The Son of God, the Lord Jesus
Christ, is presented to us in John's Gospel by the means of
seven signs. First six signs of which are
presented to us in the first 12 chapters of John's Gospel,
and the last sign of which is presented in the last chapters,
as we read, of the account of Christ's resurrection following
his death. But following the sixth sign,
and leading up to the seventh sign, In chapters 13 through
17 Christ prepares his disciples for his impending betrayal, his
death, his resurrection and his leaving this world. to return
to his father to prepare a place for them where they would one
day follow him. And then towards the end of John's
gospel, we read the actual accounts of his betrayal in the garden,
his being handed over to the Jews and then to the Romans,
his trial and his crucifixion. And then following that, as I've
said, the seventh sign is his resurrection. John presents the
divinity of Christ. He is the son of man, yes, but
he is the son of God. And constantly Christ refers
to himself in such a light and speaks of his union with his
father. But when the disciples hear that
Christ would be betrayed and that he would leave them, as
you can imagine, their hearts were troubled. They were sorrowful. This one whom they had lived
with for several years, who had taught them, who had comforted
them, who had led them, who they believed was the Messiah, their
savior, was now telling them that he would be crucified, that
he would leave them, that he would depart. And in the beginning
of John chapter 14, Christ says unto them in verse one, let not
your heart be troubled, Ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many
mansions, if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to
prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for
you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I
am, there ye may be also. And whither I go, ye know, and
the way ye know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord,
we know not whither thou goest, and how can we know the way?
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. If ye had known me, ye should
have known my Father also. And from henceforth ye know him,
and have seen him. In verse 16, Christ comforts
his disciples by giving them this promise. 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 ye 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 ye see me, because
I live, ye shall live also. Yes, he says, I will pray the
Father, and he shall give you another comforter. that he may
abide with you forever, even the spirit of truth. The spirit of truth. Well, as
I said, you can imagine the disciples' sorrow when Christ says that
he will leave them. But here he comforts them with
the fact that he will send them another comforter. Christ was
a comforter. Not that there is only one comfort
to Christ was their comfort when he was with them. And Christ
revealed the father unto them as he has said, if he had known
me, you should have known my father also. But he and his father
are one. They had the comfort of Christ.
And through him, they had the comfort of the father. But here
he tells them that he is about to depart from them, but that
they should not sorrow. let not your hearts be troubled
for he will pray the father and he shall give them another comforter
even the spirit of truth the spirit of truth in hebrews we read of christ
that christ says i will never leave you nor forsake you the disciples here may have felt
that Christ was leaving them and forsaken them when they needed
him but in sending them the spirit he was not leaving them for in
the spirit who would dwell within them so too Christ would dwell
within them And though absent bodily, in reality he would be
nearer to the disciples in the spirit than he ever actually
was in the flesh. They beheld him in the days of
his flesh with the outer eye. But it's quite another beholding
to behold Christ in the heart, in the spirit, with the eye of
faith. You may live today and say, Oh,
if I had been in the days of Christ, like the disciples, if
I had seen his miracles, if I had walked with him, if I had heard
his teaching, if I had been there then 2000 years ago, or if I
had seen, oh, I would believe on Christ, but he's not here
now. I can't see him. Where is he? If I could just see him, But
the reality is that in the Gospel, through the sending of the Spirit,
through the revelation of the Father, unto the gaze of faith,
Christ is nearer now by His Spirit than He ever was in the flesh.
They saw Him in the flesh. They heard His speech with the
outer ear. But many saw Him in the flesh. And many heard his speech with
the outer ear, who perished, who this day are in hell. Many, many saw his miracles. Many made a profession of belief
on Christ when he was in this world. And at the last, they
deserted him. At the last, they turned away
from him. They heard his words, and when
those words got a bit too close, when his teaching became a bit
too narrow, a bit too cutting, when his words called for a bit
too much separation and too much hardship to follow him, they
departed. Many saw him in the flesh, but
few believed. Today you may say, I'm at a disadvantage,
I cannot see Him in the flesh. But I say unto you, in the gospel,
should the Spirit reveal Christ unto you, you are at an advantage. For even these 12 disciples with
Christ needed the Spirit to come, and they needed true faith to
be quickened within their hearts. If ever they would enter glory,
And if ever they would go where Christ went, they needed the
spirit of truth. And you need the spirit of truth. At the last hour, when Christ
was betrayed by one of the 12, all men deserted him. All deserted
him. Christ tells his disciples in
chapter 13 of John that one would betray him, and this troubled
the disciples. They said, Lord, who is it? Is
it I? Peter says unto Christ, Lord,
whither goest thou? And Jesus answered him, whither
I go, thou canst not follow me now, but thou shalt follow me
afterwards. Peter said unto him, Lord, why
cannot I follow thee? I will lay down my life for thy
sake. But Jesus answered even unto
Peter, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily,
I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow till thou hast denied
me thrice. Hence all men, in the hour of
Christ's greatest need, when he was nailed to a tree to lay
down his life for sinners, deserted him. They deserted him. What comfort did the Savior know
in the depths of his sorrow? What help did his disciples give
him? Where were they when he needed
them? They all fled. They were all
scared. They're all fearful. The sin
which dwells in their hearts had such a power on them that
even if they wanted to be with Christ, as Peter did, his sentiment
here that he would lay down his life for Christ's sake, I believe
was a true sentiment of Peter's heart in the Spirit. But the
flesh was too much for him at the end. though he would try
to be with Christ circumstances would prevent it and he would
end up denying him Christ suffered upon the cross
alone his father laid on him the sins
of all his people he was made to be sin The father forsook
his own son because of what he had become upon the cross. He
poured out his wrath upon him in furious anger against the
sins of his people, which Christ bore. He beat his own son as
the sinner. He looked upon him as though
he was the one who committed all those sins. though he was
the one, the only one, who had known no sin, who was without
sin, who had never sinned. Yet in that hour, when the light
of the sun was taken away, and when God's wrath was outpoured
upon his only begotten Son, God's anger was upon his Son, and he
beat him. Oh, what comfort did he know, And yet this one who went through
so much for his people, who went through so much for those he
loved even unto the end, even though they deserted him at the
end, he still loved them. As we read in 13 and verse one,
he loved them unto the end. This one who did so much for
his own, and who knew so little comfort in his hour of need,
said unto his own before that hour, that though I will go and
depart from you, I will not leave you comfortless. I will come
unto you in the Spirit. Yet a little while, and the world
seeth me no more with the outer eyes, but ye see me with the
eyes of faith. Because I live, you will live
also. 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. Yes, he prayed that the father
would send him a comforter. Though he died, Though He ascended
up unto the Father, though He would no longer be with His disciples
in the flesh, He never left them, for the Spirit was sent, and
in the Spirit He came in His Spirit, the Spirit of Christ,
the Spirit of truth, and in their hearts He would dwell forevermore
with a nearness and a union unlike anything they had ever known.
What do you know of this? What do you know of this? What
do you know of this Comforter, the Spirit of Truth? Has Christ
sent Him unto you? Can you say that you see Christ
even though He isn't here in the flesh? Have you beheld Him
with the eyes of faith? Has the Spirit come unto you?
What do you know of this comforter and his comfort? Who is this who Christ sent? Well firstly, he is a person. He did not send them some influence. He did not send them some comfort
as an abstract thing. The spirit is not a mere influence. The spirit is not an it. though
many speak of him as an it, who know him not. No, the Spirit
is a person. He is the comforter, the Spirit
of truth. He is God, as much God as Christ
is God and as the Father is God. Co-equal with the Father, co-equal
with the Son. He is the Spirit of Truth, God
Almighty. He is a person. He is sent unto
Christ's disciples. Christ praised the Father that
he would give them another comforter. And he is sent unto them to abide
with them forever. Forever. If the Spirit comes
unto you, And if he comes to abide with you, he will never
leave you. He will never leave you. To whom is he sent? He is not
sent unto all. Another Comforter, who will abide
with you forever, even the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot
receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him, but
ye know him, for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you. Now he's not sent unto all, he's
sent unto those to whom Christ sends him, he's sent unto Christ's
disciples, he's sent unto God's people, he's sent unto the sheep,
and not the goats. He's not sent to the world. The
world don't receive Him. They cannot receive Him. They
cannot see Him. They do not know Him. He does
not dwell in them. He's not in them. But He is sent unto the sheep.
He is sent unto the disciples. He is sent unto those whose sorrow
that Christ himself has departed. He is sent unto those who know
that they need Christ, who know that they want Christ, who know
that they are lost without Christ. He is sent unto sinners that
know they're sinners. He is sent unto those who have
heard the alarm of the gospel, that because of their sin that
they will face destruction in the last day, except one deliver
them. He is sent unto those who so
convicted of their sin cry out unto the Lord to save. Is that
you? Can you say that in your heart
there dwelleth no good thing? that you are through and through,
blackness, darkness, sin, that you are a leper by nature from
head to toe. Can you say that freely and openly? Or are you kicking against it?
If I should say to you plainly today, Sir, woman, man, child,
You are a sinner. You are guilty before a holy
God. There is nothing good in you. Do you rise up in anger against
me? Or do you freely accept? Yes, I know. It is true. What you say is true. There is
no good in me. I know it. What you say is the
truth and I need help. I know God would be just to condemn
me. I need salvation. I need my sins
to be taken away. I cannot make myself good. There is no good in me. Can you
say that? And do you say it freely? Or do you kick against it? Do your
teeth clench? Do you grit your teeth and say,
not me? Surely there's good in every
one of us. Well, if you're off the latter
camp, then I tell you plainly that you're of one of those in
the world who cannot receive the spirit of truth. because
you see him not, neither know him. He is not with you and he
is not in you. But if you've been given a heart
to call out unto Christ, to call out unto God, to cry out for
mercy as a guilty and as a wretched sinner, if your heart is troubled,
if you know that left to yourself you will be left to destruction,
then I have good news. For Christ has said of all these,
all these taught of God, all these taught their need of God,
he has said of these, he said of you, I will pray the Father,
and he shall give you another comforter, even the Spirit of
truth, whom the world cannot receive. Yes, he's sent to his
own, he's sent to sinners, he's sent to sinners that know their
sinners, to those whom he opens their eyes to show them who they
are, what they are, and who he is, what he is, what he has done
to save sinners such as them, to save sinners such as you.
He sends a comforter, a comforter, one who brings comfort unto his
own, one who brings comfort, consolation, peace, joy, salvation,
one who doesn't come to condemn, for the condemnation has had
its time, they're already condemned, the law has already wrung out
its condemnation over their head, they already know they're guilty,
The law has already sounded out its sentence, its verdict. They're already condemned. Now
this one comes, the spirit of truth, the comforter comes, not
to condemn, but to justify. Not to condemn,
but to save. Not to bring condemnation, but
to comfort. not to find fault but to bring
consolation he's a comforter do you know his comfort a comforter
he brings comfort he brings refuge what comfort does he bring what
do you know of his comfort what comfort does he bring firstly he brings christ He brings
Christ. These disciples were troubled,
for Christ in the flesh was about to leave them. Their hearts were
troubled for the one whom they loved, the one in whom they hoped,
the one in whom they hoped they would find salvation, the one
whom they hoped would take their sins away, the one whom they
hoped would bring them to God, the one whom they hoped would
bring them everlasting joy and peace and salvation, the one
in whom they hoped, the one whom they loved would soon leave.
And yet he sends them the Spirit, not just to leave them with the
Spirit, but by whom he would come again unto them. Firstly,
the Spirit brings Christ. If you know the Spirit, then
you will know Christ. If the Spirit has come unto you,
then He's come unto you to reveal the Son of God unto you, as your
Saviour, as the one who laid down His life in your place,
as the one who shed his blood to wash you clean, as he brings
the knowledge of Christ under his people. There's no greater
comfort than to be found in Christ. There's no greater comfort than
to know Christ. There's no greater comfort than
to know Christ has washed your sins away. There's no greater
comfort than to know that your sins are forgiven because Christ's
blood has washed them out of sight. There's no greater comfort
than to be found in Christ. There's no greater comfort than
to be in Christ. There's no greater comfort than
to be united with Christ. There's no greater comfort than
Christ. Do you know Christ? Is He your
Saviour this day, this hour? You may say, well I've read the
Scriptures, I've heard the Gospel, I want to believe in Him, I think
I believe in Him, I believe what the Scriptures say, I believe
what I've heard that Christ died on the cross, I know that's true,
I'm sure He rose again, I'm sure God judged the sins of his people
in Christ, I'm sure he did. But do you know that he judged
your sins in Christ upon the cross? Has that blood been sprinkled
in your heart? Many make a claim to believe
the gospel, but it's all external. They look upon the Word of God
with the outer eye. They hear it with the outer ear.
They are sent to the truth of these things. They hope they
may be true of them. For there's never been a change
within. Their hearts are just as dark
as they always were. You ask them, when were you saved? And they say, well, I... I don't
really know. Sometime I hope so. You ask them
can you say that there was a time when you were blind but now you
see? And they may say well I think
I was blind. I hope I see. I certainly believe in Jesus.
I accepted him. But were Your blind eyes opened,
did Christ touch them and make you see? Did you hear His voice
sounding within by His Spirit? Did light shine into the darkness
of your dead heart? Either it did or it didn't. Does He dwell in your heart by
His Spirit? For all who know Him, all who
are His, all who are enter glory, can say of a truth. Once I was blind, but now I see. Thou art the Son of God. Thou
art the Christ, the Son of the living God. He is in them. He dwells in them by His Spirit. They don't just look upon these
things with the outer eye, but they have faith which is given
to them by the Spirit. Living faith, God-given faith,
a precious gift of faith, something they never had by nature, something
they could never produce, something which God had to put within them. Christ has come unto them as
blind men on the wayside and he has anointed their eyes with
clay and caused them to wash and opened the blind eyes to
see to see him to see him who is the way the truth and the
life to know him and to know him by his spirit the spirit
of truth What comfort does the Spirit bring? Firstly, He brings
Christ. He brings Christ in His Gospel. He brings Christ in the power
of His Gospel. He brings Christ in the revelation
of His Gospel in the heart. He's made known within. His blood
is sprinkled upon the conscience. Forgiveness of sins is made known
within. He testifies of Christ. The Spirit,
the Comforter. He makes known Christ. Secondly,
He makes known the Truth. He is the Spirit of Truth. Christ is only made known in
the Truth, for Christ is the Truth. I am the Way, the Truth. and the life there's no way unto
God and there's no life except it comes by the truth the spirit
is the spirit of truth he testifies of the truth in truth he speaks
the truth he is the spirit of truth and he brings comfort in
the truth There's no comfort in lies. There's no comfort in
error. There's only comfort in the truth. There's only comfort in Christ. There's only comfort in the gospel. And there's only comfort in the
truth of the gospel. If you're found believing a lie,
if you're found believing another gospel, a false gospel, a gospel
riddled with errors, you'll find no comfort for your soul. It
may feed your mind. It may satisfy your flesh. It may satisfy your own pride
and your own vanity. It may delude you to thinking
that you've got life in this world and life in the next. that you can eat, drink and be
merry with your so-called modern, contemporary, easy-believism
gospel. You may think that you just accept
Jesus and you can have such fun and such joy in this world. He
wants you to have everything in this world and to have it
aplenty. Just live as you always lived.
But tag on Jesus on the end and you'll get into heaven. That may suit your vanity of
mind. It may allow you to indulge your
flesh. It may give you that assurance
you need that all will be well in the end. But I tell you it's
a pack of lies. And it will bring you into destruction. for you either turn from your
sin and flee unto the one that can deliver you from sin. Flee
unto the one who brings salvation by his will, by his way, by his
work upon the cross or you will perish with the tatters of your
own self-righteousness and the tatters of your own decisions
for Christ. and the tatters of your false
gospel, and the tatters of your lies, and your refuge of lies,
in which there is no comfort at all. It may comfort you for
a few years upon this world in its delusion, but it will leave
you in everlasting ruin. Oh no the spirit doesn't bring
such comfort, the spirit doesn't bring lies, he is the spirit
of truth and he only speaks the truth, the only gospel he brings
is the gospel of truth, the only gospel he brings is that gospel
which John testifies in this gospel, in his gospel here, The
only gospel the Spirit brings is that which testifies of Christ
the Son of God, of the One that calls a people unto Himself,
of the One that died for those whom the Father gave Him, of
the One that died for the sheep and not the goats, of the One
that laid down His life for His own, of the One who calls His
own, Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, he says. The spirit of truth, whom the
world cannot receive because it seeth him not, only speaks,
only declares the gospel in truth. What gospel have you heard? What
gospel do you find comforting? the spirit brings comfort in
the truth and in the truth of the gospel and the gospel alone
there's only comfort in the truth there's not comfort in this world
neither in the increase of riches or pleasure in this world there
may be a temporary passing comfort in these things we live in this
world the lord gives us Many things in this world He feeds
us, He clothes us, He comforts us with temporary things. But
don't think that you'll find true everlasting comfort in these
things. They perish with you when you
go into the grave. There's nothing lasting in them.
The riches of this world promise much but bring little. The comfort
which the Spirit brings. is in the truth, in the gospel
and in Christ. Yes the Comforter comes unto
his own, he comes unto the sheep and he brings that people unto
Christ, he saves, his comfort is in salvation, he quickens
dead sinners from the deadness of their trespasses of sin, They
are dead in trespasses and sins. He comes unto these and brings
them to life. He brings them to life. He brings life unto such a people. There's comfort in eternal life. And eternal life is only found
in Jesus Christ. Do you live or are you dead? What is the life which you have
today? Is it that life which lasts for
70 years or so and then fades away and takes you into the grave? Or is it that which had no beginning
and has no end? Eternal life, everlasting life. The spirit of truth brings comfort
in the gospel. He brings comfort in the preaching
of righteousness in the gospel. like Noah of old he is a preacher
of righteousness. Noah was sent unto a wicked generation,
he was raised up in the midst of a wicked generation and he
was moved to the building of an ark to flee from the destruction
which God had said would come and as he built that ark in word
and in figure he preached righteousness unto the people round about.
And that message of righteousness which was pictured by the Ark,
which was a picture of the Gospel and a picture of Christ, brought
comfort unto Noah and his house. It brought comfort. For the name
Noah, if you read in Genesis 5, means comfort. And his message, his preaching
of righteousness was a message of comfort. And as such he was
a figure of the spirit who would come, the spirit of truth, the
comforter, another comforter, who like Noah brings a people
unto the ark and shuts them in the ark. As God shut Noah into
the ark and brings them through the waters of destruction, the
waters of death, the waters of judgment, safely through the
other side into everlasting life. Oh yes, the Spirit brings comfort
in the Gospel, the Spirit brings comfort in the truth, He brings
comfort in the teaching in the Gospel, as Christ says of the
Spirit in chapter 14 in verse 26, He shall teach you all things,
all things, He shall teach you all, He shall teach you the truth,
He shall lead you into all truth, He shall reveal Christ unto you,
he is sent not to testify of himself, but to testify of Christ. When the Comforter is come, whom
I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth,
which proceeded from the Father, he shall testify of me, of me. He brings comfort in the truth. He brings comfort in the truth
of the people's union with Christ. As Christ teaches in chapter
15 of John, he is the true vine and his father is the husbandman
and all his people are branches in this vine. They abide in him
and he abides in them and through him they bring forth fruit. I
am the vine, ye are the branches, he that abideth in me and I in
him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. Christ's people are
one with him, they're united with him, they are in him and
he is in them, for the Spirit is in them, and by the Spirit
Christ dwells in them, and by the Spirit he comforts them.
He couldn't be nearer, he couldn't be nearer. yes he's the spirit,
he's the comforter, he brings comfort in the gospel, he brings
comfort in the truth of the gospel, he brings comfort in the truth
of election, that they are a people who are chosen of God out of
this world, for the world cannot receive the spirit of truth,
but they have received him. Why? They're no different to
the world, Why have they received and others haven't? Because it
pleased God to reveal His Son in them. It pleased God to send
the Spirit unto them. It pleased God to elect them
unto everlasting salvation. There's comfort in election. There's comfort, yes, in the
gospel, in redemption, in knowing that we are redeemed from our
sins, There's comfort in knowing that sins are forgiven. There's
comfort in knowing that we are reconciled with the Father, that
we are at peace with the Father. There's comfort in regeneration,
in being brought to life, in being brought to union with the
Father, the Son and the Spirit. There's comfort in the victory
of Christ. Christ says to his disciples
here that he will send them another comforter. He warns them that
he will be betrayed. His death approaches. They would
have been very troubled. But he tells them that he has
conquered all, that he will conquer all. He says, these things I
have spoken unto you that in me ye might have peace. in the world ye shall have tribulation
but be of good cheer i have overcome the world i've overcome it i've
conquered it in my death i will take away your sin i will take
away the stony heart of flesh i will take the world out of
you i will crucify you unto the world and you will be crucified
unto the world and the world unto you I have overcome the
world, I have overcome all your enemies, I have overcome Satan,
I have overcome all those who will oppose you. You are mine,
you are the sheep of my pasture in my hands and none shall pluck
you from my hands. You are mine forevermore. Be of good cheer, I have overcome
the world. And finally, there is comfort
in Christ's everlasting intercession for his people during their pilgrimage
in this world. Yes, he would leave them in the
flesh. Yes, he would send the Spirit
unto them whilst they journeyed through this world. And by the
Spirit, he would dwell in them. and by the Spirit he would make
known the fact that he ever liveth to make intercession for his
people. In chapter 17 of John we read this wonderful prayer
of Christ as he prays unto the Father to keep those who the
Father has given him. I pray for them, he says, I pray
not for the world but for them which thou hast given me for
they are thine and all mine are thine and thine are mine and
I am glorified in them, and now I am no more in the world, but
these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through
thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may
be one as we are. While I was with them in the
world, I kept them in thy name. Those that thou gavest me I have
kept, and none of them is lost but the son of perdition, that
the scripture might be fulfilled. And now I come to thee, and these
things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled
in themselves. I have given them thy word, and
the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even
as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldst
take them out of the world, but that thou shouldst keep them
from the evil. They are not of the world, even
as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth.
Thy word is truth. Yes, he sends a comforter. He
prays for the people. He brings them comfort in all
these respects, in the gospel, in their salvation, in his victory. And in His intercession, He never
leaves them. He never forsakes them. He loves
His own unto the end. He will keep them to the end.
If you know Him this day, child of God, be of good cheer. He has overcome the world. He
will keep you, even you, unto the end. For He has sent you
another Comforter. who will never leave you, who
will always be with you, and who will always bring you comfort
in Christ and in his gospel. Oh, hear his prayer. Hear his
prayer for you, child of God. Father, I will, that they also
whom thou hast given me be with me where I am. that they may
behold my glory which thou hast given me, for thou hast loved
me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the
world have not known thee, but I have known thee, and these
have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto
them thy name, and will declare it, that the love wherewith thou
hast loved me may be in them. and I in them. Praise God. Amen.