Let's turn back to John 14. Jennifer
Myers, Greg and Trish Elmquist's daughter, is going to have surgery
in the morning. She's had this cancer ever since
her daughter was born, and they request that we pray for her.
It's going to be in the morning. And I want to remind everybody
about the get-together at Duggan Faiths for Christmas. They're
going to have valet parking, because Will and somebody else
is going to do that. So looking forward to that. Let's pray for Jennifer. Lord,
we ask in Christ's name that you would be pleased, if it can please you, to cause
her to be well, for your glory and the good of your people.
In Christ's name we pray, amen. I've entitled this message, Judas
not Iscariot's question. Now, I think it's interesting
how it says in verse 22, Judas saith unto him not Iscariot.
He wants to make sure this is not, we know this is not Judas
Iscariot speaking. This same man is called Labius,
who is surnamed Thaddeus in Matthew's account. Just Thaddeus in Luke's
account. Judas, the brother of James in
the Acts account, which would make him the brother of James
the Less. And what a name, James the Less. I'm looking forward
to trying to bring a message on that. Don't have any idea
what I'm going to say yet, but that's coming next week. James
the Less, that's all we know about him, is he's James the
Less. And the names Labius and Thaddeus,
both of those names means large hearted. What a description of
this man. Large hearted, not narrow hearted,
but large hearted. That's what I want to be. That's
what I know you want to be. Large hearted. Some have thought that he is
the author of the book of Jude, but we can't be certain. But
here we have the only record of anything that he had to say,
and what a question he asks. Look in verse 22. Judas saith
unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest
thyself unto us and not unto the world. Now, the first thing
that comes to my attention is we have a great fact stated. The Lord Jesus Christ manifests
himself to a certain demographic under the term us. You manifest
Yourself to us. And the Lord Jesus Christ does
not manifest Himself to this demographic called the world. Look in John chapter 17 for just
a moment, verse 9. Now this is something that is so
clear from the Scriptures, yet religion seems to altogether
overlook it. Look in verse 9. The Lord says,
I pray for them. I pray not for the world. That's strong language, isn't
it? I pray not for the world. Whoever the world is, I'm not
praying for them. I'm not representing them. Here's
who I'm praying for, but for them which thou hast given me. for they are thine. The word world or cosmos is used
in John's gospel 58 times. And it has various meanings,
none of which mean all men without exception ever live. Not one
time does the word world mean that. It can mean the planet
Earth, or the universe, or the inhabitants of the Earth, the
ungodly, Gentiles as contrasted to Jews. The world we're forbidden
to love. Do you remember when John said
in 1 John 2, love not the world? Neither the things that are in
the world. For all that's of the world,
the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of the
life, is not of the Father, but of the world. And the world passes
away, and the lust thereof. Now this is a world that we are
forbidden to love. Now let me give you some scriptures,
how this word is used in the book of John. John 1, 10. He
was in the world. The world was made by him. and
the world knew Him not. John 3.16 God so loved the world
that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth
in Him should not perish but have eternal life. God sent not His Son into the
world to condemn the world but that the world through him might
be saved. You see, the world was already
condemned. He didn't have to send his son to condemn the world,
but he sent his son to be the savior of the world. John 3, 18, this is the condemnation
that light is coming to the world. And men loved darkness rather
than light, because their deeds were evil. John chapter 7, verse
7, the Lord says to his brethren, his kin, the world cannot hate
you. But me, it hateth, because I
testify of it. that the works thereof are evil. John 13, one having loved his
own, which were in the world, he loved him to the end. He speaks in John chapter 14,
verse 17 of the Holy Spirit, the spirit of truth, which the
world cannot receive. No unbeliever is able to receive
God the Holy Spirit. Can't do it. Then we read in
John 14 27. My peace. My peace. I give you. Not as the world
giveth. The world has a peace to give
but it's a false peace. It's not real. My peace. I give unto you. Not as the world
giveth, give I unto you. John 15, 18, the Lord says to
his disciples, if the world hate you, you know it hated me before
it hated you. He said, if you were of the world,
The world would love his own, but because you're not of the
world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the
world hateth you. John 16, 37, in the world you
shall have tribulation. That's promised. And then in
John chapter 17, verse 14, he says to his father in this great
intercessory prayer for his people, I have given them thy word and
the world have hated them because, now listen to this, they are
not of the world, even as I am not of the world. If you're a
believer, you are no more of this world than the Lord Jesus
Christ himself is of this world. That's amazing, isn't it? That
speaks of the eternal union and existence we have with the Son
before the world was, before the foundation of the world.
In John chapter 17, verse 25, he says, O righteous father,
the world hath not known thee, but I have known thee, and these
have known thee that thou hast sent me. John 18, 36, he said,
my kingdom is not of this world. Now simply stated, How is it
that thou will manifest thyself to us and not to the world? Simply stated, clearly stated,
the us is the elect of God. The world is everybody else. Now that's clear enough, isn't
it? The Lord puts it that way. The us is the elect of God. The world is everybody else. The Lord said, I repeat, I pray
for them. I pray not for the world, but
for them which you have given me. The us is everybody who knows
God. The world is everybody who does
not know God. Paul put it like this in Romans
11, 7, the elect and the rest. The elect hath obtained it. The rest were blinded. The elect
and the rest. Somebody says that's too simplistic.
No, it's just what the scripture teaches very clearly, very powerfully,
very succinctly. The us that he manifests himself
to is the same us as Romans 8, 31 and 32. If God be for us,
who can be against us? He that spared not His own Son,
but delivered Him up for us all, how shall I not with Him also
freely give us all things? The world is every unbeliever.
The world is everybody He refused to pray for. Someone may think,
why didn't he save the whole world? You have to take that
up with him. But I know it's best. Whatever he does is best. Amen. Whatever he does is best. I don't
need to understand it, but I believe whatever he does is best. It seemed good in his sight.
And instead of getting upset about something like that, because
if I get upset about something like that, I am saying that I
deserve for Christ to come and save me. That's what I'm saying
about that. I'm saying there's some merit, there's some goodness
in me that makes God owe me salvation. I don't want to say anything
like that. I don't want to take that posture. I want to say,
Lord, make Yourself known to me. Don't leave me to myself. Make Yourself known to me. Now, Judas Not-a-Scared asks
this question, how is it that you will make yourself known
that you'll manifest yourself to us and not to the world? Now, the Lord had evidently made
it clear that that's what he's going to do. That's why Judas
asked this question. But how is it? That's a good
question. I want to know the answer to
that because I want to know if I'm one of the people he's man-bested himself
to. That's my motive in wanting to understand this. How is it
that you'll manifest yourself to us and not to the world? Now, the only way I can know
God is if he manifests himself to me. The only way I can know
the Lord Jesus Christ is if he reveals himself to me. Judas understood that. I think
particularly of When the Lord said to his disciples, whom do
men say that I, the son of man, am? And they began to say, well,
they say pretty good things about you. Some say you're Jeremiah
or Elijah or one of the prophets. Actually, those things were derogatory
toward him, but they thought they were good things. He said,
but whom say ye that I am? Peter answered, thou art the
Christ. God's prophet, God's priest. God's King, thou art the son
of the living God. You know how the Lord answered
him? Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonas. Flesh and blood didn't
reveal that to you, but my Father, which is in heaven. Now listen
to me. If you believe that he is the Christ, the son of the
living God, it's because God himself has revealed himself
to you. Don't overcomplicate that. Don't
try to think, well, is it that simple? Yeah. Yeah, it is. If you believe the gospel, if
you believe he's the Christ, the son of the living God, I'm
not asking if you believe you're elect or if you believe you're
regenerate or if you believe Christ died for you. What do
you believe concerning Him? Do you believe that He is the
Christ, the Son, the eternal Son of the living God? Then God
made this known to you. Now, Judas not Iscariot says,
how is it that you manifest yourself to us and not to the world? Now, it would not be wrong to
say that this answer that he gives Judas continues to chapter
16 verse 16 because it's one continuous statement up until
that point and then somebody asks him, Something else, what
is this that he sayeth a little while in verse 17? And you shall
see me and again a little while you shall see me no more because
I go to the Father. You could say that this answer
was not ended until then, but we don't have enough time to
cover everything he said tonight. So we're just going to look at
what he said in the immediate context of chapter 14. So, verse
22, Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot,
not the traitor, Lord, that's not what Judas called him, he
called him master, teacher. You remember when the Lord said,
one of you shall betray me? And 11 of them said, Lord, is
it I? One of them said, master, teacher,
is what that means, teacher, is it I? This is not that fellow. This is the one who knew him
as Lord. Lord, how is it that thou wilt
manifest thyself unto us and not unto the world? And Jesus
answered and said unto him, if a man love me. If a man love me. Now this is something that can
be said of every child of God. He loves the Lord Jesus Christ. He loves everything about him.
He loves every one of his attributes. He loves his holiness. He loves
His sovereignty. Aren't you glad that He controls
everything? He loves His justice that He saves in a way that honors
the justice of God. We love His grace. We love His
love. We love His mercy. We love His
power. We love His wisdom. We love His
humility. We love everything about Him. And we know why we love Him,
don't we? We love Him because we're such loving people. Not
at all. We love Him because He first
loved us. We know that. We know the love
that we have was not produced from these evil hearts. But it's
the gift of God when He gave us a heart to love Him. That's
where that love comes from. It didn't come from us. But we
love Him. We love Him. If any man love not the Lord
Jesus Christ, let him be anathema. Maranatha, let him be damned
upon the Lord's return. Now was Paul being harsh there?
No, that's what ought to happen to somebody who does not love
the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all them who love
our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Now, here's how this love is
manifested. If a man loved me, And He will
keep my words. Now, we love Him. We love to think of Him. Aren't you thankful when the
Lord gives you grace to think high thoughts of the Lord Jesus
Christ when you see Him as glorious and beautiful? We love to hear
Him exalted. We love to hear Him honored.
We love His presence. We love His word. We love to
have communion with Him. And this love is seen in keeping
His words. You can't separate Jesus Christ
and His words. Somebody says, I love Christ.
Well, you do love His words. I can tell if you really love
Him by if you love what He said. That's how He is known. If a man love me, he will keep
my words. Turn back to John chapter 6 for
just a moment. In verse 59, these things said
he in the synagogue as he taught in Capernaum, John 6, 59. Now
he said some words. Many, therefore, of his disciples,
when they'd heard this, said, this is an hard saying. And it's
the word word, logos. This is a hard saying. This is
a harsh saying. This is unsympathetic to humanity
is what that means. This is a disagreeable saying.
We don't like this saying. Who can hear it? Who can be expected
to listen to such things? When Jesus knew in himself that
his disciples murmured at it, his word, he said unto them,
that this offend you, what I've said, does this offend you? Are you offended by these words? Verse 62, what if you should
see the Son of Man ascend up where it was before? Now, I love
this. He's saying, if you're offended now, you'll really be
offended then. When you see who I really am
in my awesome majesty and glory, speaking with the power that
shakes the earth, that created the earth, you'll really be offended
then. Verse 63, it is the Spirit that
quickeneth that gives life, the flesh profits nothing. The words
that I speak unto you that you find harsh and disagreeable and
say, who can hear these things? They are spirit and they are
life. There are some of you that believe
not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that
believed not, who should betray him. And he said, therefore said
unto you that no man can come to me, except it were given unto
him of my father. In that time, many of his disciples
went back and walked no more with him. We're done with this
disciple stuff. We've had it with him. Then said
Jesus unto the twelve as he watched the multitudes leave. Then said
Jesus unto the twelve, will you also go away? And Simon Peter
answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? It's not like we have
an option. Do you have any options? Everywhere
else to go? We don't have any other options.
To whom shall we go? The law? That won't do us any
good. Thou hast the words of eternal life, and we believe
and are sure that thou art that Christ. the Son of the Living
God. Now the Lord is so identified
with His words that He calls Himself what? The Word. The Word. The Word of God. Now we believe them, we keep
them, we guard over them. We don't want anything that He
says to fall to the ground. Now look what it said next. In
John chapter 1422. If a man loved me. He will keep
my words. And my father. Will love him. And we got the father, God, the
son and God, the Holy Spirit. Will come unto him and make our
abode with him. We're going to dwell with that
person. That person is going to be our habitation. If I'm
somebody who loves his word, God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Spirit have made me their dwelling place, their
abode. What glory. Now, He's manifested Himself
to you when you hear His Word, you love His Word, and you love
Him. You know what? I hear His Word. I love His Word. And I love His person. Verse 24, He that loveth me not,
Keepeth not my sayings. Now, if you can let one word
of his, if you can do without it, you don't love him. Every
word he says is precious, pure, the very word of God. If you
can let one doctrine go, well, I think that one's not essential.
I can let that one go out the window. That one's not that important. It's pretty important, but it's
not, you don't love him. You can't love Him and let His
Word go. Now that's what He's saying.
He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings. He doesn't dart
over them or hold on to it. And the Word which you hear is
not mine, but the Father's which is sent me. These are the very
words of God. That's why they're so important.
These are not things I make. These are the words of Him that
sent me. Now these things Verse 25, how is it that you'll manifest
yourself to us? Well, you're going to hear the
word and you're going to keep it. And you're not going to let
it go. Because you love my person and
I gave you that love. That's how he begins, how he
manifests himself now. Look in verse 25. These things
have I spoken to 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 to you." Now how is it He manifests Himself to us and not
to the world? The Holy Spirit. He gives us
God the Holy Spirit, God the Holy Spirit gives us life. That's where that love to Him
comes from. That's where hearing His Word
comes from. That's where refusal to let His Word go comes from. We have the Spirit of God. Only the us has the Spirit of
God. Look in John chapter John chapter 1. John verse 32. And John bare
record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a
dove and did abode upon him. 1, 32 and 33. Verse 33, And I knew him not,
but he that sent me to baptize with water saith unto me, Unto
whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him,
the same as he which baptizes with the Holy Ghost. Look in
John chapter 3. Jesus answered, Verily, verily,
I say unto you, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit,
He cannot enter the kingdom of God. Lacks the ability. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh. It'll never rise above that.
And that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Marvel not
that I said unto you, you must be born again. The wind blows
where it wills. Speaking of the sovereignty of
the spirit. You hear the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence
it cometh and whether it goeth. So is everyone that is born of
the spirit. Look in John chapter seven, verse
37. And that last day, the great
day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man
thirsts, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth
on me, as the Scriptures have said, out of his belly shall
flow rivers of living water. But this he spake of the Spirit,
which they that believe on him should receive. For the Holy
Ghost was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. Look in John 14. Verse 15, if you love me, keep
my commandments and I'll 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. Verses 25 and 26 of the same
chapter, these things have I spoken to 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've said unto you. Look in John chapter 16, verse
7. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it's expedient for you
that I go away, for if I go not away, the Comforter will not
come unto you. But if I depart, I'll send him unto you, and when
he has come, he will reprove the world. of sin, of righteousness,
and of judgment. Of sin, because they believe
not on me. Of righteousness, because I go to my Father and
you see me no more. Of judgment, because the Prince
of this world is judged. I have yet many things to say
unto you, but you can't bear them now. Howbeit, when He, the
Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth. Well, that is so thrilling to
me as a preacher. He's the one that does the guiding,
not me. I don't have to worry about this thing. It's him that
does it. He will guide you into all truth, for he shall not speak
of himself. But whatsoever he shall hear,
that shall he speak. And he'll show you things to
come. He shall glorify me. That's the work of the Holy Spirit. He shall glorify me. for he shall
receive of mine and shall show it unto you. All things that
the Father hath are mine, therefore said I that he should take of
mine and shall show it unto you. The reason you love him, the
reason you love his words, the reason you are unwilling to let
any of his words get away, you keep them, is because you've
been born of the Spirit, taught of the Spirit, guided by the
Spirit. He doesn't do this for the world.
The world can't receive Him. Only those the Father gives Him
do. How is it that you'll manifest
yourself to us and not to the world while I'm giving you my
words, causing you to love them, giving you my Spirit? Back to
John 14, what he says in verse 27. How is it that you'll manifest
yourself to us and not unto the world? Verse 27, 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 no one that's of the world
has any peace. You may say he does, she may
say I have peace, but you do not. If you believe in salvation
by works in any way to any degree, peace is impossible. You will always be thinking,
have I left something out? Have I done enough? The attention
will always be directed to you and your doing. And you'll never
really have any peace. So I've heard people say, I've
got peace. And I don't want to be rude sometimes. I always say, you do not. I know
better than that. But the Lord gives peace. You know that passage of scripture
where it says, the peace of God that passes all understanding
shall keep your mind and heart through Christ Jesus. Well, that
word passes. It doesn't mean it's just beyond
comprehension. We just don't understand it.
We just feel it. It just means the peace of God
excels and goes beyond all understanding. It's a glorious peace, the peace
that I give. You see, the peace he gives is
caused by the peace he accomplished. Having made peace, Colossians
120, having made peace through the blood of his cross. He was delivered for our offenses,
raised again for our justification, therefore being justified, having
been justified. It's God that justifies. Who
is he to condemn? It's God that justifies. Who
shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? God justified
him. Now, don't forget this. If I'm justified, that means
I don't have any sin. That means I never committed
sin. That means I stand before the
holy law of God, having never sinned, but keeping the law perfectly. Now, that's the only thing I
get peace from. But what a peace, my peace, I give unto you. And you know, this peace that
the believers enjoy, it makes us be at peace with one another.
You see, Christ is all. You really don't have anything
I want to fight you over. I've already got everything.
To you, Christ is all. I don't really have anything
you want that you want to fight me over. I mean, peace. Peace between brethren. The peace
that's caused by Him being our peace. I'm at peace with Providence. Does that mean I always have
a good attitude? No, no. I'll have just as bad an attitude
as you do. Boy, things aren't going well. But all that being
said is I have peace knowing that He doeth all things well
and that everything is working together for my good and His
glory. That He's the first cause of everything. Have peace. And those people who don't have
peace with God, I want them to have peace with God. I want to
tell them how peace with God has been accomplished by Christ
Jesus, the Lord. But what is the difference? How
is it that He'll manifest Himself to us and not to the world? This
thing of peace. The peace of justification. He
said, my peace. Think of the peace Christ has
with the Father. Now, I know we can't really enter
into this, but He's never felt guilt before God. Except when
He was on the cross bearing the shame of His people. And that's
been put away, but he's never felt guilt. He's felt perfect
communion. He's felt perfect everything. That's the peace that no unbeliever
has any idea about. It's the peace of what Christ
accomplished in my behalf. Verse 28, you've heard how I
said unto you, I go away and come again to you. Well, if you
love me, you'd rejoice. Because I said, I go into my
Father, for my Father is greater than I. Now, you've heard me
say, I'm leaving. He said, I go to prepare a place
for you. And if you love me, you'd rejoice. He's going back
to the Father. He's going back to the Father. He's been here
for 33 years as a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. That stuff's
over. He's going back to the Father in perfect communion.
The bond between the Father and the Son. And He's going back
with something. He's presenting His righteousness
to the Father in behalf of all those He died for. Of judgment,
of righteousness because I go to the Father and I bring my
righteousness. He will convince the world of
sin, of righteousness, of judgment, but of righteousness because
I go to the Father. And I'm coming back again too.
Now here's something to rejoice in. I love that scripture. It
does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he
shall appear, we shall be like him. for we shall see him as
he is. Now you've heard how I said unto
you, I go away and come again to you. If you love me, you'd
rejoice because I said, I go into the father. He's going back
to him with his own righteousness. He even says, for my father is
greater than I. Somebody says, what in the world does that mean?
I know exactly what it means. He's equal to the father and
he's subordinate to the father. It's that simple. He's equal
to the father. He's not in any way inferior
to the father. But he subordinates himself as
the father's servant. And everything he did while he
was on this planet was an act of submission, subordination
to his father. My father is greater than I. And now I've told you, verse
29, and now I've told you before it came to pass, that when it
come to pass, you might believe. I've told you what's going to
take place, and you're going to believe. When it comes to pass, I'm unfinished
at work. And we hear him say, it is finished.
And we believe. It's finished. It's finished.
We believe. He tells us what's going to happen.
We believe. Hereafter, I will not talk much
with you, for the prince of this world cometh to have nothing
in me. He can't find anything he can hold on to. But that the
world may know that I love the Father, as the Father gave me
commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go, Hanson. That's when he begins John chapter
15 about I'm the true vine. And I don't know if this took
place, but they get up and start walking and he looks at a vineyard
and he says, I'm the true vine. He goes on from there. But what
a question. How is it that thou manifest
thyself to us and not the world? And what a glorious answer. Let's
pray. Lord, how we thank you for the
manifestation of your person. Lord, we would be just as the
world is had you not chosen us out of the world. And Lord, we
stand amazed when we hear you say that we are not of the world,
even as you are not of the world. Lord, we were so amazed at the
greatness of your grace and we give thanks. Lord, we once again would remember
Jennifer. We pray for your hand to be upon
the doctors and that it would be your will that you would heal
her of this. For the Lord's sake, according
to your will, give her grace. Be with all your people wherever
they meet together and. Bless us in this coming week.
Bless us during this time. May we be found in Christ. In
his name we pray, amen. Dwayne, could you leave some
closing here?