Alright, if you will, turn with
me to John 14. I want to look at verses 25 through
27 this morning of John 14. Now, in our study of this chapter,
we've been looking at some of the promises Christ gave to His
disciples. And in our past two studies,
we've looked at the subject of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit
of God, and how He will come to them. He said, if I go away,
I'll pray the Father and He will send to you another Comforter. And He's going to come to you.
And He says, which is the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit of God,
and how He will come to them being sent of the Father at the
request of the Son who will plead his own blood in righteousness
and plead the very purpose of God to send him. That's what he's telling them.
I must go to the Father. And if I go, I'm going to prepare
a place for you. I and the Father are one. We're
both on the same page. We don't have different agendas. We both have the same agenda.
We both have the same purpose. We both have the same goal. And
when I've gone, I must go. And in my going, I'm going to
plead. I'm going to plead what I've
accomplished in this world. I'm going to plead my righteousness.
I'm going to plead my blood. I'm going to plead the very purpose
of God who sent me, and He will send you the Comforter. I'm going
to send Him to you. Now, let's read verses 25 through
27. These things have I spoken unto
you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the
Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach
you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever
I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you. My peace
I give unto you. Not as the world giveth, give
I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid." Now, he begins by saying, these
things have I spoken unto you. And this is, if you'll recall,
when the Lord stood up to read. He stood up and He turned to
the specific place in Isaiah. And he read that prophecy, that
Messianic prophecy, and he said, This day is the Scripture fulfilled
in your ears. And this Scripture that he read
to them said that God had ordained him and sent him as a preacher. The Messiah will come as a preacher. And he said, This day is the
Scripture fulfilled in your ears. And he began to declare unto
them the Gospel. This is the duty, the mission,
the ministry of all those ordained of God to preach the gospel. It's not our task to fill up
the buildings. It's not our task to reform our
communities or be social workers. It's our task to speak those
things which God has laid on our heart. It's the message,
the message. That's why he was despised and
hated. He wasn't hated for the things
that he did. He said, for which of the good
works that I've done do you stone me? They said, we stone thee
not for good work, but because of what you said. Thou being
a man has said that you're God. You said that you're God. The things that he had spoken
were things contrary to the religion of the day, both Jew and Gentile. The Jews preached that men become
righteous according to their keeping of the law, kind of a
progressive righteousness in percentage-wise with how they
kept the law, percentage-wise they were righteous before God.
This is basically what all of what we call Christian religion
today teaches, a progressive righteousness. Christ preached that man at his
best state, altogether vanity. Altogether. He preached there's
none righteous. Not even a little bit. And in
case you didn't understand him, he said again, no, not one. Not one. They preached that man
could save himself. Christ preached with man it's
impossible. The disciples saw him send away
that rich, young ruler. And they said, well, who then
can be saved? He said, well, man, it's impossible. That's
contrary to what this world preaches. Did you know that? That's totally
contrary to what this world preaches. They preach that sin came into
men's lives as a result of their law-breaking. Christ preached
out of the heart. Proceed evil thoughts, adulteries,
fornications, all these things. They preached that what a man
ate defiled him. He said these are not those things
which defile him. What comes out of his heart is
what defiles him. In fact, he defiles these things.
They preached that the kingdom of God was a natural kingdom
with a natural king, natural citizens in this world. Christ
preached the kingdom within, unseen. He said the kingdom of
God cometh without observation. You can't even see it. It's the
rule of God established in the heart. It's Christ the King put
upon the throne of the heart. All that he preached was contrary
to natural religion. And then notice this. He said,
these things have I spoken unto you. Unto you. True preaching speaks to the
hearts of God's elect. Now, I know preachers stand before
believers and unbelievers. before spiritual men and natural
men. I know that. But these promises
of which he talked, these blessings, these comforts which he gave,
they're not given to the world. They're not received by the world.
They're not comforted by what they hear. Everybody in this
building is not comforted. I guarantee you, and I get done
today, everybody in here is not going to be comforted. But those who know God will be.
They'll be comforted. They hear these promises and
it's just like hearing the lawyer read the will when your name's
on it. You've just inherited half of Colorado. Oh boy, I can
get excited about that. But you can't get excited if
it doesn't speak to you. It doesn't excite me at all knowing
that J. Paul Getty was one time the richest
man in the world. That doesn't excite me at all.
It would have excited me if my name had been on there. You see
what I'm saying? True preaching speaks to the
hearts of God's elect. It speaks to their needs. It
speaks to their troubles, their weaknesses, their inabilities,
and their unwillingness. And then notice this. He was
not alarmed at their ignorance. Boy, we are ignorant. He wasn't. He wasn't alarmed that they didn't
just fall out. It didn't alarm him at all. It
didn't alarm him. Their ignorance didn't alarm
him. Their not understanding him did not alarm him. Listen to this. Verse 26, But
the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send
in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things
to remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you. He will. I know you don't get it right
now. That's what he was telling me. I know that. But when He
comes, you'll get it. I had wasted my time. You see what I'm saying? The
Word of God will not return unto him void. But it will accomplish that whereunto
he sent it. He wasn't alarmed that they didn't
immediately grasp everything that he said because he understood
the purpose of God with the Holy Spirit. He understood the preaching
of the gospel and the purpose of God in it. He understood these
things. It didn't alarm him. It alarms
us. It alarms us, but it doesn't
alarm him. God has a purpose order and means
ordained to accomplish His end. And Christ didn't come into the
world to change the ways and means of God, but to establish
and fulfill and accomplish. Not one jot, not one tittle of
the law or of the Word of God or of the Gospel will ever change.
I'm going to change. Men somehow perceive that in
Christ the law of God has changed. The law of God hasn't changed.
It still says what it said in the beginning. God meant what
He said the first time when He gave them to Moses to give to
men. That law still says the same
thing it says. Your only hope before that law
is that somebody else fulfills it. Because it ain't going to
change. It's not going to change in its
demands. It's not going to change in its
truth. It's not going to change in its goodness. It's not going
to change in its justice. But as a man, as a representative
man, ordained to preach the gospel, he declared the truth to those
who willingly followed him, willingly submitted, and then he submitted. That's hard to fathom, isn't
it? But as a man, as a representative
man, standing in my room instead, standing for me, He submitted all that he said
into the hands of God, knowing that the purpose of God and the
Holy Spirit was going to teach these things and apply these
things to the hearts of men. He knew that. And he wasn't alarmed. He wasn't alarmed. And in a very
similar way, all preachers stand before men. I stand before you
this morning, and I have the truth. He was the truth. I had the truth. He was the truth. I had the gospel. I had the blessed
seed of regeneration. But I don't have the power. I don't have the effectual power
to apply those truths to your heart. I must admit, when I'm
all said and done here this morning, I must admit those things to
the Holy Spirit of God to accomplish. Number one, because I don't know
to whom they're sent. I don't know. I don't know. But He does. He does. And apart from the presence and
power of God's Spirit, Men don't have the ability to receive it.
It doesn't matter what I know. It doesn't matter how good I
pray. It doesn't matter how simple. They do not have the willingness. They do not have the desire.
They do not have the love. They do not know their need.
It must be applied. Their hearts must be opened.
Man's will must be broken. But when He has come, He said,
you'll remember. You'll remember. So I still,
every day in my study, remember things that were said to me 30
years ago. Boy, just like all of a sudden,
that's what he was saying. That's what he was saying. And
that's what these men did. All through the scriptures, especially
the book of Acts. These things begin to happen
just like that prophecy in Joel when the Spirit of God, he talked
about the Spirit of God being poured out. They said, this is
what old Joel meant. Now we get it. Now we get it. You'll remember when he's come,
everywhere to be precious, every promise of comfort, every lesson
of treasure laid up and cherished in the heart. Things they heard
and didn't understand and things they thought they understood
and didn't. Things they saw and couldn't explain. Things they
heard but didn't hear. When He's come, He'll call it
to you, to your memory. He'll bring it up. He'll bring
it up. The Holy Spirit of God will not
affect this to the world at large. He affects this to those chosen
of God. I want you to hear what I'm telling
you. Earlier in this chapter, he said, if I go not away, the
Comforter will not come. Now, can you understand what
I'm telling you here in this lesson? Can you understand what
he's beginning to tell his disciples? The Holy Spirit's not just poured
out on the world at random. He's not poured out in a bucket
and then they all go over with their cup and drink out of it.
He's sent. He's sent. But he's not going
to be sent until one fulfills what's demanded of those chosen. He has to take that blood. He
has to plead that righteousness. He personally has to ascend to
the Father. And when he prays the Father,
the Father is going to send the comforter. Who's He going to
send Him to? Those He spoke to. That's who He's going to send
them to, and then they're going to hear. They're going to hear. He'll teach you all things and
bring all things to your remembrance. As near as I can picture it to
you, religion has God in a box. He's in a box. And they set before
you the box. If you want it, you come up and
get it. If you don't want it, don't get it. He's in a box.
If you don't want Him today, He'll be there tomorrow. If you
don't want Him throughout your life, He'll be there when you
get ready to die. He's in a box. They carry the box around, like
an insurance policy, like a fire escape. They carry it around.
If they need it, they'll grab it. But he's always there. He's always ready. He's always
willing. They've got God in a box, like
one of them sampler trays down at the grocery store. Take one,
it's free. And if you need him, he's always
tucked away in the box. Well, my friend, God's not in
the box, you are. You and I are in the box. And
the only way we can get out is for Him to reach in. We've got
it just backwards. We've got it just backwards.
Only God can get you out of the box. Only God can open the door.
You can't see the sides of the box because you're spiritually
blind. You don't even know you're in
a box. That's the true depth of blindness is that man thinks
he's free. Nothing more declares the blindness
and deadness of man than his confession that he's free. He
believes he's free. You can't feel the change because
the chains are your very nature. A preacher, I could choose God
anytime I want to. Has it never occurred to you
that you've never wanted to? Doesn't that say something about
your chains? Doesn't that say something about
the box you're in? You never wanted to. You never
will. You've got no desire. You've
got no want, no will, no need. Oh, I'll make my decision when
I get ready. You could if you knew what to
decide. Is that too hard? You can't make
a good decision until you know the truth. Corey, Dathan, and
Abiram got together with Israel, with the majority of Israel.
And they said, Moses got too much on him. What we need to
do is help Moses rule Israel. And so they all got together
and said what they had to say to Moses. And Moses said, Well,
you stand right over there. I'm going to get over here. Everybody's
on the Lord's side. Come over here. Everybody's on
their side. Everybody wants to decide with
them. You get over there. And everybody did. And God opened
up the earth and swallowed them up, took them to hell with their
shoes on. They made their decisions. Cain decided. He decided to bring
the fruit of his hands rather than the lamb God prescribed.
God sent him away and exiled him in his blindness. Uzziah
decided to take it upon himself to go in and do the work of the
high priest. God smote him with leprosy and
he died without the camp. These decisions, what I'm trying
to tell you, is your nature won't let you decide what needs to
be decided. Where's your decision going to
leave you? When the Holy Spirit of God has
done His work, you'd be shut up to one decision. It'd be easy. Christ. I don't deny that man
decides. I'm just telling you he can't
decide rightly apart from Christ, apart from the reality and the
preaching of the gospel, and apart from that work of God's
Holy Spirit. He'll decide, but his decisions
will leave him outcast. They'll leave him in a false
refuge. I don't deny that man has a will,
but his will is in bondage to his nature. He has to be made
willing. He has to be shut up to Christ. You know, a fire rages across
the mountains like a flash flood of flames and it comes sweeping
down and the helicopter lands and there are just seconds to
spare. You be willing, won't you? I tell you, when the overflowing
scourge comes through and washes away your hiding place, you'll
be willing. You'll be willing. We're dying of a terminal disease,
and on the tables are all the old medicines that have been
tried and failed over the years. But in the hands of the physician,
there's one that's proved, which will you take? There is a decision,
but there's not, is there? You shut up to it. Preaching does not violate the
will or do away with decisions. It causes men and women to be
willing who were never willing and those who would never choose
the right way to choose it. That's what it does. Now watch
this, verse 27. Peace I leave with you. My peace
I give unto you. Not as the world giveth, give
I unto you. Now, he hasn't changed his subject.
He hasn't moved on to something else. He's still talking about
the same thing. Still talking about the same
thing. His blessed promises, His presence and power, the Father's
purpose in sending Him, His oneness with the Father, God's verification
of His ministry. My friend, peace comes to those
who hear. That's what Christ is telling
His disciples. These things I've spoken unto
you while I'm yet with you. And these things that I've spoken,
the Holy Spirit will speak. He'll speak them affectionately
to your heart. When He's come, He doesn't have any other message
than what I've already told to you, but He's going to apply
it. He's going to apply it. He's
going to take it home to the heart. Peace comes to those who
hear the gospel of peace. And this peace has a foundation.
It has reason. This peace has a purpose. This
peace is accomplished. This peace is secured. This peace
is accepted and established and manifest. This peace is made
accessible to those for whom it was accomplished. Accessible. And we're all Gentiles. That's
what we are. no natural connection to God.
Men in our generation is big on grabbing up Old Testament
promises and things and applying it to themselves. Them promises
were given to Israel. That's what Paul reminds these
Gentiles of over in Ephesians chapter 2. He said, you remember
now, you were Gentiles. And at that time, at that time,
you were strangers from the covenants of promise. He said you had no
Christ. No Christ. Christ was a promise
given to the Jews. Christ, the Messiah, was a promise
given to Israel. He said, you didn't have any
Christ. You didn't have any promise of Christ. These covenants weren't
for you. These covenants were for Israel. You were strangers from the covenants
of promise. You didn't have any of those
things. Now, he said, in Christ Jesus,
ye who were sometime far off are made nigh by the blood of
Christ. For He is our peace, who hath made both one, broken
down that middle wall of petition between us, abolished in His
flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments that was against
us and contrary to us. All of these commandments contain
in ordinances for the making Himself of twain one new man,
making peace. God has and is through. But they're
not that natural Jew. He has an Israel. That's his
elect. And that's what Paul's telling
these Gentiles. He came and preached peace to
you that were afar off and to them that were nigh, for through
Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. That's
what I'm telling you. They have access. Why do they
have access? Through His blood. Through His
blood. This peace, he says, is my peace. It's mine. Won't you make your
peace with God? How many times have you heard
preachers say, not His peace and ain't yours? It's His. It's
His. It's His because He was appointed
to accomplish it. It's His because He came to accomplish
it and did. It's His because God verified
it accomplished. It's His because He sits in heaven
and dispenses it to whom He will. It's His. The gospel is the gospel
of peace. Peace is what it declares. It's
what it desires. Peace is what's been accomplished.
Paul said, God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself,
not imputing their trespasses unto them. The ministry is a
ministry of reconciliation. It's peace, peace, peace. But
that peace is His. You want peace? Get to Him. That's where the peace is. The key to this peace is set
forth here throughout this entire chapter, and he does it with
a single letter, I. I. Peace I leave with you. My peace
I give unto you. I go to prepare a place for you. All the way through this chapter.
I and the Father are one. I am the way, the truth, and
the life. I and the Father are one. His work I do. I will pray
the Father and He'll send you the Comforter. He said, because I live, you
shall live. These things, you see what He's
telling them? Have I spoken unto you? And what I want you to see, and
I'll get into this a little deeper in this morning's message, is
that this peace is His peace because He possesses it. He has
it. It's His. In His hands. His to give. Rightfully to give. His right to give. To those which received Him,
gave He the right to become the sons of God. And he said, not as the world
giveth, give I unto you. This world gives what they do
not possess. This world speaks of what they
do not know. This world gives what they cannot
bring to pass. This world gives what they threaten
to take back. They'll give it to you and then
take it back. And this world gives universally
what's intended to be particular. This peace has an object, and
despite the ignorance and blindness and ravings of religion, his
gospel will find its way to the hearts of his people. I guarantee
it. I guarantee it. Because he lives
for that reason. He's seated in the heavens. He
sends the Holy Spirit, and he sends them to whom he wills.
He said, My sheep hear My voice. They were not doubting Him. Well,
thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. He said, I told you. Plainly. How much plainer can you get?
I am the bread which came down from heaven. That's pretty plain,
isn't it? Over and over and over He told.
The Father told. This is my beloved Son in whom
I am well pleased. John the Baptist told them. They
were told. Tell us plainly. He said, I told
you. The problem is you don't believe
because you are not of my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. They
hear my voice. Why do they hear? Because God
affects those ears to where they can hear. That's why.