Dear friends, please turn in the Word of God to that portion that we read together in John chapter 14, John 14. We're looking last time in this passage and I want to continue it, you're looking in on the last night of our Lord Jesus Christ before he was crucified and focusing his teachings as he was teaching to his disciples before his crucifixion. And tonight we pick up again from where we left off last week as I could not finish the message, but especially thinking about the care of the Lord Jesus Christ for his own people. The setting, as you know, it is the upper room. where the Lord Jesus Christ washed the disciples' feet, and he instituted the Lord's Supper. John doesn't record it, but other gospels record it. And so this is a time of dialogue. This is a time that he's speaking to them, and they speak with him, and the Lord Jesus answers their questions. But the ultimate thing that he's doing, he's preparing his disciples for both immediate future, his arrest, his crucifixion, his burial, his resurrection, and also the long term future, including his ascension and eventually the second coming. So this passage is for us as well, because the Lord Jesus Christ has not come back yet. And so we need to be prepared and we need to be encouraged. The passage here is emphasizing the importance of listening to Jesus Christ's words as they prepare believers, not only for the challenges of life, but also for the end as well. So here we are, the Lord is speaking to the disciples. He speaks to them about His love for them. He speaks to them that what kind of love do they have towards Him. And we saw last time that He promises the Holy Spirit. You see, the Holy Spirit is another person of the Holy Trinity. Three persons in the one Godhead. And it is something that it is not so easy to explain and to understand, and we need to be very, very careful as we think about the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, but the Lord Jesus Christ promises to send the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is, as it were, his other self. And he says to them this in verses 25 to 26. He says this, these things have I spoken unto you being yet present with you. So I'm talking to you, I've been 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 unto you. So the Holy Spirit is going to be sent, the Holy Ghost is going to be sent, and he's going to be sent in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's going to speak of the things of the Lord Jesus Christ. So the most, the work of the Holy Spirit is to speak about Jesus Christ. is to point us to the Lord Jesus Christ. So much that is said today that is the work of the Holy Spirit in churches, especially amongst the Pentecostals and the Charismatics, it is not about Jesus Christ. It's about the Holy Spirit and what the Holy Spirit would do and all of those kinds of things. But the Holy Spirit's work is to actually point us to the Lord Jesus Christ. But what a remarkable promise this is. Everything the Lord Jesus has had been to his disciples in person, the Holy Spirit would now be to them spiritually. And isn't it incredible to think that everything Jesus Christ would be to us, us personally, if we are Christians, if we were physically, or if Jesus Christ was physically here, the Holy Spirit is to us now. And we need to appreciate that, friends. The disciples, friends, must have been feeling a lot like a student whose beloved teacher was about to leave. would that person continue learning? How could they keep learning? And we thought, I gave that illustration of a, was it a violinist or a pianist or one of those instruments, I can't remember now which one it was. But the teacher said, I will be going away. And then the child was saying, how can I learn? How can I continue? Well, there was a new teacher that came. A new teacher that will take the student through How could they remember all these lessons that the Lord Jesus Christ taught them? Maybe you've felt that way before. Maybe you've been worried about how you'll manage without someone you've been relying on. But the Lord Jesus Christ is reassuring them. He tells them that the Holy Spirit will teach them everything that they need to grow spiritually. No matter how much they've struggled, how much they've stumbled, Their journey isn't over yet. Their life as a Christian is not over yet. And as for remembering his teachings, what about that? The Holy Spirit would bring it all back to them, just as he helped John to recall these very words themselves. And he wrote all of these things under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, so that we have it today. And here is the beauty of it. The spirit works in the same way with us in the sense that he will point us to the Lord. How does he teach us? Through the scriptures. But it's not just about reading the Bible. It's about obeying it too. So he says to them about obedience to his commands. If we actually love him, we would obey him. Are we taking what we learn and putting them into practice? Do we do that? Or are we just sermon hearers only? Are we just listening to messages? That was a good message. But what do we do with it? I'd ask you, what do you do with sermons? Do you store it away somehow? But storing it away is not going to do you any good. If you just say, well, I'll go to the shops and I will buy this and that and the other thing, and you fill your cupboards. But actually you don't take it down, you don't eat it. You don't use it, you don't make anything with it. And so it is, if you take the spiritual food that you hear or the word of God that you read but you actually don't live upon it, follow the Lord Jesus Christ in it, it won't do you any good. So you can be sermon here, you can At this moment in time I'm thinking about a device, an app you can have that it will 24 hours a day, every day, you can just have that on and it will just play you sermon after sermon, after sermon, after sermon. That's a good thing. It's better than listening to the rubbish that is on BBC. or listen to all sorts of other stuff that is out there. It is better to listen to the word of God. It's better to listen to sermons and so on. But imagine, you're listening to all of that. How is that going to help you? Unless you put it into practice. Unless you pray over it. Unless you say, Lord, I've learned these things and the more I learn, the more I'm accountable, the more I become responsible for what I'm listening to. So think about this, dear friends. The Lord Jesus Christ promised the Holy Spirit he would be with us forever. So as long as we have the scriptures, we have the Spirit too, and we have everything we need to keep progressing. Isn't that comforting? No matter where you are in your life, we can grow closer to God. You can be in a room somewhere, you can be in a situation somewhere where you feel you're alone, you're by yourself, My friends, you can call out to God. If you have got the Bible, you can begin to read it and listen to it. What a gift! The Holy Spirit is always there for those who would seek Him. Guiding, teaching, helping us apply what we have learned. So you can pray to the Spirit and say, Oh Holy Spirit, teach thou me. Help me Lord. Help me understand these things. Help me to put these things into practice. How could we not want to go deeper into the Word of God and see what the Spirit has in store for us? And it means then it goes against our traditions. It goes against our man-made way of thinking. It helps us to actually, if we are teachable in our hearts, we begin to see new things. And the more we see new things, the more we walk after the Lord Jesus Christ, the more the Spirit of God will lead us. So that's something that the Lord Jesus Christ was telling them. The second thing that we saw was the promise of the gift of peace that the Lord Jesus Christ said to them. In verse 27, peace I leave with you. Do you have peace? He says, 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. What a wonderful, beautiful promise that the Lord Jesus Christ gives. What is peace? We asked this question before. What is this peace that the Lord Jesus Christ is talking about? Most of us might think that this is an absence of trouble. If there is no trouble in my life, if there are no disappointments or difficulties, then it is that that's the peace that he's talking about. No, it's not. It's not merely relief. It's not merely the silence after a war. No. Yes, those moments feel like peace, but you don't have to be a Christian to have that kind of a thing. You don't have to be a Christian to have that worldly kind of peace which is temporary. If you're after that, if you think the peace that Jesus Christ is talking about is that, you'll be very disappointed. Because you say, well, it doesn't last, this kind of peace doesn't last. But the Lord Jesus Christ is talking about something more than the peace of this world. He says, my peace I give unto you. My peace. It's his peace. Not the peace of the world. His peace isn't about a life brief of trouble. Instead it's about having no trouble in your heart. In your heart. You know your sins are forgiven. You have peace with God. You're no longer at war with God. If you're still at war with God, then it means that you're still in a state where the Lord Jesus Christ has not given you his peace. And so even if the storms are raging, everything is going wrong for you. It's going from bad to worse. Financially, things are going bad. Health-wise, things are going bad. Relationships are going bad. There's all sorts of things. You think about it. If that is what's going to give you peace, but what's the difference between you and the world? But Jesus is my peace. Think about the time that the Lord Jesus Christ was sleeping peacefully on a boat during that violent storm. The disciples who were themselves fishermen, they were experienced men, they were afraid. But Jesus Christ was at peace. Was the storm real? Of course it was real. No one's denying that. Are your troubles in your life real? Of course they are real. Are they painful? Of course they are painful. Are they disappointing you? Of course they are. No one's denying that. But Jesus Christ's peace came from complete trust in His Father. Just think about His cross. He's hanging there on that cross. not just experiencing the physical torments, but his father's wrath is being poured upon him. You cannot imagine the agony of the cross, yet he was able to say, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. That's the kind of peace that Jesus Christ is offering, a peace that rests in the unshakable goodness of God. And this is the peace that the disciples would need. So in the coming days, they're going to face grief. In the coming days, you might face grief. They're going to face confusion. They're going to face fear. And so he says to them, let not your heart be troubled. They need to be reminded of that again and again. You see, one of the greatest thing in the Bible that keeps talking about, God keeps saying, do not fear, do not fear. So there is something wrong if A person is constantly living in fear when God says, let not your heart be troubled. Do you need that? I certainly need that. So this is a sermon not for you, it's for me. And so I encourage you friends to think on this. I encourage myself to think on this. It wouldn't erase the pain, it wouldn't stop the tears, but it would hold my heart steady. That's what it does. It assures me that everything, everything that I'm experiencing, even the things that I'm suffering, they're part of God's good plan. I don't understand it. I don't understand how good can come out of certain things in my life. I have not got the answers and I don't have the answers for you either. I don't know how something good will come out of some of your situations in your life. We cannot work it all out. But God knows. And we should be happy to leave it with God and rest in the Lord. And isn't that the peace that we long for? Life doesn't spare us from storms. If you think that's the kind of Christianity you have, what's the difference? This is what the charismatics are teaching. And I'm saying health and wealth gospel. That if you believe and if you do this, if you do that, if you give us your money, then you'll have more money. And if you do this kind of a thing, then you'll have health and you'll have everything going well for you. But Jesus Christ's peace is like an anchor, anchor for the soul, keeping us grounded when everything else feels like it's falling apart. It's the peace that reminds us it's what I have with Him that matters. What Jesus Christ has done for me that matters. All things are in His hands and all things are working together for good to them that love God. It's not saying all things are good, but all things work together for good. And so the Lord Jesus Christ contrasts His peace with the world's peace. The world gives gifts that are temporary, it's uncertain. The insurances that they give you may not last, There are always going to be some sort of a small print somewhere that when you come to cash in, they say, oh, you can't do that. Didn't you read the small print? Didn't you see this? And so, no, you can't have that one. And you get disappointed. I thought you promised me this and that, and no, no, no. But that's the kind of world's peace. the things you have in your pockets, the things you have in your bank account, it will vanish one day. Friendships, it can fade. And even the calmest days can quickly turn into something that you never expected. It can be just so chaotic. But the Lord Jesus Christ's peace isn't like that. He doesn't give it and then take it back. His peace is permanent. It doesn't waver. because it's rooted in his eternal promises. That's why the Christian focuses on the promises of God. One of the reasons why so many of us, we can become anxious, we can become fearful, is because we are not trusting in the promises of God. We are not just relying upon. We sit down in our chairs and we are trusting that it's going to hold you. But what about doing the same with the promises of God? Just sit upon it. Stay upon it. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. He's not saying ignore your life's hardships. He's not saying become a Buddhist and twiddle your thumbs and think to yourself, oh, it doesn't exist, it doesn't matter, it's not there, the pain is not there. He's not saying that, that's all. No, he's not saying ignore things. Instead, the Lord Jesus Christ is saying that his peace is bigger than our troubles because he is bigger than our troubles. Do you believe that? Do you believe as though His peace is enough to carry you through anything? And there's more. The Lord Jesus Christ speaks about His Holy Spirit, His other self, who makes this peace a reality in our hearts. Why is it that you think that people can go through, Christians can go through great, great persecutions And yet be faithful to the Lord, it's the Lord, the Holy Spirit. Although the Lord Jesus Christ is seated now in heaven, His Spirit is with us now, teaching us, guiding us, reminding us of these things, God's promises. And even when complex truths like the Lord Jesus Christ being fully God and fully man, it stretches our understanding. they're revealing the richness of who God is. So those were some of the things that we were thinking about the last time. Now, let's think about the final thing that I left off from last time. And it's the promise of Christ's care for his people. It's the care of the Lord Jesus Christ for his saints that I want us to now focus on. for the rest of the time. And you see this in verses 29 to the end. He says, and now I have told you before it come to pass, that when it come, when it is come to pass, you might believe. Think about it. The Lord Jesus Christ has talked about his other self, the Holy Spirit, this amazing gift that he is giving, his future role. He's speaking about his great concern for his followers. Now he speaks about his pastoral care for them, his genuine care for their soul. And he says, I've told you. I've told you before it comes to pass. That when it is come to pass, you might believe. So when it is happening, when things are happening in your life, you will believe. That means you'll trust me. You'll trust me. And we need to exercise these things. We need to actually put it into practice. Or else it will be like the running machine we have in our garage. It's not been used. And we know it is there, but it's not being used. So you cannot say it's all there. I've heard enough of it. I've seen it and I see it in other people's lives. What about us? Actually exercising it, putting into practice now. So think about it. When you're given a sort of a heads up about something that's going to happen, And then it actually happens. What does it do? It builds your trust. It should build your confidence. And so think about this example. Say, and this is what the Lord Jesus Christ is. I'm saying these things. So when it happens, you would trust me. You would believe on me. So you think about this. You think you're going to go on a hike. Some of the young people, they're planning all these things, months and months ahead, and say we're going to go and do the three, whatever, three peaks or whatever it is. And so you're going to go somewhere for a hike, and a friend hands you a guidebook. A friend gives you a map, and as you're going walking, You read about, you need to cross over a humpback bridge. Then you need to pass a red post box. And then you spot a pub on your left hand side and you need to carry on going. And when you get there, and everything matches up, and say, oh yes, I saw this, this is a bridge, go across it, here's the post box, that's true. And as you're going through, following those guides, you begin to think, I can trust this. It's true, I can trust it. This guidebook, your trust in it grows. The more you see that it's accurate, the more confident you become. Not just in the book, but in the person who wrote it. They knew what they were talking about. That's what you would say. That's what the Lord Jesus Christ is doing here. He's telling them everything beforehand so that when it does happen, they'll believe, they will trust him. And so he told them that he was leaving. And it happened just as he said. He said that the Holy Spirit would come and when they were waiting for him on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit did come. He told them that he would arise from the dead and he did and he warned them about the challenges that they would face and the persecutions they would face and like how in the synagogue they would be threatened, how they would struggle in the early church and they did and they were scattered and persecuted. He even predicted the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, and it all came to pass. It all came true. And each time something happened, just as the Lord Jesus Christ said it would, their faith in him grew. Even though he wasn't physically with them, but the Holy Spirit had been guiding them. He had been applying the scripture to them. Later on in John's gospel, John goes into the tomb and into the sepulcher and sees the grave clothes undisturbed. It says, he saw and believed. Such a wonderful word, I think, those words of John. It simply says, he saw and believed. He believed because Jesus Christ had said it would happen. And when he did, it strengthened his faith and filled in gaps where he'd lacked trust before. Maybe there are gaps in your faith right now. There are gaps in the things that you see right now. But trust in the Lord. He will fill in the gaps. Friends, the Lord Jesus Christ had told them that he was going to go back to the father and for six weeks after his resurrection, he would appear and then he would disappear. But then one day, they saw him rise, and then they saw him disappear into the sky, into the clouds, and that only built their faith more, it edified them more. He said it would happen, and that's exactly what's happened. And when the Holy Spirit came into Peter and the other disciples' heart on the day of Pentecost, they felt Jesus Christ's presence in a new way, and Peter boldly preached about him. They were bold. And people said, they have been with Jesus. They've been with the Lord Jesus Christ. Their faith grew even more. And all of this was the Lord Jesus showing his care for them. He knew their struggles. He knew that they would face all kinds of things. And he wanted them to be confident that no matter what, he would be with them and keep his promises that they can trust him. And you fast forward that 2,000 years and we are in the same position. God's people know that the Lord Jesus Christ cares about them. He cares about us too. He is the same yesterday and today and forever. That's what the quality of the Lord Jesus Christ is. Because He's God. He's the same always. He's unchanging God. And then you look at verse 30, it says, hereafter I will not talk with you, much with you, for the prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me, he says. So after talking about his, the Holy Spirit being sent, his other self being sent, his great gift, his future role and his pastoral concern for them, he's talking to them in the same context that he's, about his certain victory. He says, hereafter I will not talk much with you for the prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me, he says. Notice that the Lord Jesus Christ doesn't call the devil the ruler of the earth. He doesn't say he's the ruler of the earth. He is not the ruler of hell. As the media would portray, Hollywood would portray that the devil has horns and a tail and he's ruling over hell. That's a lot of nonsense. That's not true. And the Lord Jesus Christ is giving us a detail here, important detail here. He calls the devil the ruler of this world. What does it mean the world here? It means this, it means the humanity living without God. He's talking about people who are not under the love of Jesus Christ. Some people mistakenly think the devil rules the earth, but that's not true. God is the true ruler of the earth. The devil, however, is in charge of people and he moves people who don't submit to God, who don't know the Lord Jesus Christ. It's people who are lost. That's a horrifying thing. He binds them up. He leads them in a certain way. He trips them up again and again. He discourages them. The Lord Jesus Christ knew that the devil was coming through Judas Iscariot, and then through the Jewish and the Roman authorities, he knew evil men would try him, falsely accuse him, and then crucify him, even though he was completely innocent, even though he was completely pure. He knew about all of this. But notice the confidence in Jesus Christ's words. It's like he's standing in court hearing all kinds of false accusations thrown at him. That's what you read in the Gospels. But he's not troubled. Did you ever see the Lord Jesus Christ being troubled before the judges? No, he wasn't troubled. He's at peace. He doesn't have to defend himself. There are times he doesn't say anything and they get frustrated. Why don't you say anything? Don't you have anything to say about yourself? Why don't you defend yourself? Why is that? Because he knows the truth. He's not done anything of the things that they are saying. He's not been to any of the places that they claim he has, and he hasn't met any of the people that they say he has. He knows who he is, the things that he said, and they accuse him of, he's not said those things. And he's confident in that. He's confident in the truth. And so in verse 30, It shows that his confidence is unshakable. It's unshaken. He says, the prince of this world cometh. I know that's true. And he has nothing in me. He's got nothing in me. What does that mean? The Lord Jesus Christ is saying that the devil has no hold over him. He has no hold over him. He's like a man in court facing serious charges, but knowing he's innocent, he's sure that when the trial is over, he'll walk out free. He's sure that when the trial is over, he will be set free. And so the Lord Jesus Christ knows the terrible trial that was coming. False accusations from the Jewish leaders and how he will be cruelly crucified. He knows the pain, he knows the shame. the devil was going to do his worst. And it was going to be the darkest hour in history. There has never been a greater crime than the killing of God's perfect son. But the Lord Jesus Christ knew that the devil, he had no power. He had nothing in him. He had no power over him. And whatever the devil did, however evil and manipulative Jesus Christ would come out victorious. And so when the Lord Jesus Christ died, dear friends, the devil must have been overjoyed. I've done it. It seems like the end. Isn't that right? But even when the Lord Jesus Christ, his dead body, is put in the tomb, he was alive in the spirit. His spirit had not died. On that Sunday morning, his body was raised to life in the power of God, in the power of the spirit. And it was clear that everything the devil had tried to do had failed. If the devil couldn't destroy the Lord Jesus Christ at his worst, there was no chance of defeating him now or in the future. So when the devil did his worst, when evil did its worst, It couldn't touch the Lord Jesus Christ or the mission of the Lord Jesus Christ. The mission of the Lord Jesus Christ will continue on, dear friends, with us or without us. The death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ were a crushing defeat for the devil. The victory that the Lord Jesus Christ won, it shamed the devil and showed him for what he is. He's exposed, that he's defeated. So even if evil looks powerful, even though in this world evil looks powerful right now, my friends, remember this. The church, it might seem weak today. We know that Jesus Christ is in glory. He is untouchable. He is triumphant. He will continue to save and He will continue to expand His church. This is what the disciples needed to hear and it's what we need to know too. The whole thing doesn't revolve around you, doesn't revolve around me, none of that. These truths are meant to strengthen the disciples and strengthen us through our lives, through their lives and continue to give us hope today as it did for them. And finally, as he's about to leave The upper room, the Lord Jesus Christ says one last thing in verse 31. Before he says, arise, let us go hence, he says in verse 31, but that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do, it says. And then he says, arise. I've said what I needed to say here. Arise, let us go hence. Just think about, dear friends, to the Old Testament sacrifices. There was the lamb, there was the goat, there was the bull, even the turtle doves. Did the animal go willingly? Maybe if it was unaware of its fate, but an animal that knew it was going to die would hesitate. It's difficult for us to grasp. I know how it is because I've seen it. But for us, we live in sanitized places. Everything comes in packaging and everything is all nice and tidy and clean. But if you actually had to take your animal and to prepare it and so on, you would know what I'm talking about here. Think about it. Here is our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the ultimate, the actual reality of those offerings and all the sacrifices. Here is the Lord Jesus Christ, the final and ultimate sacrifice, walking straight into, not the unknown, into the known. He opens the door, he steps out into the street, He heads towards Gethsemane where Judas will betray him and the path to his crucifixion. He knows all about these things and he begins this journey. He says, arise, let us go hence. We're going to go. He's not stopping. He's not saying, well, let's just wait another half an hour. Let's just wait a little bit more. Maybe it's raining outside. that sometimes I think about these things because I'm so nervous about open air work. Sometimes it is, I think, is it going to rain? Is it going to be too cold? Is it going to be too windy? Too this or too that? And maybe we need to just wait half an hour more and then we'll find out. And that's to my shame, I say these things, but it's the reality. But the Lord Jesus Christ could do that. We'll just wait a little bit longer and then see what happens. No, He says, arise, what are you doing sitting here? Arise, let us go hence. You see the father sent him into the world and he was obedient to do what the father's will was because of his love for his father. I love my father. I want to serve him. I am about my father's business he said. So the Lord Jesus Christ shows that true love means submission. He wasn't just saying it to his disciples. If you love me you do my commandments. No. He says I am doing my father's commandments because I love him. I submit to him. He lived out his own teaching. He kept all of God's commandments. He wasn't a hypocrite. He showed no hypocrisy. Everything he asked of us, he did himself. He did what he preached. So he went willingly to the cross and he says to us, take up your cross and follow me. But what has the Lord Jesus Christ taught his disciples here? What can we take from this? He taught them and he teaches us that his departure isn't the end, but the start of something new. You don't know what's going to happen, my friends, to you. The Lord Jesus Christ knew what would happen to him, but you don't know what will happen to you. The trials, the suffering, the crosses that you bear, it could be the beginning of something new in your life, a new path in your journey, a new thing in your life that the Lord is doing and you have no idea about. He shows that while we are learning about him, we can also experience his peace. Even in a world that feels against us, we can still experience his peace. He taught that even though he is now in heaven, we can still know and feel his presence through the Holy Spirit. He shows that he cares deeply. The good shepherd, the overseer, the bishop of our souls, he does care for us. Do you believe that? He's not going to destroy you. When the challenges come, they should only build our faith. I've known these things. I've had the guidebook. I know what's going to happen to me. This is no surprise to me. What he said is exactly what he has said. It's just happening. And I'm trusting even more in him because he said it and it's being fulfilled. It will not. And so, It will not destroy your faith the more you trust the Lord in these trials. And so he assures us that evil cannot overcome us because it cannot touch him. And if you're in Jesus Christ, evil cannot touch your soul, your body, your circumstances, your things may be affected. You see, Jesus Christ won the ultimate victory. So even now we are protected. He taught us that we can face life with confidence and He holds His truth before us. And if we love Him in return, the best way to show that love is by walking after Him, obeying Him, following Him. Just as he did. So my friends, this peace that the Lord Jesus Christ is talking about, this care that he's talking about is not the world's care. It's not the world's peace. It's not the world's handouts to us. Because all of that is temporary. If that's what you have, it's going to disappoint you. You'll be broken hearted. You think what kind of a Christianity is this? What kind of a God is this? But if you're seeing things as Lord Jesus Christ is explaining here, if you're seeing that this is His peace that He gives you, not the world's peace, then you see it all makes sense. It all makes sense. So dear friends, I'm holding before you our Lord Jesus Christ. I'm holding before you His promises and I'm saying to you prayerfully, Follow Him. Trust in Him with all your heart. Do not lean upon your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will show you the path of life. He will show you the path of peace and may God bless each one of us. Amen.