John chapter 14. And I have entitled
today's message, Particular Grace. Particular Grace. I was typing
the title of the message And if you use a computer and you
have to give a file a name, I was typing away the name of the file
and it got too long and the computer said, you can't type that. You
can't use that as a name. It's too long, too many characters.
So I said, OK, I'll have to shorten it. How about Particular Grace?
So that's what the title is. Another title for this message
is For You. For You. It comes from the words
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and as you can see there in Romans
chapter 8, the love that the Lord had for his people, the
love he has for his people. It's wonderful, isn't it? It is the most wonderful thing
of all. In 1 Corinthians, let me preface
the sermon today with this, excuse me, In this chapter, in John
chapter 14, in John 14 it says in verse 15, if you love me,
keep my commandments. And then it says later in verse
21, he that has 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. And then Judas, not Judas Iscariot,
but Judas asked him, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest
thyself to us and not to the world? And Jesus answered and
said to him, if a man love me, he will keep my words and my
father will love him. And we will come to him and make
our abode with him. So here we have this matter of
loving Christ. And as I think about that, I
think that's the most, for me, that's the most difficult part
of chapter 14, is that I tremble at the fact that the Lord says,
if you love me, keep my commandments, and he that has my commandments
and keeps them is the one who loves me, and so on. That one
will be loved of my father. I will love him. I will make
myself known to him. And this is why the world can't
see Christ is because they don't love him. So those words are
always troubling for me because I know that my own thoughts are
complicit. They're tangled up and I don't
trust myself. I just don't trust myself. But
as I think about this, there's several things that I think help. Number one is that to know the
Lord Jesus Christ, to hear him, to have fellowship with him,
will necessarily cause us to love him. You can't know Christ
without loving him. And you've met people who are
very sweet and engaging, and it always makes me think, golly,
I wish I could have some of that. They just seem so likable. So
that you say, well, if you just knew so-and-so, you would like
them. But the Lord Jesus is at a completely different level.
To know the Lord Jesus is to know God. To know God is to love
Him. And so that's the first thing,
is that it's knowing Christ that is the big issue. Because if
we know Him, we will love Him. And of course, we can't know
Him except by grace. You can't know God, you can't
know Christ, unless He makes Himself known to us. And the
way that we know Him is He declares Himself. He makes Himself known,
and He gives us faith to see Him. And that, of course, is
the gift of His grace. and that comes to us by His Holy
Spirit. He gives to us life with His
Word, and with that Word He gives us faith, and that faith enables
us to see Him, to know Him, and it produces, by the same Spirit,
this love for Him. So, we need this, don't we? It comes from Him. And there's
something so insidious, maybe that's not even the right word,
something so horrible, I would say, that we
wouldn't love the Lord Jesus Christ. Doesn't that seem strange,
that someone wouldn't love the Lord Jesus Christ? And I think
that that is what troubles me most, is that there's nothing
about Him that's not lovely. There's nothing about Him that's
not loving. How would we not love Him? Well, because we don't
know Him, and at a deeper level, because we're sinners. Because
our hearts are so far from Him who is perfect in every way. And not just perfect in every
way in the sense where we would think of perfection as, He doesn't
ever sin, He never lies, He always tells the truth. That's an admirable
But more than that is the Lord's goodness, His goodness to sinners. That's what makes sinners love
Him. And that's why people, while
the Lord was on the earth, followed Him in such numbers. because
they heard Him, they saw what He did, and they were amazed. And those who followed Him were
known and ill-reputed, well-known sinners. So they followed Him
in droves because they loved Him. They knew Him as sinners
know their Savior, as those who have a need of life love the
One who gives them life and sight. and heals their sicknesses and
fixes things that are broken that could never have been corrected
had it not been for His great power. given to them out of grace
and love. And so, it's a crime. It's the
greatest crime not to love the Lord Jesus Christ. And that crime
is an evidence of inward corruptions of the darkest sort. In 1 Corinthians
chapter 16, let me read this to you. In 1 Corinthians chapter
16, he says, if any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let
him be anathema And that's a serious pronouncement. Anathema means
forever damned, separated from the Lord. And so it's a crime
not to love the Lord Jesus Christ. And yet, even though it's the
most sensible thing that could possibly be argued that we should
love the Lord Jesus Christ, this is a grace that must be given
to us. And this grace is given to us by hearing the word of
God and by this gift of faith in Christ. And so the Lord speaks
to his disciples, not so much that he doubted their love for
him, but that he is telling them now, because you love me, keep
my words, keep my commandments. And so we naturally ask that
question then, how can I keep the commandments of the Lord
Jesus Christ? Well, the answer is, how is by grace. By grace,
he has to give us that. God be thanked that you were
the servants of sin, but you have obeyed from the heart that
form of doctrine which was delivered to you. So God be thanked. It has to be of the Lord, doesn't
it? Make me to go in thy commandments. Don't let any iniquity have dominion
over me. Remember Psalm 119? Quicken me
according to your word. And that word teaches us about
Christ and who he is and his great goodness to us as our Savior. And that causes us to love him.
So, we come to him and we know that he has to give us this grace.
And we say, Lord, if you give the grace, if you give the power
with your command, then command what you will. And give me this
grace above all things to love the Lord Jesus Christ. to love
Him more than life, to love Him more than myself, to love Him
more than anyone and anything, to love the Lord Jesus Christ.
You know why? Because He is worthy of our love. And only He is worthy of that.
And the ironic thing is that we cannot love Him unless we
know that He first loved us. without anything found in us,
but for reasons in Himself alone." And this is how we know the love
of God, because He gave His Son that we might live through Him.
Herein is love, not that we love God, but that He loved us and
gave His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. God provided for
Himself in the blood of His Son. And that was love. That was the
love of God, the love of the Father, and the Son, and the
Spirit of God. Giving His Son, testifying to His Son, and receiving
from Him in His blood what He required in order to receive
us by grace alone. That's love. That's the definition
of love. God didn't need to do that. There
was nothing outside of Him that moved Him. His own heart produced
this will in Himself to exercise love towards those undeserving,
ill-deserving, and to make them His children by Jesus Christ.
That's love. So, no wonder that he would say
in 1 Corinthians 16, whoever doesn't love the Lord Jesus Christ,
let him be anathema. And this means that we need to
go to the Lord. Lord, I'm such a disgraceful,
shameful sinner. Change this heart of mine. Open
my eyes that I might see your love. And be persuaded and rely
and entrust in the love of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. Because
if God does love you, Then He loves you with an everlasting
love. And He loves you as He loves His Son. He loves you in
His Son and as His Son. And He will do everything to
fulfill His love and nothing will be lacking in all that He
does. Everything in His heart will
be fulfilled in fullness and in perfection because of His
eternal love. Nothing can stop Him. And as
we read in Romans 8, Not our sin, not anything outside of
us, nothing within us, nothing can separate us from the love
of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Now, I say all that
by way of introduction because in John 14, This chapter screams
for you. For you. The Lord Jesus Christ
speaking to his disciples, those he loves, here in this chapter,
for you. And you particularly. Not everyone
generally, but you particularly. And that's what's amazing here,
is this chapter just drips with this particular grace, this special
grace, this peculiar grace. Look at Titus chapter 2. Titus
chapter 2. And this is talking about the
Lord Jesus Christ. It identifies Him as God. and
as our Savior. And I love that title. I love
that title for Him. God our Savior. But look at here
in Titus chapter 2 and verse 13. He tells us in verse 12,
He says, teaching us, this is what the grace of God that brings
salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that denying
ungodliness and worldly lusts We should live soberly, righteously,
and godly in this present world. That's what love teaches us.
Everything negative in God's law, everything we're exhorted
to do in the negative is an exhortation to do it for love's sake. And
so in the next verse, he says, looking for that blessed hope
and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior,
Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, our great God and
our Savior, notice, who gave Himself for us, that He might
redeem us from all iniquity, our iniquity, and purify unto
Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. A peculiar, that
means His own people. That's what the word peculiar
means, not strange. But belonging to Him, uniquely
His. His possession. His. The Lord's people. These are
His. These are our particular, a special
people to Him. He has a special grace and love
for them, you see. And they're zealous of good works
because of love. Because of love. And He did that.
It was His work. And so that's why I look at this
chapter, John 14, and I see this dripping from it. The particular
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice these things. As we read
through this together in John 14. Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. So what is he saying right here?
Believers are Christ's people. He comforts them in their present
trouble and in their future trouble. In his trouble, he's troubled
that they're troubled. In the greatest trouble, he anticipates
as he's going to the cross, he's going there to endure that trouble. in order to comfort them in their
trouble. And so he says, don't let your
heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. It's a claim of being God. Being
one with God. Able to comfort. And willing. And not only able and willing,
but this is what he desires for us. Verse 2. In my father's house,
this is Christ's own place, his father's house, my father, are
many mansions, rich places, places of infinite riches and wealth,
but not in terms of gold and silver, although that would be
unimportant to us, but the riches of God's goodness, the riches
of blessings in Christ, the riches of knowing God, knowing Jesus
Christ, the riches of seeing the love of Christ that passes
knowledge, these things and living in the full fellowship and intimate
communion with God in Christ for all eternity. These are the
mansions. He's going to prepare. He says,
in my father's house are many mansions. If it were not so,
I would have told you. I go to prepare. The Lord's going
to do the work. and a place for you in God. This place is in God. It says
in Psalm 16 that the Lord is my portion. The Lord Himself
is my inheritance. In Genesis 15, 1, God told Abraham,
I am your shield and your exceeding great reward. The Lord is your
reward. God is our inheritance. He gave himself for us and gave
himself to us. You cannot excel that. You can't
exceed that. There's nothing greater. The
Lord himself, the one we love, the object of all desire, the
source of all life, the only one who is good and perfect in
all of his thoughts and his ways, righteous and holy, almighty,
infinitely wise and infinitely powerful to do all of his will.
And He sets forth His goodness, His love for us. He says, I go
to prepare a place for you. And verse 3, notice the particularity
again. For you, if I go and prepare
a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself
that where I am there you may be also. You see how particular?
For you, for you. Does the Lord go to prepare a
place for everyone? If he did, then he would return
and bring everyone to himself. But he didn't, because he goes
to prepare a place for you, those who believe him, as he says in
verse 1. And then he says, I will receive
you to myself. I'm going to bring you to myself,
as I mentioned earlier when we went over this, as Joseph received
Mary when he was concerned as to why she could be pregnant.
Well, it was the Holy Spirit who came upon her. And the angel
told her, don't be afraid to take, fear not to take unto thee
Mary thy wife. And so the Lord Jesus is going
to receive us, his people, as those who are so intimately connected
to him in a relationship of union. He loves his wife as he loves
himself. No man yet ever hated his own
flesh, but he loves and nourishes and cherishes it. So the Lord,
the Church, Ephesians chapter 5, were members of his body,
of his flesh, and of his bones. You see, this taking of his people
to himself is a special love, a unique, peculiar people to
him. He's not going to let them go.
He's going to do everything for himself to have them. He's not
going to let anything interpose itself between him and his people. Certainly not their sin, and
certainly none of their other enemies, not death, not hell,
not the demands of his own law. He's going to fulfill every obligation,
answer every demand of justice, silence every enemy, and subject
everything to his feet. in order to have his people,
and bring them to himself, to be with him, to see him as he
is, and to reveal himself to them, that they might know him
in love." And this is particular, isn't it? He says in verse 4,
and whether I go, where I'm going, you know. Wait a minute, we don't
know. Yes, you do. Where? With the
Father. And the way, you know. No, we
don't know where and how can we know the way. That's what
Philip said, or Thomas said. Lord, we know not whither thou
goest. How can we know the way? And Jesus said to them, I am
the way. You can't make this way yourself. This is beyond the ability of
anyone except Christ himself. The way to the Father is Christ. His blood alone. His obedience
alone. His grace alone. This is a way
of salvation. This is a way of life. This is
the way of God's revealing Himself in eternal life to His people.
Christ is that way. He Himself. In all that He did,
in all that He is to us, in the words that He speaks, in the
works that He performed, in His will, He's the way to the Father. God appointed Him to this. This
is God's own will, and that's why He says, He says, I and my
Father are one in another place. So He's telling them that. I
am the way. I'm the truth. I'm the life.
No one can make that way to God. Christ has to make it. He's the
one who is the way. He himself is the way to God,
the Father. And so we see this, the Lord
Jesus Christ presents himself to his disciples, and they're
looking upon him. They're troubled because he's
going to leave them for a time, and he reassures them, no, I'm
the way. This is what I'm going about
to do, to bring you. If you have me, if you're in
me, then when I go to the Father, you go to the Father. I bring
you. This is why he came into the
world, to bring us to God. He died the just for the unjust
to bring us to God, to bring us to himself. To prepare us
for God and to prepare a place in God for us. Heaven is a prepared
place for a prepared people, someone said. And it's true. The Lord prepares a place in
God for us. You see, when the Lord Jesus
said he's going to go to his father and prepare a place in
his father's house, it's more than just locality, it's more
than just being there with his father. It's a bringing to his
father in a relationship that he himself brings about through
his obedience and through his death. And what is that relationship? It's the relationship of children.
The relationship of sons and daughters. It's the relationship
of being in the Father's house as His own children. And that's
specific, isn't it? Not everyone is God's children.
It's not true that everyone is God's children. Because to be
the child of God, you have to be born of God. And to be born
of God, you have to be redeemed by the blood of Christ. And he
has to give you his spirit to look upon him in faith and to
see, and that's the means by which God sanctifies us, makes
us holy in that new birth, is looking upon Christ. And so he
tells them this. He says, I'm the way, I'm the
truth, I'm the life. There's no way that isn't me. There's no way that you can make
the way. And the truth, when you know
me, you know the truth. If you don't know me, you don't
know truth. You can't know truth apart from Christ. You can't
know God apart from him because he's the truth about God. In
verse seven, he shows us again this specificity, how God has
a particular relationship to his people. He says, if you had
known me, known me, God's people know him. You should have known
my father also, for and from henceforth you know him and have
seen him. Philip said, Lord, show us the
father, and it sufficeth us. And Jesus' famous response, have
I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me?
Philip, he that has seen me has seen the Father, and how sayest
thou then, show us the Father?" Is there anything more that you
could know or desire than you see and know in the Lord Jesus
Christ? You're looking at the Father
when you see Him. He goes on in verse 10, "...believest thou
not that I am in the Father?" And the Father in me? And here's
the great mystery of godliness, isn't it? What is that great
mystery? There's only two times in Scripture where this great
mystery is used. The first one is this, in 1 Timothy
3.16, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in
the flesh. God was manifest in the flesh,
the Son of God. The eternal, infinite Son of
God, who is the Almighty God, is joined to a man, to the nature
of a man, in the Son of Man, the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's
a great mystery, without controversy. God with us. Shall God indeed
dwell with men upon the earth? Solomon asked. Yes. The Word
was made flesh and dwelt among us. We beheld His glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and
the Father in me? And the second great mystery is this, in verse
20. At that day you shall know that
I am in the Father, and you in me, and I in you. That's the
second mystery. This great mystery is signified
by the marriage between a husband and wife. In Ephesians chapter
5 he says, but these things are a great mystery. But I speak
concerning Christ and the church. So that this union, this spiritual
union between Jesus Christ and his people is the second great
mystery. He who is God and in union with
our human nature in the person of Christ is also in union with
his people and they in him. We're in him. He's our representative. And he's in us by his spirit.
And we are one with him. And he loves us as he loves himself.
He loves us, he gave himself for us. These mysteries are great. And so he says to them, don't
you believe that I'm in the Father and the Father in me? The words
that I speak to you I speak not of myself, but the Father that
dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. And here again, The Lord
is emphasizing that all that he did, he did his father's works,
and all that he said, he did his father's words, and in all
that he sought, he sought his father's glory. He loved his
father, and his father on the other side, In Christ, He did
all those things, but the Son of God in the Father, the Son,
I mean the Father lifts up His Son, He said, Behold My Son,
hear My Son, look upon My Son, and He does everything for us
for the sake of His Son, doesn't He? It's amazing. It's amazing. Believe me, verse
11, that I am in the Father and the Father in me, or else believe
me for the very works sake. Who can do these works but God?
Who can do the work of raising the dead but God? And who can
do the work of saving a wretched sinner but the Lord Jesus Christ? If you don't believe the words,
believe the works. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners, and his name is Jesus, Savior, because only
God is our Savior. God with us, our Savior, the
great God, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Verse 12. Verily, verily
I say to 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 to my Father." Now, because I go to my Father, those words
are teaching us that the Lord Jesus Christ came into the world,
He first descended, remember? In Ephesians chapter 4 and Romans
10, first He descended. And that descent was a descent
of humility. And it was a living in humiliation. It was an obedience in humility
and an obedience that led to the ultimate humiliation. The
sufferings and the bearing of our sins under those sufferings. And therefore, enduring the punishment
of our sins in shame, humiliation. He descended first. And here
he is in his descended humiliation with his apostles, talking with
sinners, showing himself to sinners, going to the cross, bearing their
sins for them, praying for sinners. But then, what happened? Having
accomplished this work, he rose again. without sin unto salvation. And He sits in glory, now He
sits in glory, with all of the glory that He had with the Father
before the world was as the Son of God, only now as man in glory,
with all of the power of God, and with the resurrected, enthroned
Christ at the right hand of God, given all things in heaven and
earth, and all power to do His will, Now he says, this is what
he says to them in this verse, because I go to my father. He must reign until he has subdued
all enemies under his feet, you see. He must reign and he shall
reign. The Lord said to my Lord, sit
on my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. And that's where he is with his
father. His father is greater, my father is greater than I.
And so he says here, because I go to my father, the works
that I do shall you do also and greater works than these. his
people who believe on him. What are these works? Well, you
see, on the day of Pentecost when Peter preached, 3,000 souls
were saved. In one day. In four thousand
another. Or maybe I've got the numbers
wrong. Four and five. I can't remember exactly. So, through
the apostles, the Lord Jesus Christ, by His Spirit, His resurrected
power and authority over all things, brings about the life-giving
salvation of sinners through His Word. Because He sits on
high, He now sends His Spirit to accomplish in dead sinners
This life, he says, he was exalted as a prince and a savior to give
repentance to Israel and the forgiveness of sins. Because
he's exalted, God has made him Jesus Christ, the Lord. So this is why he speaks this
way. And so through the preaching
of the gospel, the Lord Jesus Christ accomplishes a work. And
notice his humility here. greater works than I did. Isn't that amazing? The works
that I do, shall he do also, and greater than these. Not the
work of redemption, nothing's greater than that. But the works
of healing, and miracles, and turning water to wine, or whatever
it is. The works that his people do,
through the gospel, through the preaching, through the church,
giving a cup of cold water to one of Christ's little ones,
a greater work. Because by that he gives them
eternal life. Amazing. No, no, no. Notice also
in verse 13. That's a specific work, isn't
it? Only God's believers do that.
He says in verse 13, "...and whatsoever you shall ask in my
name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the
Son." Now, this is phenomenal. Whatever you ask in my name. In my name. What does that mean?
Well, think about this. This is very important. I'm hoping
to bring a message on this at rescue. So we can't spend a lot
of time on it right now. In Christ's name, he says, if
whatever you ask in my name, I will do it. Whatever it is,
anything, ask anything in my name, I will do it that the Father
may be glorified in the Son." What is he talking about here?
Does that mean we just tack on in Jesus' name to a prayer and
that makes it so? No, it doesn't mean that. It's
not just a phrase that we tack on to a prayer. Because the name
of Jesus is who He is. It's who he is and what he is
to us in his relationship and in his offices and in his work. It's his character. It's his
reputation. It's his fame. It's his honor. It's his glory. When we go to
God, we don't go hoping for recognition from God concerning ourselves. We don't
go to the Lord and say, recognize me, or recognize my thought,
or my intention, or my work. Or don't recognize my merit,
or recognize something else, my obedience, my tears. That's
not the way to go. If you come to God that way,
you will not receive what you ask for. But coming to God, we
come only this way. Recognize, have regard to, consider,
promote, make successful and prosperous, exalt and honor and
bless and give your son everything, all of the praise and all of
the glory. for everything in my salvation,
and consider Him, and His heart, and His work, and His prayers,
and everything that His heart desires, His will, and His words,
everything that He said, consider Him. Look upon Christ and receive
Me. You see. His name. Coming to God in Christ. The reason God does what He does
is for His Son. It's for His name. It's for His sake. And so that's
the way we come. Do it for your own sake. Christ
is everything. He's done everything. He deserves
everything. We deserve nothing. And if the
Lord blesses us for Christ's sake, you know what He'll do?
He'll save us to the uttermost. He'll give us everything with
His Son. Because that's His will. That's Christ's desire. That's
the reason He worked this out. That's the reason He prays what
He prays. To have a people. to give himself for them, in
order that he might give himself to them, in order that they might
know him and see him in his goodness and in his glory. Come to him
this way. Ask the Lord to do whatever is
on His heart. Whatever He said, do it for your
own sake, Lord. What a wonderful thing this is,
to be able to come this way. Do you want anything that's not
His will? Do you want anything that's contrary to the will of
the Lord Jesus Christ? Doesn't it therefore follow when
He says in verse 15, if you love Me, keep My commandments? You see? It follows, doesn't
it? We love Him. We want God to consider Him. And we want God to receive us
as Him. Because for what? For who? For whose sake else would He
receive us? Not for our own sake, it must
be for Christ's sake. So, we love Him because the Lord,
because He's wonderful, because He's lovely, and because the
Lord receives us for His sake. And then in verse 16, And I will
pray the Father, and He shall give you another comforter. Now,
He's going to ask the Father for His people, and He's going
to ask them for something, a comforter, who is the Holy Spirit, and He's
going to ask the Father, and He shall give to His people,
because He asks the Holy Spirit as their Comforter. That's particular,
isn't it? That He may abide with you forever,
unbroken, never-ending. So that the Spirit of God, God
the Holy Spirit, will be in us, and to us, all grace, forever,
in all of our life. We'll live this life and we'll
enter glory because the Spirit of God in us, the Spirit of Christ
in us, is life itself. He is our comforter. He points
us to Christ, whom we believe and love and know. Verse 17,
Even the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive, because
it seeth him not, neither knoweth him, but you know him. This is
specific, isn't it? Not the world, but you. You know
him, for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you. I will not
leave you comfortless, not as orphans, I will come to you.
Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more, but you see
me by faith, because I live Because I live, you shall live also. There's no uncertainty here,
is there? Like Brad was reading that unbroken chain in Romans
chapter 8. He who foreknew, he predestined. He whom he predestined, he called.
Whom he called, he justified. Whom he justified, he glorified.
There's no chain. There are no breaks in this chain.
Our sin didn't enter into that chain in order to disrupt it.
The strength of the chain is God's purpose, and God's will,
and God's work, and God's love. And so he says the same thing
here. Because I live, you shall live also. That's specific, isn't
it? That's particular. That's peculiar. It's unique
to those who are the Lord's people. He goes on. Verse 21, He that
has my commandments and keeps them, he it is that loves me,
and he that loves me shall be loved of my Father, and I will
love him and will manifest myself to him. You see, the commandments
the Lord has given to us are primarily these, to believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ. And don't minimize that. Don't
minimize that commandment. First, we can't fulfill it. By
nature, we won't. God gives us grace to see Him
and to trust Him. and to lay everything, to rely
on Him for everything, and to come to God by Him. So that grace
is necessary, it's the foundation of all other graces, and through
which God gives us His love, because in knowing His love through
faith, therefore we love Him. And because He loved us, He gives
us love. He died for us because He loved
us, and He gives us this faith and this grace to love Him by
His Spirit. So this causes us to see that
he's altogether lovely. And what more do we want to do
but keep his commandments? Anything that's contrary to him
is contrary to the way we desire and think. In a new man, we have
no other desire. Romans chapter 7, the apostle
Paul says, so that with the mind, I myself serve the law of God,
but with the flesh, the law of sin. And so more and more we
ask the Lord, cause me to love you, to walk in your ways, to
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, to love your people, and to be
willing to deny all that is my flesh in order that I might have
Christ. To consider it a loss of a shameful
thing, a repugnant thing. Everything else but Christ is
nauseating. Why would I want it? To lose
it is no loss whatsoever. Jesus answered when Judas asked,
how will you reveal yourself to us but not the world? He said,
verse 23, if a man loved me, he will keep my words and my
father will love him and we will come to him and make our abode
with him. In the way of faith is love and
in the way of love is the revelation, the disclosure of Jesus Christ
himself to us. and the Father in him. Isn't
that amazing? What does it make you want to
do? If eternal life is knowing God in Jesus Christ, Lord, give
me this love to know you. He that loveth me not keepeth
not my sayings. We don't believe him if we don't
love him. And the word which you hear is not mine, but the
Father's which sent me. There's this, you see, in the
new nature, we love, we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
we love the Lord perfectly, all the time. And this new nature
wrestles with the old, and we say, Lord, deliver me from my
sinful self. And that's the result of love
for Christ. I don't want to be bound by this
dominion of sin. I want to be free from it. And
so we ask him, Lord, give me this grace. This is part of the
asking me, ask me anything in my name. For your sake, Lord,
give me this faith, this grace of your spirit to love you. These
things, he says in verse 25, I've spoken to you, being present
with you. But the Comforter, which is the
Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, there it is,
because of Christ, he shall teach you all things. Aren't you glad
that God does everything because of Christ? He counts you righteous
because of Christ's obedience. He has washed you from your sins
because Christ shed His blood. He raises you from the dead because
He raised His Son from the dead. He justifies you because He justified
His Son. He does it for Christ's sake.
He gives His Holy Spirit for Christ's sake. He shall teach
you all things and bring all things to your remembrance, whatever
I've said to you. What a blessed grace this is. I ask you to read the bulletin
today, consider those words. Peace I leave with you, my peace
I give to you, not as the world gives, give I to you. You know,
the world's always talking about peace. We made peace here, we
made peace there, we made peace between us, blah, blah, blah.
That's not the kind of peace I'm talking about. Jesus is saying,
no, I'm going to give you real peace. Peace with God. Peace in your conscience, because
God made peace with you in the blood of his Son. Let not your
heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. This peace comes
to us through believing. Joy and peace in believing. You
have heard how I said to you, I go away and come again to you.
You heard that, I told you. If you love me, you would rejoice,
because I said, I go to the Father, for my Father is greater than
I. All of God's people want Christ
to be exalted, don't they? Let us see him in his glory. That's what he's talking about
here. I'm going to the Father. finished with sin, an end of
sin has been made, everlasting righteousness fully established
completely and perfectly forever. in the blood of Christ and now
He goes to His Father to reign and to subdue our enemies and
bring us to Himself. That's cause for rejoicing. That's
cause. If we love Him, we want Him to
receive all of the blessing and honor and power that God is God's
honor and blessing and power and Christ for His his work in
our salvation. And now I've told you before
it come to pass that when it is come to pass you might believe
hereafter I will not talk much with you for the prince of this
world comes and has nothing in me. He's not going to disclose
these things to the world. He's told his disciples and he's
not going to publish this broadly. because only the enemies of Christ
are coming, but that the world may know that I love the Father,
this was his objective, and as the Father gave me commandment,
so I do, arise. Let us go hence to face that
judgment. that He would answer for us in
order that He might save us. I'm doing it for the Father's
sake, and He's going to receive you for my sake. What a blessed
comfort it is. Let's pray. Lord, thank you for
your words. Thank you for your person revealed
by your words, in your words and in your works. Help us to
believe both your words and your works. Help us to believe you.
Help us to trust you, to rely on your words. and to expect
you to fulfill all that you said, knowing you cannot fail. Your
own name, your reputation is staked on your purpose and your
will and your words and your promises. We pray, Lord, that
we would know the Lord Jesus Christ above all things. this
eternal life that You give to Your own, this particular, special,
unique love to Yours, considered specifically Yours. We pray that
You would give that salvation. We don't deserve it, but You
would do it for Your name's sake, for Christ's sake. Reasons found
in Him, not in us. purpose and arguments and all
that you require to find a reason to bless us, find it in the Lord
Jesus Christ, we pray. And Lord, above everything, we
pray to give us this love for Christ, love for Christ that
would be joyful to give everything to have Him, because to release,
to give up anything that we have is no loss whatsoever. To have
Christ is everything. Lord, we pray, as you comforted
your disciples, so comfort us with your Holy Spirit. Reveal
yourself to us in truth. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.