Turn back to John chapter 7. John chapter 7. The title of the message, A Little
While Am I With You. That is a very sobering statement
that our Lord makes. A little while am I with you. My first thought after reading
that was how we ought to cherish the gospel that we have right
now, how we ought to cherish this gospel. Many places that
have had the gospel have it no more. You know, in this day,
after our Lord had ascended and the apostles went out and preached
the gospel, there were thriving churches. Ephesus, Philippi,
Galatia. Places where the gospel is no
more. Many places. And we have the
gospel here, and I mean this, we have the gospel here for a
little while. That little while may seem a
long time to us. It may be several years, but
it's really just a little while. You can look at history and see
this. It's a little while. You know,
people in that day, they took his presence for granted. They took the presence of our
Lord God. walked among them over in the
middle east that country called israel god almighty in the flesh
walked those streets two thousand years ago he walked those streets
in the flag god did god did and for the most part they didn't
care for him in fact they cried crucify him crucify him is what
they finally ended up crying And God has blessed us and given
us the gospel here for a little while. And I pray that God will
make us faithful stewards of the gospel while it is here. Now he says back in verse 26,
27, it is written, they said, lo, he speaketh boldly. And they
say nothing to him. This is the one that the rulers
wanted to kill, but they say nothing to him. Do the rulers
know, indeed, that this is the very Christ, the very Messiah?
Do they know that? How be it? We know this man whence
he is. We know from where he is. But
when Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence he is. The Jews had a
saying that when Christ cometh, he cometh from another place.
They knew he was of the seed of David. They knew he was to
be born in Bethlehem. They knew from Isaiah that he'd
be born of a virgin. They knew that, but they said
their saying was he was from someplace we wouldn't know. And said, but we know where this
man's from. The first thought that hit me
when I read this in verse 27, Is this as Satan blinded the
minds of them which believe not? They said, he's the carpenter's
son, we know where he's from. And our Lord replied in verse
28, in Christ Jesus, then Christ Jesus in the temple, he cried,
then Christ Jesus, he cried in the temple as he taught saying,
you both know me and you know whence I am. And here's what
he's saying, you think you know me. You said, we know where he's
from. This is the carpenter's son.
We know where he's from. He said, you think you know me.
You think I'm the son of Joseph and Mary, but you're wrong. You
think I'm from Nazareth, but you're wrong. You're wrong. You think you know me, but you
don't. And this is a real danger, here's a real danger, in supposing
to know Christ and yet not knowing. Now I'm not trying to make you
doubt your salvation in Christ. You believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, I'm not trying to make you doubt. Yet I don't want us
to take knowing Christ for granted. I don't want us to take knowing
Christ as an acceptance of facts. Believing that Jesus Christ died
on the cross for sinners, you have believed that since you
were brought to church here. You've believed that from a child,
haven't you? You see, salvation is a real commitment and union
to the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not just an acceptance of
some facts about Jesus Christ. It's actually being committed
to Him, joined to Him, loving Him, following Him. I don't want
to be fooled, and I don't want you to be fooled. I want us to
know the Lord Jesus Christ. You know what the Lord said salvation
is? You know what He said eternal life is? In John 17? He said eternal life is to know
God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent. It is a real knowing
God. It's a real knowing of God. And the Lord said to them, You
think you know me, but you don't. You don't. And I don't want that
to be said of any of us. I want us to have a real living
union to the Lord Jesus Christ. He said this in John 15, I am
the vine, you are the branches. He's talking about a real living
union here. I'm the vine, you're the branches. A branch is connected to a vine,
and a branch only bears fruit as it's connected to the vine. And he says here, I'm not come
of myself. I am not a self-proclaimed Messiah. Christ said, others will come
in their own name, and them you'll receive. Let another come in
his name, you'll receive them. But I come, and I come sent of
the Father, and you don't receive me. I didn't come of myself. I'm
not a self-proclaimed Messiah. He was ordained by the Father
and sent into the world. He was sent into the world to
keep, to magnify the law and make it honorable and to save
sinners. He came to save. He did not come
to offer salvation. Jesus Christ came to save sinners. Jesus Christ, and I've told you
this time and time again, Jesus Christ died for sinners. He died for the ungodly and nobody
else. Nobody else. What is it to be
ungodly? It's to be unlike God. God is
light. I'm darkness. God is holy. I'm
sin. I am, listen, I am by nature
ungodly. I am by nature a sinful man. But you know what? That's who
Christ died for. That's who he died for. He died
for sinners. But he didn't die for anybody
else. He died for sinners. He died for the ungodly. And
that's what he came to do. He said, I'm not coming myself.
My father sent me. He sent me into this world. And
the one who sent me, he said, is true. He's true. He's true to His promises that
He made in that covenant of grace. He's true to that covenant. He's
true to His people. He's true to His Son. He's true.
There's no unrighteousness in Him. There's no unrighteousness
in the Father. There's no unrighteousness in
God. John said that in 1 John. God
is light and there's no unrighteousness in Him. He's holy. He's just. He cannot sin. He cannot see it. And He's the
one who sent me. I didn't come of myself. So if
you reject me, if you reject me, you're rejecting Him. You reject Him. You see, they're
not separated. They're one. You reject one,
you reject the other. And He says in verse 29, But
I know Him. See, he said to them, whom you
know not. He sent me that is true, whom
you know not. You claim that God's your father?
You don't know him. They said that. The Pharisees
said that our Lord God is our father. No, he's not. You know
what the Lord said? The devil is your father. That's
what he said to his Pharisees. He said, the devil is your father.
He said, you don't know the one I'm talking about. That's why
you don't believe on me. That's why you don't believe
on me. But I know Him. I know God. For I am from Him. I came from Heaven. I came from
Paradise. I came from the Holy of Holies. 2,000 years ago, He stood in
the temple over there and told them, I came from Heaven. I came from the presence of God.
He sent me down here. And He sent me, He said there
in verse 29, but I know Him, for I'm from Him, and He has
sent me. Listen to Matthew 11, 27. All
things are delivered unto me of my Father. And no man knoweth
the Son, but the Father, neither knoweth any man the Father save
the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him. Our knowledge of God, if it's
a saving knowledge, comes by revelation. It comes by revelation. It comes by God Almighty giving
us eyes to see, ears to hear, a heart to understand. Here in this statement in verse
29 is a clear revelation of the eternality of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He did not begin 2,000 years
ago. That is the Eternal God. That's
the Eternal God, that's the Eternal Son of God. This is a clear revelation of
His Deity. And our Lord is saying this,
I know Him, I know His will. I'm here to tell you the Father's
will. I know His will. I was there. It's over in Proverbs,
I think it's Proverbs chapter 8. He said, I was by Him as one
brought up with Him. I was daily His delight. Before
the earth was brought forth, I was with Him. I was there.
This is the one talking. I was there. I came from Him.
I know His will. I know His will concerning His
elect. I know His will. I know His counsel. I was there
in the council hall when the covenant of grace was made. I
was there. That's why He said, I was there. You know, He said, listen to
me. I was there. You know, if somebody comes to
tell you a story and they say, I was there. I was there when
it happened. I remember I preached a message
some years ago and a woman, she was telling this other person,
this came back to me, she said, tell me about a message I preached.
She said, she told me she was there when you preached that
message. She was there when you preached that message. This woman
was there. She heard what I had to say and
she related it to this other lady. Christ is saying, I was
there. I'm here now. And I'm telling
you the will of the father. I'm telling you of the council
of, of the father. I'm telling you that covenant
of grace. I was there. Listen to me. And he's still speaking to us
today. He's speaking to us through his word. Listen to him this
morning. He he's saying, I was there.
I was there. I know his counsel. I know his
purpose. I know the purpose of God. I'm
telling you his purpose. And then we see in verse 30,
we see human depravity. He's telling them, I was there.
Listen to me. I came from above. I was sent
down from above. God sent me from heaven. And they sought to take him.
But no man laid hands on him because his hour was not yet
come. But the Jewish leaders sought to take him and kill him
because of his message. Not because he fed 5,000, which
he did earlier. They sought to take him and kill
him because of his message. His message. They wanted to kill
him. Let a perfect holy one come among
us. And we want to kill him. He's not like us. You know what
holy means? One of the meanings of holy is
this, other than. It means other than. He is other
than we are. Let one that is holy come among
us and we want to kill him. This is human nature. He came
into His own, and His own, it says, received Him not. He came
into the world, and the world didn't know Him. He came into
His own creation, and His own creation did not recognize Him,
did not know Him. And the only reason we who believe,
the only reason we know Him, He's made Himself known to us.
That's the only reason. The greatest display of human
depravity, where would you say? Look over history. Look over
history. Where would you say the greatest display of human
depravity ever happened? Would you call it the Holocaust?
Would you say that's the greatest display of human depravity? The greatest display of human
depravity is Calvary. When they cried, crucify, crucify
its own creator. That's the greatest display of
human depravity is calvary. When the God of heaven and earth
came into this world, took upon him flesh, walked among us, and
told the truth, and we said crucify him, kill him. And you know, in Isaiah 52, it
said, his visage was marred more than any man. He was unrecognizable
hanging on that cross. He was beaten that much. He was
whipped by those Roman soldiers that much. His visage, his appearance
was so marred, it says, more than any man. The greatest display of human
depravity happened at Calvary, what we did to God's Son. Remember,
he said this in the gospel, they will say, this is the heir, come
and let us kill him. Our Lord said that's what they'll
do. And they did. They did. But it says his hour was not
yet come. God's purpose of redemption was
not yet, not yet. He had a little more time to
preach. He had a little more time to be among them. He had
some more centers. He had a woman at the well, this
one here and this one there. He had to raise this one and
give this one side. He had a little more work to
do. The law, he was to keep every
jot and tittle. Little more of it was to be done
And then he'd go to Calvary and he would he listen now he would
give up his life He said no man takes my life from it. I lay
it down of myself. I Lay it down and I have I have
the power to lay it down and I have the power to take it up.
I Was thinking this morning about four four o'clock this morning
I woke up and I was thinking about this message, and I was
thinking of my Lord hanging on that cross. And I was thinking
of that scripture that said His visage was so marred more than
any man. I was thinking of what humanity
did to Him. Then I was thinking that God
turned the light out for three hours and drew that sword of
justice out of its sheath. And for three hours, justice
had its vengeance on Him. Justice had its vengeance on
him For three hours The unmitigated wrath of God was taken out on
him for a multitude of sinners that he represented it was taken
out on him and He satisfied justice he satisfied justice God put
that sword back into its sheath and The turned the lights back
on the sun shined again And there he was, still alive. This just astounded me this morning.
I thought, there he was, still alive, hanging there, that mutilated
flesh hanging there. And he cries out, it's finished. It's finished. The great transaction
is done. It's finished. And you know what
he did after that? He commanded his life to leave
that body. He said, Father, into thy hands
I commend my spirit. He commanded his life. He said,
no man takes my life from me. He commanded his life to leave
that body. And he bowed his head. He so
graciously bowed his head in complete submission to the will
of the Father. And he bowed his head and he
gave up the ghost. Isn't that amazing? That's my
salvation. My salvation is hanging on that
cross. My salvation went to the tomb. My salvation came out of
that tomb. My salvation went back to glory.
My salvation is seated at God's right hand. He put away all my
sins. I mean, listen, it wasn't just
like a big sweep. It was every sin I will have
committed or ever will commit. You know, there's times I say,
I wish I didn't think like that. I wish I didn't have that thought.
Father, forgive me. Forgive me of that thought. You
know, His blood answers for that thought. I wish I hadn't done
that. Oh, I wish I hadn't done that.
Father, forgive me for doing that. His blood answers for that
sin, for doing that. One, every sin, every sin, every
thought I've ever had, every action I've ever done, his blood
answers for each one of them. And it does that for everyone
for whom he died. That's my salvation. that's myself
my all my sins are gone he put them away he satisfied God's
justice and then it says here in verse
31 and many of the people believed on him and said when Christ cometh
will he do more miracles than these you notice they didn't
talk about his message they just talked about his miracles I don't
know that they really believed on him or not here they just
talked about his miracles they said nobody can do more miracles
what he's doing And then the Pharisees, they
heard that, those religious, those self-righteous religious
moralist leaders, they heard the people murmur such things
and it made them envious, they were envious. So they sent their
officers, it says there, to get him, to arrest him. Their following was in jeopardy. Their money bag was in jeopardy.
You see, he's the one who turned over the money changers. We got
to do something about this man. We're going to go broke. Religion, false religion is big
business. It's literally big business.
It's a multi-billion dollar a year business. They said, we got to
do something about him. And our Lord said in verse 33,
and this is sobering statement. Then said Jesus unto them yet
a little while. Am I with you? I'm here for a
little while and I'm going to go on to him that sent me. My
time here with you has a limit. It has a limit. How we ought
to redeem the time. And while he's with us is the
day of salvation. It's the day of grace. You know
this morning right now is the day of salvation. Today is the
day of salvation. Who said we had tomorrow? Who
said that we're going to live tomorrow? We're going to see
the sunshine tomorrow. Who told you that? Today is the day of salvation. Now, he says, is the accepted
time. We don't have tomorrow, we have right now. We might have
tomorrow, but I have right now, that's all I have. I'm telling
you, listen, listen, yet a little while am I with you. You know,
it says in Romans 9, 28, For he, that is Christ, will finish
the work and cut it short in righteousness, because a short
work will the Lord make upon the earth. It's a short work,
short time. He has a law to keep, a sacrifice
to offer, blood to shed, a resurrection to accomplish, an ascension to
make, a people to save, and all this is accomplished in a little
while. A little while, I'm with you.
And then I go to Him to send me. I'm going back to glory,
and I'm going to go back to glory and be seated at the right hand
of the Father, and I'm going to wrap this thing up. I'm going
to subdue all principalities of power in a little while, and
I'm going to wrap all this up. And here's one of the most sobering
statements ever made in the scriptures. In verse 34, he shall seek me
and shall not find me. I'm standing here in your midst
right now talking to you, but he's telling them what's going
to happen. You know, Jerusalem was in 70 AD was completely leveled. It was completely leveled. You shall seek me. and shall
not find me. And where I am, you cannot come. There will come a time, he says,
you'll look for the Messiah, but you won't find him. You rejected
him now, and one day you're going to look for him and you're not
going to find him. I want you to listen to this.
You know, listen, our Lord gives us these warnings lest we presume
and promises lest we despair. But he says in Luke 13, 24 and
25, strive to enter in at the straight gate. Jesus Christ is
the straight gate. Christ, his righteousness, his
person, he's the straight gate. Strive to enter in at the straight
gate for many I say unto you and he ought to know. Many, I
say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. That is one of the most sobering
statements in all the Word of God. Many shall strive to enter
in, and shall not be able, when once the master of the house
is risen up, and has shut the door. when once the master of the house
is risen up and has shut the door, and you begin to stand
without at the knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
And he shall answer and say unto you, I know you're not what you
are. Once the master has shut the
door. You know, the first thing I thought of when I when I read
this this morning, I read it a couple of days ago. I thought of the people knocking
on the door that are. When the floods came, Noah preached
for 120 years. 120 years that ark was built.
And Noah is called a preacher of righteousness. And for 120
years, he preached righteousness. And those people mocked. But
when God shut Noah in and his family and those animals, and
that door was shut, And the rain came and the flood started coming,
the water started rising. I know, I know people then started
going, open the door, open the door. That door was shut. That door was shut. When once
the master of the house has shut the door, he said, it's not gonna
be opened. He said, you'll seek me. They'll
come and you'll seek me and you won't find me. He says, right
now, I'm telling you, I'm standing in your midst. I'm standing in
your midst. And now listen, verse 37 and
verse 37 in the last day. That great day of the feast,
the feast was eight days. It's time now to go home. It's
time for everybody to go home. They've gone through the ceremonies.
They've gone through all those things that they did on that,
on the feast days for eight days. And now they're going home and
most of them are going home as empty as they came. They're going
home as, as just as dead as they came. And the Lord stood up and
he said, And he cried, if any man thirst, how free is that? If any man, any woman thirst,
Let him come to me and drink. Before you go home, as empty
as you came, he said, if anybody, any man, if you thirst, any woman,
any young person, if you thirst, if you have a thirst for forgiveness,
if you have a thirst for mercy, if you have a thirst to know
God, if you have a thirst to be saved, he said, come to me.
Could it be any more simple than that? Come to me. Don't go away thirsty." He said, Come to me. Someone said this, At the Feast
of Tabernacles, water was poured out daily at the altar to remind
everyone of the water God miraculously provided for a thirsty Israel
in the wilderness. Every day they poured water out.
And Christ said, I'm the water of life. If you're thirsty, come
to me. If you want forgiveness, come
to me. If you want to be saved, come to me. Come to me. You see, this is a spiritual
thirst. I thought this yesterday driving
home. I was thinking about this message driving home from Kingsport.
I thought, you know, it's interesting how God has made all things in
the creation have a spiritual relationship. And it struck me for the first
time, when I'm thirsty, when I'm hungry, that is always something
within. It's never without. A thirst
is something you have within you. A hunger is something you
have within you. This has nothing to do with anything
outside of you. It's what's going inside. And if God has made you
thirsty, spiritually thirsty for forgiveness, you've got this
hunger, this desire that's going on in you. He said, come to me,
just come to me. Well, you say, what is that?
Listen, he says, come to me, not come to the law, not come
to a ceremony, come to me. Come to a real living person
and drink. Drink. Take the water of life
freely. Freely. Salvation in Christ is by the
free grace of God. It's by the free grace of God.
He says, come to me and drink. What is it to drink of Christ?
In verse 38, He that believeth on me. That's what it is to drink. That's what it is to come to
the Lord Jesus Christ, is to believe on Him. It's not a physical
move. It's not a physical move. It's
a heart move. It's a heart move going out to
Him. Lord, save me. When Peter was starting to drown,
he was starting to go underwater, he cried out, Lord, save me.
save me that's the most comprehensive prayer you could ever pray save
me everything you need to say is said in the in those two words
save me believe he that believes on me
as the scripture has said out of his belly out of his belly
from inward Y'ALL FLOW RIVERS OF LIVING WATER. HE'S SPEAKING
HERE OF THAT GRACE, THAT GRACE IN THE SOUL, THAT SPIRITUAL WORK
OF GOD IN THE SOUL IS WITHIN, IT'S WITHIN. BUT HE SAYS HERE
IN VERSE 29, BUT THIS SPAKE HE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT WHICH THEY
THAT BELIEVE ON HIM SHOULD RECEIVE, FOR THE HOLY GHOST WAS NOT YET
GIVEN, BECAUSE JESUS WAS NOT YET GLORIFIED. BUT THIS RIVER
OF, THIS River of living water is Christ in you. It's Christ
in you, the hope of glory. He said, if you're thirsty, done. You know, I tell you what, when
I'm thirsty, I get a drink of water. When I'm hungry, after
we leave this service, I'm going to the house, I'm hungry, I'm
going to eat. I'm going to take that food within
me. I'm going to take it within me.
You know, food on the table, I starve. You can starve to death
with a cookbook in your hand. I mean, you can have the best
cookbook in the world. You'll starve to death reading
it. Just read it. But I tell you
what, when you start putting those recipes together and then
you bake it and you eat it. Christ says, he that eateth my
flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life. He's talking about
a spiritual hunger, a spiritual thirst, and believing on him,
trusting him, totally committed to him. All right.