Praise Him, praise Him, Jesus
our blessed Redeemer. Sing, O earth, His wonderful
love proclaim. Hail Him, hail Him, highest archangels
in glory. Strength and honor give to His
holy name. Like a shepherd, Jesus will guard
his children. In his arms he carries them all
day long. Praise him, praise him, tell
of his excellent greatness. Praise him, praise him, never
in joyful song. Praise Him, praise Him, Jesus,
our blessed Redeemer. For our sins He suffered and
bled and died. Be our rock, our hope of eternal
salvation. Hail Him, hail Him, Jesus the
crucified. Sound His praises, Jesus, who
bore our sorrows. Love unbounded, wonderful, deep,
and strong. Praise Him, praise Him, tell
of His excellent greatness. Praise Him, praise Him, ever
in joyful song. Praise Him, praise Him, Jesus,
our blessed Redeemer. Heavenly portals, loud with hosannas
ring. ? Jesus, Savior, reigneth forever
and ever ? ? Crown Him, crown Him, prophet and priest and king
? ? Christ is coming over the world victorious ? ? Power and
glory unto the Lord belong ? Praise Him, praise Him, tell of His
excellent greatness. Praise Him, praise Him, ever
in joyful song. Thank you. Turn with me to Hosea. Hosea chapter 14. O Israel, return unto the Lord
thy God, for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Take with
you words and turn to the Lord, say unto him, take away all iniquity
and receive us graciously, so we will render the calves of
our lips. Asher shall not save us. We will not ride upon horses. Neither will we say any more
to the work of our hands. Ye are our gods, for in thee
the fatherless find mercy. I will hear their backsliding. I will love them freely, for
mine anger is turned away from him. I will be as the dew unto
Israel. He shall grow as the lily and
cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and
his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon. They that dwell under his shadow
shall return. They shall revive as the corn.
and grow as the vine, the scent thereof shall be as the wine
of Lebanon. Ephraim shall say, what have
I to do any more with idols? I have heard him and observed
him. I am like a green fir tree, for me is thy fruit found. Who is wise that he should understand
these things, prudent and he should know them? For the ways
of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them, but
the transgressors shall fall therein. Let's pray. Father, we come to you again
this morning, thankful for our time together to meet and to
have fellowship with one another. And Father, we ask that you watch
over us during the service, open our eyes and our ears. Father,
to see and hear, open our hearts. And Father, we ask that you watch
over our pastor as he brings the message. Give him the words
that you would have us to hear. And Father, we again come to
you thankful for a place to come to meet. And Father, we ask that
you always make this place available to us. And we ask that you watch
over us as we have our meal together and bless the food that you provided
for us. And Lord, we also ask that you
Be with us as we have our conversation and our fellowship together And
Lord we ask that you watch over and care for us in Christ's name Our second hymn will be 292,
Surely Goodness and Mercy, 292. A pilgrim was I and a wandering
In the cold night of sin I did roam When Jesus the kind shepherd
found me And now I am on my way home Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days, all the days of my life. Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days, all the days of my life. He restoreth my soul when I'm
weary. He giveth me strength day by
day. He leads me beside the still
waters. He guards me each step of the
way. Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days, all the days of my life. Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days, all the days of my life. When I walk through the dark,
lonesome valley My Savior will walk with me there And safely
His great hand will lead me To the mansions He's gone to prepare Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days, all the days of my life. Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days, all the days of my life. ? And I shall dwell in the house
of the Lord forever ? And I shall feast at the table spread for
me ? Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me ? All the days,
all the days of my life All the days, all the days of
my life. Thank you. Morning. Okay, take your Bibles and let's
turn to John chapter 14. John 14, and I want to look at
the first seven verses with you this morning. Here in this passage,
our Lord so skillfully and faithfully takes our eyes off of what we
know, and he puts our eyes on who we know. He takes us from
looking at self to behold the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope,
our righteousness, our all. And so I've titled the message,
Who We Know, Who We Know. Now, at the close of the last
chapter, we were looking at chapter 13, and our Lord had told his
disciples some very heavy news. It weighed heavy on their heart. It made them sad. It was grievous
to hear these words. For example, in verse 21, he
had said, one of you shall betray me. And then he said to them a little
later, he said, I'm going to leave you. Where I'm going, you
cannot come. And Peter challenged the Lord.
He said, Lord, I'll go with you. I'm ready to die. I'll go to
prison. I'm ready to die for your sake. And the Lord had to tell him,
Peter, you're going to deny me three times before the rooster
crows. Those were some heavy words to
hear. The night was just getting started,
but a little later over in chapter 16, he says, because I have said
these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart. So he said things that were hard
to hear, things that were personal, things that were personal to
his disciples, things that were very targeted to them. And it was heavy. It weighed
heavy on their heart. And we know, we that are adults
here have experienced the hearing of news that is very heavy, that
weighs heavy on our hearts, that's hard to hear and difficult to
know. And when we hear it, we're trying
to process it, trying to make sense of the things that we've
heard. And we understand in those days
that carnal saying which says ignorance is bliss. They usually
use that there. Because sometimes you hear things
that fill your heart and your mind and your thoughts with grievous
things and things that make you sad, things that trouble you. and are difficult to hear. But
these things that were heavy had to be said. Our Lord tells
them that He needed to tell them these things. In verse 19 of
chapter 13 He said, Now I tell you before it come, that when
it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am He. In fact, he says
in chapter 16, verse 1, he says, these things have I spoken unto
you that ye should not be offended. So the Lord told them these things
that they needed to hear, but it made them sad. But notice
that their knowledge that the Lord gave them, the knowledge
that they had of these things, it didn't deliver the disciples
from the things that they would experience. They weren't delivered
from it. He told them what was going to
come to pass, and it came to pass. They had a knowledge of
it, but it didn't deliver them from what they were going to
go through. Nor did that knowledge of those
things comfort them. It didn't give them any comfort,
if you notice. They had a knowledge of them,
but it didn't deliver them from it, and it didn't give them any
comfort in those things. So what was Christ teaching them? What is he teaching us now? Our
Lord is showing who Our Lord is showing who the believer's
comfort is. We have a knowledge of things,
but that's not our comfort. Our Lord is showing us who our
comfort is and who our comfort is in. It's to make us to believe
that he is the one, that he is the Christ, that he is the salvation
appointed of God. And we see here in this that
God has a will and a purpose in the earth. Our God has a will
and a purpose in this earth. what He's determined to bring
to pass that glorifies His name, that glorifies His Son, and that
brings about our salvation in the Son. And so His purpose is
being fulfilled in the earth. And Christ is the one ruling
and reigning and implementing the will of our God in the earth. And so there are difficulties. There's troublesome days. There's hardships that we go
through as believers. And what our God is telling us
is not that we're going to be delivered from the hardships. We won't be delivered from the
persecutions necessarily. For some that you read of in
Hebrews chapter 11, they were given faith and they didn't want
to be delivered from the hardships. So sometimes he gives us faith
and a willingness to go through and endure those hardships and
those hard, difficult times. But he tells the disciples and
he tells his people, those that hope in him, that there are difficulties
ahead, that we flee to the one in whom is our comfort. that we look to Him who is our
peace, not the things of this life, not the things of this
world. In Hebrews chapter six, verses
17 through 19, we read this, wherein God, willing more abundantly
to show unto the heirs of promise, That's you that believe Christ.
You are the heirs of promise. The immutability or the unchanging,
the unchangeableness of our God, of his counsel, the immutability
of his counsel confirmed it by an oath. The point here is that
our God has a will and a purpose. He has a counsel which he is
determined to do, and he's doing it. that by two immutable or
unchangeable things in which it was impossible for God to
lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge, to
lay hold upon the hope set before us, which hope we have as an
anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth
into that within the veil. So our comfort isn't that God's
counsel is going to change for us. It's not going to be altered. The works are finished from the
foundation of the world. That's not our comfort. Our comfort
is that we know Christ. We're in Christ. He's our anchor
of the soul. For every difficulty, for every
trial that you go through, Christ is our anchor. And so he says
in John 14 verse 1, let not your heart be troubled. You believe
in God? Believe also in me, in the Lord
Jesus Christ. So you've heard troublesome words,
you've heard some things hard to hear that have grieved your
hearts and made you sad. Don't be troubled. Don't be troubled. Believe me. Trust me. Believe
me, your God and your Savior. And so we begin to see here that
it's not what we know. The disciples knew some things.
The Lord had told them some things. It's not what we know, but who
we know that gives us comfort, that our God, whereby our God
gives us comfort. and saves us, comforts us in
the arms of our Savior, our Lord and Savior. And so the knowledge
of these things, it wasn't wrong for them to know. It wasn't wrong
for them to know these difficult things that weighed heavy on
their heart, but it wasn't their comfort. It didn't give them
comfort in knowing those things. Their comfort is in their God
and in their Savior in whom they believe and trust His blood.
That's what the Lord's showing us. You may know things, but
that's not our comfort. Our comfort is in the Lord Jesus
Christ. And so they found out they're
going to suffer some difficult and painful trials and difficulties
that they're going to go through. And Christ comforts them with
their faith in God, He reminds them, you believe God, don't
you? You believe God. Believe also
in me. Put your faith and trust in me. So our God, he calls us to faith
through the trial, through the difficulty. Didn't he say in
1 Peter 1, 6 and 7, that the trial of your faith, being more
precious than of gold, might be found. Your faith will be
found. Our God is calling us to faith
in Him, to believe Him through whatever trial, whatever difficulty
that we go through. You believe God? Believe Christ. Believe your Savior. He's wise. He's faithful. He cares for you. He loves you. He's gentle and
tender. but He is bringing you through
difficulties that your faith may be found. Psalm 37.5 says
it this way, Commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in Him,
and He shall bring it to pass. And there's such a beautiful
thought, a beautiful picture in that, that trust in Him, trust
in the Lord, and He's going to bring to pass His counsel that
He's determined and purposed to do, which glorifies the Son
and is effectual to your salvation, is in line and in keeping with
His will in His purposes, in His love for you, in His salvation
of your soul. It's all in line. Nothing's gone
astray. Nothing's been done that shouldn't
be done. Everything is in line with your keeping and your salvation
in Christ. And so, in the Lord, He makes
us as peaceful as Paul and the shipwreck, floating safely to
shore on broken pieces. Our God is able to fill our hearts,
and He does fill our hearts with that peace and that hope in the
hour of trial and trouble. When you think about the hour
or the day coming, you think, I don't think I have it to go
through that. You're right, you don't have
it, I don't have it. Now, you have it in the day in which it's
necessary. Believe Him, trust Him. He's
able to uphold you and keep you and provide for you. to work
his purposes, which he's purposed to work in you. The hope that
we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. Proverbs 3, 5, and 6, trust in
the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. It's so easy to look at things
the way we've always looked at them and try to problem solve
the way we've always solved problems. And the Lord says, There's things
that you can't figure out. There's things you can't undo.
Trust in the Lord and don't lean on your own understanding. In
all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths. He'll direct thy paths. So whatever
your path is and whatever difficulties you or I go through, what is
our comfort? In what we know, or in who we
know, the Lord Jesus Christ. Our comfort's in Christ himself.
And that's why Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 5 18, in everything
give thanks. In everything give thanks. Good
times and bad. Easy times and hard times. In everything give thanks for
this is the will of God for you. Whatever you're going through,
one thing you know, this is the will of God for you. This is
why you're going through it, because this is God's will for
you, in Christ Jesus concerning you. So, he that declares the
end from the beginning, says to believers under great stress
and under great difficulty, in Revelation 13, 10, he said, here
is the patience and faith of the saints. And that's when he
was describing that beast rising up out of the sea, making war
against the saints, even overcoming them. But he said, don't be troubled
by this. He that leadeth into captivity
must be led into captivity. He that killeth with the sword
must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and faith
of the saints. And so we see in that, whatever
the difficulty is, Our comfort isn't in knowing these things,
knowing that there's difficulties or trouble ahead or whatever
we see or think we see. Our comfort is in the Lord Jesus
Christ who loves you and says, let not your heart be troubled.
You believe in God, believe also in me. You look to me. And so he tells us these things
that we not be offended. Blessed is he whosoever shall
not be offended in me." Because there are troubles and difficulties
that do offend people. You've probably met people in
your life that have described some horrible difficulty that
happened to them or to a child and it so bothered them, so hurt
them, so offended them that when they speak of God, it's a false
God, it's not the truth. Whereas others who go through
the same difficulties and trials are given faith in Christ and
they believe him and confess and profess the true and living
God and the Lord Jesus Christ and they accept it. They trust
that the Lord is working all things according to his will,
but their hope is the Lord Jesus Christ. Their confidence and
hope is in him. And so in Romans 9.33, Paul wrote,
as it's written, behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and
a rock of offense, and whosoever believeth on him shall not be
ashamed. And so our Lord says, I tell
you these things before they come, that when it come to pass,
you may believe that I am He. I am He. So our Lord has everything
in control. Now again, our Lord in verse
two, he turns the heart's attention off of earthly things. We have
a knowledge of earthly things, but he shows us the kingdom of
heavenly things. He shows us more precious things,
heavenly things. So read verse two with me. 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."
In other words, in this earthly kingdom, or this earthly kingdom,
and all the troubles that come along with it, are passing away. But we have a more sure foundation,
a more lasting hope, an everlasting provision in the Lord Jesus Christ,
an everlasting inheritance in Him. Our Lord says, in my Father's
house are many mansions. And what we take from that is,
oh, there's a sufficient inheritance for me. There's not a little
box, a little booth, a little square foot for me to stand in.
There's many mansions. In other words, we have an abundance,
more than sufficient supply of inheritance in the Lord Jesus
Christ. And there's inequality in it,
too, isn't there? Mansions. There's not some castles and
some shacks, right? Because I know where I'd be in
the shack. But he says there's many mansions.
We all receive the same inheritance, the Lord Jesus Christ. We're
all provided for in him. And our Lord says, I go to prepare
that place for you. I'm preparing it for you. And
so he went to the cross. He went to the tomb. He ascended
and went through the veil before us, leading the way that we might
follow him and be with him in our inheritance, which is the
Lord Jesus Christ. And so he did this. He went away. When he went away, it wasn't
a permanent separation. It was a temporary separation. But he did it to make a permanent
reconciliation for us with our God. to make a permanent reunion,
to restore us, to reconcile us unto the Father permanently. A fellowship that will never
be broken, that can never change or be altered in Him. He says
now in verse 3, and if I go and You can read it, the wording
also supports, and when I go, because there's no question as
to whether the certainty of Christ accomplishing this, when I go
and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive
you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also. And so in these first three verses,
our Lord has given us three reasons, three comforting words to us
in each of those verses. First, he says, ye believe in
God, believe also in me. You don't need to be troubled.
You trust me. Believe me. That's one comfort. Second, he tells us, I go to
prepare a place for you. That's comforting. We're not
preparing the place for ourselves by our works. Christ went and
he prepared it. And third, he tells us, I'm coming
again to receive you whom I've purchased with my blood. I'm
returning. And when I return, you shall
be forever with me. whether you're in the grave,
asleep in the grave till he come, your body is asleep in the grave,
or you're standing here in the flesh when he comes, either way
we shall see our Lord and be forever with Christ our Lord. And so this is our redemption. Christ is speaking of our redemption.
We've been purchased with the blood of Christ so that we are
justified by his death and resurrection. God is pleased with us now. The wrath and the anger of God
is put away by Christ. He is the propitiation. He's
turned the anger of God away from us and upon Himself to receive
in Him, to make payment by His own blood, the debt that we owe
to God. So that the sin is put away and
God is pleased with us. He's forgiven us. He receives
us in His Son, Jesus Christ. And because Christ has justified
us, so too we are brought into the Kingdom. by the light of
God, sending His Spirit to seek us out and to make known to us
what Christ has done, and to give us faith whereby we believe
what Christ has done and trust His blood. Therefore, having
done all, to stand." And the Lord Jesus Christ, Paul, says,
stand. Stand, therefore. Put on the
whole armor of God. That is, trust your Savior. Believe in Him. walk by faith
in Him. He's provided everything for
you for the day of evil to stand in Him, to be found faithful
in Him. Christ provides it all for His
people. And our Lord shall return and
raise up those asleep in the grave and those who are yet on
the topside standing there looking at His coming and beholding His
coming. Paul writes it this way in 1
Corinthians 15. Let's turn there. 1 Corinthians
15. And go to verse 51, 51 through
54. Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we
shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling
of an eye, at the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound and
the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For
this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal
must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall
have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on
immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written,
Death is swallowed up in victory. And according to verse 57, that
victory is through Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. So, our Lord then
continues. Now, back in John 14, verses
4 and 5. He says, and whither I go, ye
know, and the way ye know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord,
we know not where you go, and how can we know the way? Now, this little exchange sets
up for us one of the most recognizable verses in all the Gospels, when
Christ said, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man
cometh unto the Father but by me. but by me." And so what our
Lord is saying is affirming to us once again, it's not what
you know. What we know maybe troubles us,
but it's who we know. And we're anchored in the Lord
Jesus Christ. And we do know the way. You do
know the way. You that believe Christ. and
hope in him, you know the way, because Christ is the way. Christ is the way to the Father. And so we may have an imperfect
knowledge of things. You think about some of the silliness
that comes out in the disciples by the questions that they asked
and what they thought. I mean, they were expecting an
earthly kingdom. There's people today that still
think that the Lord's talking about an earthly kingdom. And
they don't see that he's already set up and established his kingdom. We already reign with the Lord
Jesus Christ. We know him. We're seated even
now in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. He's already on the throne. He is the kingdom. But they thought
that there would be an earthly kingdom. And how many silly things
do we think wrong and get wrong? about things, but that's not
our hope. Our hope is in the Lord Jesus Christ. We trust not
what we know, and we don't trust the works that we're doing. We
trust and believe the salvation of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe Him. He is the way. Turn over to John chapter 3. John 3, 35 and 36, the end of
the chapter. The Father loveth the Son, and
hath given all things into his hand. He that believeth on the
Son hath everlasting life. And he that believeth not the
Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. And so our Lord shows us that
you that have the Son, you have life. You have life, you have
everything to stand before God, accepted of Him. And so Christ
is the way to God in heaven, saying, I am the way, the truth,
and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. but by me, so that Christ is
much more than an example for us to follow. Christ is much
more than a prophet come to tell us how we get ourselves saved. That's not what he's come to
do. Christ is not our inspiration whereby we're motivated to do
better and try better before God. Christ is our salvation. Christ is the way to God. Christ is all to the believer. He is the way unto the Father,
and so we come to the Father by Jesus Christ, through Jesus
Christ, and we're in Christ by faith. That's how we're in the
way. It's in faith. We stand in Christ
by faith. We know that we are in Him and
received with Him, that we died with Him and are now alive with
Him by faith, not the law. We walk by faith in Christ, not
by the law. That's not how we go in the way. That's not how we get things
done. That's not how it's done. Christ is the way through the
faith which he's given to us. And our acceptance by God is
in Christ. That's how we come. Romans 3,
21 and 22 says, but now the righteousness of God. Man, following his own
way, looked to the law and his own works of the flesh, thinking
that was his righteousness. But our Lord says, now the righteousness
of God, that which pleases God, without the laws manifested,
being witnessed by the law and the prophets. In other words,
man, when they run to Moses, Moses says, don't look to me.
I'm not your salvation. I'll tell you what you are. You're
a sinner. You're a sinner. And you run to the prophets,
and the prophets say, if you trust in my words, what I'm saying,
all you're going to do is come under judgment. If you think
that you can live by the words of what I'm saying to get yourselves
right, you're going to come under the judgment of God. But that
one who runs to Christ, that's who the law and the prophets
are testifying of, because it shows us that the law says you're
a sinner. The prophets say you're coming
into judgment. But Christ says this is where you'll find mercy.
He's the mercy seat. He's the propitiation whom God
has provided, whereby we are received of Him, not for our
work's sake, but for Christ's sake, for His sake alone. even
the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto
all and upon all them that believe for there is no difference. Whether
you're Jew or Gentile, whether you're male or female, whether
you're rich or poor, educated or uneducated, God receives all
who come to Him through Jesus Christ, the Son. And so we trust
Christ because that's how we enter into the holiest of holies,
by the blood of Christ. That's how we enter into the
presence of God, by a new and living way which He hath consecrated
for us through the veil, that is to say, His flesh. His flesh,
showing us that we died with Christ and are risen again with
Christ. We live in Him even now. So our
salvation isn't resting upon our works, upon what we do and
what we don't do by the works of the law. Our salvation does
not rest upon what we know or don't know. We come to God through
the way that He's provided, the way of God, which is the Lord
Jesus Christ. The Father is well pleased with
the Son, because He does all the will of the Father perfectly,
and that's how we come to the Father in Jesus Christ. And Christ, the way He keeps
us, He teaches us, He feeds us, He nourishes us, He corrects
us, He's our all. That's why He is the way and
how He is the way. He's everything to the believer. And He provides for us as we
have need of having in Him. He gives us all according to
His will and purpose for the difficulties and the challenges
and the trials that are before us. He gives us everything to
go through those whereby faith is found. whereby faith is found,
so that no, we're not always looking like the conqueror, but
we're more than conquerors through Jesus Christ, because we stand
in faith. We stand trusting him, not because
we saw the outcome that we thought should occur, but because our
God has kept us. And we've endured through that
trial and the trials before that and shall continue to endure
through them by the grace of our God provided for us freely
in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so it's going to be a walk
of faith. We're going to be leaning on the Lord. We're not going
to be leaning on our own strength and seeing things that we think
we should see. We're going to see Jesus. We're
going to see Christ and be satisfied with Him, in Him. Then our Lord
said, I'm the truth. All the scriptures declare Christ. All the types, all the shadows,
all the pictures speak of and point us to the Lord Jesus Christ. When you read the Word and you
know this is speaking of Christ, sometimes you see it clearly,
sometimes you don't see it clearly, but you know it's all speaking
of Christ. It's all declaring Him. You know
the truth. because the scriptures speak
of the Lord Jesus Christ. It says in Luke 24-27, beginning
at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all
the scriptures the things concerning himself. And then a little while
later it says, and then opened he their understanding that they
might understand the scriptures. When you see and know this is
all testifying of Christ, that he is salvation, that he is the
way to God, you know the truth because it all speaks of him.
It's all testifying of him. That's the truth. And Christ
said, I am the life. Our Lord has life in himself
to give life to whomsoever he wills to give it. For as the
Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to
have life in himself. And so our Savior himself, the
first man Adam, was made a living soul by God, but the second Adam
is a quickening spirit. a life-giving spirit. He gives
life to whomsoever He wills. He causes us to hear His voice. He causes us to see the Son.
He causes us to believe the Son and to receive Him. And so we
often think that this life, the things we're going through, that
this is life, that this is somehow living because it's all that
we know. when the sun comes with power, and we behold Him, and
we see not earthly things, but heavenly things, that our God's
will is being implemented in all things, in my life, in everything
that's happening to me, and in my life, and what I'm going through,
is all according to the will and purpose of God. And we give
Him thanks. That's life. That's life. to trust in Him and believe Him.
And so, we see the grace of our God in John 10, verse 26. Turn
there, John 10, 26. And we see here distinguishing
grace. We see here the difference that
our God makes between His people and those who are not His people. But He passes them by, leaving
them in their own sparks, their own light, which is nothing but
darkness. In John 10 26, Ye believe not,
because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep
hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give
unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall
any man pluck them out of my hand. And so what the Lord shows
us is that we're sinners by nature, dead in trespasses and sins,
corrupt in Adam's flesh, being born of Adam's seed, but Christ
is that life-giving Spirit, that quickening Spirit who gives life
to whom He will, whereby we are born again, raised anew by the
Spirit of God, born of the seed of Christ, the incorruptible
seed of Christ, to know Him. to hear Him and to believe on
Him. And He tells us, He that hath
the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath
not life. It is that simple. Christ is
the way, the truth, and the life, and you that believe Him that's
having Him, that's being in the way, that's going the way to
the Father is through Jesus Christ the Son. You have life, you know
the way, you know the truth, you know the life, you have life
of the Lord Jesus Christ. So our Lord says then in verse
7, If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also. And
from henceforth, from here on, ye know Him and have seen Him."
So our Lord says, you have everything you need. And knowing me, you
have everything you need. And you know the Father. in knowing
Me. He is the revelation of God to
us. For in Christ all the fullness
of the Godhead dwelleth bodily, and ye are complete in Him which
is the head of all principality and power." And so we're thankful
for the knowledge and the understanding that our God has given to us
of these scriptures, for the beautiful pictures that we see
of Christ. We're thankful for what our Lord
has told us and declared to us, the difficulties that are in
the life of a believer. that they that will live godly
in this life will suffer persecution and go through hard times and
and suffer many things at the hands of those that hate and
despise the true and living God. He's told us but don't be offended
in those things and those things are troublesome they don't give
us comfort looking at those things but he says don't be troubled
you believe in God believe also in me and so We see our Lord
and Savior, but it's not by what we do. It's not by what we know. It's by who we know. And your
Savior has revealed Himself to you and given you faith and hope
in Him. So be comforted and rest from
your trouble and your labors in the Lord Jesus Christ. Walk by faith in Him because
of Him whom you know, the way, the truth, and the life. And
I pray the Lord bless that word and comfort your hearts with
Christ. Amen. All right, brethren. We'll close this in prayer. And
then, Scott, if you can hand out the bread and the wine after. I'll pray first and then come
up and then you can pray. Our Lord, we thank you, Father,
for your grace. We thank you for the anointed one, the one whom
you've sent, the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, thank you for turning our
hearts from what it is that we know and the knowledge that we
have. Because all men have knowledge. And knowledge puffeth up. But
not all men have love. Not all men have life in the
Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you for our Lord who
is the way, the truth, and the life. Keep us ever seeing our
Lord and Savior. Keep us ever looking to Him and
trusting Him and believing our Savior. He alone is our comfort,
our joy, and our peace. Lord, please Have mercy, have
mercy upon those who are suffering, those with wounds and sicknesses. We think of Ron and Claudia who
are still trying to recover from their sickness. We think of brother
Scott with his wound. We think of Marion with her knees
and trying to recover from that. And Lord, there's many other
unspoken illnesses and concerns and weaknesses that we have.
But Lord, you know our hearts and you know our needs. And so
Lord, I ask that you would bless those who are troubled, those
who are afraid, those who are weary, that you would be their
comfort and their peace. And Lord, that you would take
our eyes off of the things that we know and the troublesome news
that we hear. And Lord, give us faith. in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Keep us looking to Him alone.
It's in Christ's name we pray and give thanks. Amen. All right, Brother Scott. Just pray and then hand out the
elements. Father, we come to you thankful
for the righteousness, Lord, that you provided in a person,
not in a doctrine, but in a person, your son. Father, we again come
to you thankful for our time together and for the meal that
you provided. Lord, we ask that you watch over Ron and Claudia,
let them get well, and Father, I ask that you Make us accepting
to your will regarding us, whatever illnesses and such and situations
that we have in life, Lord, and ask that you just make us accepting
to your will. And Lord, we just, again, as
always, ask that you watch over and care for us in Christ's name.
Amen. I'll be reading from Matthew
26 verses 26 and 27. And as they were eating, Jesus
took bread, and blessed it, and break it, and gave it to the
disciples. His body was broken for you,
his disciples, who believe him, who follow him, and trust him. And he said, take, eat, this
is my body. And he took the cup, and gave
thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it. For this is my blood of the New
Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. Let's all stand and sing a closing
hymn. Leaning on the everlasting arms. 460. 460. What a fellowship, what a joy
divine. Leaning on the everlasting arms. What a blessedness, what a peace
is mine. Leaning on the everlasting arms. Leaning, leaning. Safe and secure from all alarms,
Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms. Oh, how sweet to walk in this
pilgrim way, leaning on the everlasting arms. Oh, how bright the path
grows from day to day, leaning on the everlasting arms. Leaning, leaning, safe and secure
from all alarms. Leaning on the everlasting arms. What have I to dread? What have I to fear? Leaning on the everlasting arms. I have blessed peace with my
Lord so near. Leaning on the everlasting arms. Safe and secure from all alarms. Leaning, leaning, leaning on
the everlasting arms.