Charles Ross was a Scottish Presbyterian minister in the 19th century, and he wrote a book entitled The Inner Sanctuary. And it was an explanation of John chapters 13 through 17. And he said, this is in every way. This is the inner sanctuary of the New Testament. You know, the way the temple would have been set up, you have the outer courts, then you have the holy place, then you have the holy of holies. And only the high priest could go into the holy of holies. And even then, it was only at certain times of the year. This is a special section of scripture, John chapters 13 through 17. We've been listening in on a conversation. And it's a conversation between Jesus and his disciples on the eve of his crucifixion. His disciples will pose questions and then he'll answer that question, he'll expand into an extended answer to that question. For example, you have Peter's question at the end of chapter 13. Simon Peter said to him, Lord, where are you going? And then he follows that up. Lord, why can I not follow you now? I'll lay down my life for you. And Jesus launches into an expanded answer to that question. The last question that's been asked in this conversation was in chapter 14 and verse 8. Philip's question. Philip said to him, Lord, show us the Father. And it is enough for us. And so here Jesus has launched into an explanation. Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. He explains there is this oneness, this closeness between the Father and the Son. And they abide in one another. continues here in our section tonight, chapter 14, we'll be reading verses 15 through 31. And what really sticks out in this section. Is that Jesus is one with his father, he's one with the Holy Spirit, he is also one with his people. Union with Christ is just all over this text. He and his father are one. They are part of one another. They dwell with one another. And they come to make their home with sinners. It's a beautiful section. John chapter 14. We'll begin reading at verse 15 and read through to verse 31. If you love me, you will keep. my commandments. And I will ask the Father. And he will give you another helper to be with you forever. Even the spirit of truth in the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him. For he dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you. And yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. And because I live. You also will live. In that day, you will know that I am in my father and you in me and I in you. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him. And Judas, not Iscariot, said to him, Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us and not to the world? Jesus answered him, if anyone loves me, he will keep my word and my father will love him and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words and the word that you hear is not mine, but the father's who sent me. These things I've spoken to you while I'm still with you, but the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, I'm going away and I will come to you. If you loved me, you would have rejoiced because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. And now I've told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place, you may believe. I will no longer talk much with you, For the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, but I do as the father has commanded me so that the world may know that I love the father. Rise, let us go from here. Grass withers and flowers fade, but the Word of our God stands forever. So, I just want to spend a few minutes here tonight thinking about our union with Christ. And how would you describe our vital union with our risen and ascended Lord? That's what all of this comes down to. This is what Christianity produces. Christianity produces a living, saving, vital communion between a sinner and the living God. And even more specifically, what we're going to see here tonight is that our union with Christ, it binds us. And we are one, specifically with Christ Himself. And He's our life. All the life we have comes from Him. Because He lives, we also live. And so I want to say here tonight, first of all, that our union with Christ is a union of love. It's a union of pure love. And you saw that as we read this together in verse 15, and then again in verse 21, and again in verse 23. Verse 15, if you love me, Verse 21, he it is who loves me and he who loves me will be loved by my father. And then verse 23, again, if anyone loves me, it's a union of pure love. Of delight in one another. As a Christian, you are an object of Christ's affection. The old Puritan Thomas Watson, quoting St. Augustine, said the cross was the pulpit where Christ preached his love to the world. Well, we love him because he first loved us, and our union with Christ is a union of love. And this love, this delight, that's what a Christian is. That's what a Christian does. Someone asks you, what does it mean to be a Christian? One of your first answers ought to be, a Christian is somebody who loves Jesus. It's not a perfect love. Our love is imperfect, isn't it? His love for us is perfect and pure. Ours starts and stops. Sometimes it needs maintenance. It is an affection for the Redeemer and the Savior of his church. That's why we pray. That's why we worship together. That's why we read the word and sing the word and pray the word. That's why we're so consumed with evangelism as the church of Christ. We love our Savior. Our union with Christ is a union of love. And if you notice the connection, look with me at verses 20 and 21. Jesus says, in that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. That's union language. That's union between the Father and the Son, and then union between Christ and His people. This love that exists between Jesus and His people, all it is, it's an extension of the love that exists within the Trinity. You have the one God and three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And these three persons, they are distinct persons. And yet they are one. They are united where one person is, the other is also. And they dwell with one another. They work together. They're part of each other. We mentioned this morning the church fathers and so much of our practice as A church comes straight out of the early centuries of the church, comes from the church fathers. You have Augustine, Ambrose, Hillary, Tertullian. If you're having a son, think about the name Tertullian for a name for a son. I'm not selling our cards. I'm just saying what a great name. His mom and daddy were thinking. But these church fathers, what they did, they were wrestling with what Scripture said about. This relation between the father and son. And what they said was there is a mutual indwelling. They had a term for that, a word for it. I don't usually do this from the pulpit, but their word was perichoresis, simply meaning they dwell around one another and with one another. And where one person is, the other is also, which is why Jesus can say no one can come to me unless my father who sent me draws him. And why in another place in the New Testament, it's said in first Corinthians two, that it's the spirit who reveals these things. So in one place, it says it's the father who draws in first Corinthians two. It's the spirit who reveals. Matthew 11, it's Jesus who reveals. You have the three persons of the Trinity. They're working together. They are mutually part of one another, yet they're distinct. That's the sort of relationship that we have. It's an extension of the love that exists within the Trinity. There is a rich fellowship that we enjoy here. So much of the joy of our Christian life is robbed when we forget that. That we have this vital union of love between us and the Son. We need to be reminded. Our hearts need to be stirred by way of reminders. So first of all, our union with Christ is a union of love. And the second thing I want us to see is that this love is expressed through obedience. So if our union with Christ is a union of love, the second thing we see is that this love that we have for our Savior is expressed through obedience. And so you see that once again in verse 15, 21 and 23. If you love me, you will keep my commandments and then Verse 21, whoever has my commandments and keeps them, so in other words, whoever has been instructed in my commandments and then holds fast to them and walks in them, he it is who loves me. Verse 23, Jesus answered him, if anyone loves me, he will keep my word. So our question just is, how do you define pure love? Pure love is not passive. Pure love is an active love. It's a giving love. And we give ourselves to our Savior in specific acts of obedience. What do we obey? Whatsoever he's commanded. We keep his commandments. What has he commanded? Well, in the very specific, immediate context, he's commanded us to love one another. This is the new commandment. This is how other people are going to know you're Christians by the love that you have for each other. And so we want to show love here within the body, want to show love to other extensions of the Church of Christ. So you have these commandments in the very immediate context. You have the Sermon on the Mount where Christ is unfolding the Ten Commandments. You have Sinai itself where Jesus, Jesus is the lawgiver. Jesus is the one who speaks. Christ is the one who proclaims the law from Sinai. It's His law. It's His commandment. And so we show our love for Christ through specific acts of obedience. And we want to show our love, demonstrate our love, prove our love to Him. If you love me, show me how much you love me. If you love me, keep my commandments. And that's not That's not going too far. That's just what Jesus is saying defines pure love. If you think about your relationships, every single relationship that you have, there are mutual obligations. Every single one. There is no relationship where the parties don't care enough about each other to give themselves to each other. Every single relationship, husband and wife, parents and children, church members with one another, every single relationship involves mutual obligations. And when we fail to meet those obligations, we hurt people. We have obligations and it's not going too far to say we are obligated It is an imperative. Imperatives and obligations are part of the Christian life, and we express our love for Christ through keeping these commandments. We love his law. Why are we here tonight? We're here tonight because we love His law, we love His commandments, and we believe that His commandments are not burdensome. In fact, what we have found as Christians is that as we keep His commandments, our joy is full. And our joy is running on empty when we walk away from Him. And we're not following through on our obligations. We're talking about union with Christ. This is a union of love and that love is expressed through obedience. And third, I want you to see that. The Holy Spirit is the bond of this union. So we're talking about a union of love expressed through obedience. The third thing I want to say is that the Holy Spirit is the bond of this union. So, you notice verses 16 and 17, Jesus said, I will ask the Father and he will give you another helper to be with you forever. Some other translations, you might have advocate, you might read counselor, you might read comforter. He's the helper. He is the one who comes alongside. It's simply meaning it's a legal advocate, a counselor, a legal counsel who comes alongside you in that courtroom, the helper, the counselor, the encourager to be with you forever. And that helper or that advocate. Is the spirit of truth is the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit has different titles. Here, He's called the Spirit of Truth. He is the One who reveals truth. He takes the truth of Christ and He makes that truth penetrate deeply into your soul. And the life of true piety is when the Holy Spirit takes the truth of the Word and it's not just in your head, it is planted deeply into the very marrow of your bones. It is such a part of you. The Spirit of Truth. Jesus is saying, I'm the one, I'm seated next to the Father, and I am the one who is asking the Father to send the Holy Spirit to you. So here's the order. You have the Father's close relation to the Son, and the Son is pleading your case with the Father. And what's he doing? He is pleading that the Father would send the Spirit of truth. And Christians are born. Christians are made when that prayer is answered. The spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive, the world cannot receive the spirit of truth because their eyes are blind to the truth. The world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. And then note the contrast. This is a beautiful contrast. How do you define a Christian? Here you go. In verse 17. You know Him. For He dwells with you and will be in you. Here is the world, the unbelieving world, who does not know the Spirit of Truth. Side by side contrast, but you do know Him. And the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, y'all, He's not just a mere influence. He's not just a feeling that you get. He's not just a spiritual force. He is a person. He is a living, person who can communicate. You can communicate to him. This is the spirit of adoption who bears witness with your spirit that you are the children of God. The spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him. For he dwells with you and will be in you. A Christian, in other words, y'all, this is what a Christian is. A Christian is somebody who loves Christ He or she is obedient to Christ and he or she possesses the spirit. They know the spirit of truth as a person, as a living person. Notice what Jesus said in verse 18, I will not leave you. As orphans. That's why he's saying all these things. I'm leaving. I'm departing. And when I go, I am not leaving you alone. I will not leave you comfortless, without an advocate, without a helper. I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you. Now, he came to them physically and bodily when he was raised again from the dead. And he spent 40 days with them preaching about the kingdom of God and teaching them, training them to go out. He will come to us at the last day when he comes again on the clouds of heaven. He will come physically with a bodily return. But here, Jesus is he's framing these statements with statements about the Holy Spirit, the spirit of truth. And he's saying, I'm not going to leave you alone. I will not leave you as orphans. And so when he says, I will come to you. What's he saying, he's saying, I am coming to you in the person of the spirit of truth. And when that spirit of truth was poured out on the day of Pentecost and Acts chapter two, that promise was fulfilled. He came to them in full The Spirit of God poured out from heaven. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. You'll see me as the Spirit of God is poured out, as He dwells in you and as He abides with you, as the Word is preached and proclaimed. You will see me proclaimed and preached as the Word is explained. And then he keeps on going, because I live, you also will live. He himself is the source of our life. We abide in him. He abides in us. In that day, you will know. In that day, the Spirit of God comes to you. In that day, you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. What is the Holy Spirit's work? He is the Spirit of truth. And as the Spirit of Truth, He is explaining to you the relationship between the Father and the Son. He is explaining to you, even tonight, the relationship, this vital living bond that exists between Christ and His people. That's what the Spirit of Truth does. And when the Spirit comes in that day, you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. And then you notice verses 25 and 26, Jesus says, these things I have spoken to you while I'm still with you. So physically speaking, I'm here in bodily form, but I'm not going to be here in bodily form forever. So that being the case, look at verse 26, the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name. What does it mean for the Spirit to come in His name? Well, He's coming as a result of Christ's finished, atoning work on the cross. He's coming as a result of Jesus's intercession with the Father. He is coming in answer to Jesus's prayer. He is coming with Jesus's authority and power. In my name, the Father will send Him in my name. And He, the Holy Spirit, will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I've said to you. We have a New Testament because of that verse. We have scriptures tonight which we can read and meditate on because of that promise. Folks will ask, In Scripture, it's a book written by men, and you can't trust what men write. They're leaning on their own memories, and our memories are not that good sometimes. They're a little fuzzy. So you really can't trust the Bible. You can't trust the New Testament, because this is the Word of Men. Yes, God used the gifts and personalities of men Broken, sinful, fallen men, men who betrayed him. Men who denied him. Men who scattered. Yes, he used sinful men. But the testimony of the triune God is that when they set their pen to paper. They did so under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and this promise, the Helper, the Holy Spirit, taught them all things and brought to remembrance all that Christ has said. That's why we believe the writings of the Bible to be true, because this is not the Word of men, but it's the Word of God. The Holy Spirit is the bond of this union. We can't underestimate the importance of the Spirit's person and work. The Holy Spirit, unfortunately, is sometimes the forgotten member of the Trinity. And it ought not be so. What is the Spirit's work? The Spirit's work is to show you the truth and to make that truth come alive. The Spirit's work is to take the things of Christ and show them to you. The Spirit's work is to take everything that Jesus taught, Old and New Testaments, and bring it to your remembrance. All the strength and joy of our discipleship hinges on this. It hinges on our life in the Spirit. You go do yourself a favor this evening and just take some time and read through Romans Chapter eight and Romans chapter eight. It's just an explosion of life in the spirit. The apostle Paul is he is just his soul is bursting with joy over this new life in the spirit. And he's saying this new life in the spirit is the spirit of Christ. The Holy Spirit's the bond of this union. He's the one who brings strength and joy. And, you know, it's really the test of our Christian experience. We are not among those who think that Christianity is just, you know, it's either all in the head or it's all in our hands. It's just about things we do. It's not just about things that we know. It's not just about things that we feel. It's all of them put together. We understand the truth of God. Our hearts are warmed by that same truth. Our hands and our feet go out to do the will of our Heavenly Father. The test of our Christian experience, the fuel for our Christian experience, is whether we possess and know the Spirit. Think about our relationship with each other. You all have left your mark on each other. If you get to know somebody and you get to know them well enough, it leaves a mark. It leaves an impression. And you remember that person. You remember things about that person. The Holy Spirit's a person. And it's a relationship. When that Spirit of God supernaturally And we're not ashamed to be called enthusiasts or fanatics about this, because we believe there is a supernatural operation at work when the Holy Spirit of God takes the truth of God, drives it deeply into your soul and shows you the wonder of the cross and shows you the beauty of God's truth. We believe that when he does that. It's a whole new creation. And as every creative work of God, it leaves a permanent mark. And the Christian has felt that mark. They know the marks of the Spirit of God. The Spirit has left a permanent impression there. Fruits are being born. Joy is there. Love is there. Peace is there. There is a wealth, there are riches for us to unpack about the Holy Spirit. And one of the beauties of this section of scripture is that Jesus will keep on explaining different aspects of the work of the Holy Spirit. He's leaving and he's not going to leave them as orphans. And so we're going to hear more about the Spirit of God as we keep on going through this section. But it's a test of our Christian experience. Do you know the Holy Spirit? Not just do you know about him, but do you know him? Has he revealed the things of Christ to you? That's the heart of Christian piety. Well, the fourth thing I want us to say very briefly is that this union, we've talked about the Holy Spirit as the bond of this union, and the fourth thing I want us to see is that this union brings true peace. And he says this in verse 27, and he sprinkles different promises here in verses 27 to 31. He says, Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, Not as the world gives, do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid." How does the world give peace? The world gives peace making all these promises. Saying, you spend this amount of money on this product, and you'll have what you need. Jesus is saying, My peace I give to you. It is a lasting peace. It is an enduring peace. It is a peace bought at the price of His own blood. at the cross of Calvary, where the hostility is put to an end. St. Augustine said it, our hearts are restless until they find their rest in him. We're wanderers, spiritually speaking, until we find our peace and our rest in Christ. Here, Jesus is not saying there are different levels of deity in heaven. He's not saying the Father is the super God and I'm sort of the middle being in the Holy Spirit. You know, he's he's under both of us. He's not saying that Jesus is referring to his mission as the mediator, as the redeemer. Father and the son are one, they are equal, they are of the same substance. Jesus submits himself to the will of the father. The will of the father is sinners must be saved and the only way sinners can be saved is if there is a divine substitute. Jesus willingly submits. To that will, he acts as the substitute on behalf of sinners. In that sense, his father is greater. It is it's all about redemption. It's all about salvation. It's all about the mission of Christ. Jesus is sent on the mission of the father. In that sense, he is saying the father is greater than I am, not that. Jesus gets his very being from the Father. That's not that's not the way it is. Jesus is God in and of himself. He is divine in and of himself. He's always been that way. There's never been a time when Jesus was not very God of very God. And now I've told you before it takes place, verse twenty nine, so that when it does take place, you may believe. And I will no longer talk much with you for the ruler of this world is coming. Christ has rights over every every square inch of this planet. But it's obvious just by watching the news, the dominant influence in this world is the influence of evil. In that sense, Satan is the ruler of this world. We're not trying to give him too much credit tonight. We're just saying that's the way it is. Jesus has been given all authority, but there's a war going on. And most people on this planet are dominated by the influence of Satan. So in that sense, he's the ruler of this world. But notice what Jesus says in verse 30. He has no claim on me. But I do as the Father has commanded me. In other words, I am going to the cross, I am departing, not because Satan is forcing me to do so, but because of my love for the Father. And the Father has commanded, the Father has sent me, and out of love to Him, I am willingly going to the cross. In other words, Jesus is going to die, and He is not doing so under compulsion. He is doing so willingly. Y'all, that's where your peace comes from. Don't be satisfied with a false peace. Know that Jesus gave himself out of love, not out of compulsion. That's where your peace comes from. Peace was purchased for you there at the cross. Where the hostility was put to an end. So many things could be said out of this passage, but I wanted us just to kind of spend a few minutes here tonight thinking about our vital living union and communion with Christ. It's a union of love expressed by obedience. The Holy Spirit is the bond of that union. It's a union that brings true peace. Would you pray with me? Gracious God, tonight we would simply stand and pause and be still and know that You are God. We thank You for the truth which You've revealed to us by Your Spirit. And we thank You, O Holy Spirit, that You always work in accord with the Word and that You will not contradict Yourself. and that you are here, even in our midst tonight, to show us the things of Christ and to bring to our remembrance all that you've said to us. And so we pray, O Lord, that you would preserve our memories. Lord, we ask that truths which you have revealed to us would not leave our memories. We ask that your truth might not slip away from us. We ask that we might treasure your words and love your commands. Lord, deepen our delight in you and cultivate our love for you. And Lord, we pray that as our love for you deepens, we pray that our love for each other would also deepen. Father, we pray that there would be that sweet a tender fellowship within the body of Christ, that same fellowship and love that exists between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Father, we pray that you would do that work in our midst and that you preserve us as one body with one spirit, with one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism. In all this we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.