John 14, our Lord is telling
his disciples that very soon he's going to leave. He's going
to go accomplish this great work, great work on the cross. And
then he's going to ascend back up to his father and he's going
to make peace. That's what he's telling them in all of these
chapters from John chapter 13. to John chapter 18, I believe
it is, is all the same night. It's a few hours from John 13
to John 18. And he is telling them over and
over and over in the space of these few hours, he is truly
trying to prepare them and comfort them. And he's trying to be very
clear on all these things. I'm going to make peace. I must go. And he's telling them that he's
going to send God's Holy Spirit to be with them and comfort them.
I'm leaving. This is it. The moment. But I'm
going to send God's Spirit and comfort you. Verse 16, he said,
I will pray the Father and he shall give you another comforter
that he may abide with you forever. Even the spirit of truth whom
the world cannot receive because it seeth him not, neither knoweth
him, but you know him for he dwelleth with you and shall be
in you. I will not leave you comfortless. I will come to you. And our Lord
in love and in kindness and in compassion, he gives his disciples
and he gives us some reassurance in telling them I'm leaving so
that we might never be separated again. I'm not leaving so that
we can be separated. He just told him in verse 1,
he said, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God,
believe also in 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. And if I go and prepare
a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself,
that where I am, you may be also. So he says in verse 19, the beginning
of our text, yet a little while and the world seeth me no more. The world is going to see me
no more. For 33 1/2 years, for 33 1/2
wonderful years, the most amazing 33 1/2 years in history, all
history, a Savior walked this earth. An absolute Savior, the
healer, walked this earth. I will be thou clean. Everywhere
he went, Nothing but good. 33 and a half years. Go over to Luke chapter 1 with
me. This was glorious. Luke chapter 1 verse 30. Luke chapter 1 verse 30, the
angel said unto her, fear not Mary. for thou hast found favor
with God. And behold, thou shalt conceive
in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name
Jesus. He shall be great, and shall
be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord God shall give unto
him the throne of his father David. And he shall reign over
the house of Jacob forever And of his kingdom there shall be
no end. Then said Mary unto the angel,
How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered
and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the
power of the highest shall overshadow thee. Therefore also that holy
thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son
of God. Now Luke chapter 2. Verse 6 says, And so it was that
while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should
be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn
son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger
because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were
in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping
watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord
came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about
them, and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them,
Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy,
which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day
in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto
you. You shall find the babe wrapped
in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there
was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising
God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth
peace, goodwill toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels
were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one
to another, let us now go even unto Bethlehem and see this thing
which has come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto
us. And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph and
the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen, they
made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning
this child." They told everybody. And all they that heard wondered
at those things which were told them by the shepherds. All that
heard. A Savior has come to the earth. Peace himself has set foot on
the earth. Now look at John 3. John chapter 3 verse 17 says, for God sent not his son into
the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him
might be saved. They were already condemned.
They didn't need condemnation. What they needed was a savior.
And for 33 and a half years, a savior walked this earth. Every soul who came to him was
healed and blessed. Every soul. Every soul. True love and kindness and compassion
was here. Grace poured out of his lips. Everything he said was absolute
grace. He said, come unto me all ye
that labor and are heavy laden. I will give you rest. I will. He said, whosoever will let him
come. Turn over to John seven. Man, I love this. John 7 verse
37 says, In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus
stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto
me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the
scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living
water. If anybody's thirsty, come unto
me. John wrote that which was from
the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with
our eyes, which we have looked upon. Something different than
seeing and looking upon, isn't it? And our hands have handled
the word of life. We touched the word of life. How many people saw him? How
many people touched him? How many people crowded him? He said, somebody touched me. What do you mean, Lord? Everybody's
touching you. No. Somebody touched me. Somebody reached out in need. Virtue has gone out of me. Somebody touched me. For 33 and
a half years, a savior walked this earth. But he says back
in John 14, look back at John 14, our text, Verse 19, yet a little while
and the world seeth me no more. Oh man, how awful is that? The world seeth me no more. Not like they have for the last
33 and a half years. This world will see him one more
time. You think about that. This world
will see him one more time. Go over with me to Revelation
chapter 1. Revelation 1 verse 7 says, Behold, he cometh with clouds,
and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him. And all kindreds of the earth
shall wail because of him. Even so, amen. After this world laid him in
a tomb, they saw him there on that cross. They pulled him down
off of that cross and they put him in a tomb. And after they
laid him in a tomb, this world saw the savior of sinners no
more. No more. But we see him. We really do, don't we? I mean,
they don't bless their hearts. Oh, bless their hearts. They
are blind as bats to the Savior of sinners. But we see Him. We come to Him for rest from
heavy labors, don't we? We come lowly, begging for His
virtue. We come. We come in need. We come thirsty. Why do we do
that? Go back with me to John 14. Verse 19 says yet a little while
and the world seeth me no more. But you see me. You see me. Why? Verse 19 says, because I
live and because I live, you live
also. You live and you move and you
have your being because I live. That's why go over with me to
Galatians chapter two. Galatians 2 verse 20 says, I
am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live yet. Not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me
and gave himself for me. Do you know what that's saying?
It's saying Christ is our life. Christ is our life. Not just
Christ is our life, Christ is our life. I'm born dead in trespasses and
sins. But I live. We see Him, don't
we? We come to Him, don't we? We
call on Him, don't we? We run to Him, don't we? We trust
Him. Why? I live because of Him. He lives
in me. He has put His life in me. I live by the faith of Christ. He said, because I live, That's
why you live. It's only because I live. Go
over to Colossians chapter three. Colossians chapter three, verse
four says, when Christ who is our life shall
appear. Then shall you also appear with
him in glory." Why are you going to appear in glory? Because Christ,
who is our life, is going to appear in glory. That's why,
because I live, you live also. When I hear that, the only way
I know to respond is, why me? Why me? Why would God choose
me? Back over in John 14, Verse 20
says, At that day, the day that I send my Spirit, that's what
the Lord is talking about. At that day, you shall know that
I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. This is what our Lord is saying
right there. This is an incomprehensible thought. This is an awesome thought. This is one of those times back
in the Psalms, they would put a Silah right there. We could
use a Silah right here. Just think about this. What our
Lord is saying is my father, myself, the spirit, and you,
my people, we are all one. We're all one. My spirit will
comfort you by showing you that I am in my father. You are in
me and I am in you. I can't help but think about
a pregnancy. When I think about that, I think about a pregnancy.
A mother and a child. Are they two or are they one?
Yes. Yes. Look at John chapter 17. Verse 21 says. That they all
may be one as thou father art in me and I in thee that they
also may be one in us. that the world may believe that
thou hast sent me, and the glory which thou gavest me I have given
them, that they may be one even as we are one. I in them, and
thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that
the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved
them as thou hast loved me. Father, you have loved them,
in the exact same way, to the exact same degree, for the exact
length of eternity that you have loved me. Is that not comforting? Our Lord said we're one. I'm
the head, you're the body. He's about to tell us over in
John 15, I'm the vine, you're the branches. Saul of Tarsus,
he went around persecuting the church, hailing men and women,
breathing out threatenings and slaughters, and Christ knocked
him off of that horse and he said, why are you persecuting
me? Why are you persecuting me? You're
not doing it to them, you're doing it to me. We're one. We're all one. And I love the
thought, our Lord said, when he said back in Matthew 25, I'm
gonna at that time separate sheep from the goats. Blessed, I was
hungry and you fed me. naked and you clothed me and
they said when did we do that he said in as much as you've
done it under one of the least of these my brethren you have
done it to me that he's not just saying I appreciate that so much
it's as good as if you had done it to me what he's saying is
you have done it to me you have done it to me that sheds a whole
new light on us doing for each other doesn't it Sheds a whole
new light. He said, if you bring a cup of
cold water in the name of a disciple, you know, you guys, some of you
will fill up this. You're not bringing this to me. I really
appreciate it, but. Every true ministry is really
unto the Lord. It is unto the Lord. Well, John
14 verse 21 says. He that hath my commandments
and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me. And he that loveth
me shall be loved of my father, and I will love him and will
manifest myself to him. Nowhere did our Lord ever say,
keep my commandments and I'll save you. Nowhere. Nowhere did he say, love me and
I'll save you. Nowhere. We do not love him for
salvation. Do you love Jesus? Oh yeah. I
want to be saved. We don't love him for salvation.
We love him because he first loved us and he gave himself
for us. That's why. Now let me illustrate
what he's saying right there. If you love me, you'll keep my
commandments. If there is true and deep and real love in my
heart for Hannah, if there is true love in my heart there for
Hannah, will she go through this life having no idea that it's
there? Does Gabe love you? I don't know.
I'm not sure. Well, I love you, but I'm not
coming home to be with you. Well, I love you, but I'm not
sharing my paycheck with you. I love you, so I'm going to do
everything in my power to show no evidence of that. That's crazy,
isn't it? That's just crazy. That's what
our Lord is saying. That's what he's saying. If you
love me, you will want to be where I am. You just will. And we do. I was thinking about
the fact that here you guys are. We were here Wednesday night.
You heard preaching on Wednesday night and then you guys drove
almost 200 miles to Rocky Mount and you heard two people preach
on a Friday night. You could have gone out to dinner
in Kingsport, but you spent all that gas Heard two messages Friday
night. Got up Saturday morning, heard
two more. Got up Sunday morning, we all
heard two more. Drove 200 miles back, and now
here you sit. Why? Haven't you had enough preaching
for one week? No. Our Lord said, where two or three
are gathered in my name, I'm going to be in the midst of you.
So do you know where God's people want to be? Where two or three
are gathered in my name? Why? Because you love those people?
Yes, but no, it's because Christ is there. Christ is there. I want to be where he is. He
said, if you love me, you will want to do the things that are
pleasing to me. You just will. Go with me over
to 1 Peter. We're almost finished. 1 Peter
chapter 2. 1 Peter 2 verse 1 says, wherefore
laying aside all malice and all guile and hypocrisies and envies
and all evil speaking, as newborn babes desire the sincere milk
of the word that you may grow thereby. If so be you have tasted
that the Lord is gracious. If you have tasted that the Lord
is gracious, he's saying let all that stuff of the flesh just
go away and desire the sincere milk of the word that you may
grow thereby. Go over to 2 Peter chapter 1.
2 Peter 1 verse 4 says, whereby are given unto us exceeding
great and precious promises, that by these you might be partakers
of the divine nature. You know that this old fleshly
nature is enmity against God, but did you know that the new
nature that God puts in a sinner, which is Christ himself, loves
God, wants to be with God, wants to be alive. I want to partake
of the divine nature. That's what I want to partake
of. That you might be partakers of the divine nature, having
escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust, And
beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, and
to virtue, knowledge, and to knowledge, temperance, and to
temperance, patience, and to patience, godliness, and to godliness,
brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness, love, charity. For if these things be in you
and abound, they make you that you shall neither be barren nor
unfruitful in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. If these
things are in you and they are growing in you, then you are
growing in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's
a good thing. Look at 2 Peter 3 verse 18, it
says, but grow in grace and in the
knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. To him be glory
both now and forever. Amen. Now let's read the three
verses of our text one more time back in John 14. Verse 19 says,
yet a little while and the world seeth me no more, but you see
me. Because I live, you shall live
also. At that day, you shall know that
I am in my father and you in me and I in you. He that hath
my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me. And
he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love
him and will manifest myself to him. That is true comfort,
isn't it? That is true comfort. I will
love him and manifest myself to him. I pray that'll be the
case with all of us, every one of us. I pray that we will be
loved by the Father, loved by the Son, and I pray that we'll
see Him. He'll manifest Himself to us. May the Lord make that so. All
right, let's stand together.