as all flesh
is not the same flesh, Oh, life is not the same life. Now, I have a good friend who
said there's life in vegetables. And that's right, isn't it? Jim
graduated college with a degree in biology. And I know Jim hadn't
forgot that, that there's life in vegetables. But that ain't
the same life he's talking about here, is it, Jim? There's life in carrots and cabbage. And I was telling you about my
friend. He said, now, what you need to do is drink so much carrot
juice every day. Because, he said, there's enzymes,
there's life in that vegetable. And he said, they'll go into
your system. and they'll help you." Which, no doubt, there's
a measure of truth to what he said. But I know this, that there's
life in the vegetables, there's life in a tree, there's animal
life, there's life in flowers, but not like the life that he
mentions here. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh. Isn't that right? That which is born naturally
is flesh, and that's all it can ever be, is flesh. Something
else got to take place. That's existence. You must be born again. That's
what our Lord said. I'm not trying to be tough or
difficult. I just want to be truthful. You can exist. But the life he's
talking about here, when he says, You see me? And because I live,
ye shall live also. That life is in him. It's eternal life. It's a life
from above. You must be born again is what
the Scriptures say, but the translators and the writers say that really
it means you must be born from above. God must be the sole instrument
in birthing you. He must create in you a capacity
to love Him, to worship Him, to commit yourself to Him, to
serve Him. There's life in the believer
when he's been regenerated. He's regenerated not by anything
that he does or don't do. Regeneration is in the hands
of God Himself. You remember the second chapter
of the book of Ephesians, where it says, And you hath He quickened. That's regeneration. It says,
Part 2, the quickening. You're dead in trespasses and
in sins. And you hath He quickly given
life. You must be born again. There is a life in believers
which is not found in other men. See, term, it comes from God. And he gives at his sovereign
disposal. You remember there in a book
of Genesis, God made this man out of the
dust of the earth. And it says that God indicates, anyhow, God leaned over, taking the initiative,
and this man that he formed out of the dust of the earth was
laying there prone. No life in him. No life in him. He didn't die, he just didn't
have life. He didn't even have existence
laying there. And God breathed into his nostrils
and he became a living soul to live with God or to live apart
from God throughout the forevers to come. One of the two. All right? God told this man. And I've said this, if I've said
it a hundred times, I've said it five hundred times. This man, Adam, represented all
future generations. He represented every man, every
woman, every boy and every girl that came from his lines. He
stood there as our representative. And what he did, was imputed
to them. There I stood, Adam, Adam, there
I stood. Oh, with all the fervor, with
all this energy, there I stood, and God told him, said, Adam, I've made you, I've made you. Everything here in this Garden
of Delight is yours. You're the boss. You're the husbandman
of God. What you say goes. They led him
over here to that one tree. He said, The fruit of this tree
don't you eat. He said, The day that you eat
of that fruit, surely die. That was the threatening command
of God to Adam. All right? In the day thou eatest
thereof, thou shalt surely die. He did eat of this fruit, to
make a long story short. He did eat of this fruit. And
since God is true to His Word, No trifling with God. We cannot
trifle with Him. God's true to His Word. Whatever
He said, that's what it'll be. I heard a fellow talking about
the power of God. He was talking about how infinite
in power God was, what all He could do and what all He did.
He said, all you have to do is go back there in the Old Testament
Read about God destroying civilizations, destroying whole armies, drowning
Pharaoh and all of them, and parting the Red Sea, and all
these great things. He said, that ought to be enough
to cause you to look to Him. I'd look to Him if I never heard
that. I don't have to have that to
look to Him. The cross of Jesus Christ tells me everything. I
see the mercy of God and the love of God and the justice of
God. I see all that God gives in His
Son. I don't have to have all those
things. God told him, Adam said, the
day that you eat of that, the day you're going to die. And
I said, now, God being true to His Word, the same day that Adam
ate of the fruit, That day he died. It wasn't, well, eventually
you'll die, but that very day he died, but yet he existed. He lost that eternal life that
he had with God. He lost that connection he had
with God, and he no more enjoyed the atmosphere of God when God came in the cool
of the day to fellowship with him. No, he ran and hid himself
and made vain excuses for what he'd done. And as in him, so
it is in us. We are the offspring. We're dead
in trespasses and in sins. And we, as Adam must be, we must
be born again. We must have this life that comes
from God. Oh, listen, this spiritual life
that he had, it departed from him. He lost everything. Lost
everything in the fall. We lost it all, too. He is no longer one with God.
He fell from his first estate. He had to be born again, as you
and I have to be born again. He's dead to the life of God,
and you and I are dead to the life of God. And we have to be
quickened. We must be as those that are
alive from the dead. A state of condemnation. The fall
of Adam brought about universal death. Over all Adam's race,
every one of them, the sweetest baby, the sweetest baby that's
born of woman is born in trespasses and in sins. Over every member of Adam's race,
no exception, universal death, this universal death, the Lord
Jesus Christ delivers us. Do you trust Him? He delivers
us from the results of the fall of Adam by implanting in our
souls spiritual life. And by no other means can this
death be removed. No other means. No other means.
Surprise you may, it won't work. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not on the Son
hath not life, and the wrath of God hangs over his head and
will surely fall upon him. The work of regeneration in which
this new life is implanted God Himself effectually restores
that individual from the ruin of the Father. Ruin, ruin. For we're born again. We believe in Christ because
we're born again. You don't believe in Christ in
order to be born again. Believing in the Lord Jesus Christ
is the result of the new birth. See? You don't argue with God
when you have life. When you hear the gospel, you
have life, you believe. You trust Him. You trust Him. There's no works to it. You say,
well, I'm saved because I believed. You believed because you were
saved. Isn't that the way you believe? You believe because
he's born again. It's all of God. He implanted the new birth, not
you. You didn't say to yourself, I'm
born again, I'll be born again. You might have said that, but
it didn't work. God's got to do that. And the sign that He
did do that is that you know Him intelligently. and you are
full of admiration and love and devotion to him, and you follow
him. No one has to say, well, what
do you think about baptism? Do you think you ought to be
baptized? You don't have to talk to him
about that. You know what he says? He says,
see, there's water. Why can't I be baptized? Well, thou can, you can if you
must. He's baptized, identifies himself
with the dead Christ and the risen Christ, the ascended Christ. Well, we're born again, the Bible
says. The work of regeneration in which
this new life is implanted effectually restores the ruin of the fallen,
born again, listen, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by
the Word of God that comes from this man, by the Word of God
which liveth and abideth forever. I need to remind you that when
we are born again, sin is still there. Do I have to tell you
that? Sin is still there. It's there. It's called in the Bible a body
of death. It's what causes this struggle.
We struggle and fight. And we cry out like the apostle
himself and say, Oh, wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver
me from this body of death? I thank Thee! Through Jesus Christ,
I claim the victory. Yeah. This life, what is it? Listen. To know it, you must have Is that right? I said, I can't. I know practically what it is,
but I don't have words to tell you. But I know this, to know
this life, you must have it. I ask this question, have you
been born, have you been born not of blood, nor the will of
the flesh, nor the will of man, But have you been born of God? Was there a time in your life
when you passed from death unto life? Has God given you understanding?
Let me read something to you here. I thought of this this
morning. It's in the fifth chapter of
the book of 1 John, I believe. 1 John, chapter 5. I think it's verse 20. Listen to what it says. Oh, I like this verse. And we
know that the Son of God is come. It's not fictitious to us. It's
not to the believer. It's not just a story that they
tell on December the 25th. It's more than that. We revere
the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word, God becoming
a man, God condescending, leaving everything. That little baby, laying snug in the womb of that
virgin, that little baby, God, God Almighty, over all and above
all, we reverence the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, sir. Oh, listen. We reverence this
name. It's called the body of death. I told you about that. What is it? I told you to know
this life you must have it. I said, have you been born not
of blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but
have you been born of God? Was there a time when you passed
from death unto life? Has God given you understanding? And we know that the Son of God
has come. We know that. And hath given us an understanding. You didn't have an understanding
before. God comes through your mind to your soul. He enlightens
your mind. He gives you an understanding.
Hath given us an understanding that We may know Him. Know Him. And this is eternal
life, that they might know Him, the true and the living God.
Know Him. Know Him. Know Him. Intimately, personally,
intelligently. Know Him. Know who He is. We
might know Him that is true. And we are in Him. We are joined
with Him. What He did, we did. What we deserved, He bore. What He deserved is freely given
to us. We're in Him, one with Him. He's the vine, we're the branches. We're one with Him. When He died,
we died. When He rose again, we rose.
We're seated with Him now in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
It's blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Him. Huh? Oh, yes. Have you been born? Huh? Well, listen, give them
this understanding. We may know Him that is true.
We're in Him that is true, even in His Son, Jesus Christ. And
this is the true God in eternal life. This life, this life, it's in
Him. I've proved that beyond a shadow
of a doubt. Life's in Him. It's not in carnal works, ceremonies. It's in Him. It's in the person,
Jesus Christ. It's in Him. He said it was. And this life that's in Him is
preserved. Preserved! Someone said they had a jar of
peaches that they cold-packed put in a jar, preserved for twenty
years. They said they was as good when
they came out as they was when they went in. Twenty years. Twenty
years. That's not even the snap of a
finger in light of eternity. This life that He gives us that's
in Christ Jesus is preserved He said, because I live, ye shall
live also. What's that mean? It means all
the degree of life which is secured by the covenant of grace, ye
shall have forever and ever. All your new nature. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creature, been born from above. All your new nature shall
live eternally. The life implanted by regeneration
shall never die out. Never, never die out. Isn't that something, Jim? Never
die out. Oh, you may have trouble like
Job had trouble. You've got a little trouble in
the gym. You've got some worries, haven't you? Sometimes your boys
and your daughters causes you some pain inwardly, and I'm sure
you're tempted by the devil. But they can't touch that life.
That life's preserved. The devil can't put his finger
on it. If you had 10,000 devils all
joined together, they can't bother this life. This life comes from
God, and it's God who preserves that life. It means all the essential
spiritual graces which make up the new man. No part of the new man, that
which is a new creation, new creature, no part of that new
creature shall die. No part of this old body is going
to die. It ain't no part of that new
creation. It's the old creation. It's going to die. It's going
to die. It applies to all the parts. of this newborn nature. Whosoever,
our Lord said, drinketh of this water which I give unto him shall
never thirst. He said it is like unto a well
of water that springs up unto everlasting life. Oh, listen. Jim, I said we may
well be tempted But we shall not be so as that it will lead
us to cease to live in Christ. We won't die. We may be tempted. He said, I am come that ye might
have life and that more abundant thing. All the members of this
newborn man, this spiritual man, All of them shall have life and
shall be safe and preserved by God. You could say of us, as
it was said of him, there shall not be a bone broken in his body. You say that. We're going to
be preserved. We shall not go into life halted
and maimed, oh no, but he will present us faultless, without
spot, and without blemish, in the presence of Almighty God.
That which is born of God, the new creature in Christ Jesus,
it means that the quickened man shall never fall back into that
old death from which he has been delivered, No, a thousand times
no. Jesus Christ said, because I
live, because I live, ye shall live also. It also says, Jesus Christ being
raised from the dead, He doth no more. He doth no more. He died on the tree, the man
Christ Jesus, regaining that which we lost
in the fall, bringing about a perfect righteousness
charged to our camp, all of our sins rolling on Him. And he bearing the penalty that
is due us against our sin. He bore it all. He died. And the women got together. They took care of his dead body.
He had no life in him. Joseph of Arimathea came along
and said,