Dear friends, the subject that I was dealing with the last time was the All-Sufficient Savior. So this is the second part of that message. In John 14 and verses 1 through to 11, we've been witnessing the Lord Jesus Christ speaking to his disciples during that pivotal moment. So the setting is the upper room where the Lord Jesus Christ, having dismissed Judas, spent his final moments comforting his disciples before heading to Gethsemane. Soon he will face his arrest. Then he will be tried and then he would be crucified. But before that he offers profound teaching. He would encourage his disciples. He would encourage them and encourage them and encourage them. Because that's exactly what they needed. Don't you need encouragement? We as poor needy souls, we need encouragement. This passage is often times, as I said, referred to as the Lord's farewell discourse. But it's not completely a discourse because there's a conversation that goes on. There are questions that are asked, there are statements that are made. And the Lord Jesus Christ responds to people. So the Lord Jesus is sitting with his disciples and they interact with him freely. That shows how accessible the Lord Jesus Christ is. He would listen to people. He would give them time. And he does the same today, dear friends. He does the same today. You might say, this person doesn't have time for me. This person hasn't spent time for me. Some of us, we've been brought up in a home maybe that our fathers have been too busy. Our mothers have been too busy. And you might say, well, I didn't really have a father like other people. But the Lord Jesus Christ is there. He will listen. He will be there. He was there for his disciples. Peter has already interrupted the Lord Jesus Christ earlier. In chapter 13, the end of chapter 13, it's the same occasion. He's interrupted. He can't understand what the Lord Jesus Christ is saying about his suffering. And then as the Lord Jesus Christ has been continuing, then Thomas comes. And Thomas interrupts, and then Philip. And then there is another Judas that we will see later on, who engage in this dialogue with the Lord Jesus Christ. They're talking to him, they're concerned, they want to know. That's a good thing. Even though they might get things wrong, Praise God that they got things wrong. If they didn't ask those questions, certain words, like our Lord Jesus Christ said, that explicit word that, I am the way, the truth and the life, no man cometh unto the Father but by me. If Thomas had not asked the question, the Lord Jesus Christ would not have spoken those words at this point. But he did. So he speaks to them. He is preparing them for what lies ahead. Do you know what's lying ahead? Do you know what this nation is going to be experiencing? The way this nation is going, dear friends, we are heading to a very sad, sad state. Things are going to get darker and darker and darker and with that comes persecution for God's people. That's what's going to happen. Are you ready? Are you prepared? Are you prepared to suffer for Christ's sake? We need preparation. The Lord Jesus Christ is preparing His people. And what He does, He offers them truth. He offers them comfort. He offers them reassurance. And these are the things that He encourages. It's the bedrock of truth. If your life, if your soul is based upon that, then you're secure. and all sorts of things may come and hit you. If you are living your life and your whole life is built upon the rock Christ Jesus, then you can say, I have Christ, I shall not be moved. The Lord may take me away. I may suffer much, but I'm secure in the hand of the Lord Jesus Christ, my Savior. And I want to talk to you about four things and I'll just recap briefly. We saw that there was a real danger. That's the first thing, a real danger. In this passage, the Lord Jesus Christ addresses a real danger. You see, they had troubled hearts. The Lord analyzes their hearts. He sees their hearts and he realizes their heart is troubled. And he says to them, let not your heart be troubled. The Lord Jesus Christ knows his disciples. They are deeply distressed. They have just, they witnessed the unsettling events of identifying a betrayer amongst them. Somebody is going to betray me, the Lord Jesus Christ. It's one of you. And they were not really paying attention, even when the Lord Jesus Christ identified Judas Iscariot as the betrayer. And that left them anxious. that left them in a place of uncertainty. Although their facial expressions may not reveal it, the Lord Jesus, who sees into the depth of the heart, knows their inner turmoil. And so He says, let not your heart be troubled. They are troubled for so many reasons. They're shaken by the news of the betrayal among them, distressed by the Lord Jesus Christ telling them that He's leaving them. They're disheartened by the thought of being without Him after spending those years, three and a half years, in His perfect presence. That was a perfect presence. The Lord Jesus Christ. Imagine the experience of the disciples being in the presence of Christ. We don't experience that in human sense anymore. Every person that you have experienced, the holiest person, they're not perfect. They'll disappoint you. Don't seek your comfort in people and things. But they could say there's a perfect man with me. I can see him. I can talk to him. He answers me. And so that distressed them, that for those years they were with him, but then he's saying that he will go away. And on top of that, Peter, whom they viewed as the strongest among them, had been told that he will deny the Lord Jesus Christ thrice, three times. And this must have compounded their fears. If Peter could fall, If Peter would fail, what hope do I have? What hope do you have? What hope did they have? So the Lord Jesus Christ is acknowledging the reality of their emotions but warns them not to be overcome by them. My friends, emotions are real things. But are you overcome by them? The Lord Jesus Christ said, let not your heart be troubled. While, as I said before, the Stoics of the ancient world, they taught that people should suppress all emotions entirely. The Bible doesn't promote such indifference. The Lord Jesus himself, he wept, he wept on different occasions. He wept when sad things happened, when sorrowful occasions happened. At the tomb of Lazarus, he cried, he wept. It's the shortest verse in the Bible. Jesus wept. He felt things, he mourned over Jerusalem. However, Jesus Christ calls his disciples not to let their heart be consumed by turmoil. You ought not to. Let your feelings control your life. Or you'll be a mess. And we have experienced it, haven't we? I've experienced it certainly. We get ourselves into a very, very dark place with all those thoughts and feelings. Let not your heart be troubled. Repeat that to yourself. Think about what the Lord Jesus Christ is saying here. It's not indifference. It says, believe also in me, he says. We need him. We need to trust him. We need to believe him. Even in this face of distressing circumstances, they are not to lose their peace. Jesus Christ is our peace, is our comfort. And so the Lord Jesus Christ is saying, is teaching them, although Emotions are real. Their heart should not be tossed into chaos. One of the worst things you can do is to think about your life according to your feelings. You know that's the world wants to do. The world is all about feelings. That's what it's pumping at. You look at the adverts that it's pushing at. It's all to do with what makes you feel good. This feels right, this feels nice. This doesn't feel nice. When we negatively say certain things like, I feel sad, I feel angry, I feel frustrated, I feel anxious, I feel disappointed, I feel stressed, I feel lonely, I feel hurt, I feel overwhelmed, I feel guilty. Those are all the negative feelings. And all of those things may be true. You're not saying that they're not true. or you have some mixed feelings, mixed emotions, or simply neutral feelings about certain things. So, for example, we would say, I feel in this situation, I feel unsure, I feel conflicted, I feel indifferent, I feel confused, I feel numb, I feel uncertain, I feel restless, I feel indifferent. The message is clear. We are not to be indifferent to the trials we face, but neither should we be overwhelmed by them. So you may feel lonely, but don't be overwhelmed by it. If you're in Christ, you have the Lord Jesus Christ. The situation that you're experiencing is very sad. It is very dark. It is very distressing. But you have the Lord Jesus Christ there with you. He knows what you're going through. He meets your needs. He will carry you through. Somehow, amazingly, you don't know how. You don't know how is he going to work this thing out for his good and for his glory. But he will. You've seen it before. It's nothing new. So the Lord Jesus Christ is saying, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. He urges us to maintain peace in our hearts. That is, maintain Him in our hearts. The Prince of Peace. Despite the storms all around us, He is at the helm. We then avoid the loss of peace. The Christian ought not to lose his peace because we have Jesus Christ. I may not feel peaceful, but I have the peace of Jesus Christ. The loss of peace is what the world is characterized by. Then the second thing is this. Avoiding the danger. How to avoid the danger? Look at again verses 1 through to 4. The Lord Jesus Christ shows his disciples and us how to avoid the danger of a troubled heart. And so this passage frequently is turned in our minds during the times of grief. We turn to this text because it offers comforts in the face of life's storms. And so the Lord Jesus is saying, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. Faith in God and in Christ is the key to overcoming inner turmoil. Believing God's sovereignty and goodness becomes truly personal when we believe in Jesus Christ. Because it assures us that God is ruling all things for the good of those who are in Jesus Christ. That's what He's doing. I may not understand it, I may not understand it how or the timing of things, but that is the promise of the Bible. And the Lord Jesus Christ says, You believe in God, believe also in me. There is this relationship. There's this covenantal relationship that we have with God through Him. God's love, God's wisdom, God's power work for our benefit if we are in Christ. The Christian is not exempt from the storms. In fact, the Lord Jesus Christ later says, in the world you shall have tribulation. That's what you're going to have. The Christian goes through The Lord allows those things. The Lord takes us into the storms of life. Oftentimes, we all shall experience tribulation. We are not exempt. Don't be surprised by it. That's in John 16 and verse 33. But it is, we hold on to the Lord Jesus Christ through those times. even in the midst of the trials, because we know that everything we endure is part of God's, our Father's, loving purposes for us. This is purpose. And then the Lord Jesus Christ looks forward and He says in verse 2, in my Father's house are many mansions, if it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. He's saying heaven is real, dear friends. It's not some spiritual place that people think of, but it's actually a real place. And he is preparing a specific place for each of his followers. Our journey through this world, he's saying, is temporary. Don't settle in this world. We often talk about it when we move to somewhere. Have you settled now? But in this world we are not settling. We are pilgrims. That's the teaching of the Word of God. The children of Israel were pilgrims in the wilderness. And so we are in the wilderness of this world. Our true home, dear friends, is in the heavens. With the Father, with our Father. in my father's house. And it's an amazing expression that our Lord Jesus Christ uses here. And so the Lord Jesus Christ comforts his disciples by explaining that his departure is necessary for their future glory. He promises them to return. I will come unto you and receive you unto myself, he says. That where I am, there ye may be also. They'll be with him forever. Can you imagine that? It says you cannot contain it in your mind and in your heart. What do these words actually mean? It is too great for us to grasp. And yet, we see something of it. We understand something of it. And we are so thankful for it. The Lord Jesus Christ, He reassures them that they already know the way to this eternal home. You already know. You know the way. You know the way. And whether I go, you know, and the way you know. For believers today, this is offering hope. This is offering hope amidst life's trials. You're going to face all kinds of things, challenges, persecutions, hardships, but yet we find peace in knowing that our final destination is secure. Things in this life, you might face dead ends. And you say, I tried this, it didn't work. I tried that, it didn't work. It just seems to get worse and worse and worse. Everything is unsettled. There's so many disappointments. And you might be asking, why did God do that? Why did God do this? Yet the Lord Jesus Christ is preparing a place for us. And He will return to bring us home. The storms we face now are part of our spiritual training. But one day this pilgrimage will be over and we'll dwell in our eternal home with Christ. This is our assurance. This is the thing that we should be bringing to our minds again and again, these reminders. So you face whatever you come, what comes to you. My destination is secure. I know where I am going. I know where I'm going. And I know who is going to be there as well. I don't know all the details, but it's enough for me that Jesus Christ is at the end of my destination. But then the third thing is a contradiction. In verses 5 to 7, a contradiction. Thomas asks, the Lord Jesus, a question that reveals his struggle, a disciple's struggle to fully understand his teachings. So if you don't understand certain things in the Bible, you are in a good company here. It's not a bad thing to struggle about things, but you ask the Lord questions. You keep asking, and by that I mean you pray. You pray to the Lord, Lord help me, Lord show me. Read about it, ask other believers about it. What does this mean? Study to show thyself approved unto God. And so Thomas is asking the Lord, Lord, we know not whether thou goest and how can we know the way? The disciples were still thinking in earthly terms, wondering which physical city Jesus was heading to. You know, there are Christians who think like that too today. They're just reading the Bible, especially the Old Testament, and various prophecies in literal ways. This is why the disciples were getting things confused. I'm asking to really compare a scripture with scripture. And not say, well, I'll just take the Bible strictly in a literal way. It doesn't work. You and I, we don't do that in normal life. The Lord Jesus Christ said, I am the door. You take that literally. You don't do that. There are many things in the Scriptures. You have to compare Scripture with Scripture and see for yourself. But this was the struggle of the disciples. They expected a Messiah who would establish an earthly kingdom. But that was never the plan. What Jesus Christ experienced wasn't plan B because first plan didn't work out. He didn't come here to establish an earthly kingdom. That wasn't the plan. He came to save sinners. That's what the plan is. The Lord Jesus Christ's mission was spiritual, not worldly. And so in response, our Lord Jesus Christ gives one of the most profound statements in verse 6. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. And the Lord Jesus Christ is emphasizing here that the only path to God, the only way to God is Him. He is both fully God and fully man. He comes between man and God. There's one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. There's one who will reconcile humanity with God. It's the God-man. And so his unique person, his unique sacrificial work makes him the exclusive way to salvation. That's why we preach the gospel. That's why this message is exclusive. The Lord Jesus says he's the truth. He's saying this world is a lie. What he's teaching is doctrines. It's a lie. Don't believe it. It's being controlled by the father of lies. The Old Testament system with the sacrifices, ceremonies, they were also pointing, there were shadows pointed to Him as the ultimate reality. The Lord Jesus Christ is the truth amid a world of falsehoods and errors. And also the Lord Jesus is saying, He's the life. He's the source of life. He's the sustainer of life, spiritual life, as well as natural life. So when a person dies, it's not merely a medical thing. It's the Lord. It's the Lord who's taken this person. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Knowing Christ, being in Him, is the essence of the Christian life. He's not just the beginning of our journey, but also He is the way we continue and finish it. The Christian life is entirely centered on the Lord Jesus Christ. So you read the Bible, you pray, you attend church, they're all means of grace. It is part of us encountering the Lord Jesus Christ and growing in Him. But the heart of Christianity, true biblical Christianity, is knowing and following Christ. Jesus is the ultimate goal. And His goal is to bring us to the Father. He wants us to arrive safely to our destination, to our Father's house. He came so that we might know God as eternal life is the knowledge of the true God through the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what he says in John 17 and verse 3. Heaven is valuable. Why? Why is heaven valuable? Why is heaven so glorious? Not because of its streets of gold. Not because of all the angels and all the things that we read of in picture language in the Bible. No, it's none of those things. None of those things makes heaven glorious. But it is where we dwell with God. The Lord is there. The Lord is there. And so then the Lord Jesus Christ finishes by clarifying that truly knowing him, is knowing the Father. If He had known me, He should have known my Father also. That's in verse 7. And from henceforth ye know Him and have seen Him. The disciples had seen the Lord Jesus, but had not fully grasped that in knowing Him, they were also seeing the Father. The Lord Jesus Christ is the full revelation of God. You want to know God? You know Jesus Christ. So the Lord Jesus first warned of a real danger, then explained how to avoid it. Then he explains and answers Thomas's question by revealing the fact that he's the way, the truth and the life, the only path to the Father. Now, the fourth thing is a comment on, he makes a comment about his sufficiency. There's a discussion here of the sufficiency, or sufficiency in Jesus Christ. So now we go to verses 8 to 11. So because of Thomas' question, the Lord Jesus answers, and then Philip comments. So look at those verses. In verse 8, Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. It will be enough for us. Jesus said unto him, have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father, and how sayest thou then, show us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself, but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me, or else believe me for the very work's sake, he says. So here, Philip makes a comment. He speaks. That's wonderful, isn't it? As I said earlier on, how approachable the Lord Jesus Christ was. It's not a question, and yet it's thought of as a question. But he doesn't put it as a question. Philip is simply making a statement. Philip saith, unto him Lord show us the father and it suffices us he says oh lord if i if i could only be like jacob and i could wrestle with with a theophany a visible appearance of god and if i could say oh i i won't let go unless thou would bless me And if I could say, I've seen God face to face, if I could only have an experience like that, that would be enough. It suffices us. That would be all that I'm asking for. That's all that I ever want. Oh Lord, if I could walk in the wilderness and there is this bush that could burn and then there was the voice of God coming through it. to say to take my sandals off because this is the holy ground. If I could see the kind of glory of God in the bush and the cloud of fire and the cloud of smoke over the tabernacle. If I could have an experience of God like Isaiah had, to see the Lord high and lifted up, that would be enough. That would be sufficient. I wouldn't have more questions. I'd be completely fulfilled. Wonderfully satisfied. Oh Lord, that's what we want. That's what we want. That would suffice us. And the Lord Jesus Christ replies in verse nine. And he says, Philip, I'm paraphrasing, Philip, I've been with you three and a half years. Haven't you understood yet? Haven't you understood? Are you still looking for what you've already got? I wonder if there's anyone here in this congregation like that. Are you still looking for what you already got? Can't you believe? Look at verse nine. Can't you believe that in seeing me, you've seen the Father? Have I been so long with you? And yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. And how sayest thou, show us the Father? How can you say that? How can you say, when I've been with you, how can you say, show us the Father? Often when I talk to Christians, they're surprised that we won't see the Father in heaven. We shall arrive in heaven and never see the father. But why not? Because we, you have to understand that the father, we must see him through Jesus Christ. You never see the father without Christ. But in seeing Christ, you see the father. God is a spirit. Only Jesus Christ has taken on humanity. He's taken on flesh and bones. In seeing Christ, you see God. In seeing Christ, you see the Father. Can you believe that? Verse 10. Believest thou not that I am in the Father and the Father in me? And there's some of the strangest language in the world. Aren't the words simple, what you're reading here? It's simple words. You don't need a dictionary to understand the words that are there in this text. But the teaching is beyond our understanding. I've often tried to use the illustration where a child goes down to the seaside and puts the bucket in the water. And now the bucket is in the sea, and the sea is in the bucket. And so it is. And actually, that is a very poor illustration because although the whole of the bucket is in the sea, the whole of the sea isn't in the bucket. But the wonder of the deity, the wonder of the Holy Trinity, is that the whole of the second person of the Trinity is in the first. And the whole of the first person of the Trinity, that is the father, is in the second person, that is the son. The father is not the son, and the son is not the father. They're distinct, but they are not separate. When you embrace the Son of God, when you embrace Jesus Christ, you embrace the Father and you embrace the Holy Spirit. When you see the Son, you see the Father. When you know the Son, you know the Father. When you enjoy the Son, you enjoy the Father. When you fellowship with the Son, you fellowship with the Father. The Lord Jesus Christ is the only way. But He is the way to the Father. And I've been with you for these years, Philip. And you're still looking. You're still looking for that Shekinah glory. You're still looking for the glorious presence, felt presence of God. But the Father dwells in me. I'm in the Father. You're still looking for Jacob type experiences. You're still looking for Isaiah type visions. And for three and a half years, I've been beside you and you haven't understood. And now you're asking for what you've already had all along. Can't you believe? And how about you, dear friends? We can point the finger at Philip and say, well, why couldn't he see? Well, what about us? Can you not see that the Lord is with you? Can you not see that the Lord Jesus Christ promised that he will be with you always? And he is with you. God is with you. Do you believe what the Nicene Creed says? It says, God of God, light of light, very God of very God, begotten, not made of one substance with the Father. by whom all things were created. That's Jesus Christ. And this is why you should believe it, Philip. Look at verse 10 again. The second half of it. The words that I speak unto you, I speak not of myself, but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. So here's the table. Human lips are speaking to you. But these human lips are speaking the word of God. But the Father who dwells in me is saying, does the works. The Father dwelleth in me. But I'm doing His work. Look at verse 11. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me, or else believe me for the very works sake, He says. Who can raise the dead? Who can do that? Who can raise a dead person? Only God can do that. But a man raised the dead so that that man must be God. Who can open the eyes of a person who's been blind, who's never ever seen in their life? Only God can do that. But a man, he opened the blind eyes and gave sight. So if you don't believe me, if you won't believe me, just because I'm saying it at this table, believe me for the work's sake, Philip. But at least see it. And so we want to round off this passage now with these great truths that you need nothing, dear friends, more than Jesus Christ. And if you are a Christian, you have Jesus Christ, you have God. You ought to, Study him, know him more and more. There is no one and nothing greater and worth your study and worth your following than the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't be going off after the next fad and the new fad and the next thing and all these different movements and all kinds of ideas that come and go. They will not satisfy you. You don't need nothing else other than the Lord Jesus Christ. If you are not just sunk in your troubles, you need nothing more than Christ. You can know that all the universe is being managed in your favor if you are in Jesus Christ. You need nothing more than Him. If you want to know what's the way forward, In your life, in your Christian life, as a Christian, the way forward is Christ. It's knowing Him. You come to church to hear who? To hear Christ. You read the scriptures to hear who? To hear Christ and know Him. You pray to meet who? To meet Christ. You come to the Lord's table to feed on Christ. The Christian life is Christ. If you want to know what the truth is, you go to Christ. If you need life, if you feel that you are dead and jaded in your spiritual life, you need to come to Christ. If you have questions, you should take them first. First of all, you take them all to the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you want a vision of God, who God is, reflect on the Lord Jesus Christ, His person, His work. You know what unconverted men and women need today? They need to come to Christ. Now, Christian men and women, boys and girls, young Christian people, they need to as well come and follow Christ every day. That's what unconverted people need to do. That's how the Christian life starts, but that's the way it continues. It's not different. You start, you continue, and then you finish forever and ever with Christ. That's what it is. That's the Christian life. That's the life of a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he is all sufficient, dear friends, unto eternity. Well, may the Lord write his word upon our hearts. Let us pray. Oh Lord, our God, we thank thee and we bless thee for our savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. How much we need him. We need him to increase and we decrease. We pray for thy blessing upon this gathering then. May each one of us grow in Christ. May we know him more. May we humble ourselves before him. May we become more and more like him. Bless this congregation then. Bless every child here. Bless all those who've been listening. Oh Lord, work thou in our hearts and lives. May the Lord Jesus Christ draw near to us. as we seek to follow Him. O Lord, we lament the fact that oftentimes we have gone after other things. Other things have been important for us, and we have lost out, and we have not given Christ the glory that is due unto Him. We pray then that Thou wouldst bless and help us, and receive our thanks and praise for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen.