Now if you'll take your Bibles
and turn with me to John chapter 14. John chapter 14. I want to read for you a few
verses of Scripture here this morning beginning with verse
15. If you love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and
He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever. 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. I will not leave you comfortless.
I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world
seeth me no more. But you see me, and because I
live, you shall live also. At that day, you shall know that
I am in the Father, and you in me, and I in you. Now, the lesson this morning
is the comforter, the comforter. The Lord's preparing his disciples
for the cross. And this is what we all have
to come to see. This world doesn't, they do not
understand the cross. They wear crosses around their
neck. They have crosses on their building. They have crosses on
their signs. They have crosses on the fronts
of their Bibles. They have crosses. I think we
even have a cross here on a piece of furniture. There are crosses
everywhere. But this world does not understand
the cross, and neither did these disciples. Though they'd been
with Him, they still. And the Lord was preparing His
disciples for the cross. And He knows that it's going
to be a shock to them. It's a shock to us when we find
out the reality of it. There's going to be a shock to
him, and he knows it's going to have a tremendous effect on
him. And he who cannot be resisted, he could not be resisted. They
picked up stones to stone him, but it was not his time yet,
and he passed through the midst. They would have taken him out
and thrown him off a cliff. That city where he stood up and
preached, that synagogue, was up on the high mountains, and
there was a big cliff out there in front of it. And he stood
up that day, and he preached to them, and he said, this day
is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. Talk to them about
God being in him, and God's sovereignty, and God's purpose, and God's
grace. And it said they would have taken him out and thrown
him off the cliff. But it wasn't his time yet. And
he passed through their midst. So here's what's about to happen
at the cross. He who could not be resisted
would subject himself to captivity, to mockings, and scourgings,
and suffering, and shame, and humility, and death. And it was
going to be a shock to him. You see, they thought the Lord
Jesus Christ, like the old prophet David and like Solomon, was on
his way up to the throne, which he was, but not in the sense
that they thought. They saw it naturally. They saw
the people, their hearts being given to Him. They saw His reputation
spreading like wildfire over the country. And they thought,
boy, here it is. He's the Christ. He's the Christ. God's going to raise Him up.
We're going to get out from under this Roman rule. And this is
the Messiah. But they didn't see the reality
of what was going on. And so the Lord begins to prepare
them for the shock of the cross. They're going to be heartbroken.
And every visible evidence of the cross is going to be seen
to them to testify that He was after all just a man. And that's
what they said on that road to Emmaus when the Lord appeared
to them and talked to them, but He didn't reveal Himself to them.
You remember what they said? He said, what's going on? And
they began to tell him about this man named Jesus of Nazareth. And they said, where you been
that you don't know these things? He said, and we thought, we thought
that he was the Messiah. We thought. The Lord knows what's
coming to pass. And he knew what was going to
come to pass on them and what a shock it was going to be. And
every visible evidence of the cross is going to seem to them
to testify that He was just a man, maybe even an imposter, maybe a pretender to the throne.
And they're going to be broken-hearted, disappointed, confused, and they're
going to be depressed. These men had given up everything
to follow Him. I don't know if we really understand
that. They gave up everything. Probably the closest thing that
we have ever had to it in this world would be Catholicism. In
Catholicism, you can be taken out completely. If you're taken
out of their worship, you're taken out of the kingdom of God.
And that's what they suffered with these Jews. These men give
that up. They give up that one hope of
the Jews. And they left and began to travel
a different road. They went contrary to their traditions. And they followed this man, and
they followed his ways and his teachings. They gave up all to
follow him. They suffered the loss of family
and friends. They sacrificed their standing
with the Jews. They abandoned their traditional
understanding of worship, and they walked on a different road. And he who was the reason For
all that they did was about to leave them. And knowing the hearts
of men and knowing what lay ahead, the Lord comforts His disciples. And He tells them that His going
away is to prepare a place for them in the glory of His Father's
house. And He tells them that the Father
is with Him, the Father is in Him. This is not just me alone,
but this thing is of God. I'm here of God. God's in me
and I'm in Him. The Father is with me in His
presence, His character, and His purpose. And I'm going back
to the Father. And he tells them that he's the
mediator, or the Christ. He said, I am the way. I am the
truth. I am the life. No other way. You can't come to the Father.
In other words, you can't come, you can't approach God but by
me. That's what he told them. And he points them to the miracles.
that He did. The miracles that they've seen
with their own eyes confirming who He was and what He was doing. And He tells them that His going
to the Father is to intercede on their behalf, to intervene,
to stand between them and God, to be an intercessor, to represent
them before God. And whatsoever you shall ask
in My name, that will I do. that the Father might be glorified
in the Son. And now He gives them this comfort.
He tells them of the Comforter. The Comforter. Now there's thousands
of comforting words and thousands of promises in the Scripture. Here's just a few. He that believeth
on me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And he that liveth
and believeth on me shall never die. That's a blessed promise. In John 3.36, he that believeth
on the Son hath everlasting life. That's a blessed promise. Whosoever
drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst,
but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of
water springing up into everlasting life. Verily I say unto you,
the hour is coming, and now is when the dead shall hear the
voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live. All,
he said, that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him
that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." These are blessed,
blessed, precious promises. But these promises must be brought
to bear on the hearts of chosen sinners. I just read these things
to you this morning, and I read them weekly. Bi-weekly. I've been talking about these
things to people for a long time, and I'm telling you this, it
has no effect on that natural heart. These things must be brought
to bear on the heart. They've got to get past these
ears and past this mind and into this heart. Salvation is a heart
work. That's what the Lord is telling
them. I'm going to send you a comforter. A comforter. Another comforter. He was their comforter. Turn
with me to I Corinthians chapter 2. The Lord said, when he has
come, he will reprove the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. And I'm telling you this, there's
nothing else in this world that can do it. I just can't. You can start all the campaigns.
You can have marches down the street. You can fill this world
with missionaries. I don't care what you do. Apart
from the Holy Spirit of God, there's going to be no reproof
to this world. No conviction. These things must
be brought to bear. And my words are not sufficient
to do it. It takes the power and presence
of the Holy Spirit of God. He's got to bring to us the reality
of sin. He has to bring to us the reality
of the reign of it. of the hideousness of it, the
deceivableness of it. And he has to convince us then
of righteousness. Once he's convinced a man of
sin, then he has to be convinced of righteousness, because he
sees none. All around him is unrighteousness.
All in him is unrighteousness. He can't find any righteousness.
God has to convince him that this righteousness of Christ
is his. And then he has to convince him
of judgment, that judgment has been satisfied, that the holy
God, who cannot accept less than absolute perfection, His justice
has been satisfied in the sacrifice of Christ and in the righteousness
of Christ. Look here in 1 Corinthians 2,
verse 9, Paul said, as it is written, I hath not seen nor
ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things
which God hath prepared for them that love him." Now here's the
problem. They've not entered into the
heart. Ain't that what Paul's talking about? You read this
chapter 2 and you'll find up there where Paul said, When I
came to you, he said, I was with you in fear and trembling. I
was just like you. I didn't pretend to be something
different than you. I confess to you that I'm a sinner
born of Adam, fallen just like you are. In fact, he called himself
the chief of sinners. And he said, when I came to you,
I didn't come to you with the excellency of words or speech
or Or the philosophies of men are in the power of the flesh.
He said, when I came to you, I came to you in demonstration
of the Spirit of God and of power. These things lie in His work
and in His hand. And that's where I live. And
he said, I do it that you may stand not in the wisdom of men,
but in the power of God. That's where it has to rest.
In the power of God. I preach to you in my stewardship
of this church And the desire of my heart is to see your faith
established of God and not by the power of the flesh. And these things never entered
into the heart of man, but God, verse 10, hath revealed them
unto us by His Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all
things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth
the things of a man, save the spirit of man that is in him?
And I want you to look there. You notice that word spirit has
a little s. He's not talking about the Holy
Spirit there. He's talking about what makes
man, man. He's talking about the reality
of yourself. He's talking about your heart.
The things that make you, you. What man knoweth of the... You
don't know what makes me, me unless I tell you. You don't
know anything at all about me. I can stand up here in pretense
and pretend to be anything I want to. And if I'm a good enough
actor, you'll believe it. The only thing you really know
about me is what I tell you." And he said, that same thing
applies to God. You don't have anything of God
in you. What you're going to know about God is what God tells
you. And in order for what He tells
you to do you any good, it has to be revealed in you. He has
to take that essence of Himself. and put it in you. Otherwise,
you're not going to understand anything. They're just going
to be words, sounding brass and tinkling cymbals. Now watch this, verse 12. Here's the second part of that
verse. Even so, the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit
of God. We have received not the spirit
of the world, but the spirit which is of God, that we might
know the things that are freely given to us of God with the heart. Paul said, Man believeth unto
righteousness. And without the presence of the
Holy Spirit of God, there can never be any real comfort. There
just can't be. And I tell you, when He withdraws
His presence, and I don't mean that He withdraws it on a permanent
basis, But when he withdraws his presence, oh, how the believer
cries for it. He wants it back. He wants it
back. He can't do without it. And I'll
tell you this, memorized promises and catechized truth quoted like
a poem or a scientific theory, it's no more than a rabbit's
foot that men carry around in their pockets. And they talk
about grace, and they talk about salvation, and they talk about
faith, and they've never had the Spirit of God enter into
this heart. When God comes into this heart,
He sets up His rule. He sets up His reign. He convicts. Oh, you won't have to worry about
trying to figure out if a man's a true believer. I tell you,
when God convicts him of sin, he can't look at himself in the
mirror, let alone look at you. He's not going to look at you
and start talking about his righteousness. Well, I ain't always doing the
right thing, but I'll tell you one thing, alcohol's never passed
these lips. You won't hear a convicted man
say that. That's a self-righteous man talking about that. Conviction. Conviction. You'll never hear
him talk about, well, I'll tell you this, I went to church all
my life. That's my hope. You'll never hear a convicted
man talk like that. His hope's in Christ. all together
in Christ. These other things, it's memorized
promises and catechized truth. Men quote them and spit them
out like poems and scientific theories. No more than superstitious
rabbit's foot, men carry around in their pocket, and then when
trials come, they pull them out and rub on them, make them feel
good. Has no effect on their life whatsoever, none whatsoever. I've been counseled and taught
by all kinds of men in school, at work, in churches, in the
Navy. One man's words went past the
outward veneer with me, my dad. And you know why? Because he spent a lifetime proving
to me that he loved me. That's right. He proved to me
beyond a shadow of a doubt that He loved me. I don't care what
the circumstance was, and it was always my fault, but no matter
what the circumstance, He was there, always there. Now isn't that what the Lord
is telling His disciples? He's the Comforter. He's the
One. He's there. When He comes in and takes up
His abode in you, He's going to dwell with you forever. He's
going to be there just like Christ was there. They were attacked
by this, by that, by the next thing, the Jews, all the doctrines. You can go on and on and on with
the troubles and trials and tribulations of these disciples. They were
there. But He was there. And He said,
I'm not going to leave you. I'm not going to leave you at
the hands of these evil men and at the hands of your enemies
and at the hands of your own nature, but I'm going to send
you a comforter, a comforter, another one, another one that's
going to be here for you and love you. He's going to be here. He's not going to be at a distance.
He's going to be up close. He's going to dwell in you. The Holy Spirit of God convinces
chosen sinners that the God of all glory loved them with an
everlasting love, made provision for them from
the beginning of time, represented them before the law, substituted
Himself in their stead before justice and wrath. And then as
a man who can be touched with the feelings of their infirmities,
these disciples saw Him. in His humility. They saw Him
in His suffering. It was no problem after the Holy
Spirit of God entered into their heart to pray to the Father. To pray, understanding that they
had one seated by the Father, seated at the right hand of God,
who could be touched. They knew He could be touched.
They saw Him touched. They saw Him touched. Seated
at the right hand of God, one who loves us, has our eternal
interest at heart, and who has power to send us the only one
who can comfort our hearts with the promise. Just one. You see
what He's telling them? I'm not going to leave you without
comfort. I'm going to send you the one
who can comfort. I'll pray to the Father and He'll
give you another comforter that He might abide with you forever,
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 in you, and shall be in you." Now, the world here
refers to all those who are fallen sons of Adam, ruined by the fall. They can't see Him. They can't see Him. That's obvious
to me when I look around in the churches and hear them talking
in tongues and hear them dancing around the room, waving their
arms, talking about the Holy Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit of God will never...
He says when He comes, He's not even going to speak of Himself.
Well, that's all they speak of. But He said He's going to take
the things of mine and show them unto you. He's going to straighten
you out on why I had to leave, and where I'm at, and the fact
that I'm coming again, and the reality of these things and what
has taken place. Falling held captive by the nature
contrary to God, bound by ignorance that cannot perceive the living
God, under the influence of the God of this world who leads them
to believe that they can. We have a free will. They have
a free will, that's what they say. And this world here refers
to all those who are not the objects of God's electing grace
and have no means given them of God's redemptive purpose,
no intervention on God's behalf, and therefore left to their own
understanding and will and to the blinding influence of the
God of this world. The presence and power of the
Holy Ghost is not waiting in expectation for men to call on
Him. His coming as that of Christ
is of the Father. That's what He said, I'm going
to pray the Father, and the Father is going to send you another
comforter. He comes because the Father sends Him. His coming
is on purpose. His coming like that of Christ
is to carry out the will of God. Of His own will begat He us with
the Word of truth. Ain't that the work of the Holy
Spirit? He's not here to beck and call
of men. That's what they say. That's
what they talk about. Listen to this. God has from
the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth. elect according to the foreordination
of God, or foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification
of the spirit and obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus
Christ. Religion would have men believe that the work of Christ
in salvation is of no consequence at all apart from their free
will to choose it, or their acceptance of it. But the truth is that
He did not die to make salvation possible, but to make salvation
dead certain. And it's the certainty of this
salvation that brings the Holy Spirit down to this world and guides Him to the objects. His presence and power are those
of the omnipotent God, and they cannot be resisted. I just can't
even imagine now. I could then. But now, with the
knowledge of who God is, I cannot imagine even thinking a thought
of being able to resist God. And yet men talk about resisting
the Holy Spirit who is God. Huh? You can't resist. You might resist me, but you're
not going to resist Him. Listen to this. He said, my sheep
hear my voice. He said, there's no need to murmur.
I'll tell you why you don't hear me. You're not of my sheep. My
sheep hear my voice. They hear my voice. I'll tell
you this, when I talk to my kids at the playground at school,
they knew I was talking to them. Don't your kids know when you
really want them to know something, they know, don't they? They know
who's talking and they know you mean it. My sheep, he said, hear my voice.
They hear it because they're mine, and they know me. His presence and power are those
of the omnipotent God, and He cannot be resisted. Paul said, it's God that worketh
in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. That's
the Holy Spirit. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. and him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out." This world cannot receive Him
because they will not, and they cannot because the world seeth
Him not. Because they see Him not, that
they know Him not. See means to perceive. To perceive. But He said, you know Him. For
He dwelleth with you and shall be in you." Now, I want you to
listen to what the Lord said. These disciples, He was talking
to them about His flesh being meat indeed, and His blood being
drink indeed. And except you eat of My flesh
and drink of My blood, He said, you've got no part with Me. And
they just walked away. They said, He's nuts. And they
walked away. This is another cult or something.
He's crazy. He's talking about cannibalism.
They just turned around and walked away. He turned to the twelve
and he said, you going to go too? The door swung both ways. You going to go too? Where are
we going to go? Thou hast the words to eternal life. Now listen
to what the Lord told them. John 6.63, He said, It is the
spirit that quickeneth the flesh, profiteth nothing. The words
that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. They're
meant to be spiritually understood. These things penetrate the heart.
They go past the head when I speak. If my voice is the only voice
you hear, there's not going to be any change at all. But when
He speaks, the dead hear His voice. When He speaks, men receive
life. The flesh profiteth nothing,
he said. This work is not in union with
the flesh, but in spite of it. It's not a joint venture. It's 100% the presence and power
of God. There is no common ground for
the carnal mind to fellowship with the living God. His thoughts
and ways, His affections and motives, They are all contrary
to God. Contrary to Romans 8, 8. So then they that are in the
flesh, he said, cannot please God. Cannot. Now watch this. But you are not in the flesh,
but in the Spirit, if so be the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now
if any man had not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.
He is none of His. That's how we know where He is.
Because we are sons, He has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into
our hearts and we cry, Abba, Father. To know the Spirit of
the living God, to know He that dwelleth in you is to be reconciled
to the living God through the person and work of Christ. That's
the only way you can know it. You can't know it by speaking
in an unknown language. You can't know it by falling
out in the floor and quivering and shaking or dancing around
the room. You can't know it by some experience of the night.
You know it because He takes the gospel and applies it to
your heart. That's how you know it. And if
you ever know it, you can't do without it. It's an appetite. It's an appetite. It's like tasting
something that you've never tasted before. And you have to have
it. I have to have it. Up in Kentucky,
there's a Kroger store. And they never would make a whole
cake. But somebody in there from an
old family recipe made a lemon cake. I tell you, you've never
tasted anything like it. It's the best cake I ever put
in my mouth. When we go up there, you go down
there, it's about $4 or $5 for a slice because you can't get
it anywhere else. They can get whatever they want
out of it. If we tried to get them to make a whole cake, they
won't do it. But you go down there and the last time I was
up, Brother Larry Brown told me, he said, I can't believe
you all paid $5 for a piece of cake. I said, get a bite. He took a bite. He said, man,
he said, that's good cake. That's why I paid $5. Once you've tasted, ain't that
what Peter says? If you've tasted, who makes you
to taste? The Holy Spirit of God gives
you a taste. And from that day forward, you've
got an appetite for Christ, and it can't be filled. It'll come,
rejoice in it, sing of it, fellowship in it. As soon as it gets home,
it wants another meal. want another male. All right,
cure this.