Welcome to the Reign of Grace
radio broadcast. My name is Bill Parker. I'm the
pastor of the 13th Street Baptist Church in Ashland, Kentucky.
This program is sponsored by the members of Eager Avenue Grace
Church in Albany, Georgia, located at 1102 Eager Drive, Albany,
Georgia. I'll be bringing you a gospel
message of the sovereign grace and glory of God in the Lord
Jesus Christ from God's Holy Word. And now, the message. Welcome to our program. Now,
I'll be preaching from the book of John, chapter 14, and the
title of the message is Christ and His Father. We're going to
see here in John chapter 14 some of the most comforting precious
words that the Lord Jesus Christ spoke to his disciples in the
upper room just prior to his arrest and his suffering unto
death. I want to read three verses back
up in chapter 13 because this is where Christ reveals Peter's
denial. The apostle Peter was going to
deny him, but Peter didn't know this at the time. And Christ
had told his disciples about his having to go away and to
be arrested, to suffer unto death, that he was going unto his father.
And Peter asking, he says in verse 36, Simon Peter said unto
him, Lord, whither thou goest? Where are you going? And Jesus
answered him, whether I go where I'm going, you cannot follow
me now, but thou shalt follow me afterwards. Where I'm going,
going unto the Father, you can't go now, but you'll follow me
afterwards. Now, there's several indications
there or implications that Christ is speaking of. The disciples
would eventually become emboldened by the grace of God to stand
firm in the gospel and to suffer for the gospel. Now their suffering
would be over the truth and would be evidences of their discipleship
and that they are children of God. Now the suffering of Christ
was redemption. It was satisfaction along justice. It is the salvation of his people. So Peter's suffering and the
other disciples' suffering was not for our salvation. But it would identify them with
Christ and he says where I'm going in this opposition to the
world and in this suffering, you cannot go now, but you will
come afterwards. And then going unto the Father,
that's the final destination of all of God's children eventually,
that will go unto heaven to be glorified with him, unto the
Father through him. So he says in verse 37, Peter
said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? And Peter
says this, he stands up, you know, Peter was a, sometimes
he's portrayed as almost like a braggart, a rash man, and sometimes
he was, and we all are sometimes, but he says, I will lay down
my life for thy sake. He's saying, why can't I go with
you now? I'll die for you. And the Lord said, answered him
in verse 38. And he says, wilt thou lay down
thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
the cock shall not crow till thou hast denied me thrice."
Peter, you're going to deny me three times before the morning,
before the rooster crows. That's what he says. But he didn't
leave it there. This was not a condemnation from
the Lord to Peter. And sometimes we end the chapter
there, that's the chapter division. But the Lord goes right on in
verse 1 of chapter 14 after this awesome revelation to Peter.
Peter, you say you'll lay down your life for me? Peter, let
me tell you something. Here's the reality of your weakness,
of your flesh, of your sin. You're going to deny me three
times before morning. That's what he's saying. Now,
you can just imagine how awful Peter felt when that was spoken. And you know, Peter said another
thing. He said, I won't do this. Well, you can just imagine the
sorrow and the pain that that caused him. But the Lord said
right immediately in verse 1 of chapter 14, as it's recorded,
let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. Don't let it trouble you. Now,
my friend, we should never deny the Lord Jesus Christ. But we're
sinful men. Even those of us who are saved,
we're sinful men. Sinners saved by the grace of
God. And what he's telling Peter and the rest of the disciples
here, he says, salvation is not of you. Salvation is of the Lord. He
said, let not your heart be troubled. Do you believe in God? Believe
also in me. You cannot truly believe in God,
the God of salvation, apart from Christ. Christ is our only acceptance
before God, the only forgiveness of sin. that you and I as sinners
can have before God is in the blood of Christ, the Son of God. The only righteousness we can
have is in Him. The only assurance and comfort
and true peace that we can have with God and in conscience is
from Him. So let not your heart be troubled."
Peter, you're going to deny me three times, but he says, Let
not your heart be troubled. And he goes on in verse 2, he
said, In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not
so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. Now you see, Christ is speaking
of the salvation and eternal blessedness and glory of his
people here. And it's referred to here under
the symbol of many mansions. You think about a mansion that
has many rooms. many treasures. And that's a
symbol for the salvation. He's not talking about literal
mansions. He's talking about the blessedness, the inheritance,
the treasure of eternal life in Him. You see that? And he says, if that weren't
so, I would have told you. Christ didn't lie to them. He
doesn't lie to his people. He doesn't lie to anybody. He
is truth, you see. Satan is the liar, the father
of liars. Men are liars. The Bible says,
let God be true. Every man a liar. But the sovereign
Savior, the Redeemer of his people, Christ, the Lord of glory, he
won't lie to you. He said, if it weren't so, I
would have told you. And then he said, I go to prepare a place
for you. He's going in his suffering unto
death, in his obedience unto death, to prepare a place, a
place of salvation, a place of acceptance, a place of blessing,
a place of assurance and comfort, a place of rest and peace, a
place of glory, a place of joy, salvation, eternal life, heaven
itself. It is the preparation not of
men, but of the Lord. You see, false gospels today,
false preachers today will tell you to prepare your own place,
work your way into God's glory. Some say, well, you've got to
earn your reward, and if you don't earn your reward, you're
not going to live in a mansion, you're going to live in a shack.
Well, my friend, that is not scriptural, it is not gospel,
it is not grace. Christ said there are many mansions,
and I go to prepare them. Salvation is of the Lord, the
gospel. As I've often said this, the
gospel is not a potluck supper. You bring your own dish. The
gospel is a feast already prepared, and there's plenty for anybody
who wants it. The problem is man by nature
doesn't want this feast. He wants to bring his own. He
wants to work his way, earn his way into God's favor and God's
blessings so that he can have some glory. But Christ will not
share his glory. He said, I go to prepare a place. And then he said, I go to prepare
a place for you, not for himself, but for his sheep, not for all
without exception, but for all who come to him, pleading his
blood and righteousness. And then he said in verse 3,
and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and
receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you may be
also. If Christ does his work on earth,
to justify his people by establishing righteousness, to redeem them,
and goes away unto the Father. He was buried, raised again from
the dead, and ascends unto the Father, preparing that place
for his people. He's coming again. My friend,
make no mistake about it. Christ is coming again to receive
his people unto himself and to pronounce judgment and destroy
this world. And He's coming again. Now I
know people are interested in that subject and many preachers
spend their time preaching on the times and the signs and when
and where. That's not our business. We're
to preach the gospel to a lost and dying world. And whenever
the Lord comes, He comes. He said it's not for us to know
the day and the time. He said only the Father knows
that. There is a day and a time. He's coming again. Maybe in my
lifetime, maybe not. But I'll tell you what I'm going
to be doing until the Lord sees fit to send his son back or to
take me out of this world. I'm going to preach the gospel
of Christ and him crucify and pray for the salvation of sinners.
And he says in verse four, and whither I go, you know, and the
way you know. Now he's talking about the gospel.
And the disciples, their minds are yet on earthly things. And
what he's doing, you know, in his, you know, to be a disciple
of Christ is to be a learner. Now he said that, he said, take
my yoke upon you, for my yoke is easy, my burden is light.
He says, come learn of me. And so what he's doing, he's
moving their minds away from the earthly to the heavenly.
And he says, whether I go, you know, and the way you know. He had already told them these
issues of salvation and how he would accomplish salvation for
his people by going to the cross, suffering, bleeding and dying,
on that cross to pay our sin debt, how he would be buried
and raised again the third day because of the justification
of his people. But look at it, he says in verse
5, Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest,
and how can we know the way? Listen to this, verse 6 of John
14, Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. What he's saying, Thomas, you're
not thinking right. I'm going to the Father. I'm
going to the cross to save your soul, and I'm going to the Father. I am the way. He is the only
way to God. Every other way is a way of destruction.
He had taught them that back in the Sermon on the Mount. He
spoke of the narrow way that leads unto life and the broad
road that leads unto destruction. The narrow way that leads unto
life is Christ and Him crucified. It's the way of salvation by
the Son of God incarnate. It's the way of salvation based
on His finished work, not yours, not mine. And every other way
is part of the broad road that leads to destruction. He had
spoken of it in other places when he spoke of salvation. that
can only come by Him who is God and man in one person and by
His finished work. He is the truth. All truth concerning
God and the way unto God for sinners is in Christ. All other messages are lies.
My friend, any preacher who teaches salvation conditioned on the
sinner is not teaching the truth and the way that's in Christ.
Salvation is of the Lord, and then he says, I'm the life. My
friend, he is life, for he is God. Only God can give life and
sustain life, and Christ on the cross, he earned life, he gives
life, and he sustains life. He says in John chapter 17, he
said that he would give eternal life to as many as the Father
had given Him. So He is life, and outside of
Him there is nothing but eternal death. That's the truth, and
you need to see that. He said, and no man cometh unto
the Father but by Me. You see, if you want to come
to God and see Him and be received as He is a loving, gracious,
merciful Father, you must come through Christ. You must come
the way of the cross. the way of His blood and His
righteousness. If you come any other way on
your works, or your denomination, or your doing, or your dying,
or your suffering, you will not see the Father. You'll see a
righteous judge who will judge you according to truth, or your
sins, and you'll be damned. You see, how can God be both
a righteous judge and a loving Father? In Christ. And so He
says, No man cometh unto the Father but by Me. But now look
at what he says about his Father and himself, Christ and his Father. In verse 7, he says, If you have
known me, you should have known my Father also. And from henceforth
you know him and have seen him. Now my friend, the only way you're
going to know God as Father, as a loving, merciful, compassionate,
gracious Father, is through Christ. Now I've said that. You see,
apart from Christ, there is no fatherhood of God in redemption.
Somebody says, well, isn't God the father of everyone? Well,
the Bible teaches in Acts chapter 17 that He's the father of all
by creation. That all men are children of
God by creation, but man fell in Adam. We were ruined by the
fall. And we spiritually took side
with Satan against God in Adam. And therefore, spiritually speaking,
the fallen human race in Adam, the father of that fallen human
race is Satan. Christ told the Pharisees that
in John chapter 8, verse 44. He says, you're of your father
the devil. That means Satan brought in their condemnation, Satan
entered them just like he did Judas, and he brought about unbelief,
depravity, darkness, lies. They're energized by Satan. That's
all of us before the new birth, before the Spirit of God gives
us spiritual life and gives us eyes to see spiritually, ears
to hear, hearts and minds to understand and love the Word
of God. That's what we are. But God chose a people, the scripture
says, out of this fallen race of humanity. And he gave them
to his Son. And he sent his Son to redeem
them from their sins. You see, God could not save even
one sinner apart from his holiness and his law and his justice being
satisfied. So he sent his Son into the world,
having conditioned all of their salvation on Christ. He sent
Christ into the world to redeem them by His blood, to make them
accepted before Him by His righteousness. And He adopted them into His
family. And now, all who come to Christ,
all who believe in Him by the power of the Spirit in the new
birth, you see, Christ sends His Spirit into the world to
give them life to where they're birthed again, the new birth.
You must be born again. And they see God as Father through
Christ. All who come to Christ, all who
believe in Him and rest in Him, are now spiritually the children
of God. God is their Father by redemption,
and they will go to be with Him eternally in heaven because of
Christ. Look at verse 8. Philip saith
unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. In other
words, if you'll show us the Father, that'll be sufficient.
Verse 9, Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with
you? And yet hast thou not known me,
Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen
the Father. And how sayest thou then, Show
us the Father? You see, what Christ is teaching
here, you know, and people get bogged down into these things,
There are some things about God that are so infinitely high above
our puny little minds we cannot grasp in its fullness and explain. One of those things is the blessed
gospel truth of the Trinity. Now the Trinity teaches, and
this is the scriptural way from Genesis to Revelation, Old Testament
and New, that there is one God. But God subsists in three distinct
persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Now, in essence of nature, they
are one God in every attribute of being, but three distinct
persons manifesting themselves as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Now, we cannot explain that truth.
And I'll tell you, I've heard down through the years preachers
and read books that have tried to give illustrations of it,
and they're all inadequate. There is no earthly illustration
that adequately explains the Trinity. I've heard people say,
well, it's like water and ice and steam. Now, you may have
heard that. Well, that's not a good example
of the Trinity. That would be one God in three
different forms. you say. And I've heard it's
like one man. He can be a father, he can be
a husband, he can be a son. Well, that's one God in three
roles. That's not it either. We don't
have an earthly explanation or illustration of it. It's just
one of those truths of the Bible that we as human beings must
accept and bow to and worship God. God the Father, God the
Son, God the Holy Spirit. Well, what Christ is teaching
here He's saying, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. Now
what he's saying is this, the only way you're going to know
the Father is through the Son. So that if you've seen the Son,
you've seen the glory and the revelation and the redemptive
work of the Father. If you've seen me, you've seen
the Father. So he says, how can you say, show us the Father?
You're not going to know the Father except through the Son.
He says in verse 10, Believest thou not that I am in the Father,
and the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you
I speak not of myself, but the Father that dwelleth in me, he
doeth the works." Now what he's speaking of there is the essence
of the nature of deity. He and the Father and the Spirit
are all one in the nature of deity. The Father in him, he
and the Father, the Spirit in him, all three persons of the
Godhead are one in essence of nature. So he says, when I speak
to you, it's not just this person or that, it's the Godhead. Christ
is God, and he speaks the words of God. He doesn't speak on his
own, and especially in his humanity. He's not just some man. who came
down here and gives us his opinion. He's not some man who just gives
us his take on things. We've had enough of that in the
history of mankind. Isn't that right? Some man standing
behind a pulpit just giving you his take on things, his way of
seeing it. No. Christ said, I'm not speaking
on my own. I speak the words of the Father.
He is sent of the Father. And the Father, the Son, and
the Spirit are co-equal in the nature of deity, but the Son
became subservient to the Father for the purpose of redeeming
his sheep." Now, like I said, there's a lot of things there
we can't explain, but we know it's so. And look at verse 11.
He says, "...believe me, that I am in the Father, and the Father
in me, or else believe me for the very work's sake." What he's
talking about is this. Don't you believe that I'm God?
He's speaking to Thomas, speaking to Philip. Philip, don't you
believe that in me, Christ is saying, in me dwelleth all the
fullness of the Godhead bodily? And he said, if you don't believe
my words, then what about the works that I do? If you don't
believe what I'm saying, then what about what I've done? You
see there, don't they testify that I'm God? That's what Christ
is saying to his disciples. You understand that? Now listen
to me. His words were heavenly words. The gospel, the gospel of salvation
through Christ, the gospel of good news of salvation by the
grace of God, that's not a message of man. If you compare all the
religions of mankind, all the major religions, all the satellite
religions, all the branch religions. My friend, you will never hear
a message of salvation by free and sovereign grace based on
the works, the righteousness, the doing, the dying of God the
Son incarnate. You'll never hear that in any
religion of man. That's what sets Christianity
apart from all other religions. Grace. Salvation based on the
blood of the crucified Christ. Salvation based on the righteousness
of Christ freely imputed which we receive by faith in the new
birth. There's no other message like
that. Paul said it's the gospel of God. It's not the gospel of
man. And Paul said this too. He said,
I didn't receive it of man. I got it from God. It's a revelation
from God. The Holy Spirit, as he reveals
it to them. So his words testify that he's God. But if that, he's
saying, but if that's not good, what about my works? He raised
the dead. That's right. He made the deaf
hear, the dumb speak, the blind see, the lame walk, healed the
sick. He fed a multitude with just
a few morsels of food. He walked on water. He calmed
the sea. He spoke to the storm and said,
Peace, be still. And it was still. There's no
weatherman that's ever been born that can do that. We can't even
predict the weather, let alone control it. But He did. He's God. And then His work of
redemption on the cross. Oh, that's going to be a testimony
of His deity. He says in verse 11, Verse 12,
he says, Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on
me, the works that I do shall he do also, and greater works
than these shall he do, because I go unto my Father. Now there
he's talking about the work of preaching the gospel. And when
he says greater works than I do, he's not talking about Peter,
even though Peter and the other apostles and some of the evangelists
had the gift of miracles. They couldn't calm the seas.
They couldn't control things. All that they did was by the
power of God, not their own power. But here he's talking about preaching
the gospel. They're going to preach the gospel
throughout the world. That's what he's saying. Christ,
in his earthly ministry, he did not go outside the confines of
Judaism, Judea. But Peter, and James, and John,
and Paul, they were going to reach the world with the gospel. That's the greater works that
he's talking about. And he said, the reason you're
going to do those is because I go to my Father. Where is Christ
now? He's seated at the right hand
of the Father, making intercession for His people. He's God's man.
Somebody said, well, doesn't He dwell within us? Yes, He does,
by His Spirit and by His Word. But he personally sits in glory,
making intercession for his people. He's still God's man, you see.
So he said, greater works shall you do. In verse 13 he says,
And whatsoever you shall ask in my name, that will I do, that
the Father may be glorified in the Son. And if you shall ask
anything in my name, I will do it. Now there's one of those
passages of scripture that people take out of context and abuse.
And basically they have this idea, well see there, if you
ask anything you want in the name of the Father, you'll get
it. Well now, let me tell you something. First of all, we know
from other scriptures that our prayers, when we make our desires
and our petitions known, that our desires and petitions must
be qualified with this statement, thy will be done, not my will. First of all, if we ask for things
that are unlawful, We know that we're not going to receive them
because God will not go against his law. Next, we know that sometimes
we don't even know what to pray for. We don't even know what
we need, but he does. So he says, if you ask anything
in my Father's name, according to his will, to his glory, that
you will receive. Well, I hope this message has
been helpful to your understanding of the scriptures. If you'd like
to receive a copy of this message, listen to the announcer as he
gives you the details. And the title of this message
is Christ and His Father. I hope you'll join us next week
for another message from God's Word. We're glad you could join
us for today's message. If you would like to receive
a copy of this message or if you would like more information
about Eager Avenue Grace Church, remember we are located at 1102
Eager Drive in Albany, Georgia. You can call us at 229-432-6969. or visit our Reign of Grace website
at www.rofgrace.com. Thank you, and may the Lord be
with you.