Alright, let's take our Bibles
now and turn to John chapter 14. I'm going to touch on these
verses as I go through the message, so I won't read them ahead of
time, but I'll be working on verses 15 through 26. Now, the Lord's been giving His
disciples comforting promises because He's about to leave them. physically, fleshly disappear
from their sight. And I don't really have the words
or expressions just studying these Scriptures. And if you
take some time and go through the four Gospels, and when you're
reading these accounts of these men, you think about Him. Think about Him walking with
them. Anytime you're reading these
scriptures and these accounts, just try to get into it. Try
to get into the picture of it. Just project yourself walking
along the road. Eleven or twelve of you walking
along there with him. And he stands up and preaches
like I did on Wichita Falls yesterday. And then after the preaching's
over and he leaves that group of people, then he takes those
aside and he says, And he tells them, they've got questions about
what he preached and what he said and how it was received
and all this. And he took them aside. And there
was a communion there, a fellowship there, a presence there with
them. And unbeknownst to them, that's what salvation is. This presence of God with you. And he was with them, and they
was thinking, this is salvation, this is what he's saying, and
the kingdom of God is this, and mechanically they were trying
to put all this together, but that's not where it was. Where
it was, was in his communion with them. He was there with
them. He is salvation. And so now he's
about to leave, and that physical presence is going to leave them.
And He knows what it's going to do to them. It's going to
destroy them. It's going to shock them. He's going to go to the
cross, and He's going to suffer these things, and He's going
to enter into His humiliation, and they're no longer going to
see Him that passed through the midst of the people. But now
the people are going to lay hands on Him, and take Him, and bind
Him, and spit in His face, and do horrible things to Him, and
nail Him on a cross. Those spears in His side. kill
anybody that wants to line up with him. It's going to be a
shock to them. Right now, nobody can touch him. He's with them. It's not his
time yet. And so now he begins to give
them some comfort and talk to them. And he tells them that
he's going to prepare a place for them in his father's house.
They'd been talking about the father. And he said, the father
has sent me. And the Father bore witness that
He sent Him through those miracles that He did. And the Father bore
witness of Him through His testimony, through that prophet that was
to be His forerunner, John the Baptist. And all this, they had
all kinds of evidences that He was sent of the Father. And now
He's telling them, don't, don't, I'm going to give you some comfort.
I'm going, I'm going, but I'm going on purpose. My comings
and my goings is on purpose. There's nobody, you can go all
of them down the road into any church here, and they'll all
tell you that Christ came from heaven and went back to heaven,
but it doesn't mean anything to them. Because they didn't
understand that His coming and His going was on purpose. He
came to accomplish something, and having accomplished it, He
went back to prepare a place for them for whom He accomplished
it. You see what I'm saying? His comings and His goings was
on purpose, and this is what He's telling them. I'm going
to prepare a place for you." And then he tells them that I'm
the way. He said, the way you know. And
Philip said, now wait a minute, we don't know the way. He said,
I'm the way. I'm the truth. I'm the life.
You know. You see what I'm saying? He that
was with them is salvation. It's not so much what he said,
although that enters into it and has its part in it, but His
presence with them, that's salvation. And that's what He's telling
them. That's what He's telling them. And He tells them, I am
the way, I am the truth, I am the life, I'm the way of peace
and the way of reconciliation and the way of justice and the
way of holiness. And Christ is the way. He's the
way. Now, men say otherwise. Men say,
well, this is the way. Holiness is the way. Or they'll take another point
of doctrine and they'll say, this is the way. Or you have
to have some evidences, supernatural evidences, and this is the way.
Christ is the way. He's the way in the story. There
isn't anything else. This is it. This is it. And that's why we missed it.
We're over here looking for things, and it's not in things, it's
in the person. And that's what he tells them.
It's my coming and my going. That's what you need to know
about, because I'm the way. I'm the way. And then he tells
them of the oneness of him and the Father. Now, imagine the
tears of a caring Savior. Imagine that. Imagine the loving
embrace of a devoted companion. Imagine the kind whispers of
a loving friend. Imagine the listening ear of
a compassionate brother. Imagine the faithfulness of a
loving husband. Now Christ said, I've done this
for you. They knew that. How often does
John talk about leaning his head on the Savior's breast? He's
their companion. He loves them and they love Him. But so far, they're just listening
and learning doctrine. And He's taken them past the
doctrine now. He's taken them past the physical.
His physical presence is going to disappear. All this is going
to be gone. And that's what He's preparing
them for. And so He tells them this. Philip
said, show us the Father and it suffices us. He said, have
you been so long time with me, have you not seen the Father?
Have you ever sat and thought about that? Have you ever read
the accounts of Christ and His tenderness with His disciples? overlooking of their faults.
How often! I mean, they'd walk along behind
him. He's accomplishing eternal, glorious matters. And here's
these disciples back there. Well, I wonder which one of us
is going to be the chiefest in the kingdom of God. I wonder
who's going to be the bigwig. I wonder who's going to be the
general. They're back there doing these
ungodly things. He didn't turn around and just whop their head
off, did he? Uh-uh. Tenderly, tenderly correcting
them. Tenderly telling them. calling
them aside, doing these things. He was compassionate. He was
tender. He entered into their homes and ate with them. He sat
down in their places of abode and he sat down there and he
fellowshiped with them and talked with them just like I'm talking
to you today. And he tells them, have you seen
me? Have you not seen the Father? Have you ever even had a thought
talking about God the Father in these terms? Huh? Isn't that what he says? Have you been so long time with
me, Philip? Have you not seen the Father?
Don't you understand that I am the revelation of God? And I
don't care if you're talking about God the Holy Spirit or
you're talking about God the Father. All the revelation of
God you're ever going to get is in me. In me. And it ought to excite your heart
that God Absolute, sovereign God came down in incarnation
and become a man and sits in your home and talks peace to
your soul. He's compassionate, reasons. Come, He said, let us reason
together. Christ reasoned with His disciples
out of the Scriptures. Open to them the things of God.
It's mind-boggling to me when I sit down and read these things
and all of a sudden it just comes on like a light bulb what he's
saying. Here's the Father in me. The Father's in me. I and the Father are one. Oh,
all of this and more is the attitude and spirit of the Father. He said, Believest thou that
I am in the Father, and the Father in me, or else believe me for
the very work's sake. Who but the living God could
raise the dead? Lazarus, come out of there. He come out. Who but the living God could
heal the lame, cleanse the lepers, give sight to the blind, cast
out demons. I think about that Gadarene demoniac. What, did he have a thousand
demons in him? That was no match for the Savior.
Why? Because all the power of God,
all the fullness of God dwelt in him bodily. And then he tells
them this, he said, if I go away, I will I tell you, you won't
pay attention. Whenever you've seen that word,
will, we're all big on man's will. Let's get off of man's
will and see what God will. Because God will do all that
He wills. I do all my will. That's what
He said. If I go away, I will pray the
Father and He will give you another comforter. Now, He's telling
them, I'm the comforter. It's my arms around you. It's
my words that comfort you. It's my affection that's won
your hearts. It's my wisdom that feeds your
ignorance. It's my fullness that feeds your
emptiness. You see what he's telling them?
I've comforted you for three and a half years. I've comforted
you. I've been your companion. I've been your brother. I've
been your friend. And now he said, I'm going away.
But if I go away, he said, I'm going to pray the Father. And
the Father is going to send you another Comforter. Another Comforter. The Spirit of Revelation, the
Spirit of Life, the Spirit of Regeneration, the Spirit of Wisdom,
the Sovereign Spirit. Only He that now letteth will
let until He be taken out of the way. And then shall that
wicked be revealed. The Spirit of Truth. He's the
Spirit of God. And he says he's known in this
world only by believers. Let that settle in. The only
known, the Spirit of the living God can only be known by believers. Invisible, effectual, eternal. Listen to this, verse 17. Even
the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive. See that? cannot receive, because it seeth
him not, neither knoweth him, but you know him." Now wait a
minute, ain't that kind of like that verse where he told them,
you know the way? No, wait a minute, we don't know
the way. Now he says, you know him. Now they know better than
to open their mouth this time, but it's going around, them cogs
are spinning around. What do you mean we know him? How do we know Him? The world
doesn't know Him. The world doesn't see Him. But
you see Him and you know it. Huh? Isn't that something you
want to know? Listen to what He tells us. The world cannot receive because
it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him, but you know Him, for He
dwelleth with you. Who was dwelling with Him? Christ. Christ. And in Him, God gave
His Spirit without measure. Isn't that what He said? He dwelleth
with you. And it's His presence that's
won your heart, not what you see with these eyes. It's not
this fleshly man who sits before you, but the Spirit of the living
God that's in that man. That's what's won your heart.
That's what's won your affections. That's what's overcome that old
man within you. That's what gives you hope and
revelation. Turn with me to John chapter
4. Now there's thousands in this
world whose confession is that He abides in them. You ever heard
one? He abides in me, the Spirit of
God does. We're down at that service. Boy,
the Spirit of God was there last night, was it? Their compassion is that they
have this influence and power and presence in their life. But
they don't have the gospel of Christ. They never talk about
Christ. They never talk about His sacrifice. They don't talk about the necessity
of Him. They don't talk about any of
those things. But they have the Spirit. Well, let's see if they
do. Listen to this. 1 John 4, verse 1. Beloved, Believe
not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they are of
God. Because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
Hereby know ye the Spirit of God. Boy, that's what I want
to know. We're in 1 John chapter 4. Hereby know ye the Spirit of
God. Every spirit that confesseth
that Jesus Christ is come into the flesh is of God. And every
spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ is come into the
flesh is not of God. And this is that spirit of antichrist
whereof you have heard that it should come, and even now already
it is in the world." Now obviously here he's not talking about all
those who confess in their statements that Jesus Christ came into the
flesh. You'd be hard-pressed to find
anybody in this nation that'll disagree with you about that.
You might find a handful, but you ain't gonna find many. I've
never met one. I've never met one. And I don't
know of any denomination under the heading of Christian religion
that doesn't confess that. They all do. Every one. Even the hucksters on national
TV pleading and stealing money from the widows, even they confess
that Jesus Christ came into the flesh. So obviously that's not
what he's talking about. What John is saying here is that
if the gospel these men preached, these were preachers he's talking
to, these are false prophets that he's talking about. And
what he's saying here is that if the gospel they preach is
not altogether dependent on, hangs on, bounded on, rested in, accomplished
by the coming of Jesus Christ into the flesh, they're not of
God. They're not a gospel. Because
He is the gospel. You see what I'm saying? Now
they have a gospel, and then they have the Father, and then
they have the Spirit, and then they have the Son. He's the gospel. He is. You just have to be It
has to be revealed to you. You have to enter into that understanding,
and it's a spiritual understanding. And that's what He tells them.
This world doesn't see Him. They don't know Him. They don't
understand. You stand in there and just look at this, and you'll
go over there and read it. And then look at this, and go
over there and read it. And just pile Scriptures up around
them, and they're just standing there like this. Why? They don't
know Him. They can't see Him. They can't see Him. Apart from this incarnation of
God, apart from God robing Himself in human flesh, taking to Himself
human flesh, there's no life, there's no peace, there's no
joy, there's no righteousness, there's no godliness, there's
no justification. If his preaching is not altogether
taken up with the person of Christ, worshiping Him as God, looking to Him as God, that's
how the apostles looked at it. Obeying Him as God, standing
in awe of Him as God. They don't have the Spirit of
God and they don't know the Spirit of God. Now that's what he's
telling them. That's what he's telling them.
In order for Christ to come into the flesh, He must have a pre-existence. He can't come to someplace if
He's not coming from someplace. Now, if He comes, why would God
humiliate Himself in the person of a man? Why would God subject
Himself to that kind of humiliation? Except He had a purpose in it.
That's what John is telling us. If their gospel, if every third
word of their gospel is not taking them back to this cross and taking
them back to His incarnation and saying, Christ is my righteousness,
Christ is my sanctification, Christ is the eternal mediator,
Christ is the covenant head, He's the first begotten. If they're
not pointing to Him, they're not of God. They're anti-Christ. Well, you say that describes
about 95% of the world. I can't help it. I can't help
it. I'm not the one dishing it out. And that's what he's telling
them, and that's what I'm telling you this morning. We're looking
at it here in John chapter 14. The Spirit of God is sent. He's not out here just floating
around on the ready for you to go, Here, enter here. I'm going to open the door now.
You go in. That's not the Spirit. The Spirit of God sent. That's
what He's telling them. I have to go because I have to
go prepare a place for you. God's in this thing. He's in
me. It's not just me in the place.
This is God. The Spirit of God's in me in
His fullness. The Father's in me in His purpose. The Trinity is in me accomplishing
this work. And I'm going back to the Father
and prepare a place for you, and I'm going to pray the Father,
and He's going to send you another. He's going to send you the essentials
of what you have right now, except the physical ain't going to be
here. He's going to take of the things
of mine. Ain't that what the Scripture says? He's coming into the flesh. He's
permanent. You can't undo the incarnation
There's a man in glory. He didn't go back to glory and
the man just kind of crumbled away and fell away and now he's
back to spirit again. There's a man in glory, the Lord
Jesus Christ. And he said, as you saw me leave,
you're going to see me come again except this time I'm coming in
the glory of my Father's house. You're not just going to see
me floating away on a cloud with an angel. When I come next time,
I'm coming in glory, all the glory of my Father's house. Coming into the flesh was permanent. You see where John is going with
this Scripture. Here's what determines whether
a man who says he has the Spirit of the living God in him has
indeed the Holy Spirit or whether he has the Spirit of antichrist.
The Spirit of God is wholly taken up with the necessity of God
the Son coming into the flesh and all that He accomplished.
The world cannot receive the Spirit of the living God because
it is not sent to the world. Look at this with me over here
in Galatians chapter 4. He says in Galatians 4. When the fullness of the time
was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under
the law to redeem them that were under the law, that we might
receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God
has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying,
Abba, Father. In John 16, a couple of chapters
past where we are studying, and verse 13, he says, Howbeit when
he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth. Now listen close to what he says
here. 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 shall glorify Me, for He shall receive of Mine
and show them unto you. That's the Spirit. That's the
Spirit of the living God. All things, He said, verse 15,
all things that the Father hath are Mine. Therefore said I that
He shall take of Mine and show it unto you. It pleased the Father. that in Him should all fullness
dwell. Pleased Him. The world cannot
see Him naturally or spiritually. The world can't call Him down,
can't open a door to let Him in, can't obligate Him in any
way, shape, or form to abide with Him. He must be sent. He
must be sent. And the world don't know Him.
And what's true of the Father is true of the Spirit. Everything
we know of the Spirit of God, we know in Christ, because He
has given unto Him without measure. Now look at this down here in
verse 17, the last part. John 14, verse 17. The very last part of the verse. But you know Him, for He dwelleth
with you. He dwells with you right now. Right now He's standing before
you talking to you. You know Him. You know Him. And He shall be, He shall be
in that day in you. He's not only going to abide
with you, He's going to abide in you. In you. Alright, now let's read the next
couple of verses here. Let me skip back just a little
bit. Let me go all the way back to the beginning of the verses
here in verse 15. John chapter 14, verse 15. I'll read this
one first. If you love me, keep my commandments. Keep my commandments. Now look
down verse 21. He that hath my commandments,
and keepeth them, He it is that loveth me, and he that loveth
me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and I will
manifest myself to him." Now, is he saying here that we need
to memorize the Ten Commandments and keep the moral law of God,
go back and take the moral law of God that was given to Israel,
and in our keeping of these things, we're going to win His favor
and win His love? Is that what he's saying here? Paul said, if righteousness come
by the law, then Christ died in vain. If it were possible
for you to win the favor of God by keeping the moral law of God,
Christ wouldn't have had to come. There'd be no reason for him
to come. All we'd need is preaching and
reformation. That's all we need. We just need
another Moses. We need another somebody to come
and Elijah. Somebody to come and whip us
back into shape. That's all we need. Somebody
to give us some direction. Somebody to do something for
us. We needed more than that. We needed a righteousness. We
need justification. We need redemption. Let me read
a little bit further down here in verse 22, John 14, 22. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot. Now this is the one when you
turn to the back of your Bible right next to Revelations there
and you read the book of Jude, that's who this is. Judas saith
unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest
thyself unto us and not to the world? How are we going to know
the difference? How are you going to do that? You said you were going to manifest
yourself to us. through these commandments. How
are you going to do that? What are you talking about? Jesus answered and said unto
him, If a man love me, put a big circle on it. If you've got a
highlight or highlight, and then circle the highlight. If a man
love me, he will keep my words. He'll keep my words. If he don't,
he won't. He won't. And my Father will
love Him. And we'll come to Him. We will. And we will make our bold with
Him. That man, that woman, that boy,
that girl that's brought to Christ, shown their need of Him. They
find out they have no righteousness but He is. Find out they have
no justification but He is. No election but He is. He's the
firstborn. He's the heir. Find out they're
nothing and He's everything. Find out they're darkness and
He's light. Their sinfulness and His holiness.
Their rebellion, His faithfulness. Their fall, His resurrection. Their exit. His entrance, their
emptiness, His fullness. When by the experience of grace
they find themselves in desperate need of the position, when the
occasion of God's providence leads them to the sea and shuts
them in like He did Israel, no way out, no way out. Then by the sweet spirit of grace
He begins to open to you all the treasures of mercy and grace
in Christ. And when He does, you'll love
Him. And when you love Him, you'll obey Him. That's right. Not perfectly, not for righteousness,
not to win His favor, but because you love Him. Because you love
Him. You'll do everything in your
power. Everything in your power. And you'll hate yourself for
the times you don't. Because you love Him. You love
Him. Every now and then I get upset.
And I turn and, boy, I just blow up on my wife. I know none of
you fine fellas ever do that, do you? But I do on occasion. I'm ashamed of it. But when I
do, I hate myself. I do. I just want to go off in
the corner somewhere and hide. That's the way we feel. I want
to obey him. Don't you? People love and do. And when you don't, you hate
yourself. That's salvation. That's what that is. At Christ
in you, by hope of glory.