Loved by the Father

I'd like you to turn in your Bibles this morning to John chapter 14.

John 14 · chapter mention

!

And an activity in which there are more people engaged in its outcome than we may think.

Generally, we think, well, the preacher is up front and my responsibilities kind of sit there and listen and whatever.

I want to appeal to you that the Scriptures make it clear that one of the duties you have is to be actively engaged in the preaching of the Word by prayer.

And I trust you're doing that.

And I pray that in the flow of the sermon in those moments where you sense it is appropriate and necessary that you freely ask the Lord to help me and help you.

Because we are both mutually dependent upon having the Word make a difference in the way we think.

If I could, over the years of ministry, 35 plus now, if there were one thing, one thing, that I could give to believers.

I'm not involved in salvation.

That's the work of God.

And I don't save people.

I love talking to people that don't know Jesus about the only one who can make a difference in their lives.

But when I am ministering to those who do know Christ,

and a large part of my life ministry has been with people who at least profess to know Christ,

if there is one thing that I could give to them, it would be this,

an understanding of the love of Christ for them.

And we spend far too much time thinking about things that really don't connect to that truth.

And I introduced that here at the very beginning because what we are actually engaged in doing

is working our way through a passage in which we find the love of Christ displayed to us

in undeniable terms against the backdrop of the cross.

Now, you and I, if we were going into a suffering like the cross,

probably we'd be obsessed with our self.

And I can tell you this from personal experience.

Spending time thinking too much about Tim Knoyer is not only destructive and toxic for me,

it's invariably harmful to other people.

How many of you would agree with me?

I mean, thinking about Tim Knoyer, right?

But kind of play it over.

Here's Jesus in the shadow of the cross with one particular interest,

and that is the 11 who he's going to leave behind.

And he knows their hearts.

He knows what they're thinking.

Can you imagine the mess of the disciples' hearts?

On the one hand, they were bickering with each other.

Their usual intramural team sport was arguing about who was going to be what?

Number one.

That's what they were all about.

But on the other hand, there's this certain level of anxiety, uncertainty about,

well, what is going to happen?

We've been following him for three years, and he's cutting out of here.

He said it over and over again.

And they're all worried.

In John chapter 14, let not your hearts be troubled.

John 14 · chapter mention

I've got to tell you something.

It is a conscious and deliberate choice

that people who know Christ can make

to have troubled hearts or not have troubled hearts.

If we do believe that the same one who grants us salvation through faith

can be trusted for other truths as well,

then there is something to be said

for taking control of the way we think

and framing our thought life in the picture of Scriptures.

So here is Jesus saying,

let not your hearts be troubled, fact,

but then he plays it out and gives us good reasons

not to be overwhelmed and troubled.

And so in a broader look at the passage

before we get into the details,

I want you to understand that in the early part of chapter 14,

he deals with the fact that the disciples

can look forward to a certain eternity.

Hey, I'm going to prepare a place for you.

And if it weren't so, I wouldn't have told you.

And I'm going there so you can what?

You can be with me.

Does it get any better than that?

Huh?

I know how my story ends.

I love Revelation chapter 4 and chapter 5.

Revelation 4 · chapter mention

I mean, that is a blast, isn't it?

You get into those two chapters

and it kind of lifts your heart up.

That's how the story ends.

I am going to enjoy the presence of Christ forever.

And you who know Christ are going to have the same delight.

This morning as I was in prayer,

I was looking forward to the time of worship with you.

And here's what I thought.

My wife says I'm a little maudlin

and a little bit too pessimistic.

I'm the glass half three quarters empty guy.

That's my nature.

But there's a time that it fits.

And here I was.

I was in prayer and I was thinking,

Lord, I am going to enjoy worship

with other broken vessels like me.

And I thought, and it's going to be good.

And I'm going to delight in it.

And it is going to give me a taste

of what heaven's going to be like.

And I'm looking forward to it.

Are you?

And here's Jesus saying,

Hey, guys, don't be bent out of shape.

You've got a certain eternity.

The second thing he says is,

Hey, listen, understand.

I'm with you.

Okay?

I'm with you.

And his actual understanding

that he eventually is going to help

the disciples find is that

this business of him being with them

is referring to the indwelling ministry

of the Holy Spirit.

He says, listen,

you're going to have union with me.

Third thing he says is that,

and you are going to be involved

in doing a great work.

You're going to be involved

in doing a great work.

Now, how could that be comforting

to the disciples?

Do you understand that at the heart of it,

we all have a sense,

we all have a sense

that we've been created

and we're here for some reason

and we ought to be doing

something of significance.

What am I doing?

Why am I here?

What's this all about?

And here is Jesus speaking

to his disciples

and what we're really going to look here

in the passage that we study this morning

is that there's something going on

that we are engaged in a great work

and we have comfort in knowing

that we are at that task for his glory.

And so as we look at this passage,

I'm going to pick back up there in verse 12.

It says,

Truly, truly, I say to you,

whoever believes in me

will also do the works that I do

and greater works than these

will he do.

Have you ever been in a home

where you looked around

and you realized

that someone had invested

a great amount of emotion

and energy

and resources

in putting it a particular way

and it had all now collapsed into chaos?

I'll never forget.

How many of you know Mount Everest?

You've heard Mount Everest.

I'll never forget

when on a camping trip

in Missouri,

in India,

about five of us spent three days

on Lord Everest's

dilapidated,

decaying,

ruined estate

in India.

He was the

Lord's surveyor

for all of

the empire

in India

and he had a

palatial,

gargantuan home

built

on the very

crest

of a mountain

where from there

on a clear day

he could see

Mount Everest.

And before,

of lasers

and all those other

kinds of things,

he was able to compute

within feet

the height

of that mountain.

You can Google it

to check on me.

And here,

we slept

in these

large,

some of the rooms

were probably

half this size.

They were huge.

And I

slept in a

sleeping bag

in a

building

that had

belonged at one time

to a man

who was

unbelievably

respected

in the empire.

And he built

this wonderful

mansion.

And there

I slept

and looked around

on the walls

and I saw

the plaster

falling off

and there was

still some

furniture sitting

there.

Amazing.

And the

place,

the ceiling

was falling

in in some

places

and the

plaster had

fallen off

the walls

because of

water damage

and the

entire

place

was just

goats.

Inside

the home

were little

deposits

that goats

had left.

And I'm not

talking about

pairings

from their

hooves.

You know,

it's all

over the place.

And I thought

to myself,

you know,

this was

somebody's

dream.

and it was

gone and

done.

And here

is Jesus

saying to

his disciples,

now listen,

you're going

to do

bigger things

than I

did.

How is

that?

One,

it will

come about

through the

work of the

intercession

of Christ.

It is really

stunning when

you stop and

read what we

do there in

verse 12

and he says

this,

he says,

you're going

to do

greater works

than I

do.

And he

wasn't talking

about raising

the dead.

He wasn't

talking about

feeding the

5,000 or

walking on

water.

He was

really speaking

primarily about

the part that

you and I

play and

will play in

Christ's great

work of

redemption.

Now listen

to me

carefully.

If in

your life

you cannot

look back

and see

the part

that you

have played

in Christ's

work of

redemption,

there will

be sorrow

and loss

and disappointment.

Do you

believe that?

Do you

believe that?

The truth

of the matter

is when

Jesus said

you are going

to do

greater works

than I

have done,

he was

speaking about

the blessing

of being part

of his

ministry of

reconciliation

and leading

people to

the cross.

And as we

think about

that responsibility

I trust that

one of the

things that you

and I take

delight in

is ministering

to people

and helping

them know

that through

the gospel,

through the

Lord Jesus

Christ,

ruined and

destroyed lives

may be

transformed by

the power

of the cross.

Isn't that

right?

Last Monday

I had the

opportunity of

talking with

an individual

and in the

flow of

conversation

one of my

favorite lines

is this,

I know the

only person

who can

turn a mess

around.

And I

can say

and I

know why

I believe

that,

it's because

of what he's

done in my

life.

He brings

salvation,

light and

peace and

blessing and

transformation.

And so here

we are,

you and I

are engaged

in that

work.

And I

want you to

understand that

at the

heart of

what really

helps us

as his

witness is

the fact that

Jesus has

gone before

us, he has

dealt with the

issues of

salvation on

the cross,

he has

satisfied the

wrath of

God, he

has brought

to us not

only forgiveness

but he has

absolutely made

the matter and

the way of

salvation secure

and I trust

that one of the

things that you

take pleasure

in is knowing

that those he

saves, he saves

to the uttermost,

isn't that right?

There's no

question, there's

no doubt.

The fact is also

that we're on

the victor's

side.

I love what

Peter said in

his sermon on

the day of

Pentecost and I

want you to turn

there just for a

moment, keep your

finger there in

John because we're

coming back to

it but go to

Acts chapter 22

Acts 22:22–24

verse 22

through 24.

Acts chapter 2

Acts 2:22

verse 22.

Remember how

the sermon

starts out

and Peter

makes it clear,

you know, you

guys crucified

the Lord Jesus

but

Moses

in verse

22 it says,

Moses said,

the Lord God

will raise up

for you a

prophet like me

from your

brothers and

you shall

listen to him

in whatever

he tells you.

I'm sorry,

I'm in verse

3, chapter 3.

Verse 22.

Men of Israel,

hear these words,

Jesus of Nazareth,

a man attested

to you by God

with mighty works

and wonders

and signs that

God did through

him in your midst

as you yourselves

know.

This Jesus

delivered up

according to the

definite plan

and foreknowledge

of God.

You crucified

and killed

by the hands

of lawless men.

God raised

him up,

loosing the

pangs of death

because it was

not possible

for him to be

held by it.

And over there

in verse 34

we read this.

For David

did not ascend

into heavens

but he himself

says,

the Lord said

to my Lord,

sit at my right

hand till I

make your enemies

your footstool.

Now here's the

point.

I want you to

understand the

fact of the

matter is we

know how the

story ends and

Jesus wins.

I have to

confess that I

had a grossly

inaccurate view

of what would

happen after the

elections were

over.

I thought

everything kind

of calmed

down,

everybody go

back to their

corners and

it is worse.

Truthfully,

I am so glad

that I know

how the story

ends.

And it is not

going to be

solved in

Washington.

It is going to

be solved when

the Lord Jesus

returns.

And I had to

stop and think

to myself,

you know,

I would imagine

100 years ago,

200 years ago,

whatever the time

was, it was just

as messy ultimately

because you have

sinners in conflict

with one another

in every situation.

And so I want you

to stop and

recognize that the

day is coming,

that Jesus is

coming back and

we are on the

victor's side and

that is a comfort

and an encouragement

to us.

In addition to

that, I want you

to recognize,

going back to the

passage in John

John 14 · chapter mention

chapter 14,

that what is

going on today

is Jesus is

interceding for

us.

You look there

and here's what

he says.

He says,

I'm going to the

Father, the last

part of verse 12,

whatever you ask

in my name,

this I will do

that the Father

may be glorified

in the Son.

If you ask me

anything in my

name, I will do

it.

Who's going to

do it?

Jesus.

Who's going to

do it?

The Father.

Why is he going

to have it done?

It is because he

is interceding

for us.

He is our

advocate.

He is our

mediator.

He is our

judge.

And if you

are sitting

here this

morning feeling

a little

overwhelmed by

your life and

the baggage that

you have, I

would, listen to

me carefully,

write this down

because you can

hold on to it.

I want you to

memorize two

different passages

of scripture that

will help inform

your thinking and

draw you out of

the swamp.

Romans chapter

Romans 8:31–38

8, verse 31

through 38.

And Ephesians

Ephesians 3:14–19

chapter 3, verse

14 through 19.

Whenever you

find yourself

consumed by

things that are

not productive

and healthful, I

want to encourage

you to get your

hands and your

head around these

two passages.

It reminds us of

this fact.

Jesus loves us and

he is on our

side.

The fact of the

matter is, Jesus

stands today before

the Father and he

intercedes for us.

And that's what we

find here.

Jesus says, you're

going to do great

works.

How am I going to

do them?

I'm going to be

praying for you.

I'm going to be

interceding for you.

I'm going to be

helping you.

And you can have

confidence in how

the story ends.

Now there's another

truth that I want you

to get your hands

around this morning.

Look at verse 15.

If you love me, you

will keep my

commandments.

Great works not only

come through the

intercession of

Christ, great works

also come through our

loving obedience.

Let me try that

again.

Great works come

through our loving

obedience.

Now in order to

help you think this

through, I want you

to recognize that it

is important for us to

put together several

different thoughts that

flow here.

You look there in

verse 15.

If you love me, you'll

keep my commandments.

Verse 21.

Whoever has my

commandments and keeps

them, he it is who

loves me.

Verse 23.

Jesus answered him,

if anyone loves me, he

will keep my word.

Verse 24.

Whoever does not love

me does not keep my

word.

So do you get the

picture?

If you love me, what

happens?

You keep my

commandments.

Now incidentally, when

we think about his

commandments, we can

sometimes think about

his commandments as

being burdensome,

difficult,

obligations that we

kind of have to

perform if we want

the story to end

well.

Right?

And there's an

aspect to that which

is true.

Several years ago, I

found out that having

the brakes done on my

car would cost me

about $450.

Have the pads

changed?

And just being a little

perverse, I thought that

I would check and see

what brake pads cost.

Does anybody know that

they're reasonably

inexpensive?

They're really kind of

almost close to dirt

cheap.

And I thought to

myself, why am I

paying somebody else

about $100 plus to do

brake pads?

I'd never done them

before.

But I am of the mind

that if you can watch

YouTube, you can do

brain surgery.

Not entirely true.

Don't quote me.

But, first of all, I got

Dwayne Covert to coach me

because I didn't want to

take a dry run and end up

in the ditch, you know.

And so he kind of watched

me through this.

But I actually have tools

now for doing brake pads

and I do them for

entire family.

You know, it's like,

is this hard to do?

No.

Just follow directions.

Got to say that again

slowly.

Just follow directions.

Do you know that

directions are actually

good for you?

And as we get older,

we actually can learn

some things.

I am at the stage where

before I decide I'm going

to put a kit together

or build, you know,

whatever.

I actually read the

directions.

Yeah, it's like, oh,

you can teach an old dog

new tricks, you know.

Well, I've had so many

times where I've had the

parts over on the side

that I didn't use and I

didn't know what they were

for until I discovered

that it just didn't fit.

So now here's the point.

We look at this statement.

Okay, if you love me, you

keep my commandments.

And we tend to think about

this and say, well, what is

Christ doing here?

Is he pointing to his

disciples and saying, if

you're really one of mine,

you'll obey.

And that has a ring of truth

to it.

But remember, when Jesus

said this, he was not

challenging his 11 remaining

disciples as to the question

of whether or not they

were saved.

What was he trying to do?

He was trying to encourage

them.

He was trying to lift their

spirits up.

He was trying to say, if

you just follow the YouTube

directions, your breaks

will work.

It'll work.

Trust me.

The things that I want, I'm

not going to use the fancy

Greek terms here, but you

can take two little thoughts

and if you want to write in

your Bible, you can put

condition and consequence.

Condition goes over if you

love me.

Consequence goes over keep my

commandments.

Condition, consequence.

And what we find in this

passage is Jesus is driving

home the logic that the fact

of love in our lives will

bring us to obedience and

obedience will help us do

great things.

Let me have you see this in a

very similar pattern over in

John chapter 21.

John 21 · chapter mention

Turn there, if you will, just

for a moment.

John chapter 21, not very far

John 21 · chapter mention

away.

Can I tell you that in John

John 21:15–18

chapter 21, verse 15 through

18, we have a passage where I

am convinced that Jesus is not

testing Peter's love.

When they'd finished breakfast,

Jesus said to Simon Peter,

Simon, son of John, do you love

me more than these?

He said, yes, Lord, you know

that I love you.

Did Jesus know that he actually

loved him?

What's the answer?

He did.

Jesus knew.

And he says, well, okay, feed

my lambs.

He said to him a second time,

Simon, son of John, do you love

me?

He said, yes, Lord, you know

that I love you.

He said, tend my sheep.

He said to him a third time,

Simon, son of John, do you love

me?

Peter was grieved because he

said to him a third time, do you

love me?

And he said to him, Lord, you know

everything, right?

You got it.

Yes, you do.

You know that I love you.

Jesus said, feed my sheep.

Condition.

I love him.

Consequence.

I obey him.

Let me drive that home for you

because sometimes this morning I

think we get lost in the facts

that, you know, the truth of the

matter is, is I have a tendency

to sometimes think that the

commandments he gives are

burdensome.

They kind of, they interfere with

what I want.

But it goes back to doing breaks.

If you don't follow his

instructions and all of them are

good.

Would you agree with that in

theory?

Just say with me.

Yeah, in theory.

In theory, what God tells me is

actually, now don't anybody send

me an email because I'm using a

little bit of sarcasm here.

So just get this point, okay?

When God tells us to do

something, it's good.

Why is it good?

Because he's good.

So when it says, if you love me,

keep my commandments, the purpose

of that instruction is this.

So that as we obey him, we will do

good works.

We'll accomplish great things.

We'll be involved in doing things

that in the rear view mirror we look

back and say, wow, how did that

happen?

It was me following his counsel,

obeying him, and enjoying the outcome

as the result of that.

So let's kind of work this through to

place it in our mind.

Our love produces obedience.

And that's how he is glorified and

how we do great things.

Great works on our part, let me have

you understand this, never happen

apart from obeying him.

Great works on our part never happen

apart from obeying him.

You know, sometimes we're all cut up

and fantasizing what it would be like

to do great things for God.

Oh, I would like to see drug addicts

saved.

I'd like to be involved in bringing the

gospel to people whose lives are really

messy.

I'd like to help draw homeless people

out from under the bridge.

Those are all good things.

They really are.

But you're not going to make it out of

kindergarten if you're not willing to

obey in the things he's already put on

the plate in front of you right now.

You're a little bit like the farmer who

loved the idea of a good harvest, but he

really didn't like the idea of getting

out in the morning and doing the fields

and caring for the responsibilities that

go with it.

I got to make this point clear.

There is a connection between the seeds

of obedience that we sow and the fruit

of blessings that we reap.

On the face of it, obedience is actually

harder than we'd like to admit.

Wouldn't you agree with that?

I mean, truth of the matter is, is every

one of us here, we have a problem on a

regular basis with obedience in our

life.

How many of you have kind of struggled

with something that the Lord's been

drawing to your attention?

Well, not right now.

I don't want to do it because so-and-so,

you know, we've got all kinds of reasons.

I come to the third point.

Great works happen through the enabling

of the Spirit of God.

Remember, Jesus is encouraging his

disciples, I'm leaving.

Don't be worried because the story ends

well and you're going to be with me.

And by the way, in the intermediate time,

you're going to do some phenomenal

things, you're going to be involved in

something unbelievable.

How's that?

Well, you're going to obey my word.

And how's that?

Through the enabling of the Holy Spirit.

Look at verse 16.

And I will ask the Father and he will

give you another helper to be with you

forever.

Now remember, the disciples were pretty

troubled because they were beginning to get

the idea that Jesus was going to be

crucified and he was leaving them.

And here is Jesus saying, listen, I'm

going to be going away.

And you can understand their anxiety and

their uncertainty and their concern for

what their future was going to be like.

And here is Jesus saying to them, you're

going to have another helper.

Now the word another is a word in the

Greek, I'm not going to dive into it, but

there's a couple different words that are

used in Greek.

Another can be like different.

Or another can be just the same.

And here is Jesus saying that you're

going to have another helper just like

me who is going to be with you and his

role is going to be to be your helper.

Now it's very interesting and we'll get to

this later in our preaching through the

book of John.

I don't know if Pastor Shearer gets to

do this or I do.

Well, it's John chapter 16 verse 7.

John 16:7

Look at it just for a moment.

Nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it is

for your advantage that I go away.

For if I do not go away, the helper will

not come to you.

Hey, try that.

It's actually going to be better for you

if I'm out of here.

What?

Here's Jesus back in 14.

He says, I want you to understand that the

Father is going to give you the helper to be

with you forever.

Even the spirit of truth, verse 17, whom

the world cannot receive because it neither

sees him or knows him.

You know him for he dwells with you and

will be in you.

I will not leave you orphans.

I will come to you.

Now, I want you to understand that what Jesus

was encouraging the disciples to recognize

is that after he left, we would receive the

Holy Spirit and the indwelling spirit is

profoundly significant to the spiritual life.

Would you agree with me?

Let me put it this way.

The amount of attention to you that you give to

living a spiritual life

is paired, is coupled to your sensitivity to the need

of the Holy Spirit.

Does that make sense?

Do you follow what I'm saying?

Do you follow what I'm saying?

You cannot live a spiritually productive life apart

from the enabling of the Spirit of God.

And my sensitivity to living a spiritual life leads me

to have a desperate dependence upon the Holy Spirit.

And here is Jesus saying to his disciples, you guys are

going to knock it out of the park.

I mean, you guys are going to be involved in witnessing

and sharing the gospel.

In fact, later in the book of Acts, it says,

the men who have turned the world upside down are here?

Huh?

I got to tell you.

The best news in the world

is not material.

It's spiritual.

It's spiritual.

No amount of money can solve the problem of the darkness of a person's heart.

Do you understand that?

And apart from the enabling of the Spirit of God,

nothing can change a man.

And here's Jesus saying, you know,

your great works are going to flow out through the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Now, in relationship to that,

Jesus makes that statement in verse 18.

He says,

And I'm not going to leave you as orphans.

I'm not going to leave you as orphans.

The fact of the matter is,

is that he is going to be in us

and he is going to make his home with us.

Look at verse 20.

In that day, you will know that I am in the Father

and you in me and I in you.

So, where's the Holy Spirit today?

He's in me.

That is a great blessing

and an undeniable truth.

Now,

does that mean that I kind of just walk around

under the Holy Spirit's control constantly?

No.

Because I can be disobedient to the Holy Spirit

and I can what?

I can grieve him.

He is there to prompt,

to encourage me.

One of the passages that I love

is in Galatians 5, verse 16.

Galatians 5:16

Walk by the Spirit.

Can anybody finish it for me?

And you will,

what?

Not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.

So, when you're struggling with covetousness

or you're struggling with lust

or you're struggling with anger,

does anybody have anger issues?

Does anybody struggle with lust?

Everybody pops their hands up all over the place.

I saw that.

You know, it's like,

does anybody struggle with covetousness?

Everybody's raising their hands.

You know,

yeah, yeah, yeah,

I'm one of those.

Listen to me.

Walk by the Spirit

and you,

you have a shot.

Maybe you can pull it off.

You will not

fulfill

the lusts of the flesh.

One of the reasons

many Christians live such ineffective

and unhappy lives

is because they do not appreciate

and appropriate the blessing

of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

Here's Jesus

saying,

listen,

I want you to understand

that the indwelling Holy Spirit

is there for you

and He stays in the New Testament believer

and He's not going to leave us.

He will be with you forever.

So,

in the face of carrying on

the challenge of ministry

in the face of Christ's crucifixion

and His return to the Father,

what Jesus says to His disciples

is this,

I want you to be of good comfort.

I want you to know this.

It's going to work out well.

Why?

Because you have the indwelling ministry

of the Holy Spirit.

He is in you

to help you.

Now,

there are some essential questions

that linger in the back of our minds

from time to time.

You know,

we ask ourselves the question,

where am I going?

And the answer for the believer is,

what?

I'm going to heaven.

You betcha.

I remember talking with a neighbor

and strangely enough,

we got on this conversation

about how the story ends

and I said,

I'm going to heaven.

What?

How can you be sure?

I said,

well,

it has nothing to do with me.

I am not the hero in my story,

right?

It has to do with Jesus.

He died and forgave all of my sins.

I'm going to heaven.

So you ask yourself,

how's the story end?

Where am I going?

I'm going to heaven.

And who really cares about me?

I mean,

you know,

we don't want to admit that publicly,

but we really do

have a concern

for who cares about us.

I mean,

am I right?

Come on.

Anybody out there

want to nod their head

just make me feel a little better?

Yeah.

Yeah.

There's this better song

than the one,

Jesus loves me,

this I know.

Right?

Because Romans tells me so.

Well,

you can add Ephesians

to that one too

and you can add John.

but you know,

how can I do

what I should?

He answered all those questions

for his disciples.

I will never leave you

or forsake you.

I will be with you always.

And you will have the blessing

of the Holy Spirit

who indwells you,

who will enable you

to do the things

that he calls you

to do.

So,

let me have you recognize

several truths

to hold on to.

You can know

where you will spend eternity.

I know where I'm going

when I die.

I wonder if you do.

It's a concern.

I have to tell you

that over the years

I've seen people

who have sat

under the faithful teaching

of the word of God

for decades,

who've had something happen

and just turned

their heart off

and hardened themselves

to the point

of being an absolute

embittered,

angry,

unhappy individual

whose life is trashed.

I've got to tell you

that's not the general pattern

for a person

who knows Christ.

And if you are here

this morning

and you do not know Christ,

let me tell you,

the issue of the gospel

is this,

is you can know

for certain

where you're going

to spend eternity

and that's an answer

you need to reconcile.

Second thing is this,

you can be assured

of his presence.

You can be assured

of his presence.

How many of you know

that we do better

when other people

are around us

that have leverage

and a little bit of teeth?

Do you follow that?

Christ in you,

the hope of glory.

We can count on Christ

to be there.

I know he is with me

in this journey of life.

He will never leave me

nor forsake me.

And then finally,

you can be assured

of his help.

You can be assured

of his help.

Can I tell you

that one of the difficulties

in evangelism

is that people

have a tendency

of getting the cart

before the horse.

What do I mean by that?

I mean, it's like,

I don't know.

I don't know

how I'm ever going

to stop being

an obsessive,

self-centered,

unhappy,

angry,

embittered person.

That's all I know.

How can I solve

that problem?

Well,

if you're a believer,

you have the enabling

of the Holy Spirit

who is in you.

I love to say,

and you who know me

have heard me say it

so many times,

you don't have to stay

the way you are.

That's pretty good news,

isn't it?

You don't have to stay

the way you are.

Well,

no.

What did Jesus say?

He will give you

another helper

who will be with you

forever.

So let me push it together.

If Jesus loved

his 11 little disciples

who were huddled

in that upper room

and were very anxious

about their certain future,

and he gave them

this great comfort,

and it was good enough

for them, right,

to live victorious,

profitable lives.

And by the way,

how'd they all end up?

They had retirement homes

in Florida.

They got a motor home.

They spent the rest

of their life driving around.

How'd they die?

Only one of them

died of old age.

The rest of them,

they went out in glory.

Isn't that right?

If you're here this morning,

Jesus loves you,

and he has called you

to be engaged

in a great work

of eternal significance,

obedience.

And you don't have

to do it

by yourself.

Let's close in prayer.

Our Father God,

this morning,

as we think about

the Lord Jesus Christ,

our Savior,

and our Master,

the one who someday

we will see

and someday

enjoy forever

in heaven,

we recognize

that the enemy

of our souls

so often diverts

our attention

from the glory

and the sufficiency

of Christ

to get locked up

on petty

and different things

and ends up

causing us

who know Christ

to be unhappy

and uncertain

and anxious

and fretful.

and you call out

to us

in your tenderness

and you say,

come unto me

and I will give you rest.

And Father God,

this morning,

I would plead with you

that you would work

in the lives

of your people

that they would

allow these truths

to bear fruit

in their lives.

that the ministry

of the indwelling spirit

would be very real

in strengthening us

to be productive,

growing Christians

for the glory

of the cross.

Help us this morning

to be humble enough

to admit

where there are some needs

that we can't care for

that only a contrite

and a humble heart

can bring about

the change

that is necessary

when we call out

and ask you to work.

And I think this morning

of those that are here

that may not know

the Lord Jesus Christ,

even though they have sat

maybe for years

under the teaching

of the gospel,

that this morning

your spirit

would convict them

of the empty

hardness of their heart

and they would cry out

to Jesus

to be their Savior.

We ask this

in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.