We do ask that you would come, O Holy Spirit, and descend upon us in the sense that you would illumine our minds to teach us. We're thankful that Jesus has sent you, O Spirit, to abide with us forever. And through your power, we can do that which the Father commands us to do. So be with us, anoint us with that understanding for the glory of Jesus, amen. We're in John chapter 14. This evening we're gonna look at verses 21 through 31. Again, this section of God's Word is the upper room discourse that Jesus had with his disciples after he instituted the Lord's Supper. We remember that the disciples were discouraged. Jesus saw that. He heard it in the questions that they were asking him. He told them that he would be departing from them very soon. And so his encouragement to his disciples begins with the fact that he's gonna go and he's gonna prepare a heavenly place for them. That's first encouragement. And secondly, he says that when he goes away, he's not gonna leave them as orphans. And that he would pray to the father on their behalf to send another helper that would be by their side, that would abide in them forever. And in this regard, we're told that that comforter, he says, is none other than the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity. We noted last week that the difference between the administration of the Spirit in the Old Covenant and in the New Covenant is essentially one of abiding presence in the New Covenant in a way that in the Old Covenant, it wasn't there, and power, power to do what God has commanded. You know, it's interesting, we're told that the Holy Spirit would come at various times to enable men to do a special act. And then sometimes the spirit would leave. And you wonder, why was there such roller coasters in the Old Testament? Well, I think essentially we got to understand that because of the nature, the Holy Spirit was not with them in the sense that he's with them In the new covenant now granted you can't be a believer without the holy spirit So all the believers in the old testament had the holy spirit in that sense But jesus makes it clear. I just want to point this out to you in john 14 He says in verse 17, this spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it does not behold him or know him, but you know him because he abides with you and will be in you. So Jesus is saying there is a coming point that he's gonna be with you in a sense that he wasn't before. Now that's very difficult for us to understand. But we know that, what is he speaking of, but the coming of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost. He says that's when the Holy Spirit will come to you, that I've promised you. Now one of the special things that the Holy Spirit will do when he comes and he abides with us is to do what Jesus says is the demonstration that you really love me. Now you take a look at verse 21, He says, he who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me shall be loved to my father. I will love him and will disclose myself to him. You know, what greater promise of God to hear Jesus says, that the Father's gonna come to you, I'm gonna come to you, and we're gonna disclose ourselves to you, reveal to you. All of that has to do with the Holy Spirit. And it's important for us to realize that our love for Jesus is not what we say, but what we do. Now, of course, profession is important, I mean, Paul says in Romans 10, with the mouth we confess, resulting in salvation. But that process, Jesus makes it very clear here, if you love me, you will keep my commandments. So the person who loves God is a person who is an obedient person, an obedient disciple. And without this obedience, and what obedience are we talking about? The law of God. That is Jesus's commandments. Do you think there's any inconsistency between the commandments of God, for example, the 10 commandments, the summary of God's law, and the commandments that Jesus gave? Remember in Matthew 5, he says, I didn't come to destroy the law and the prophets. I came to fulfill the law. And he goes on to say, anyone who does not obey that law, he says, is not obedient to him. Turn to Matthew 5, 17 through 19, because that is, it will tie in well with what Jesus is saying here in John 14. In Matthew 5, 17, he says, do not think I came to abolish the law or the prophets. I didn't come to abolish, but to fulfill. Some say to confirm the law. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the law until all is accomplished. Whoever then annuls one of these least of the commandments, and so teaches others, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever keeps and teaches them is going to be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Remember, Jesus said when the disciples were arguing at the Last Supper, who's the greatest among them? And Jesus has to admonish them in saying, the greatest among you is going to be the servant. And the servant obeys. Our love for Jesus is measured by the extent that we are determined to obey the law of God as revealed in the scriptures. So if we say, I love him, but we're not obedient, it's not true. If we say, well, I feel close to God, and there are people who say, I feel close, but they're not obedient, then I don't know what they're close to, but they're not close to Jesus if they're not obedient to Jesus's commandments. So it is imperative that we understand that love in the scriptures fundamentally is an act, not a feeling per se. Now, the Greek grammar, for example, in John 14, 21, is significant because it's in the present tense, and we have noted in the past that the present tense always denotes ongoing activity. In other words, a lifestyle, something that we are constantly doing. And so the person who loves Jesus is the person who is constantly seeking to understand the scriptures and then to obey the scriptures. So the Christian life is a commitment to Jesus on an ongoing basis. It is a lifestyle of obedience. I mean, Jesus taught this. Turn to elsewhere. Turn to Luke chapter six. And look at verses 46 through 49. And why do you call me Lord, Lord and do not do what I say? Let's just stop right there. The Lordship of Christ is what a disciple commits himself or herself to. And Jesus says, don't call me Lord if you're not gonna do what I say because Your profession is betraying the reality of what the allegiance must be. It must be to me. So he says in verse 47, everyone who comes to me and hears my words and acts upon them, I'm gonna show you whom he is like. He's like a man building a house, dug deep, laid a foundation upon the rock, and when a flood arose, the torrent burst against it, that house and could not shake it because it had been built, well built. But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly is like a man who has built a house upon the ground without any foundation and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed and the ruin of that house was great. So, the Lordship of Christ which is the hallmark of a Christian, is one of obedience. It's laying the solid foundation on a rock, not on shifting sand. So he says, don't talk unless you're willing to act. Now he said a very similar thing, turn over to Matthew 7, And again, look at verse 21. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, in your name cast out demons, and in your name perform many miracles? And then I will declare to you, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice what? Lawlessness. Now, we've said, well, you just said, preacher, that love for God is measured by not necessarily what we just say, but what we do. Look at what these people did. They prophesied. They did miracles. They participated in healings. But Jesus says, I didn't know you. Because the bottom line is a moral commitment a living in conformity to the revealed will and word of God, which is his law. You can't separate, we're going to see, you can't separate the law of God from the love of God or the spirit of God. And so it is imperative that in the hallmark of the Christian life is one of obedience. You see, I mean, after all, that great promise in 2 Corinthians. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come. Oh, what's this new creation? This new creation is a life of commitment and obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. This is further augmented, it's a consistent teaching in the scriptures. Turn over to James chapter two and look at verses 14 and following. James two, 14, actually through verse 26. What use is it, my brethren, if a man says he has faith? Now notice, if he says he has faith, but he has no works, can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of food, and one of you says to them, go in peace, be warmed, be filled, and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so, faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. But someone may well say, you have faith, and I have works. Show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one, you do well. The demons also believe the same thing, and yet they shudder. But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works? when he offered up Isaac, his son, on the altar. You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected. And the scripture was fulfilled, which says, and Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness, and he was called the friend of God. You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. Now, lest there be any confusion, I don't know if you're aware of this, Martin Luther is the one that championed the great doctrine of sola fide, by faith alone. And Rome was committed to this whole system of works, of merit to try to please God. And for a while, When Luther was doing his translation of the New Testament, for a while, he left out James, because he wasn't sure James was part of the inspired canon. And you could probably see maybe why he had a tendency to think that, because of this seemed to be contradictory to what Paul said in Romans. But if we understand this correctly, and later on, Luther realized, no, it is part of scripture. What James is emphasizing is that there's gotta be substance to your faith. It's gotta show it, you gotta demonstrate it. You can't just say it. See, that's the point. Saying something without doing something is useless. Saying you love someone and they're literally hungry, they're cold, and you don't do anything about it, what good is that? That's an empty profession. You see, true saving faith will always demonstrate it. Now, of course, it's not gonna be perfect because we're not perfect, but there is a change of life, as you all probably could testify in your own life, when you gave your life to Jesus Christ. and you sought to walk with him, you became more obedient. Because that's what the Christian life is all about. It's about if you love me, you will keep my commandments. And what were the commandments as we've seen summarized that Jess has been talking about? Well, the second most important law Jesus says, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. And so, it's what we do in our faith, not simply what we say. Well, if Jesus says, that's gonna be the proof that you love me, that you keep my commandments, how are we gonna do that? What's the power source? You know, sometimes, and it's helpful with parents with children, to try to communicate with them. We want them to be obedient to our commands as parents. But we need to realize that down deep, real obedience isn't something that we muster up, especially with reference to God's commandments. I can't just make myself do it. The power source has to come from within through the power of the Holy Spirit, who Jesus says, I'm sending to you. And so there is no separation or dichotomy with several things. Sometimes you get people saying, well, I was led by the Spirit, or we need to walk by the Spirit. Both of those are true. We gotta be led of the Spirit, we gotta walk by the Spirit. In fact, we're gonna take a look at the passage here in just a second from Galatians 5. But what does it look like to walk by the Spirit and to be led by the Spirit? It's not gonna be a feeling. You know, years ago, it was very popular in evangelicalism to say, have a little badge that says, W-W-J-D, what would Jesus do? Well, in one sense, the answer to that's not difficult. Well, what would Jesus do to be consistent with the word of God? So their point was, try to figure out what Jesus would do. Well, Jesus has already told you what you ought to do. If you love me, keep my commandments. It's not a mystery. And there's not gonna be any inconsistency. One of my favorite sermons that I've preached numerous times over the years is the relationship of love, law, and the spirit. And how those three work together in a marvelous way. We're gonna see it worked out here in the passage that I've said we're gonna turn to. So turn over to Galatians chapter five. Galatians five. And look at verses 14 through 26. Now notice right here how significant verse 14 is. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Now how's he gonna develop this? But if you bite one another and devour one another, take care lest you be consumed by one another. But I say, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. It's the stuff right there. Our love for God is by loving our neighbor as ourself. That means you don't devour one another. You watch what you say. And he says, and instead of devouring one another, I'm gonna tell you that you need to, he says, walk by the spirit. Well, he's gonna get ready to tell us what walking by the spirit looks like. Remember, the idea of walking in the scripture is a figurative metaphor for a lifestyle. So look what he says in verse 17. For the flesh sets its desire against the spirit, spirit against the flesh. These are in opposition to one another so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the spirit, you're not under the law. Many have really abused that verse saying, oh, And I've sat many years ago under certain teachings, visiting family members in a church where they said, well, that right there shows that Jesus didn't have anything to do with the law of God. Where do we get that? What it means in being consistent with scripture is that if you're led by the Spirit, that phrase under the law means And Paul uses it in Romans several times. It means to be under the dominion of sin of which the law is what is given to show us what obedience is. If you're led by the Spirit, you're not under the tyranny of the law as a means of salvation. And he says, now the deeds of the flesh, are evident, and he lists those, immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, all sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, drunkenness, envy, things like which I forewarn you, those who practice those things, which means those who walk in those things, in other words, shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Remember, Jesus says, not everybody who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my father. That's who's gonna enter. Now, if you have the spirit, really and truly, you are gonna have a life of seeking to please God, of seeking to please him through keeping the commandments. And then he says, he gives a list of the flesh, the fruit of the flesh, and then he gives the fruit of the spirit. All of those are action-oriented, love and joy and peace and patience, gentleness, self-control. Against such, there is no law. There's no law that would tell us not to do those things. Now, Look at verse 24. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another. So it's important that we realize that Jesus says, I'm gonna send you at the comforter. I'm not gonna leave you as an orphan. And I'm gonna send you a helper. And in your situation is gonna be better than when it was when I actually walked with you on this earth. And the reason it's going to be better is I'm gonna be with you by being in you by the Spirit that I am going to send to you. That's why I've said, we are in a far better position now as Christians post-Pentecost than any other time in human history. Because we now... Have the power. How are we gonna do what Paul says to do to walk by the Spirit? How are we not gonna carry out the desires of the flesh? You're gonna have to have power. And the only power that you're gonna have that's gonna make that successful is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit who will never act contrary to the Scriptures. Never. There's that consistency. Now, when Jesus said that about loving one's neighbor, I mean, keeping his commandments. Judas, verse 22 of John 14, not as scary it said to him, Lord, what then has happened that you're going to disclose to us and not to the world? They didn't fully understand what Jesus meant when that comforter was going to come. But when he comes, he's gonna disclose to you all that is needed for you. Now he's not coming to give it to the world, but to his disciples, to believers. And he says in verse 23, Jesus answered Judas, not Iscariot, if anyone loves me, he will keep my word and my father will love him and will come to him and make our abode with him. He's just reiterating what he said in verse 21. But the idea, you will have a communion with me and the Father in a special way by the fact I'm sending you the Holy Spirit. And this Spirit, it will enable you to do what God commands you to do. He emphasizes in verse 24, he who does not love me does not keep my words. And the word which you hear is not mine, but the father's who sent me. Jesus says, I didn't make this up. It's the father who sent me. I came into this world to do the will of my father, to die for the sins of those whom God had given the father from all eternity. That's who I've come to die for. And he says, I will be with you and I will abide with you. And so there in verse 26, he is saying, this spirit whom I'm sending to you in my name, he's going to teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. You remember when Jesus, in one sense, when he rose from the dead, and on the day of resurrection, he's walking on the road to Emmaus, two disciples, not of the 12, are walking along. They didn't recognize who he was. They were discouraged. And Jesus picked that up and said, don't you know what's happening in Jerusalem? And Jesus said to them, he rebukes them, says, why, he says, Why did you not understand the scripture said this had to happen? They didn't have that understanding. We're told in post-Pentecost, when a certain event happened, the scripture says, and they remembered what Jesus had said to them. Peter, who forsook Jesus in keeping with what Jesus said, you are gonna forsake me, you're going to die me three times. He was cowardly, but after Pentecost, there was no coward in Peter. He was out on the street corners preaching. And on the day of Pentecost, we're going to see he is preaching In a way, of course, when he was preaching that sermon, the Spirit had not yet fallen on him, but he was, what they were able to accomplish and what they preached was different post-Pentecost because of the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit. This Spirit is going to teach you all things. Now in this regard, This is what we would refer to as the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Turn over to John's epistle. First John, chapter two. And look at verse, we'll look at verse 20 and then verse 27. Really, it's important that I mention verse 19 because he talks about, John there talks about there are gonna be some that will leave them. They went out from us, but they were not really of us. For if they had been of us, they would have remained with us, but they went out in order that it might be shown they all are not of us. But you, but you have what? An anointing. from the Holy Spirit. And notice what it says, and you all know. See, that anointing of the Spirit gives them a special knowledge. Well, and it says, verse 21, I have not read to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it. Because no lies are the truth. Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. By the way, you know, dispensationalism likes to talk about this antichrist coming at the end of the world, and they associate it with the beast. By the way, the word antichrist is only found in the epistle of John. Never mentioned in the book of Revelation, by the way, And who is the Antichrist? Antichrist is not a one man. Antichrist is a spirit that's in people in rebellion against God. Antichrist spirit is the spirit that denies that Jesus is the God-man. So when the Mormons, the Jehovah's Witnesses, other cults, do not believe in the equality of the Jesus as the Son of God, think of him as a creature, not equal in power and glory with the Father, they don't have a knowledge. And you see, this is the kind of knowledge that you better have. You better have this kind of knowledge. This is no minor error. A person who does not believe that Jesus is God in the flesh is not a genuine bona fide Christian, period. I mean, this is what the scripture teaches. If you've got the spirit, then you will understand who Jesus is. And when you hear that, when you read the scriptures, you're not going to question it. Oh yeah, okay. I understand that. I believe that. Look at verse 27 of 1 John 2. And as for you, the anointing which you have received from him abides in you. It means constantly. And you have no need for anyone to teach you, but his anointing teaches you about all things and is true and is not a lie, just as it's been taught you, you abide in him. Now be careful, I've told younger people, when it says, hey, it says there, I have no need for someone to teach me anything. That's abusing the text there. No, he says, the real teacher, the real illuminator of biblical truth is the Holy Spirit. Again, I'm gonna mention when Jesus asked the disciples, who do men say that I am? Some said John the Baptist, some said Elijah. And Peter says, you're the Christ, the son of the living God. Peter, flesh and blood did not reveal that to you, but my father in heaven. See, that ability to know that Jesus is the Christ, he is the only way to salvation, to understand that, That's the work of the Holy Spirit. That's the sign that the Spirit is in that person teaching them. So we do know all things. We know all things that are of the truth. In addition to this, to show you how pervasive this teaching is in the Word of God, turn over to 1 Corinthians 2. And look at verses 11 through 13. 1 Corinthians 2, 11 through 13. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of man? See, I can't tell Aubrey what he's thinking. Aubrey is the one who knows what he's thinking. Not me. But his spirit, he knows what he's thinking. All right? So, Even so, the thoughts of God, no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now, we have received not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is, who is from God, that we might know the things freely given to us by God. Which things, we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. If you really wanna know something, spiritual thoughts will only come from the Holy Spirit illuminating us with those thoughts. It goes on. You know, there's the natural man doesn't understand the things of, why doesn't the natural man understand the things of God? Because he doesn't have the spirit. That's why, it's very clear. The one who has the spirit has the mind of Christ. We're not gonna have the mind of Christ. We're not gonna know what is honoring to him without the spirit. You see how important the ministry of the Holy Spirit is? It is absolutely essential. Turn back to John 14, and we see here, Jesus says, not only am I gonna give you the spirit to teach you all things, to teach you how you can love me by keeping my commandments, there's another glorious promise I'm gonna give to you. Look what it is, verse 27. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, Not as the world gives, do I give to you. He said, let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. I have often preached this and you've heard me say this. Where there is faith, there is no fear. I mean, that's what Jesus taught his disciples. If you've got faith, you're not gonna have fear. Now, here's the other jewel is what Jesus mentions there in verse 27. Jesus says, the peace that I'm gonna give to you is going to be a peace that will enable you not to be anxious, not to be fearful. You don't have to have a life of worry. And anxiety is essentially fearfulness. He says, but I'm gonna give you a peace, my peace, that the world has no capacity to understand. And the reason the world doesn't have any capacity to understand, it's the natural man who doesn't have the spirit of God. And the natural world, the natural man, the unbeliever, you could probably say fundamentally lives a life of anxiety and fear because they are the masters of their own destiny. I would hate to be the master of my own destiny. There's no comfort in that. I'm gonna seize the day, Corpus Dei. I'm gonna be my own man, I'm gonna be my own woman. You don't wanna live your life that way, and it's gonna lead to great heartache. But the peace that I give you, it's a special peace. First of all, the Bible speaks of peace in the New Testament in two fundamental ways. First of all, as Romans 5 brings out, because of our sin, We have sinned against a holy God, and because we've sinned against a holy God, the relationship between us and God is broken. That's why the Bible has the doctrine of reconciliation. We have to be reconciled to a holy God. Well, how do we get reconciled to a holy God? Well, fundamentally, there is no way to be reconciled apart from the atoning work of Jesus Christ. So this peace, the peace that Romans 5, 1 through 8 speaks about is that fundamental peace whereby the Christian in Christ is reconciled to this holy God. He is the bridge. He is the mediator. Now, so, That piece, there's another piece that really we could say is built upon that piece, and that piece is a piece where he says, there will be no anxiety, no fear. No fear of judgment, for one thing. You know, John talks about in his first John five, that fear brings judgment. And he says, if you have my peace, you will not have that anxiety. So it is a constant peace. Oh, where does that peace come from? The Holy Spirit, that's the one who gives that peace. Remember, the Spirit is said to be the Spirit of Christ. Jesus says the Father's gonna send the Spirit, And I'm gonna send the Spirit to you. And I'm gonna send that Spirit to you, and I am going to be in you, and when I'm in you, I am going to give you that peace, a special peace. One of the great promises, perhaps you've used this multiple times in your own life, turn over to Philippians chapter four, And look at verses six and seven. What a promise here. Philippians four, six, and seven. Be anxious for nothing, for nothing for nothing, I just wanna emphasize that, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. Why would we be thankful? Because we know what the promise is that's coming. Let your requests be made known to God and what? The peace of God which surpasses all comprehension shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. In my walk as a Christian over the years, I don't know how many times in trying circumstances that I've gone to this passage and said, okay, Jesus, I believe this. You told me not to be anxious. You've told me to pray and you told me to be thankful. So I'm coming to you, Jesus. And Jesus, help me not to be anxious. And when that peace comes upon you, and now what's the peace? Here's the peace. God is never gonna let you down. He's never gonna betray his promise. There's the peace. So when you and I believe the promises of God, that it's all gonna be okay, Jesus says, if you've got a need, whatever that need is, God says, I'm gonna supply it. You just gotta believe me. Have the faith to believe me. Pray, thank me for it, and my peace that comprehends, that surpasses all comprehension will guard you. It will guard your minds in the Lord Jesus. What a promise in the word of God. And it's all because, again, because of the Holy Spirit. Because of the Holy Spirit. You see why Jesus said, later he's gonna say, it's gonna be better that I go away for you. He's gonna say that in John 16. It will be better for you that I go away. Because when I go away, I'm gonna send you an internal helper. I will be with you always. You know, they were discouraged that they weren't gonna be with Jesus. He says, I understood, but I'm gonna come to you in a way you can't even imagine. And I will be with you all the days of your life. And you will have a power to obey me, you will have a power to trust my promises. You will have a power to have a victorious Christian life if you just simply believe. Walk by the spirit, be obedient to his word. Now, as we conclude here with John 14, 28, 29, you heard that I said to you, I go away and I will come to you. If you loved me, you would have rejoiced because I do go to the Father for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it comes to pass that when it comes to pass, you may believe. Well, what comes to pass? the day of Pentecost, because that's when the spirit came. And when that day comes, you're gonna know, and you're gonna remember, Jesus told us this would happen. He told us he was gonna send us the helper to abide with us. Oh. Now, so, in verse 30, I will not speak much more with you for the ruler of the world is coming and he has nothing in me. First of all, who's the ruler of this world? Devil, Satan. What do you mean he's coming? Do you remember when at the Last Supper, Jesus says, one of you will betray me, and the one who dips with me is the one, and he took Judas Iscariot, what you must do, go do quickly. Remember the scripture says, Satan filled his heart, and when Jesus says, go do quickly, he went out. The deal had already been made between Judas Iscariot, we know in the Sanhedrin, and it was only gonna be a matter of hours before they would come looking for Jesus. He says, that ruler of the world is coming. Satan, who inspired Judas, is coming with the, the enforcers of the Sanhedrin who also were under the power of the devil. Oh, they're coming. They're gonna be here shortly. And then he says, but the world may know, he says, they have nothing in me, but that the world may know that I love the Father as the Father gave me commandment. Even so I do. Arise. Let us go from here. You know what's interesting, what we will see, when they come to Jesus to arrest him, and of course Judas will betray him with a kiss, that was the sign to those who were sent by the Sanhedrin who Jesus was, the one I kissed, that's the man, You know, when they came up to him, as the scripture says, he kind of fell back, because Jesus went to him and says, okay, the power of darkness has been given over to you. Go ahead. But I am voluntarily laying down my life. I'm not being forced. Remember, Jesus says, I could call on the Father to give me 12 legions of angels if I wanted, but that's not the will. I've got to die. And so I'm willing, I will, the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. That's what he said in John 10. So Jesus says, let's go. The time has arrived for the Son of God to begin the work of atonement that will save their soul. But praise God that when Jesus left them, he didn't leave them as orphans. I've given you the Spirit. So we're thanking God. Thank the Holy Spirit. There's nothing people talk about praying to. Someone asked me years ago, says, is it okay to pray to the Son? Well, of course it is. Is it okay to pray to the Spirit? Yeah, there's nothing wrong with praying to the Spirit. He's God, just as much as the Father and the Son. Be thankful. I try to be thankful. My wife and I are praying, thank you, Spirit, for all that you do for us to get us through this life. Thank you. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you that Jesus did not leave us as orphans, but he came to us by the Holy Spirit. Let us rejoice in this as we go forth tonight. For Jesus' sake, amen.