The subject tonight is the teaching
of the Holy Spirit, found out of John 14. Teach me thy way,
O Lord, Teach me thy ways, thy guiding
grace of hope. Teach me thy ways. Help me to walk the right, more
by faith, less by sight. Lead me in heavenly light, teach me Thy way. When I am sad at heart, teach
me Thy way. When earthly joys depart, teach
me thy way. In hours of loneliness, in times of dire distress, in failure or success, Teach me thy way. When doubts and fears arise,
Teach me thy way. When storms o'erspread the sky,
Teach me thy way. Shine through the cloud and rain, Through sorrow, toil, and pain. Make thou the pathway plain, Teach me thy way. Sing this last verse with me.
Long as my life shall last, Teach me thy way. Where'er my lot be cast, Teach
me thy way. Until the race is won, Until
the journey's done, Now let's sing one of my favorite hymns, number 158. Turn in your Bibles to the Gospel
of John, chapter 14. Now, we've been going through
what is called the Paschal Discourse, or our Lord's last words to his
disciples before going to the cross. And we've been studying
these final words to his disciples, these final precious words of
comfort to his disciples before he went to that cross. And here
in chapter 14, he begins talking about someone who's going to
come after he leaves them, talking about the Holy Spirit of whom
he said many things in chapter 16. But let's pick up here in
verse 25. We touched on this last Sunday
night, but in verse 25, our Lord said, Now these things have I
spoken unto you, being yet present with you. What things? Well,
he told them that he was leaving them, that he was going to the
Father, that he had prepared a place for them, and that he
was the way, the truth, and the life. And that they should ask
anything in his name, and he'd grant it. And talking about the
Comforter, these things. And he said to them, I'm telling
you these things while I'm yet in your presence. I'm telling
you right now, while I'm with you. But apparently, these things
were not making much of an impression upon the disciples. Not much
of an impression at all, but that's the reason he says here
in verse 26, he says, but the Comforter, the Comforter, which
is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name. He shall teach you all things. He'll teach you all things and
bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you."
He's saying that after I'm gone, someone is going to come and
teach you and remind you of all the things that I've been speaking
to you about. And the first thing that I see
here in what he is saying is that a revelation must be made
by the Holy Spirit of the things of Christ. Jesus Christ is a
revelation to the hearts of men. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians
chapter 2. This is what Brother Terry read
back in the study this evening. Jesus Christ and his gospel is
a revelation of the Holy Spirit. The natural man does not receive
these things, but the Holy Spirit must take these things, the things
of God, and show them to a man, or else he is in darkness, spiritual
darkness. Look here in 1 Corinthians chapter
2, verse 9. It is written, as it is written,
I hath not seen," now he's quoting Isaiah 64 here, "'I hath not
seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of
man the things which God hath prepared for that love him. What things? What things? A place
that Christ was talking about. I go to prepare a place for you.
The way, acceptance with God through his blood and his righteousness.
Those things, the things that God had prepared for them that
love him. The only reason we love him is
because he first loved us. But, verse 10, God hath revealed
them unto us, who's the us, a precious few, a precious us by His Spirit,
those that have been enlightened by His Holy Spirit. That's not
every man. Not every man that walks in the light of God's Spirit.
But God has revealed these precious things unto us by His Spirit.
Four, the Spirit searcheth, revealeth all things, yea, the deep things
of God. What are the deep things of God?
That's the gospel, that mystery that's been kept hid from the
foundation of the world, the deep things. What man knoweth
the things of a man, save the spirit of a man which is in him."
In other words, you don't know what I'm thinking unless I tell
you. Even so, he says, the things of God knows no man except the
spirit of God take those things and reveal them to him. We can't,
you were quoting that this evening, that of 1 Corinthians 1, we can't
come up with these things on our own. We can't do it. God
has hid these things in the wisdom of God. The world by wisdom knew
not God. That is by man's natural wisdom
and understanding. Now, verse 12, we have received
not the spirit of the world, or the understanding of the world,
but the spirit which is of God. You know, there's some people
that are of the world, and therefore speak they of the world, and
the world hears them. But they won't hear a true man of God,
a true preacher of God. Why? He's speaking of the things
of the spirit, which they don't understand, neither do they want
them. That's what he says here in a moment, their foolishness
unto them. Which things, verse 13. which things also we speak,
not in the words of which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the
Holy Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual,
not carnal with spiritual, but spiritual things with spiritual. Christ's words are spirit and
life. But, verse 14, the natural man, the natural man, and that's
all of us by nature, natural, carnal by nature, until God places
his Holy Spirit within us. Receiveth, the natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God. Their foolishness unto
him. He doesn't want anything to do
with them. Their foolishness to him. This old-fashioned gospel
of justification by faith and faith alone, that's foolishness.
Surely there's got to be more than that. To the Greek, it's
foolishness. Now, I just think there needs
to be more than that. To the Jew, it's a stumbling
block. It gets in the way of his ceremony and his religion
and so forth. But it's the power of God to us and the wisdom of
God. They're foolishness under the natural man, though, and
he can't know them. He cannot know them. In much the way that
Christ said, we saw this morning, that no man can come unto me
except the Father which is sent me draw him. No man can understand
the things of God except the Spirit of God show him. Neither can he know them. It's
naturally, it's It's impossible for the natural man to understand
the gospel except the Spirit of God show it to him. Neither
can he know them because, why? They're spiritually discerned.
But, verse 15, he that is spiritual judges or understands, discerns
all things. Yet he himself is judged or understood
or can't quite put a finger on him by any man. Who has known the mind of the
Lord? It reminds me of Isaiah's verse there, who hath believed
our report? To whom is the arm of the Lord
revealed? To whom the Spirit reveals. The arm of the Lord,
which is Christ, the arm, the right arm, the right hand of
God. But he says we have the mind
of Christ. That's a blessed gift. But Jesus Christ, turn back to
the text, that's the first thing I see in what he's saying here,
is that He himself, his gospel, the things concerning so great
a salvation, is a revelation of God's Holy Spirit, that no
man can figure this thing out on his own. Quite the contrary,
not many wise men after the flesh are called, not many at all. But God has chosen the weak things,
base things, and so forth. No man knoweth the Father save
the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal. So salvation is
a revelation of Jesus Christ to the mind and the heart of
a sinner. Salvation is not what we do.
This is the reason it's so contrary to the natural man's thinking.
The natural man thinks there's something we do to commend ourselves
to this God. And we saw very clearly this
morning that by the works of the law, the deeds of the law,
no man will be justified. It's evident, Paul said in Galatians.
It's not what we do, but it's what Jesus Christ has done. That's
where in my whole life. It's not how we look to God. It's how Christ looks to God. He that hath clean hands and
a pure heart never lifted up his soul unto vanity or sworn
deceitfulness. That's the only one that it matters
how he looks for acceptance with God, for justification with God. Now, it's not our decision for
God either. like the natural man likes to
think. It's his decision for us. It's him deciding for us. It's not us accepting him. That's
not in the scriptures anywhere. It's us being accepted in the
beloved, in the beloved. It's not us keeping God's law.
It's seeing and believing that Jesus Christ kept it for us. And there and there only will
a man find peace and comfort and hope in seeing that he kept
it for us. And that's the only motive That's
the only thing that will give us a motive to want to keep God's
law. Love to Him, not duty, not seeing
that there's something we must do in order to be accepted by
God. But because it's done, because He did it for us, we want to
keep that law. We want to live according to
that law because of our love to Him for doing it for us. No
man knows these things, but actually believes just the opposite. Because
salvation is a revelation of God's Holy Spirit and the Holy
Spirit. Back here in the text, he said the Holy Spirit is a
teacher above all things. Verse 26, he says the comforter,
which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name.
He'll teach you. He'll teach you. The Holy Spirit
is primarily a teacher. A teacher. He's not the author
of confusion and tumult and all of this hooflaw that's going
on under the name of the Holy Spirit. He's not the author of
confusion and mass hysteria and all of this wildfire that's going
on. He's a teacher. He takes the
things of Christ and teaches his people the things of Christ. Besides, we see in one place
that Christ said he'll not take the things of himself and show
them unto you. You'll take the things of mine and show them
unto you. And people are so caught up in speaking of the Holy Spirit,
the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, this and that
and the other. Well, the Holy Spirit is not drawing attention
to Himself. The Holy Spirit is taking the
things of Christ and showing them to His people. The Holy
Spirit is primarily a teacher. Look over chapter 16, verse 13
with me. Chapter 16, verse 13. It says, That is the spirit of truth.
Who is the truth? What is the truth? That's what
Pilate asked. What is truth? Christ said, I
am the truth. I am the truth. Well, when the
spirit of Christ, the truth, has come, he'll guide you into
all truth. All truth concerning Christ.
For he shall not speak of himself, whatsoever he shall hear, whatsoever
the Father has given him, whatsoever he shall hear, That shall he
speak, and he'll show you things to come." Verse 14, "...he will
glorify me, he'll receive of mine, and show it unto you."
So the Spirit is not speaking of himself, nor is he speaking
by the authority of himself, but he's taking the things that
God has given unto him to show the people concerning God's Son.
Because neither is there salvation in any other but in Jesus Christ,
nor with the man. He's taking the things of Christ,
that is, the truth of how God saves sinners only through his
imputed righteousness and shed blood. Those are the things of
Christ. That's the reason Christ came,
not to show us the way, but to be the way, to be a substitute,
to be a sacrifice. That's why he came, to take his
righteousness off of his back and impute it to the account
of his people. to take that shed blood of his and apply it to
our sinful souls. That's the very reason he came.
And the Spirit is taking those things and showing them to his
people. Some of those people are right here in other places.
Now look at verse 26 again. It says, "...he shall teach you
all things, and bring all things to remembrance whatsoever I have
said unto you." will send him in my name." This
is an interesting thought. Look at John chapter 5 with me.
John chapter 5. The Heavenly Father sent Christ
in his name. Christ said, I will come to reveal
the Father. Christ came to reveal the Heavenly
Father. No man knoweth the Father save
the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him. Well, Christ
came in his Father's name. That's what he said. He came
to reveal the Father. the Father to his people, and
he came in the Father's name. Well, he said, the Holy Spirit
is coming in my name, in my name. So Christ came in the Father's
name to glorify him and reveal the Father, and the Holy Spirit's
coming in Christ's name to reveal the glory of Christ and not himself. Look at John chapter 5, verse
43 with me. Christ said, Now I am come in
my Father's name, and you receive me not. If another shall come
in his own name, him you will receive." It's hard
to understand, isn't it? Christ always did the things
which pleased his Heavenly Father. His whole life was taken up with
the will of God the Father, with the glory of God the Father.
That's the thing that he was consumed with and taken up with.
That's the reason he came, was to glorify the Father in the
life of a man, to establish And he came in the Father's name,
in the glory of the Father, in the character of the Father,
speaking of the Heavenly Father, glorifying God, and God alone,
not himself. He really did not glorify, wasn't
glorifying himself, but he was glorifying the Father. Yet nobody
wanted anything to do with him. But he said, another come in
his own name. You let any old Joe come down
the pike and tell you any new revelation, in his name and plaster
his name all over some ministry, his ministry. He said people
receive him. It's hard to understand, isn't
it? A man can come in his own name and obviously for his own
glory and his own fame and fortune and people will receive him with
open arms and open their pockets to him. But a man come, a man,
I have to say this in reference to myself. standing here just
proclaiming the glory of God, the sovereign grace of God, attempting
to glorify God in all things, especially salvation. But he
won't receive Him. He'll let some guy come in his
own name for his own glory, and people will receive Him. And
Christ said that about His glorious person. Now, look at verse 45
there of John 5. He said, Then don't think, he
said, if you don't receive me, I've come in the name of this
Holy Heavenly Father to glorify him. Don't think, no, I'm sorry,
verse 44. How can you believe? How can
you see the glory of God? How can you believe when you
receive only honor one of another? And you're not interested in
the glory of God. How can you believe? How can you see clearly
when you're not in this thing for the glory of God? You can't
do it. You seek not the honor that comes
from God only. Verse 45. Now, he said, now,
don't think that I will accuse you to the Father. You don't
have to. Moses will do that. And they appealed to Moses. They
said they supposedly believed Moses and the prophets and so
forth. But he says, Moses is going to accuse you. Why? Verse
46. Well, had you believed Moses,
you would have believed me because Moses was writing about me. He
wasn't writing to tell you what to do. He was writing to tell
you you can't do it and look to somebody else that can. He
was writing about Christ. But if you believe not his writing,
how are you going to believe my word? Won't do it. Won't do it. But the Holy Spirit
will take the things that you need to know concerning Christ
and his great salvation and show them unto you. And he'll bring
to remembrance. Look back at the text in John
14. It says that he'll bring to your remembrance whatever
I've said unto you. You see that, verse 26? He'll bring to remembrance the
things that I've said unto you. Like I said in verse 25, obviously
these things weren't making much of an impression upon the apostles.
The whole time he was with them, he could tell them something.
It's the same way with us. God will instruct us from his
word, and we'll turn right around and act as if we'd never heard
it or never received it. And the apostles did the same
thing. Right in the face, right on the back of when he said,
I'm going to Jerusalem, and they're going to take me, and they're
going to kill me, but I'm going to rise again the third day,
and so forth. And they were over there arguing about who was going
to be the greatest. Who do you think is going to be the greatest? I think I'll
admit it. That's how ignorant they were. And we're no different.
We're no different. But the Holy Spirit said, these
things that I'm saying to you while I'm with you, you're not
hearing me. You're not listening to me. You're
not heeding the things I'm saying to you. He says when I'm gone,
when this whole thing is accomplished, when redemption is accomplished,
when it is finished finally, and I send this powerful Holy
Spirit down to you, this teacher, he'll remind you of the things
I've been saying. And it's the same thing with
us. Look at John chapter 2 with me. John chapter two. It's the
same thing, it's the same promise to all believers. Have you ever
been speaking to someone concerning the gospel, witnessing to someone,
and had good scripture recall? It doesn't always happen, does
it? You don't always have recall of scriptures. You may know the
scriptures, but it doesn't always come easily, it doesn't flow
to you, quoting these scriptures. It's the same way in preaching.
It is not the Spirit. What the Lord opens, no man can
shut. And what the Lord shuts, no man
can open. And that includes the preacher's mouth and your mouth.
But this promise is to all believers. And sometimes you have good scripture
recall, and sometimes you don't. And when you do, that's the Holy
Spirit bringing to mind, bringing to remembrance the things that
that Christ has said in his Word, that God has said in his Word.
Look at verse 22 of John 2. It says, "...when therefore he
was risen from the dead." Now, he had just been speaking of
the temple, destroying the temple, and he was talking about his
body. He wasn't talking about that Jewish temple. He was talking
about his body in three days, raising it up. Verse 22, "...when
therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered."
that he'd said this unto them. They remembered him. And I bet
you, and they related, turn over to John 12, and they related
much the same way that when the Holy Spirit reminds you or brings
to mind the things of God's Word and His gospel, you're elated
when these things come to your mind. You're elated. And you
think, that's what he said would happen. That's what he said.
He is of a truth. Christ, and this is his blessed
word. Look at verse 16 of John 12. Now this is when he found an
ass and was riding into Jerusalem on the coat of an ass, and this
is a fulfillment of the prophecy there in Zechariah. He says in
verse 16, these things understood not his disciples at first. They
didn't know why he got on a donkey and why he told them to go in
and do this and that and the other. But they didn't understand
it at first, just like they weren't understanding there in John 14,
the things he was telling them. But, verse 16, when Jesus was
glorified, when it was all over, then remembered they that these
things were written of him, and that they had done these things
under him. Ain't like those disciples walking
on that road to Emmaus. That's bound to have been one
of the greatest messages ever preached. But don't you know,
well they said it, did not our hearts burn within us? He brought
to remembrance the things that he had been living for and teaching
them for those three and a half years. He brought to remembrance.
And he took the things of Moses and the prophets and then the
Psalms concerning himself and showed them unto him. And their
hearts burned in hearing those things. We'll turn back to the
text. Back to the text in John 14. So the Holy Spirit is primarily
a teacher, and he is a revealer of the things of Christ. And
Christ said here that the Holy Spirit brings to remembrance,
brings to mind the things that Christ has said unto you. Now,
verse 27, he says, peace. Now, remember, he's talking to
his disciples here. He's not talking to everybody.
He's not talking to everybody. He's talking to believers. He's
talking to his disciples. If you're a disciple, if you're
a believer, he's talking to you. And he says, peace I leave with
you. Peace I leave with you. And my peace I give unto you. I believe he's talking about
a twofold peace here. Peace I leave with you is a twofold
peace of a believer. The first peace is that peace
that he made with God by virtue of that blood, that sacrifice
of his body on the cross. That peace. He broke down that
middle wall of partition between us and God, that wall of our
sin and inequities that separated us between our God. The carnal
mind, the natural mind, is the enemy, and Christ in that sacrifice
broke down that enmity and made peace, reconciled this Holy Father
with sinful man by making them holy so that God could accept
this sinful creature. And he made this peace through
the blood of his cross. justified us by faith and gave
us peace with God. And then secondly, he says, my
peace I give unto you. Humanly speaking, no man had
the peace and exhibited the peace that our Lord did as a man. Why? Because he knew God and walked
perfectly with the heavenly Father. And this is the peace he's speaking
of, I believe here, a twofold peace, a second peace, this peace
which passes all understanding that comes from knowing the first
piece. That's only when the second piece
will come when you know that he's made peace. And then there's
that peace and knowing that there's no condemnation with God, that
God's not angry with me anymore. Oh, he chases us, but he's not
angry. He never punishes his children.
He never punishes them. He chases them. There's a difference.
Our sins were punished on the cross. Punished. We're chastened. We're instructed
into the right way. That's the proper meaning of
chastening. Instruction. Instruction. So this second piece
only comes by our knowledge of the first piece. That piece that
Christ made. He says it's not the piece that
the world gives. I want to show you something
back in Jeremiah chapter 6. I know you've seen it several
times, but look at it with me. Jeremiah chapter 6. He said it's
not the piece that the world giveth. that I give unto you."
Jeremiah 6, verse 13. Our Lord here, he gives an indictment
against the false prophets of that day, and it's the same with
the false prophets of this day. And he says, verse 13, "...from
the least of them unto the greatest of them," verse 13, "...every
one is given to covetousness." And from the prophets, even unto
the priests, every one dealeth falsely." He said over in Jeremiah
23, we'll turn there in a moment, that they withhold the Word of
God, they corrupt the Word of God, they twist the Word of God,
they keep the Word back from the people in favor of their
own dreams, their own imagination. Verse 14, he says, they've healed
also the hurt or the bruise or the breach of the daughter of
my people slightly, not completely, but slightly. In other words,
they've given them a false sense of security, a false refuge,
a refuge of lies. They say, peace, peace, when
there is no peace. They're not talking about peace
based upon this blood and righteousness of Christ. Talking about a piece
you can make with God, they made his peace with God. You know,
you've heard that so many times. Oh, look over Jeremiah 23. Jeremiah 23, this is a false
peace, and men supposedly make this peace themselves. There's
no man can make peace with God. No man but one. The God man,
the one that was only approved of God, he's the only one who
can make peace with God. Well, Look at Jeremiah 23, 17.
There's another thing they're saying concerning this peace,
these false prophecies. They say, and this I've got written
down in my Bible. I've got 1987 written down beside
this verse, but I'm going to change that to 1990. It's up
to date now even. But then he says, These false
prophets say unto them that despise me. That is, people that hate
this sovereign God who's on the throne, who controls all things,
who does as he will, and the armies of heaven among the heavens
subvert. They hate this sovereign God. The carnal man, the natural
man, hates this sovereign Lord, the sovereignty of God. But they
say, these false prophets, verse 17, they're saying unto them
that hate this God the Lord has said, you shall have peace. God loves you and has a wonderful
plan for your life. That's what they're saying. You
shall have peace. And they say this also to everyone
that walketh after the imagination of his own heart. No matter what
he believes, no matter what denomination, no matter what, no evil is going
to happen to you. No evil shall befall you. It's
going to be all right. And he says, who stood in the
counsel of the Lord and heard him say that? Huh? He didn't
say that. God's angry with the wicked every
day. The only way, the only, excuse
me, A faithful and true minister
of the gospel and servant of God and a preacher of the gospel
only says this, that the only way a rebellious sinner can have
peace with this holy God is for that sinner to have somebody
between him and that God, a mediator. Otherwise, why would we need
him? Why would we need him? And that's the reason I heard
Brother Terry this evening in a study, and it blessed my heart.
He prayed that God would, and this is so unheard of in this
day, for a man to pray like this. He prayed that God would keep
showing us our sinful nature. That's just not, that's just
unheard of in this day and age. But the only man that's going
to need a Savior is a sinner, right? If you ever lose sight
of your sinnerhood before God, you don't need Christ. You don't
need a Savior. If you ever lose sight of that, you don't need
a mediator. You don't need anybody talking
to you or talking to God for you. You don't need a go-between.
You don't need a substitute. But a rebellious, an ungodly
sinner does. An ungodly sinner. Now, he doesn't
save us in our sins. He saves us from our sins. We
don't remain in those sins. But nevertheless, we still feel
that nature within us. There's a law warring in our
members. Who should deliver me from this
body of death? Jesus Christ the Lord. That's who. He's the only
one. Can't deliver myself, no matter
how hard you try. And we try. And we're to strive
and so forth. But we cannot deliver ourselves
from this, can we? Only he can. Only he can. The
power of his Holy Spirit also. And Christ is talking about the
peace and tranquillity back in the text there in John 14. He's
talking about the peace, the so-called peace, and the tranquility
of this material world. All that people heap to themselves
in this material world that they get joy and peace and comfort
out of. He says it won't bring you any
lasting enjoyment. It'll not bring you any peace,
any comfort. It won't do it. Why? Because
it's fading away. It rusts. It corrupts. Moths
rust. Thieves. corrupt these things.
These things will soon turn into turmoil and unrest. I like that
verse that Paul said, "...unto you, therefore, that are troubled,
rest with us." Look at verse 27 again. He says, "...Peace
I leave with you, my peace I give unto you." I've got to hurry.
My peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth, give I unto
you." Now, right on the back of this, talking about this peace
that he gives by virtue of that sacrifice that he's about to
make, and they're not understanding this yet, but they do eventually.
He says, now, let not your heart be troubled. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. Does that ring
a bell? That's how he started out this
chapter 14. Don't be troubled. I'm going
to the father for you. I'm going to God as a go between
between you and the father. I'm going to my to my heavenly
father to prepare a place for you. And even though I'm leaving
you, look at verse 28. He said, You've heard how I said
unto you, I go away. But I did say to them, I'm coming
again unto you. Now, he said, if you loved me,
if you loved me, you would rejoice because I said I'd go unto the
Father. And they can't rightfully understand this yet, but they
will. And then there'll be a time when they'll rejoice that Christ
is with God the Father, that he's seated at the right hand
of God, interceding for us. There's a time, there was a time
come that they rejoiced in that. And you and I also, when we see
that we have a mediator. time will rejoice that he went
to the Father. He says, for my Father is greater
than I. Now let me just say this. He
says my Father is greater than I. The old writers call them
the Unitarians. I think the Russellites, so-called
Jehovah's Witnesses, they love this sort of verse. They think
it means that God the Father is superior in his person, in
his character, that he's above Christ. That's not what he's
saying here at all. That's not what he's saying here
at all. He's saying in a sense of place, in a sense of position
and essence at the time that Christ was saying this. In other
words, he's a man right now. He's a man. He's made a little
lower than the angels even right now. And he says, my Father which
is right now is greater than I. That is no limitations on
him like there are me in this body. of a man, humanly speaking,
and there's no limitation, but he was made a little lower than
the angel. Do you see what he's saying? But he says, my father,
which is greater than I, I'm going back to him. I'm going
back to my rightful place. I'm going back to my throne.
I'm going back to my glory. I'm going back to that place
that I belong. And soon they will see that Christ
is altogether equal, that he thought it not robbery to be
equal to the father. That he indeed is equal to the Father.
Soon, they shall see him as he really is. They would have blinded
by this flesh that he wore, by this veil that was over their
eyes. They were blinded by that. But soon, they're going to see
him as he is. As he really is. That is, in
the brightness of his glory. Now verse 29. He says, Now I've
told you, before it come to pass, that when it is come to pass,
you might believe. I'm telling you now. I'm telling
you now that when it happens, you'll believe. When what happens?
When they see Him in His glory. It's the great I Am. The great
I Am. The prophet, the priest, and
the king. Verse 30. And it says, Hereafter I will not talk much
with you. I'll not talk much with you.
I've got work to do. I'm going to the cross. I've
got to meet all the forces of evil." And that's what he says
there. He says, the prince of this world is coming. I've got
a great, tremendous struggle ahead of
me. And he went into that garden
and he sweat, as it were, great drops of blood just thinking
about this struggle. But the prince of this world
is coming to meet. The forces of evil are coming
to meet the Son of God Himself head on. But here's the glory
of it all. Verse 30. He has nothing in me. Don't worry. He's not going to
find it. He has no advantage over me at
all. He's going to look for something. He's looking for something. And
I tell you what, Satan thought he was the one behind this whole
thing. He began his assault. He began his assault in the garden
and went all the way to the tomb and put that rock on the tomb
and thought, I've done it. I've finished this thing. Three
days later, he found out better. That he only did what God had
determined before to be done from the very start. He was working
God's plan out. But that infuriated. But there
was nothing in Christ for Satan to appeal to. No weak point. When he tempted our Lord, there
was nothing in him to tempt him. Now, you and I, it's a different
story. This is the reason our peace and our comfort and our
encouragement and our hope is only found in Him, not what we
can do, not even what we can be. Oh, it's glorious. Salvation,
I said this, salvation is reproducing the character of Jesus Christ
in someone. That we're predestinated under
the image of Christ. That's what salvation is, regeneration,
making us just like Jesus Christ. But that's not where in our peace
lies, what we are. Our peace lies in who He is and
what He has done. Because we're not, we're never
going to be perfect. We're only perfect in the eyes of God in
Jesus Christ, in that righteousness. But, you know, if Satan comes
to us, and he still does come to us, he desires us to sift
us as wheat, and sometimes he does. Sometimes he does. Satan
found something in Noah. Noah was a meek man. Noah was
much more of a man than anybody in here will ever be. Noah, meekest
man. Abraham. Abraham. David. What about David? We can't
spank up to David, a man after God's own heart. But Satan found
something in him, didn't he? Peter, that rock, that great
apostle, he found something in him, didn't he? Found a lot.
What are you going to do, Henry Seward? When Satan comes looking
for something in you, he'll find it, won't he? Not if you're in
Christ, not if you're bound. See, that's where your peace
lies. If you've got that robe of Christ's righteousness wrapped
around you, he'll find nothing in you, too. And he's the great
accuser of the brethren, and he can't accuse you. Who is he
to condemn me? Not even Satan himself can condemn
me before the Holy Father. He can condemn me to me. He can
show me that, yeah, you're rotten, aren't you? Yes, I am. You don't
deserve for God to accept you, do you? No, I don't. Well, what's
your hope then? Him. Him. And Christ was the great conqueror
at Satan's coming. The great conqueror at Satan's
coming. He said, He's coming, and I'm
going to meet Him head on. And I'm going to win. I'm going
to win. He fought all the forces. Jesus
Christ fought all the forces of evil single-handedly and won. And won. The angels, Michael
the archangel, the angels would not tackle Satan. They wouldn't confront him. But
this man did. Even in the body of a man. And
that exasperated Satan that much more. the man that he thought
he had conquered, he was through the body of a man, and he got
conquered. Remember, he thought he had messed up God's plan by
messing up this man and woman in the garden. But God sent another
man to conquer him, to crush his head, to bruise his head.
Look at verse thirty-one. And he says, he says, I'll not
talk much with you after this. The prince of the world is coming. to engage in, but he has nothing
in me. Rejoice in that. Verse 31. But
that the world may know. Now pay attention to this. That the world may know that
I love the Father. And as the Father gave me commandment,
even so I do. Do you know that this is the
only time It's mentioned that Christ said he loved the father.
You know, the only time in the Bible it's mentioned where Christ
said, I love the father. Why? Why? Well, he always spoke
of the father's love to him. There's a sense in which he's
our supreme example, and this is a great it should be a great
conviction to all these people always bragging about their love
for Jesus. and their love for the Father. Christ Himself didn't
talk about that so much as He talked about the love of the
Father to Him. You see that? And that's not our hope, that
we love the Father. Our hope is that He loved us
first. That's our hope. It's not my love for Him. My
love is so fickle and so finite and so failing, so fallible,
my love for Him. Peter would have told you the
same thing. He said, Oh, Lord, Lord Esther, do you love me?
Yeah, but I sure don't act like it, do I? You love me. That's my hope, Peter said. And that's a lesson that should
be a lesson to us. Christ talked about his love to the Father
just one time. That's enough, though. What he
did proved his love to the Father. That's what he's saying here.
But that the world may know that I love the Father supremely.
That's the reason I came. to show my love and respect and
high esteem for God the Father, and because He gave me something
to do. He gave me commandment. He gave me a job to do, and that's
what I've come to do. And he said, I'm going to do
it. I'm going to do it. And because
of his love to God and God's command, that is, their agreement,
their covenant that they made before time began, Christ met
Satan and our sin, took our sins upon Him, and went to that cross
and single-handedly put him away by the sacrifice of himself.
It's a triune work, the work of God the Father. God the Father
purposed this salvation. God the Son purchased this salvation
by His blood, and God the Holy Spirit applies this salvation.
It's a threefold salvation. And I'm not saying that Christ
did it completely by himself. He's a triune God. There's three
that are in one. But this whole thing, centered
right here, middle state, centered right here in this work of redemption
that Christ accomplished on the cross. Now, look at the last
words there. He says, Arise, and let us go
hence. Let us go. Evidently, he just
got up and said, Let's go. Got some place to go, but that
reminds me of a verse over there in Hebrews that says. Let us go, therefore, unto him
without the camp. Arise. Let's go, therefore, unto
him. Arise, the song says, I will
arise and go to the Savior. Let's sing that song. I will
arise and go to the Savior. What number is it? Let's see.
If I can find it. If you find it,
tell me. Anybody know what verse it is?
That's not even the title to it, is it? No, I will arise and go to the
Savior charmed by things that are higher, things that are lower,
or things that are nobler. What's the name of it? I will hasten to him. I am resolved. There it is. Thank you, John.
I am resolved. 389, 389. Things that are higher, things
that are nobler, these have allured my sight. The things of Christ,
that's what they are. Let's stand and sing this song,
389. I am resolved no longer to linger
charmed by the world's delights. Things that are higher, things
that are nobler, these have allured my sight. I will hasten to Him, hasten
so glad and free. Let's sing that second verse
there. He says, I'm resolved to go to
the Savior, leave me in my sin and strive. And the Holy Spirit,
that's another thing the Holy Spirit makes a man willing to
do, is that is leave his sin. Leave his sin. We don't say that
at all, that a man stays in his sin and he leaves as willing.
He's regenerated. a new creation in Christ Jesus,
and he leaves that sin, turns from it to go to Christ, to go
to Christ. Verse 2, I am resolved to go
to the Savior, leaving my sin and crime. He is the true one,
he is the just one, he hath the words of life. I will hasten to him, hasten
to the man and free Jesus. Verse three as the last. I will wait and do His will,
faithful and free. Jesus, great and mighty, I will
come to Thee.