Let's open our Bibles again to
John chapter 14. John chapter 14. Last Sunday evening, we looked
at verses 12 through 17, and we saw three promises. Three
promises. The promise of greater works.
The promise of answered prayer. and the promise of the coming
of the Holy Spirit. Tonight, the Lord willing, I
want us to look at verses 18 through 20, and this time, instead
of three promises, three declarations. Three declarations. Let's read
verses 18 through 20. 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, because I live,
you shall live also. At that day you shall know that
I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. Three declarations. The first
one in verse 18, I will not leave you orphans. If you have a marginal
reading, you will see in your Bible that maybe a better translation
than what we have, I will not leave you comfortless, is I will
not leave you orphans. Who is more comfortless than
an orphan? Who is more comfortless than
an orphan? A little boy or a little girl
that is left in this world without father or mother. I can't imagine
anyone any more comfortless than an orphan. I remember reading
one time in one of Spurgeon's sermons, you know, he had those
orphanages there in London, outside of London during his ministry. But they had a meeting of the
directors of the orphanage one day, and they were discussing,
what does an orphan need? And someone said, an orphan needs
a mother. An orphan needs a mother. Others
said some need food, and some said they need shelter, they
need this and that. But one was convinced, if they
had a mother, They would have all of those things. I will not
leave you orphans. This is what the Lord Jesus Christ
said to his 11 disciples the night before he was to be crucified. I want you to look back with
me to a familiar prophecy in Isaiah chapter 9. Isaiah chapter
9. And verse number six, for unto us a child is born. Mary, the Virgin Mary, she gave
birth to a child. Unto us a son is given. God so loved the world that he
gave his only begotten son. So we know this is speaking of
the incarnation of the eternal son of God. And he came into
this world. And as the Apostle Paul said,
and it is still amazing every time we stop and consider how
that God, Almighty God, came into this world as a man. We read that scripture just a
few minutes ago. He was weary from his journey.
He that upholds all things, He is the creator of all things
and upholds all things by the word of his power. Can you imagine
that? That he was weary from his journey. But this is a prophecy that God
gave through the, through the prophet Isaiah concerning the
promised one and the government shall be upon his shoulder. That
is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the King of Kings and Lord
of Lords. He is upon His throne tonight,
we know that. He sits upon the throne of God,
and all authority and all powers given unto Him upon His shoulder
is the government of this world. But notice what it says now about
His name. His name shall be called, and
all of these words speak to us of His person, of His person. He shall be called wonderful. That's a message in itself, isn't
it? The Lord Jesus Christ, called wonderful. And truly, He is wonderful. He's wonderful in His redeeming
work. He's wonderful in saving sinners. He's wonderful. Counselor, that
is, the wisdom of God. The mighty God. The mighty God. Even though He was manifest in
the flesh, He is the mighty God. But notice this next one. The
everlasting Father. The everlasting Father. The Prince
of Peace. I will not leave you orphans. One of these terms is the Everlasting
Father, speaking of the God-man. He who is the Son born, the child
born rather, and the Son given. One of his titles is the Everlasting
Father. Now in the Godhead, in the Trinity,
we know there's a distinction between the Son and the Father. The Father's not the Son, and
the Son is not the Father, but they are one. But this here is
speaking of the Son of God who was made manifest in the flesh,
and He is called the Everlasting Father. Now, for Him to have
this title, Father, we know that He has sons and daughters, that
is, His elect. They are all given unto Him as
His children. I will not leave you orphans. He is the everlasting Father. All of His people, all of those
who are saved down through the ages, are all His children. They all make up His body, His
church, His bride, His sheep, His children. Look over, if you're
still in Isaiah to chapter 53. This chapter that speaks to us
of the suffering servant of Jehovah. The suffering servant of Jehovah. But look, if you will, in verse
10. It says, Yet it pleased the Lord
to bruise him. He hath put him to grief, when
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin. And once again, let's
remind ourselves He gave Himself as a sacrifice, as an offering
for sin. Don't be fooled and don't be
deceived by people who would tell us that He just came into
this world as an example to show us God's love. He does show us God's love. And
He's here as a result of God's love, isn't He? And some people
get the wrong idea that Christ, because of His person and His
work, that He engages God to love us. No, He's here because
God loved us. But He made His soul an offering
for sin, for the sins of His people. Notice what it says next. He shall see his seed. Now man's seed refers to his
children, his offspring. He shall see his seed, he shall
prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in
his hand. He shall see of the travail of
his soul, and shall be satisfied. He shall. He travailed just as
a woman travails in giving birth. So the Lord travailed in agony,
suffering, and pain upon the cross. But he shall see of the
travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. He shall. He shall see the result, the
end of his suffering. that He has redeemed all of His
seed. By His knowledge, by His knowledge,
do you know Christ? Do you know Him? By knowing Christ,
by His knowledge, my righteous servant will justify many. That's how we are justified,
isn't it? and knowing Christ, his work for us on the cross. But the point I wanted to make
here is this, when Christ said, I shall not leave you orphans,
I will not leave you orphans, I will come to you, we see that
the word of God teaches that he has a seed, that one of his
titles is the everlasting father. And none of his children will
ever be left orphans. They'll never be left orphans.
Why? Because He ever lives. He's never going to die. Look
in Psalm 22. This is sometimes called the
Psalm of the Cross. And the reason it's called the
Psalm of the Cross is because we see David, the author of this
Psalm, speaking the very things that the Lord Jesus Christ spoke
and experienced on the cross. It begins with these words, my
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from
helping me and from the words of my roaring? But notice down
in verse 27, and if you read on through the psalm, you will
see many of the things that the Lord Jesus Christ experienced. Those people around the cross
making fun and and things like that. But notice in verse 27, all the ends of the world shall
remember and turn unto the Lord. His people, God's people, His
children, was not just comprised of those of the nation of Israel,
but all the ends of the world. In other words, as we read in
Revelation, from every nation, every tongue, every people, every
tribe. from all the ends of the world
shall remember and turn unto the Lord, and all the kindreds
of the nations shall worship before thee. For the kingdom
is the Lord's, and he is the governor among the nations. All they shall be fat upon earth
shall eat and worship. All they that go down to the
dust shall bow before him, and none can keep alive his own soul. Notice a seed. A seed shall serve
him. What seed? His seed. His seed. He is the everlasting Father. Now go back with me to John 14. He had just before this, we saw
this several weeks ago, it's in chapter 13, but it's all in
the same evening. He had referred to his children
as little children. I will not leave you orphans.
I will come to you. Now the commentators do not agree
as to the meaning of these words. I will come to you. It seems
to me that there are three positions. Three positions. Number one,
some say this means I will come to you on the day of my resurrection. I will come to you. Second, there
are those who say, I will come to you by my spirit on the day
of Pentecost. And then there's a third group
who are convinced that what our Lord means is, I will come to
you at the end of the age, when the Lord comes again. To me,
this third third position, I will come to you at the end of the
age. To me, I don't see how that could have been much comfort
to his disciples that night, because it's been 2,000 years
and our Lord hasn't returned. Our Lord is comforting those
11 disciples, and he tells them, I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you. Arthur Pink,
he takes a safe view. He takes a safe view. He says,
they must be understood in their widest latitude. In other words,
take all three views. Take all three views. He did
come to them corporally on the day of his resurrection. Remember,
he appeared to those two disciples on the road to Emmaus. And they
got so excited when they saw who it was, this stranger who
had accompanied them, and they understood who he was in the
breaking of bread. Does that mean that they saw
the marks in his hands? I don't know. It could be. I
know they were still marked. He did show his disciples that
later, for sure. But they got so excited when
the Lord left them there that they just jumped up and headed
back to Jerusalem as fast as they could get there. And lo
and behold, when they got there, before they could tell those
Those nine disciples who were gathered there, the 11, they're
called a group now, the 11, before they could tell their story about
what happened to them on the road to Emmaus, those there in
that room said, we've seen the Lord. And then the Lord appeared
unto them. Immediately, He was in their
presence. I will come to thee. He did come
to them corporally on that third day. And he did come to them
spiritually on the day of Pentecost. He poured out his spirit upon
these 11 disciples along with the others who were with them.
And he will come to them in glory at the end of the world, the
end of the age. Remember what the angels told
those disciples as they were out there and the Lord was taken
from them into heaven. He ascended into heaven. They
said, this same Jesus, not another one, this same Jesus, which you
have seen, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so
come as you have seen him go into heaven. So all three views
we know are true. He did come. on that third day
to these 11 disciples. He did come on the day of Pentecost
by his spirit. And yes, he will come again at
the end of the age. But the truth is, we, you and
I, those of us now who are his children, we're not left orphans. We're not left orphans in this
world. He said, lo, I'm with you until
the end of the age. And what about this promise?
This promise we find in Revelation chapter two and verse 20. Thinking
about the fact that he is with us, he said this to the church
of the Laodiceans. Lo, behold, I stand at the door
and knock. Now this is not speaking to lost
men and women. You understand that. This is
speaking to the church, the church of Laodicea, but to you and I. Lo, I stand at the door, and
knock. If any man hear my voice, and
open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him,
and he with me. I will not leave you orphans.
I will come to you. We have this promise. I want
you to look back into the Song of Solomon, just a moment. Chapter 5, the Song of Solomon. And I want us to think here,
to see here, how we as his children, his promise is, I will not leave
you orphans, I will come to you. How it is that you and I may
lose, how it is that we may lose his perceived presence. And notice I said perceived presence. his felt presence, for he never
leaves us orphans. But here's how, in my opinion,
we may lose his perceived presence. Look in chapter five and verse
number two. I sleep. Do we ever sleep? I'm not talking about physical
sleep, I'm talking about just sleep. Lose interest, lose consciousness
in the things of God. I sleep, but my heart waketh. It is the voice of my beloved
that knocketh. Remember the verse? Behold, I
stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and
open unto me, I will come in to him. and sup with him and
him with me. Behold, I stand at the door and
knock. I sleep, but my heart waketh.
It is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, open to
me, my sister, my love. You know why he refers to his
church as his sister and his bride, his sister and his love? Because of his humanity. He became bone of our bone and
flesh of our flesh. He's our brother. He refers to
his church as his sister, but also as his love, his bride. Open to me, my sister, my love,
my dove, my undefiled, washed in the blood of Christ. What
can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Christ.
My sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled. For my head is
filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.
Now listen, here's the bride. I have put off my coat. Really? I've got other things. I've put
off my coat. After what I've done for you.
We sing that hymn sometimes that Francis Havergill wrote. I gave,
I gave my life for thee. What hast thou given for me? I put off my coat. I put off
my coat. How shall I put it on? Is it
really that hard? Is it really that much trouble?
I have washed my feet. How shall I defile them? My beloved
put in his hand by the hole of the door. And my heart, my vows
were moved for him. I rose up. When he put his hand, I wonder,
did she see the marks? Did she remember what it had
cost him to redeem her? After she had said, I put off
my coat. I've already washed my feet.
When he put his hand in. Then I rose up to open to my
beloved. My hands dropped with myrrh,
and my fingers with sweet-smelling myrrh upon the handles of the
lock. I opened to my beloved, but my
beloved had withdrawn himself and was gone. My soul failed
when he spake. I sought him, but I could not
find him. I called him, but he gave me
no answer. The watchmen that went about
the city found me. They smote me. They wounded me. The keepers of the walls took
away my veil from me. So, as I said, we may lose his
perceived presence, but he never really leaves us. He doesn't. But oh, isn't it wonderful to
walk in fellowship with the Lord and to know his presence? And
isn't it awful when we, because of our sin, or whatever you want to
call it, because of our neglect, we seem to have lost. It seems
like he's left us and we're orphans. The fault, not his, it's ours. But his declaration is, I will
not leave thee orphans. I will come to thee. Number two,
the second declaration Back in chapter 14, Because I live, he said, yet a little while,
and the world seeth me no more. But you see me, because I live,
you shall live also. This is the declaration, because
I live, you shall live also. But let me say a word that precedes
that declaration. Yet a little while and the world
seeth me no more. Now the world that saw him that
night and the next day, the priest, the soldiers, Pilate, Herod,
the crowd that called out crucify him, crucify him. Those who wag
their tongues around his cross They saw his body laid in the
tomb, but they saw him no more. When the Lord came out on that
third day, he did not reveal himself to anyone other. He did not manifest himself,
did not show himself to anyone other than his disciples. As he said here, a little while
and the world seeth me no more, but you see me, Let me show us
that. Let's take just a few minutes.
Turn with me to the book of Acts. First of all, in Acts chapter
1 and then in Acts chapter 10. In Acts chapter 1, let's read verses
1 through 3. The former treaties have I made,
O Theophilus, Theophis, of all that Jesus began both to do and
teach. Until the day in which he was
taken up, after that he through the Holy Spirit had given commandments
unto the apostles whom he had chosen, and notice, to whom also
he showed himself. To whom did he show himself?
To the apostles. showed himself alive after his
passion by many infallible proofs." Many infallible proofs. He ate.
He spoke to them. They saw him. Many infallible
proofs. "...being seen of them forty
days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of
God." Now look over in Acts chapter 10 when Peter is in the house
of Cornelius. Acts chapter 10. And verse 39,
Peter is speaking, Acts chapter 10 and verse 39. He said, and
we are witnesses of all things which he did, that is the Lord
Jesus Christ, which he did in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem,
whom they slew and hanged on a tree. Him God raised up the
third day and showed him openly not to all the people, but unto
witnesses chosen before of God, even to us who did eat and drink
with him after he rose from the dead." Arthur Pink said a literal
translation of this verse here in John chapter 14 would be,
yet a little while and the world me no longer sees. The world will see him again. They will. They shall see him
seated on the great white throne on the day of judgment, only
to hear these words depart from me, ye that work iniquity. With these 11 disciples, as well
as all believers, we live because Christ lives. He is our life. Our spiritual life, as well as
our resurrection life, is from Christ. In Colossians chapter
3, the apostle said, when he who is our life shall appear.
At present, our life is hid with Christ in God. And it's not so
much that we live, as it is that Christ lives in us. Remember
what the Apostle Paul said in Galatians 2, where I'm crucified
with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not
I, but the life that I live, I live by the faith of the Son
of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Now, I may not
have quoted that exactly right, so let me turn over there and
read that. Galatians 2. Galatians chapter 2 and verse
20. I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless
I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which
I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God,
who loved me and gave himself for me. This is the second declaration
the Lord Jesus Christ gave to his disciples. Because I live, you shall live
also. Now, here's the third. The third
declaration. At that day, you shall know that
I am in the Father, and you in me, and I in you. The Lord here is not saying that
these 11 disciples had no knowledge of the union which exists between
Himself, God the Son, and God the Father, or between Christ
and His members. He is speaking of an increase
of knowledge in these truths, which they would experience when
the Lord poured out His Spirit upon them, and we read that in
Acts chapter one, where when He appeared to them, He gave
them His commandments, He taught them. You shall know that I am in the
Father, and you in me, and I in you. This knowledge is going
to increase an increase of knowledge in these truths they would experience. And he prayed for this in John
chapter 17 and verses 21 through 24. He prayed for this very thing. But my thought tonight as I finish
this message is, doesn't this remind us of the fact of spiritual
growth? Spiritual growth. We know these
truths. I know this tonight. I can stand
before you and say unequivocally, I know that Christ is in the
Father, and the Father is in Christ, and Christ is in me,
and I am in Him. But I'd be the first to admit
my knowledge is limited. It's limited. I know more now
than I knew when I was first brought to Christ when I first
came to know Him. I understand more now than I
did then. Point is, we all see through
a glass darkly. We all do. That's what, if you
look in I Corinthians chapter 13, we know these truths. We
know these truths, but we are growing. Thank God, everything
that is alive grows. If a person doesn't grow, He's
not spiritually alive. We grow in the grace and in the
knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here in 1 Corinthians 13, this
great chapter that the apostle deals with love. If you look
in verse nine, he says, for we know in part. That was true of him. He said,
we certainly true of us, true of me. We know in part. And we prophesy in part. But
when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part
shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as
a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child. But when
I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through
a glass darkly, but then face to face. And you see the comparison
is. The knowledge that we have now
and the knowledge that we shall have when we see Him is compared
to a child and an adult. A child speaks like a child. An adult speaks like an adult. A child's knowledge is very limited. An adult's knowledge is increased. What the Apostle Paul is telling
us that We all now know, in part, we see through a glass darkly.
That glass is a mirror. Now the mirrors that they had
were made out of brass, I believe, and they were shiny. But still,
they didn't give a very perfect image. We see through a glass,
it's the same word for mirror. You know, the mirror, that mirror
is a piece of glass, isn't it? And that is painted something
on the back. And you can imagine when Paul wrote this, how the
mirrors would be. You could see through them, but
you saw through them dimly. And that's the way it is with
all of us in this world. We know in part, we prophesy
in part. But then, face to face, now I
know in part, but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope,
love, these three, but the greatest of these is
love." Paul said, you know, this church, you've got to take this
in context, don't you? This church, they were glorying
and the gifts that God had given them, but Paul is showing them
that a greater gift than all of those gifts that they were
glorying in is love. Love. There's coming a day when it
shall no longer be, we know in part, but then it shall be face
to face. Beloved, The Apostle John wrote,
Beloved, now, today, tonight, May the 27th, 2018, now are we
the sons of God, and it doth 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. May the Lord Bless this word,
all of us here tonight.