All right, turn back with me
to John 14. John chapter 14. The last time
that we were in John 14, which was a few weeks ago, we ended
the text with verse 6. But we read on down through verse
11 during that message. We read on down and we saw the
truth that our Lord and His Father are one. They're one. And I want to look over those
verses again, but then we're going to continue on down to
verse 14 for the text. Where we left off in verse 6,
it says, Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and
the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. If you had known me, you should
have known my Father also. And from henceforth, you know
Him and have seen Him." Now, he just told them that the only
way that a sinner is going to see God the Father is in God
the Son. That's what he told him. You've
seen me, you've seen the Father. No man comes to the Father but
by me. No man. Verse 8 says, Philip saith unto
him, Lord show us the Father and it sufficeth us. Now Philip
had no idea what he was saying. None whatsoever. He didn't mean
any disrespect. Not at all. This was one of the
Lord's disciples. But he couldn't understand what
the Lord was saying. And he had not been shown the
truth of this yet. He had not been revealed the
truth of this. And what he actually said was
a mouthful. What he actually said was a mouthful.
It sums up every man and woman's religion before God reveals who
Christ really is. You know, everybody knows the
name Jesus. Every single person knows the name Jesus. And every
person has an idea of Jesus, right? Who he is and this thing
of God and salvation. And every single person has a
religion, they're worshiping something. And this is their
religion before God reveals who Christ really is. Now here is
man's religion. We're not satisfied with Christ. We want to get to God. That's every man's religion. We're not satisfied. He's not
our stopping point. He's the one who can show us
the way. He's the one who can get us there.
He is our end to God. I know somebody. And he can get me there. He can
get me to God. We want to see the Father. That's who we want to see. Christ
is great and all. Don't get me wrong. He's great.
But show us the Father, and we'll be satisfied. Verse 9, Jesus
saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you? And yet hast
thou not known me, Philip? What he's saying is, how many
times do I have to tell you this? How many times do I have to tell
you this? Just here in John, look back with me at John chapter
5. John chapter 5 verse 17. But Jesus answered them, my father
worketh hitherto and I work. Therefore the Jews sought the
more to kill him because he not only had broken the Sabbath but
said also that God was his father making himself equal with God. Now nobody misunderstood what
he was saying. He made himself equal with God. Did he mean what he was saying?
Absolutely. Absolutely. Verse 19, Then answered
Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son
can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do.
For what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.
For the father loveth the son and showeth him all things that
himself doeth, and he will show him greater works than these
that you may marvel. For as the father raiseth up
the dead and quickeneth them, even so the son quickeneth whom
he will. For the Father judgeth no man,
but hath committed all judgment unto the Son, that all men should
honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth
not the Son honoreth not the Father which hath sent him. He that honoreth not the Son.
We see so many signs and so many billboards that do not honor
the Son. And they are not honoring the
Father. Look at John 6 verse 41. It says, The Jews then murmured at him,
because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven.
And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father
and mother we know? How is it then that he saith,
I came down from heaven? I came down from heaven. John
8. John 8 verse 58 says, Jesus saith unto them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. What does he mean by that? He
means before Abraham was, I am. That's what he means. Before
Abraham. What do you mean? Abraham was
4,000 years ago from here? 3,000, something like that? And
our Lord was born 2,000 years ago. What does he mean by that?
He means before Abraham was, I am. I made Abraham. I formed him in the belly. Look
at John 10. John 10 verse 30 says, our Lord
said, I and my father are one. Then the Jews took up stones
again to stone him. Jesus answered them, many good
works have I showed you from my father. For which of those
works do you stone me? The Jews answered him saying,
for a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy and because
that thou being a man, make us thyself God. You're making yourself God. We
know you're just a man. But you're making yourself God.
Look at John 12. Verse 44 says, Jesus cried and said, He that
believeth on me believeth not on me, but on him that sent me.
And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me." Now, some people say I look like
my dad and some people say I look like my mom. Spitting image.
Some people really do. I mean, mother and daughter could
be sisters, you know. That's not what he means. That's
not what he means. He says, he that hath seen me
hath seen my father. And the disciples, they were
with him through every bit of this. He kept telling them this
over and over again. I came down from heaven. Before Abraham was,
I am. If you've seen me, you have seen
the Father. They were with him through every
bit of this. And he says back in John 14 verse
9, Have I been so long time with
you? And yet hast thou not known me,
Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen
the Father. And how sayest thou then, Show
us the Father? Why do you keep saying, Show
me the Father? You don't know who I am, Philip?
Why do you keep saying that to me? Don't you know that I am
the God? How many gods are there? One. I am the only true and living
God in human flesh. Don't you know that, Philip? Verse 10 says, Believest thou
not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words
that I speak unto you I speak not of myself, but the Father
that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Now as we said last
time, God is a trinity. God is a trinity. And our Lord
right here is talking about His Father and our Lord is the Son. And in 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." Father, Son, and Spirit, God. Now, hold your place right there.
I want you to see one verse in 1 John chapter 5. 1st John chapter 5, verse 7 says, For there are three that bear
record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost,
and these three are one. They are one. We sinners need
to get it out of our minds that the Father is God. And the Son
is the offspring of God. And the Spirit is their assistant. That's what natural man thinks.
There is one God. Hebrews 1 verse 8 says, But unto
the Son the Father saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever and
ever. A scepter of righteousness is
the scepter of thy kingdom. The Father said to the Son, Your
throne, O God. So our Lord says back in John
14, Have I been with you this long and you still don't know
me? He said, ìYou believe in God, believe in Me.î Thatís what
He said in verse 1. He said, ìIf you know Me, you
know the Father.î Thatís what He said in verse 7. He said,
ìIf youíve seen Me, youíve seen the Father.î Thatís what He said
in verse 9. And right here in verse 10, He says, ìIf you hear
Me, you are hearing the Father. Believe, know, see, and hear.î
What Heís telling us is, I and my Father are one. We're one. Verse 11 says, Believe me that
I am in the Father and the Father in me, or else believe me for
the very works sake. Now the disciples, while they
were with the Lord for three and a half years, After the Lord
left, he baptized them with the Holy Ghost, didn't he? And they
stood up and they preached messages and thousands repented and turned
to the Lord. But while they were with the
Lord for three and a half years, they were so weak in faith. They were always so, so weak. If you think about their stories
and think about the things that happened, rarely did they have
strong faith. It was usually almost non-existent. You think about the stories.
Now they had to have at least the grain of a mustard seed.
But they were always so afraid. And I get it. I understand. We
all get it. But you think about those stories.
They were out there in that ship, okay? And all of them were sailors,
or most of them were sailors. They had their sea legs. They
did it by trade. And the sea comes, and the waves
were boisterous, and they said, Lord, we're all going to die.
We're all going to die. And then they got out into a
little ship without the Lord one time and the Lord came walking
on the water and it says they were so afraid. The Lord that
they had been with and known, the miracle worker, the one who
just fed 5,000. Right after he fed 5,000 is when
they got out in that little ship and they were so afraid. And then how many times did they
say things like, we forgot to bring bread. What's everybody
going to eat after the Lord fed 5,000? And the Lord asked him one time,
he said, do you not remember the five loaves and the two fish
and the 5,000? You don't remember that? And then when they came to take
our Lord, Judas came with all those men, that mob of men, they
came with their sticks and their swords. Peter, I can't imagine how frightening
that would be, really, that scenario. Here you have the Lord and 11
men, and here comes this mob, and they
mean business. And Peter takes that sword out,
and buddy, he starts swinging. He's fighting for his life. He's
fighting for his Lord, but he's fighting for his life. And the
Lord said, Peter, don't you realize that 72,000 angels are on reserve
right now, waiting for the command? Can you envision those angels,
12 legions, watching this take place, watching them come up
to the Lord? Can you envision them just itching to get down
there? All eyes on the Lord, I guarantee
you all of the 12 legions had their eyes on Jesus Christ saying,
if he looks at me and nods, say the word. You say the word
and we will come down there and we'll take everybody's heads
off. The Lord said, Peter, I tell
you what, put up your sword. Put up your sword. Don't you
have any faith? And they didn't, usually they
didn't, and neither do we. So our Lord very kindly and very
tenderly, he says to them and to us right here in verse 11,
believe me that I am in the father and the father in me, or believe
me for the very works sake. If you can't believe My Word,
if you can't believe that My Word shall stand, and not one
word will fail, when He said, take no thought for tomorrow,
if you can't stop taking thought for tomorrow, then He said, believe
Me for the works I'm doing right here. If you don't believe I'll
provide for you, believe Me for the works I'm accomplishing right
now. Verse 12, Verily, verily, I say
unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall
he do also. And greater works than these
shall he do, because I go unto my Father. Now, he did give his
apostles the ability to perform great works and great miracles.
He did give them that. But through the Word of God,
through this Word of God that he has given to us, to believers,
Through the declaring of the Word of God. Just standing up
and declaring the Word of God. And through God-given faith to
believe the Word of God. If God gives that gift of faith
and causes a sinner to believe the Word of God, souls become
saved. Life is given. Real life. eternal life, true life. And that's greater than any miracle
that could ever be performed. Some come and they just want
to get out of that wheelchair. Oh, if I could just get out of
that, that's great. What I need is for my soul to
be saved. And it's greater than any miracle
that could ever be performed. Verse 12, Verily, verily, I say
unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall
he do also, and greater works than these shall he do, because
I go unto my Father. And whatsoever you shall ask
in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in
the Son. If you shall ask anything in
my name, I will do it. Now here is what I want us to
look at tonight, and I'll try to be as quick as I can, but here is
what I want us to look at tonight. I believe this is the message
for tonight to all people, especially believers. Our Lord just said,
whatsoever you shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the
Father may be glorified in the Son. If you shall ask anything
in my name, I'll do it. Let's be very careful, very,
very careful what we ask for. And the reason is because we
might get it. We might get it. Let's be very,
very careful. Now we turned over here to a
reference a while back. I don't know if it was a month
ago or two months ago, but we read these verses of scripture
and we looked at them in light of Christ and we saw that, you
know, it's not about asking for a new car. Boom, there's your
new car. We saw this in light of Christ
himself. He said, if any, ask anything in my name. I promise you, looking back on
it again tonight, looking at it right here again tonight,
I promise you that every soul in this room, every single soul
in this room, when we hear our Lord say these words, the first
thought that pops into our mind is a selfish one. I promise. I promise. Me included. The reason is because I'm a sinner. And when we hear that, we think,
hmm, how could I better my condition? Really, how could I better my
condition? Verse 14, if you shall ask anything
in my name, I will do it. You know what this flesh wants?
The flesh of every human being. It wants money, it wants fame,
and it wants a life of ease. That's what it wants. Money,
fame, and a life of ease. And if that's what we set our
heart on, we might get it. We just might get it. At the
expense of missing Christ. Lord, keep us, even in the realm
of The truth, even in the realm of declaring this truth, Lord,
don't let me get caught up in numbers. That's fame. I want
people to sit down and listen to me. Don't let me get caught
up in money. I think, I tell you what, there's
a congregation over here that wants to pay me twice as much
as y'all. Do they believe this word? No. But I think I'm going. Lord, keep us. Don't let me miss Christ because
of this flesh. Overrule this flesh. What will
a man give in exchange for his soul? Better is little with the
fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble therewith. The Lord
said, Seekest great things for thyself? Seek them not. Seek them not. What did he tell
us to seek? Him while He may be found. He said, Seek ye first the kingdom
of heaven and His righteousness. Who is the righteousness of heaven?
Christ. Seek Christ with all thy getting,
get Christ. So with all that in mind, this
is what he says in verse 13. Whatsoever you shall ask in my
name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the
Son. If you shall ask anything in my name, I will do it. I have
for us tonight five things that every sinner should ask. And
I tell you this a lot, and I thought about telling you this, and then
I thought, no, I'm not going to say it. And I'm going to say it.
I don't have five things because that's a good round number for
an outline. I have five things because that's all I found in
the scripture for this message. I would have done more. I sincerely want to encourage
us to actually ask these five things tonight to our Lord. I'm
pleading with bare soul here. Ask these things tonight, and
I'm starting right here. I'm starting with myself, okay?
We're going to go through them quickly. Five things. Here's
number one. Go with me to Luke 18. Luke 18 verse 9 says, and I hope
the Lord will let us enter into these. Luke 18 verse 9, and he
spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that
they were righteous and despised others. Man, how many is that?
How many is that? Trusting, are you righteous?
Are you holy? Do you do good works? Are you
a Christian? Oh, yes. By God's mercy and grace, I say,
oh man, if Christ will keep me, I am. Only in Christ I am. But he told this to those which
trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others. He said two men went up into
the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a publican. The
Pharisee stood and prayed thus within himself, God, I thank
Thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers,
or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week. I give
tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar
off would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven. Now
this is the one who did not fast twice in the week and he did
not tithe of all that he had and he was not righteous and
good and holy and all those kinds of things in and of himself.
Verse 13 says, The publican 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. And God himself said in verse
14, I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather
than the other. The one who did everything right
considered himself to be right, he us. He said he didn't go,
this man did. God be merciful to me a sinner. Our Lord said if you ask anything
in my name, God be merciful to me in Christ. God be merciful
to me in Christ. Lord be merciful to me in Christ. Lord, would you show mercy to
me in the blood of Christ? Not because I deserve it, not
because I've earned it. Would you just show mercy to
me in the suffering of Jesus Christ? Our Lord said, you ask
that in my name and I'll do it. I'll do it. Every single sinner
needs mercy. Gabe Stoniker, don't take it
for granted. Don't take it for granted. Ask for it. I mean really, really. Some of these things I don't.
I forget and I do sometimes, but I mean really. Let's all
pray. God be merciful to us. We all
know we're sinners. We all know we've sinned against
you. Here's number two. Go with me to loop five. Luke 5 verse 12 says, And it
came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold, a man
full of leprosy, who, seeing Jesus, fell on his face, and
besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me
clean. Lord, would you make me clean? Would you make me clean? I need your mercy because I'm
a sinner. I need you so desperately to
not kill me for my sins. I need mercy. Mercy is not getting
what you deserve. I deserve it. I'm just begging
for mercy. And Lord, would you make me clean?
I need your mercy. I need your grace. I need your
blood. I need your water. I need your
justification. I need your sanctification. I
need to be cleansed. I am vile. I think I'll put my
hand over my mouth. That's what Job said. Cleanse
me. David said, search me. See if
there be any wicked way in me and get it out. Cleanse me. I need you to forgive me for
what I've done. And I need you to cleanse me
from what I am. If you will, you can make me
clean. Look at verse 13. And our Lord put forth his hand
and touched him, saying, I will be thou clean. And immediately
the leprosy departed from him. He said, if you ask for that
cleansing in my name, I don't want to be what I am anymore.
I really don't. Paul said in Romans 7, the things
that I do, I wish I didn't. And the things I didn't, that's
what I do. He said, oh, wretched man that
I am. What he's saying is, I don't
want to be this anymore. Cleanse me, Lord, please cleanse me. He said, if you ask for that
cleansing in my name, I'll do it. In Christ, I'll do it. Number
three, go to Matthew 14. Matthew 14 verse 25 says, And
in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went unto them walking
on the sea. And when the disciples saw him
walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit. And they cried out for fear.
But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer,
it is I, be not afraid. And Peter answered him and said,
Lord, if it be thou, Bid me come unto thee. Bid me come unto thee. Lord,
if you're on the water, let me come to the water. But bid me
come unto... He didn't say, if it's you, let
me walk on the water. That's not what he said. He said,
if it's you, let me come unto thee. Draw me nearer. Lord, forgive me. Cleanse me
and draw me nearer. I encourage Gabe Stoniker to
ask our God for that tonight. Lord, would you forgive me? And
would you cleanse me? And would you pull me close?
Draw me nearer. Do you realize what peace we
could have in this life if the Lord would keep us near Him?
Do you realize what peace we could have? if the Lord would keep us in
communion with Him. Those times that we're just so
troubled, we're just so afraid, those times are usually the result
of our heart being far from God. That's what it is. But listen
to this. In Christ, he said, if you ask
anything in my name, in Christ, we wretched sinners are allowed
And we are welcome to approach the throne of grace with boldness. No fear. Only in Christ, though. Only in Christ. So I encourage
us to ask our Lord, draw me near. Lord, would you bid me? See,
I can't come unless the Father draw me. No man can come unless
God moves. So would you draw me? Draw me
near. Bid me come unto thee. He said
if you come in Christ, I'll allow it. I'll do it. Be merciful. Cleanse me and draw me near.
Number four, go to Luke 17. Luke 17 verse 5 says, and the
apostles said unto the Lord, increase our faith. I forget to ask that all the
time. I forget. I just forget. And
it only results in my unsettledness. That's what comes from it. Lord,
increase our faith in Christ. You see, faith, everybody talks
about faith. Well, you just need to dig down
deep in there and you've got to find your faith and it's time
for you to pull up your bootstraps and pull that faith up there
and exercise your faith and do something. I can't. You see, faith is not of me.
It's a gift of God. And the gift of faith that comes
to me is not my faith that comes from him. It's called the faith
of Christ. So the only way I'm going to
get any is if he gives it to me. Let's all ask. Lord, would you
increase our faith? Lord, would you cause me to actually
rest in Christ that his work is finished? Would you cause
me to actually trust? Wouldn't you like for something
to come along that is so troubling and for God to give you that
ability to just trust Christ? Wouldn't that be wonderful? How's it going to end? I have
no idea. But he does. And I trust him. And I'm just
waiting on him. Lord, cause me to actually hope
in Christ, not just know it. Is there anybody in here that
does not know we ought to hope in Christ and trust in Christ
and rest in Christ? Lord, would you let me actually
change from knowing it to doing it? What should I do? Just sit there and trust Christ.
Quit running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Just sit
there and trust Christ. It's called faith. Sit there
with a handout, waiting for a handout from God. That's called faith. Our God said, you trust in the
Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge
Him. And He shall direct your path.
He will. Lord, please increase our faith. Let's start asking for that.
Let's ask for it. I hope He lets me ask for it
every day. Lord, increase my faith. Last
one, number five. Go to Luke 23. Luke 23 verse 39 says, And one of the male factors,
which were hanged, railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ,
save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked
him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same
condemnation? And we indeed justly For we receive
the due reward of our deeds. But this man hath done nothing
amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord,
remember me. Remember me. When you come into
your kingdom, Lord, would you remember me? Lord, remember me. He told Peter, Satan has desired
to have you, that he may sift you as wheat, but I have prayed
for you. Lord, would you pray for me? Didn't he in John 17 say, I pray
for them? I'm being serious right now. Lord, would you pray for me? He told Peter, I prayed for you
and your faith is not going to fail. Why? I prayed for you.
I interceded to the father on your behalf. Lord, would you
remember me? That's the only hope I have is
if he remembers me. Lord, would you pray for me in
Christ to be in Christ and stay in Christ? Would you look on
me? Would you make your face shine
on me? Lord, when you come back and
you gather up all your saints and you take them to your kingdom
to live forever in you, would you remember me? Our Lord said any man or woman
who asked for that in my name already has a place reserved.
Already. He said, I'll do it. I'll do
it. So let's all ask in the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, Lord be merciful to us.
We're sinners. Lord make us clean. We don't
want to be this anymore. Conform us to the image of Christ. I want to be conformed to the
image. I want to be more like Christ
tomorrow than I am today, but he has got to do it. So Lord,
would you cleanse me? Cleanse this old sinner. And
Lord, would you bid me come to thee? Would you draw me near
to you? That's what I want for the rest of my life on this earth.
I want to be near my Lord. That's what I want to be. And
Lord, would you increase our faith? I know you do all things
well. And I know you've purposed every
single thing, and I know it shall be done. So Lord, would you give
me that ability to just wait? Just wait on you. And Lord, would
you please remember us? Don't forget us. Lord, when you
come back, don't forget us. Lord, remember us and have mercy
on us. He said, you asked that in my
name. Lord, we're just saying this for Christ's sake. We close
our prayers by saying, in Jesus' name. We close our prayers by
saying, for Christ's sake. What we're getting at is, the
only reason you're even hearing us, and it's not stopping at
the ceiling, is because of Christ. We approach you in the name of
Christ. So in Christ, Lord, remember
us. Please remember us. Alright,
let's stand together.