If you would, open your Bibles
again to John chapter 14. The title of the message this
morning is The Comforter. The Comforter. Now when I give
that title, I believe I've got every believer in this room,
I think I've got your attention. Because every believer of every
generation, I don't care what time in history that you've lived,
every believer of every generation is interested in comfort. Because
every believer who's ever lived, lives in a world that hates our
God, that hates our Savior, that hates the message of salvation
by grace. The world hates every spiritual
thing you love. So the world hates believers
too. So you're interested in comfort. Secondly, every believer
is interested in comfort because of the trials of this life. In
this world you shall have tribulation. So every believer is interested
in comfort. And comfort comes from the comforter,
from God the Holy Spirit. And our Lord in our text this
morning shows us five truths about the comforter that will
comfort the heart of a believer. And in verse 16 we see the first
one. Comfort, we find comfort. in who it is that sends the comforter.
Look, John 14, verse 16. Our Lord says, and I will pray
the Father, and he will give you another comforter. Now, this
shows us the importance of prayer. Our Lord says, I will pray the
Father. But look what happens before that, or the verse before
that, verse 14. Our Lord says, if you shall ask
anything in my name, I will do it. And we're taught to ask. in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ. And he said, I will do it. Or are you interested in
comfort? Then pray for it. Ask God for comfort. Pray for
comfort in the Lord's name for the sake of Christ. And our Lord
says it will be given. Now there's comfort in prayer
and communion and talking to our Heavenly Father. Now by no
means does this mean that the trial will end and everything's
going to come up roses whenever we pray, as soon as we pray.
The trial will end when we've learned the lesson God sent it
to teach us. The trial will end when the trial accomplishes the
purpose that God sent it to accomplish. But here's where the comfort
in prayer is found. We're taught to pray for Christ's sake. In the name of Christ, we're
taught to pray for His sake for the greatest comfort Any sinner
can know is that your sin is forgiven for Christ's sake, because
of the blood of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
knowing for Christ's sake, knowing your sin is forgiven because
of the blood of Christ, that will comfort your heart. Even
though the storm is going to rage on for a while, that will
comfort your heart. There's comfort in knowing sin
is forgiven. You can't have comfort until
you know that, that your sin is forgiven. And there's comfort. And who sends the comforter?
And who forgives our sin and who sends the comforter? It's
the same person. When we pray, our Lord Jesus Christ said, you
ask anything in my name, I will do it. He's God. Only God can
answer prayer. He said, I'll do it. And as we
pray our Savior, who says, I'll do it. He also acts as our mediator. And he says, I'll pray the Father. And he'll give you another comforter.
But Christ, our Savior, promises, you ask it in my name, I'll do
it. You pray, and I'll ask the Father, he'll send you another
comforter. Look back at John 13. The Savior, who loves his children,
his little children, that's the one who promises to send the
comforter. John 13, verse 33. Our Lord calls
us little children. Yet a little while am I with
you. You shall seek me, and as I said unto the Jews, whether
I go, you cannot come. So now I say to you, a new commandment
I give unto you, that you love one another. Now here's the key. As I have loved you, that ye
also love one another. Our Lord says, little children,
I love you. That's the one who says, I'll
send the Comforter. You think he'll do it? You think
he'll not give it? You think he'll not give that
comfort to those he loves? No. The father of the little
children, who loves his children, he'll send the comforter. He
will comfort his people. Now this is the Savior speaking.
The Savior. God, who became a man to be the
representative of his people. Who worked out a perfect righteousness
to give to his people. They needed it. They need that
righteousness. They desperately need that righteousness. They
can't stand before God without it. So Christ agreed to humiliate
Himself to become a man, to become what we are, so He could give
us that righteousness. It was His. He worked it out.
He established it. He was the one who was obedient
to the law, but He gave it to His people. And then He went
to the cross to suffer the penalty of the broken law. He shed His
blood to cleanse us from all sin to take away the curse that
Adam put us under. Now, it's that Savior. He went
to that extreme to become a man. To humble himself to be made
of a woman. To suffer the humiliation of
the cursed death of the cross. That one is our Savior. And that's the one who promises
to send the Comforter. Now, that just comforts my heart.
I was studying that this week. Comforts my heart. The Lord is
not going to leave the people that He suffered so much for,
that He died for. He's not going to leave them
without comfort. Comfort comes from the Savior.
So true comfort is only for sinners. The Savior came to save sinners.
True comfort is only for sinners. Sinners are the only ones that
can be comforted. The only one that can be comforted by my message
The message from God's gospel, Paul called it my gospel, I'll
call it my gospel. The only one that can be comforted
by my gospel is a sinner. Because it's the Savior who comforts. And it's the Savior who sends
the comforter to his people. Well then how can I know if the
Lord's going to send the comforter to me? How can I know that? I
can answer that question in one word. Obedience. The Lord sends the comforter
to his children. And the way you know God's children
is they're obedient. Look at verse 15. If you love
me, keep my commandments. Now, the Lord's not telling us
here to go out and earn our salvation by our obedience or go out and
earn these blessings by our obedience. No, we're saved by the obedience
of Christ. This is talking about the result
of salvation, the result of the new birth. God's children are
obedient. Our Lord's talking about being
obedient to the commandment to bow to King Christ. You bow to
Him. He's talking about obeying the
commandment to believe the gospel, to repent of your sin, and obey
the commandment to trust Christ and rest in Him. God's children
are obedient. Every child of God does that.
They're obedient to bow to Christ. They're obedient to believe Him.
And the Comforter won't be sent until we're obedient. Until we
believe there's no comfort without Christ. There's no comfort without
faith in Christ. Our Lord says, if you love me,
keep my commandments and I will pray to father. He'll send you
another comforter. There's no comfort apart from
obedience, apart from faith and believing the Lord Jesus Christ.
Look in Philippians chapter two. And even that obedience is of
God. It's God who makes his children
obedient. And that's comforting. It's comforting
to know I don't have to generate disobedience on my own. This
is what I know about myself. I'm disobedient. That's my nature. I'm disobedient. So it's comforting
to know disobedience is the work of Christ in me. Philippians
2 verse 12. Wherefore, my beloved, as you've
always obeyed, Not in my presence only, but now much more in my
absence. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Work
out your own evidence of your salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in
you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. The only way
we can have any desire or any ability to do his good pleasure
is it's God who works in you. Now that's comforting. Hebrews
13, 21 says it's God. He makes you perfect in every
good work to do His will. How does He do that? By working
in you that which is well-pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ. If God's given you faith, He's
made you an obedient child. In obedience you look to Christ.
You rest in Christ. You trust in Christ for all of
your salvation. And if you look to Christ, you
know if you believe Christ. If you trust in Him, your heart
ought to be comforted. Because the Savior you trust
in, the Savior you believe, He suffered and died to make you
His. He's going to send that Comforter.
The Spirit of the Savior is the Comforter. And both the Savior
and the Spirit are always successful. He will send the Comforter. And
He will comfort your heart. We have comfort in who sends
the Comforter. Second, there's comfort in the
dwelling place of the Comforter. Verse 16, our Lord says, I'll
pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that
He may abide with you forever. Now when our Lord says He may
abide with you, He means that He'll abide in you. Look at the
end of verse 17. For He dwells with you and shall
be in you. There's comfort in the dwelling
place of the Comforter. God the Holy Spirit, where does
He dwell? He dwells in the hearts of his people. He dwells in his
people. He dwells there. He doesn't come
and go. He doesn't stay for a while and
go somewhere else and come back and visit. No, he dwells there. He stays and he rules in the
heart of his people. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter
3. Now, this is a statement that you could never make if it was
not in God's Word. God the Holy Spirit dwells in
the heart of every believer. That makes every believer the
temple of God. Look at 1 Corinthians 3, verse
16. Know ye not that ye are the temple
of God, and the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? Don't you know
that? If you're one of His, you do. When the Spirit dwells in
your heart, you know it. So you just be mighty careful
where you take that temple. Look at verse 17. If any man
defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy. For the temple
of God is holy." Which temple you are? You are God's temple
because He dwells in you. Look over one more page at 1
Corinthians 6 verse 18. Flee fornication. Every sin that
a man doeth is without the body. But he that committeth fornication
sinneth against his own body. Know ye not that your body is
the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have
of God, and ye are not your own? Don't you know that? You are
the temple of God, because God the Holy Ghost dwells in you. Now that's not just a point of
theology, that God the Holy Spirit dwells in the heart of His people.
That's God's grace. Earl, the only way, the only
way God can dwell in the heart of a sinner is by grace. This
is God's grace. And God's grace comforts the
heart of His people. If you are an object of God's
grace, be comforted. Be comforted. Because no matter
where you go, I don't care where you go, God, the Holy Spirit,
the Comforter goes with you. When you go down into the valley,
and it's dark, and it's hard, and it's painful, Be comforted. The Comforter goes with you.
And when you go back up to the mountaintop and you can sing
at the top of your lungs like Leah just did, be comforted. God the Holy Spirit goes with
you. In every step between the valet and the mountaintop, God
goes with you. Because He's in you. You can't
go somewhere He doesn't go. Because He dwells in you. And
when the Spirit comes, He brings Christ to the heart. This is
the Spirit of Christ. Now what can comfort you more
than to have the presence of Christ? Nothing can comfort a
believer more than the presence of Christ. You're comforted if
you have a good hope. If you have a good hope, aren't
you comforted? That just comforts you. Your heart gives you such
assurance. What is a good hope? Christ in you. That's the hope
of glory. You have a good hope because
the Spirit brought Christ to your heart. Aren't you comforted
knowing you belong to Christ? Now that's just... The Lord says
these are My sheep. That shows ownership. I'm so
comforted by the fact I belong to Him. I'm not my own. I belong
to Him. I'm bought with a price. Look
at Romans chapter 8. You're comforted knowing you
belong to Christ. You're His. Romans 8, verse 9. But you're not in the flesh,
but in the Spirit. If so, be that the Spirit of
God dwell in you. Now, if any man hath not the
Spirit of Christ, he's none of His. But if God, the Holy Spirit,
doesn't dwell in you, you don't belong to Christ. But if the
Spirit does dwell in you, You are His. Look at verse 14 of
Romans 8. For as many as are led by the
Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. You belong to Him. You're
comforted knowing you belong to Christ. You're comforted knowing
you have eternal life. It's still there in Romans 8.
Look at verse 10. And if Christ be in you, the
body's dead because of sin. His flesh is unchanged. It's
still dead. But the Spirit is life. because of righteousness. You have eternal life because
Christ dwells in you. And you're comforted in the hope
of the resurrection. Look in verse 11 of Romans 8.
But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead
dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall
also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in
you. See, all that comfort we have
is in Christ because the Spirit dwells in is because of his dwelling
place. He dwells in the hearts of his people. Now look at 1
John chapter 4. Now here's comfort. And I told you to open the message
to every believer who's interested in comfort because of the world
we live in. It hates Christ, it hates God,
it hates our gospel, and it hates you. Be comforted. 1 John 4 verse
4. You are God, little children,
and have overcome them, because greater is He that's in you than
he that's in the world." Now, we'll come back to that in more
detail at the end of the message, but you be comforted by the dwelling
place of the Comforter. He dwells in the heart of every
believer. You're not alone. Third, back
in our text, John 14, verse 17, there's comfort and the character of the Comforter.
Verse 17, Even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot
receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him, but
you know him. For he dwelleth with you, and
shall be in you. The Comforter that's in you is
the Spirit of truth, not error. He's the Spirit of truth, and
he comforts you in truth. Truth. And you can't have comfort
in a lie. There's no comfort in crying
peace, peace when there is no peace. That's a lie. There's
no true comfort in that. It's a lie to try to comfort
people by telling them Christ died for everybody. You know,
just do your best and you'll be saved in the end. You know,
just accept Jesus as your personal Savior. Walk the aisles, say
the sinner's prayer, you know, do whatever, you know, steps,
you know, we think you ought to do and you'll be saved. We'll
see you in heaven. We won't see you anymore in the
worship service because You don't know the Lord really, but you
know, we'll see in heaven. Try to comfort people with that
lie. Now that may give people, I'm sure it does, give them some
sort of false peace in this life until they die. And they face
God in judgment. They stand before the judgment
seat of Christ. Then all that comfort's gone.
Because you realize you've been comforted by a lie. You've made
lies your refuge, and because you've made lies your refuge,
You didn't run to Christ for Him to be your refuge. And there's
no comfort because you realize you have no hope. You have no
Savior. You have no sacrifice. You have no atonement. True comfort
is found in the truth. Paul says, but we're bound to
give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the
Lord, because God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation
through sanctification in what? Belief of the truth. Not the
belief of a lie. Belief of the truth. You believe
that if Christ has revealed Himself to you, you believe the truth.
Now, you don't understand it all. You can't necessarily really
explain it all. But you believe it with all of
your being. You believe Christ, who is the
truth. And that's what the Holy Spirit
teaches. He teaches His people truth. He guides them into all
truth and teaches us Christ, who is the truth. And that's
important. Because salvation is not just
knowing true facts. Salvation is also loving the
truth. I love the truth of salvation
in Christ so much. I wouldn't have it any other
way. I really love it. I love salvation by grace so
much. I wouldn't have it any other
way. Paul said in 2 Thessalonians 2 that those who perished, they
perished because they received not the love of the truth. They may have been able to understand
the truth. They may have known the truth and been able to recite
it back, but they didn't love it. If the Spirit comes to your
heart, you'll love the truth. That's his character. You'll
love Christ. You'll love the truth because
the spirit of the Comforter, the character of the Comforter
is true. Four, verse 18, there's comfort
in the function of the comforter. I will not leave you comfortless. I will come to you. I love that
verse. I've read it at the graveside
of many different times. And I always read it for this
reason, to remind God's children You're not an orphan. Maybe a
dear child there is bearing their parent. And I read this verse. To tell them this. Yes, this
is a day of sorrow. And you've lost the warmth of
your father, your mother. They can't hug you anymore. They
can't tell you, I love you anymore. They can't just pat your hands. They can't cook you dinner, make
you comfort food, make you feel better. Yes, you've lost that.
But you're not an orphan. No child of God is an orphan. This weekend, Bro. Tom Harding
is burying his mother. A little while ago, Tom preached
the funeral of his father. This weekend, he preached the
funeral of his mother. Bro. Tom's not an orphan. He's a child
of God. You're not an orphan if you're
a child of God. That word comfortless there is
orphans. I will not leave you, our Lord
said, an orphan. You're a child of God. You have
an eternal father. You'll never be an orphan. And
this comforts the heart of a believer. To be an orphan would leave you
in such sorrow and grief. Orphans need a provider. You
imagine a little child. Both their parents suddenly die. And that child's got to wonder,
who's going to provide for me? I can't provide for myself. I can't go get a job. Who's going
to provide for me? I've got no ability to provide
for myself. Child, I don't have to worry
about that. Christ not only provides our every need, Christ is the
provision. He himself is everything we need. You lack nothing. Christ has
made unto us wisdom. Righteousness, sanctification
and redemption. You lack nothing. An orphan, a small child, suddenly
orphaned. They may not realize this, but
you know what they need? They need somebody to teach them.
They need somebody to teach them how to live in this world. They
even need somebody to correct them. You children, your parents
correct you. Maybe they spank you. Maybe they
ground you. You don't like it. I know you
don't. I was your age. I didn't like
it either. But it's the best thing for you. It's the best
thing. So you'll learn how to live in
this world. So you'll learn what to do and
what not to do. God gave you parents to teach
you something. How to live in this world. Child
of God, don't you worry about being left an orphan. We have
a Heavenly Father. And Christ is the teacher. And
Christ is the lesson. You'll not be left without somebody
to teach you. And an orphan would have to,
or especially a small child, suddenly orphan, would have to
worry, who's going to protect me? This world's a scary place. Who's going to protect me from
myself, from making so many mistakes that a parent stops a child from
making? And who's going to protect me from this present evil world?
Child of God, you're not an orphan. You're not an orphan. God rules
this world. Don't you be scared of it. He
rules this world. And He sends His Spirit to dwell
in you so that you're never alone. You're always protected. You
have His presence dwelling in you. An orphan, a small child who's
suddenly orphaned realizes this very quickly. Who's going to love me? Who's
going to love me? Orphans, just like all children,
children need to be loved. They need to feel love, physical
love, they need to have emotional, children need love. It's important
to feel the embrace of love, a touch of love. Just sit on
your lap and hold them. Just don't even have to say a
word. It's important. Who's going to love me? I'm unlovable. I mean, I'm unlovable. Just wretched and vile. Who's
going to love me? Child of God, you're loved. And
you're loved. I don't care what it is you're
going through. You take comfort in this. Your Father loves you. Yes, you don't have a physical
touch. You have a physical embrace of
our Heavenly Father, like we would from an earthly father.
But a child of God swims in the love of our Father, in a measureless
ocean of love. You're not going to drink it
dry. A child of God, we don't feel the physical touch of our
Father, but oh, we feel the touch of our Father, don't we? He touched
me. There's a difference. He touched
me. And oh, the joy that floods my soul. You feel His touch.
And a child of God feels the embrace of our Father. You rest
in the bosom of our Heavenly Father just as surely as the
Apostle John rested on his breast. Just as surely. And when you
do, there's nothing better. There's nothing better. You wouldn't
trade it for anything. An orphan left alone in this
world But a child of God is never left alone. Never alone. Because the Father is with us.
His Spirit is in us. And He doesn't leave us for somebody
else to raise. The Father raises us. Now you
will sorrow in this world. There's no doubt about it. But
isn't it comforting to know the Lord's at hand? He's near. He's at hand. And last, There's
comfort in the union of the Comforter. Verse 19, our text, John 14. Yet a little while, and the world
seeth me no more. But ye see me, because I live,
ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that
I am in the Father, and ye in me, and I in you. Now there's
two unions our Lord speaks of here. The first one is the union
of the Godhead. The union of the Holy Spirit,
our Comforter. Who's he in union with? The Godhead. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
When our Lord says, I'll pray the Father, He'll send you another
Comforter. He means He's God. He's another
of the Holy Trinity. He is God. Our Comforter is God. Now you reckon that God Almighty
is able to comfort your little heart? I reckon so. Our Comforter is God. And when
the Holy Spirit comes to us, he reveals to us who God is.
He's the true, living God. The Spirit of truth reveals the
true, living God. And God is seen in the Trinity.
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. These
three are one. Now, they're separate, distinct
persons, but they're one God. And each person has his role
in salvation. The Father chose a people. Father
elected a people into salvation and he put those people in his
Son to be their surety. The Son came and established
righteousness for those people. And he suffered the penalty of
the broken law for them. He suffered and died and shed
his blood to cleanse them from their sin. And God the Holy Spirit
comes and gives life. He gives faith and reveals Christ
to the hearts of God's elect. Everyone Christ died for, the
Spirit comes and applies that salvation, applies the blood You be comforted. You who believe,
you be comforted. Because everybody doesn't see
that. Everybody doesn't see God. Everybody doesn't see Christ.
In verse 19, our Lord says, yet a little while, and the world
seeth me no more. In verse 70, He says, the world
cannot receive me, because it seeth him not. Everybody doesn't
see what you see. Be comforted. If you see, it's
because the Spirit gave you eyes to see. And He'll not leave you
alone. Well, all right, I see that.
The Holy Spirit, He's the Spirit of truth. He comes to me. And I see the union of the Trinity.
I mean, I see that. Well, how is that comforting?
Well, our Lord here gives us three things every believer knows. I don't care where you find them,
every believer knows these things. And we're comforted in this knowledge.
Number one, the Lord Jesus Christ is in the Father. He has union
with the Father. You see that in verse 20? That
day ye shall know that I am in my Father. Jesus Christ is not
just a prophet. He's not a healer. He's not a
miracle worker. He's not just a preacher of righteousness.
Jesus of Nazareth is God. Our Savior is God. Now when you see, when you understand
who the Lord Jesus Christ is, You see, you understand who the
Father is, because they're one. Their union is one. And here's
the comfort in that. If you know who Christ is, you
know who the Father is. And that's salvation. This is
life eternal that they may know Thee, the only true God, Jesus
Christ whom Thou sent. If you know the Father, you have
salvation. Now, the thief on the cross.
He's the example that we use of a believer who knew the least
about anything. He knew the least because he
didn't have the time to be taught things like you've been taught.
Yet at this very moment, that thief is in glory. At this very
moment, that thief is beholding the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And all he knew was this. Christ is God. That's what he
knew. Look him back in Luke 23. I don't know the background of
this thief at all. Scripture has not been pleased
to tell us that. How he was raised, what he may have been taught
as a boy. But this we know. He's guilty. He's guilty. whatever
other of these crimes, that he deserves to be put to death.
We know that. Luke 23, verse 39. And one of
the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou
be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other, the other Gospels
tells earlier, he was told the same thing, our Lord. He was
railing on him and all these, exactly like the other malefactor.
But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, Does not thou fear
God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? Who did he call
that man that sent a cross? He didn't call him a man. He
called him God. This man knew Jesus Christ is
God. How did he know that? The Spirit
taught him. Look at verse 41. He says, And
we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds.
But this man hath done nothing amiss. And he saith unto Jesus,
Lord, your God, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy
kingdom. He knew he's king, king of kings and Lord of lords. And
Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be
with me in paradise. If you know Christ, you know
and you understand the Father, you understand The Father chose
you, the Son died for you, and the Spirit's the one who gave
you life and revealed Christ to you. What comfort. What comfort. Salvation in the
Godhead. Second, this is the second thing
every believer knows. Every believer knows about this
second union. We know there's a union of the
Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But we also know about
this second union. The union of Christ and His people. And that comforts our hearts
because Christ is our salvation. In verse 20, our Lord says, here's
the second thing you know. And ye in me. You are in me. Every believer has union with
Christ. Union with Christ that's so close
that we're in him. In him. When a couple years ago Jan and
I went on a cruise and we were walking up those little planks,
you know, to the boat. I noticed that on the ship and
on the dock there were these, I don't even know what they are,
things from the ocean, that had attached themselves to that ship
and attached themselves to the dock. That's not how, that's
not the believer's union with Christ. Eventually, I read, they
scraped those things off. They didn't scrape me off, I
was in the ship. whole lot different than whatever
that thing was growing on the outside of it. I was in it. And that's your union with Christ.
That union is so close, you're not attached to Him. You're in
Him. Now, again, this is not just
good doctrine. This is comforting. There's no
salvation unless you're in Christ. We must be as perfect as Christ
in order to be saved. And if you're in Christ, You're
everything that He is. When the Father sees me, all
He sees is the perfect, loved, glorified Son of God. Because
I'm in Christ. Christ is our righteousness.
Well, I'm righteous if I'm in Him. When the Father sees me,
He sees me as righteous as His own Son because I'm in Him. I'm one with Christ. And whatever
Christ is, I am because I'm in Him. Now, we can't understand
that. We cannot understand these finite
minds' union with Christ. It has to be revealed to us.
But we can understand this. All of salvation is found by
being in Christ. Just like Noah was in the ark.
All Noah's salvation from drowning in that flood was found in one
thing. Noah was in the ark. All your
salvation is found in this one thing. You're in Christ. I don't
have to understand that union. I believe it. Simply believe
it. To know I can't please God in
myself. I can only please God in Christ.
When Christ obeyed God's law, I did too. Because I'm in him. When Christ died to satisfy God's
law, I died too. The law is not chasing me anymore.
The law is satisfied. The law says you died. The penalty
is paid. When did you die? In Christ. And when Christ arose, I arose
in Him. I rose to spiritual life in Him.
You can't have life any other way than by being in Christ. That's exactly what we confess
and believe is baptism. When a person confesses Christ
in baptism, you know what they're saying? The only way I can be
saved is by being in Christ. When He died, I died in Him. When He was buried, I was buried
in Him. And when He arose, I arose in Him. That's our acceptance. The only way the Father can have
anything to do with any son of Adam is in Christ. He can't deal
with us one-on-one, but he can accept us in Christ, accepted
in the Beloved. The only way God can love me
is by being in Christ, whom he loves. The only way God can see
me as righteous is by being in Christ, my righteousness. The
only way God can accept me is accepted in the Beloved. And
being in Christ means everywhere Christ goes, I go. Everything
Christ does, I do. Now that's comforting. Where
is He now? He's in glory. If you're in Him,
you are too. Seated there in your representative,
and one day you'll be there with Him. Because you're going to
be with Him where He is. Now that's comforting. Union
with Christ. Every believer, they know the
union of the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Every believer
knows the union of the believer in Christ. We're saved by being
in Christ, that vital union with Christ. But here's the third
thing every believer knows. We know that Christ is in every
believer. Then in verse 20, you'll know
this, and I in you. Now again, this is something
we can't understand. It has to be revealed to us.
Well, I thought the Spirit was in me. It says the Spirit shall
be in you. And it says Christ is in you. Which one? Yes. It's both. Because of the union
of the Spirit in Christ. It's the Spirit of Christ. We
can't understand that in the way that we can't comprehend
it. But we can believe it. We can hope in it. That's the
good hope I mentioned earlier, Christ in you, the hope of glory. Christ is formed in every believer
in the new birth. What the Apostle Paul said, I
travailed, he had birth pains. I travailed in birth again until
what? Christ be formed in you. That's
the new birth of Christ being formed in you. That's how believers
may partake of the divine nature. Christ is formed in you. He lives
in you. And when Christ dwells in you,
you have life. Now I mean real life. This is what we're doing physically,
breathing and moving around and exercising, that's not life.
I'm talking about real life. Spiritual life. Eternal life. This is the life Adam lost in
the garden. Now physical death, that's a
separation of the soul from the body. Spiritual death is the
separation of the soul from God. That's what Adam lost in the
garden. He eventually had physical death. He eventually had separation
of his soul from the body. But he immediately had separation
of the soul from God. He lost that life. Well, if Christ
is in you, you have that life Adam lost in the garden. You
have that union again of the soul and God. When Adam sinned,
death. Spiritual death and physical
death pass on all men. We're all guilty in Adam. And
we have a nature of Adam that's in us. That's why we're dead
spiritually, because everything about Adam is death. But in Christ
the second Adam, we have spiritual life. We have the life that Adam
lost because Christ is in you. You have union with him. Now,
physical life, physical death is a separation of the soul and
the body. But physical life is the union
of the soul and the body. Now you can't explain that. You
can't explain how the soul has union with the body. And how
you can't separate them until God separates them. You can't
understand that. You can't explain that. But I do know when that
union exists because I see life. Spiritual life is exactly the
same way. Except spiritual life is the
union of the soul and God. We can't explain that. I can't
explain the union of a sinful man with God. I can't explain
that. I can't define that. But I sure can tell you when
it's there. Because there's life. There's spiritual life. There's
belief. There's obedience. There's faith.
If you have life, you know it. If God's given you life, it's
not a secret. You know it. You know when you've
passed from death unto life. And if you have life, whatever
it is that's going on, be comforted. You're joined to Christ. Christ
is in you. You have a good hope. We have
eternal life through union with Christ. And we have that spiritual
life through faith in Christ. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. Whosoever believeth in Him shall
not perish, but have everlasting life. Spiritual life is had through
faith, through believing Christ, being joined to Him. If Christ
is in me, I believe him. There's no other way. There's
no other way for me to believe Christ unless he's in me. Now,
everybody doesn't have that faith. Everybody doesn't have that union.
Our Lord says in verse 17, the world can't receive him, because
it seeth him not, neither knoweth him. They don't know the Spirit. They don't have anything to put
him into. All they have is that old nature. Well, do you believe
Christ? Do you have something to put
the Spirit into? Then be comforted. You believe because Christ is
in you. You have life through faith in
Christ. I've preached too long. Let me
give you this last thing. All true comfort, true comfort
for the heart and soul can only come from Christ. The Spirit,
when He comforts the hearts of His people, He doesn't comfort
us by giving us this warm, gushy feeling, you know, that's without
any basis. People say, it's going to turn
out all right, man, it's going to be all right. Well, why do you
say that? Well, I just feel it. It's just this warm, gushy feeling
I have. That's not the comfort the Spirit gives. The believer
is comforted for rock solid reasons. Every one of those reasons is
Christ. The word comforter is also translated
in Scripture advocate. In 1 John chapter 2 where John
says if anyone may have seen we have an advocate with the
Father. That word advocate is the exact same word translated
comforter in our text. Our comforter is our advocate.
Now the advocate talks to the judge for us. The advocate pleads
our case for us. And when we pray the Holy Spirit
is our advocate. He takes our prayers. And he
pleads for us. Look at Romans chapter eight.
The Holy Spirit also speaks in us, the spirit teaches us what
to pray, and that's comforting because I can't tell you how
many times I've thought this and different people say this.
I don't know how to pray. There's so many things I don't
know what to pray. And I say, Lord, your will be
done. I don't know. Your will be done. The spirit
teaches us how to pray. Romans 8, verse 26. Likewise,
the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities. For we know not what we should
pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself maketh intercession
for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth
the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he
maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
The Holy Spirit is our advocate. He teaches us what to pray. And
our advocate also teaches us what to say. Look at Matthew
chapter 10. Brother Todd brought a message
on this Wednesday night about a witness. Am I a witness? Well,
many people say, I don't feel like I can witness. I don't feel
like I can really do a good job of putting into words what the
Lord's done for me. Well, here's our comfort. The
Lord teaches us what to say. The Spirit, our comforter, our
advocate, teaches us what to say. Matthew 10 verse 18, And
ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a
testimony against them and the Gentiles. But when they deliver
you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak, for it shall
be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. That's our
comforter, teaching us what to say. So the advocate, he speaks
to the judge. He teaches us what to say. But
he also speaks to the client. He talks. You see in the courtroom,
the advocate, he gets over, he whispers in the ear of his client.
You wonder, what's he saying? Our advocate does that. He whispers
in the ear of his client. You know what he tells them?
You know what he's whispering into? You don't have to wonder. He's
whispering in his ear, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's whispering
those things. Look in John chapter 16. I'll
quit. John 16, verse 13. Howbeit when
he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth.
For he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear,
that shall he speak. And he will show you things to
come. He will glorify me, for he shall receive of mine, and
he will show it unto you. The Holy Spirit comforts us by
pointing us to Christ. showing us the things of Christ.
Because Christ is our assurance. Christ is our hope. And that's
what the Holy Spirit, our Comforter, shows us to comfort the hearts
of His people. All right, let's bow in prayer. Our Heavenly Father, how thankful
we are that we have this precious promise that You send the Comforter
to the hearts of Your people. That He be our advocate. to speak
for us, to plead our case, to bring the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ before your throne and plead our case, to plead His
blood and His righteousness as the forgiveness of our sins.
And how thankful we are that He intercedes for us, that He
takes our prayers and offers them before Thee, knowing the
mind and will of God. And how thankful we are that
our Comforter, our Advocate, by your mercy and grace comes
to the hearts of every one of your people. It shows us the
Lord Jesus Christ. Father, we beg of thee comfort.
Comfort based upon our Lord Jesus Christ. Show us more of Him. Reveal to us more of Him. Teach
us more of Him. As we read your Word, show us
more of Christ. As we gather together from time
to time to hear your Word preached and to worship thee, teach us
more. of the Lord Jesus Christ so our
hearts will be comforted and have assurance in him. He is
all of our hope, all of our salvation. Show us more of him. For it is
in his precious name we give thanks and ask that you bless
your word to the hearts of your people.