Well, greetings to each one of you today in the name of Christ. It's a blessing to be here again amongst you, having missed being here last Lord's Day. So it's good to be in the house of the Lord again. And truly, truly it's good for us to worship him and to remember and to observe the sacraments as we do here. I think sometimes we under value the observance of what these mean to us spiritually. So indeed it is refreshing. Well I invite you to turn to the gospel according to John. in chapter 14 today. Lord willing we'll finish out chapter 14 and if we remember this is a one of the I should say maybe one of the greatest pieces of God's revelation for our comfort that you will have opportunity to read here in John 14. It is in the context, of course, and just pause for a moment to think about the setting of these words. It is really amazing when you contemplate where the Lord Jesus was at this point, that he was mere hours from giving his life for our salvation, mere hours away, yet there was no focus on himself, was it? It was all still pointed away, pointed out toward us, toward his disciples. over and over here in these last couple chapters and going through 14, 15, and 16, and then the high priestly prayer in 17, and then it goes into his passion. But truly, truly these chapters represent an intimacy in teaching that In relation to the setting that he's in, it brings so much to bear for us. He begins this chapter where he says, let not your heart be troubled. He, that was a couple messages ago that we looked at verses one through six. And he ends that short little section with the comforting words that I am the way, the truth and the life. And it was in response to Thomas who said, how do we know that we, how do we know the way? How do we know where you're going and how can we know the way? And Jesus just simply says, I am the way. And then if we remember, we considered Something is, is it here? Okay. No, I don't think it is. But so if we, uh, if we consider then versus, uh, seven through 12 or seven through 11, he reaffirms his identity. He re, um, He reaffirms who he is, his equality with the Father, and he tells them that they should believe in him for the sake of his words. And if they don't receive his words at face value, then surely you would believe who I am by the works that I've done. And that we see in verse 11. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me, or else believe me for the sakes or for the sake of the works themselves. Last time then, as we were considering this text in John 14 verses 12 through 24, he offered so many different comforts and he assured them in verse 12, assuredly I say to you that that which I have started will not, will not, will not suffer loss because I am leaving." He says, the works that I did you will do also in greater works. And then he promises them his provision, whatever you ask in my name that I will give. Whatever you ask in my name that will I do that the Father may be glorified in the Son. And then he promises them the provision, the person of the Holy Spirit. He says in verses 15 and 16, or verse 16 and 17 rather, And I will pray the Father and he will give you another helper or another comforter that he may abide with you forever." And here he is focusing specifically on his indwelling presence, the indwelling person of the Holy Spirit given to his disciples in light of his absence, in light of the absence of the Lord Jesus himself. He is promising them this comfort, not only from His teaching but from the person of the Holy Spirit, the indwelling Spirit of Christ that is sent from God by request of the Lord Jesus Christ. I will pray the Father and He will give you another comforter. And we consider briefly as we were closing out last time about the the comfort of the fellowship of the Lord Jesus Christ and of the Father in verse 23. And if anyone loves me, he will keep my word and my father will love him and we will come to him and make our home with him. You know, there He is promising that though He is absent physically, He will be with them spiritually. Him and the Father both will make their home with Him. They will come and dwell with Him, even as the Holy Spirit in verse 17, for He will dwell with you and will be in you. So, all of these things are the context of our text this morning. We want to consider verses 25 through the end of the chapter this morning. And let's read God's Word, John 14, 25 and following. These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. You have heard Me say to you, I am going away and coming back to you. If you loved Me, you would rejoice, because I said, I am going to the Father, for My Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe. I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me. But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do. arise, let us go from here." So, this morning I titled it, again, just a simple title of the comforts of Christ as He continues to share what He will provide for them as He leaves and as He departs to go back to His Father. Notice, and by this title, comforts of Christ. I am referring to that, I mean the comfort that Christ gives to His followers. Those who follow Him in His absence, He gives comforts, genuine comforts. But think about it, in many ways though these same comforts are the ones He Himself enjoyed in His earthly ministry. same comforts. See, I had to think of the Scripture that says that the Spirit is given to Him without measure. And so, here we have these comforts of Christ that were given to us. And I would like to say that truly these comforts extend to us all the way these 2,000 plus years to us here today. There are plenty of things that grieve us, are there not? There are plenty of things that could trouble us, that could cause us to fear. As was pointed out with the title of the, the theme of the, I'm sorry, can't think of it now. The theme of the little table talks, yes. trusting enough. not being anxious in this time of turmoil. And I think we know in a sense what this may be referring to in our country here even today in a political sense. We have a lot of turmoil and unrest and we have that of course obviously is even of a lesser degree than the spiritual turmoil that we find ourselves in this world. But first of all, I want to point out the first comfort we have here as we consider the comforts of Christ in this passage is the Spirit of Christ, or the mind of Christ in verses 25 and 26. Let me read these again. These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I have said to you." In Romans 8 and verse 9 it says very simply this way, it refers to this Helper, and He is called in Romans 8 and verse 9, the Spirit of Christ. Let me just quickly read that. Romans 8, in verse 9 he says, "'But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. If indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you, now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his.'" And in 1 Corinthians 2 in the last verse of that chapter he refers, the Apostle Paul refers to this Helper, this Holy Spirit as the mind of Christ. He says there, we have the mind of Christ. as I pointed out in my opening remarks, verses 16 and 17 of this chapter 14 are referring to this Holy Spirit, this Helper, this Comforter as the Indwelling Presence. It emphasizes and teaches and highlights the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in verses 15 and 16. But now in our text this morning the teaching ministry of our Helper is taught and emphasized. This, the first thing I think I want to point out here in this, in these two verses are that these things, the Lord spoke here, verse 25, these things, and then in verse 26, the all things. The Lord spoke to them all these things in verse 25 while He was yet present with them. Now, in verse 26, this coming Helper will take these things and teach them. He will take, and in another place we read that He will take of mine and show it unto you. John 16, 14, He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. And that is what we see here again in verse 25 and 26 is that all things that were being spoken while Christ was present with them, this Holy Spirit would take them and apply it to them and illuminate them. And I think it may specifically be referring to the apostolic ministry where the Holy Spirit illuminates the things that Christ was teaching and ultimately the apostles, these disciples that He was directly addressing would ultimately write the scriptures. that He would teach them all things and bring to their remembrance all of these things that Christ had referred to in His earthly ministry. that of course I believe the Holy Spirit will also extend that work to us, not in an apostolic way, but in illumination, in opening our minds, in opening our hearts, in causing us to understand what Christ is talking about. Whether it's in reference to His leaving or whatever He taught, even all the parables, the Holy Spirit will bring these things to our remembrance and open the meaning up for them. But specifically, he may well have been referring to the ministry of the teaching or of the writing of the scripture. We have, I didn't write these references down, but we, and I think we'll come to those later. But in John, I mean, in 1 Corinthians, First Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 6. Paul says this way, "'However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery. The hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory.'" So, I believe there he is referring to that in their apostolic ministry These, the Holy Spirit was teaching them the words of wisdom and opening these things to us. We will look at this text at length then, Lord willing, but this ministry of teaching, we have it in, we have it referred to in first John also. where John says this way in chapter 2 verse 20, he says, but you have an anointing from the Holy One and you know all things. I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it and that no lie is of the truth. And then also in verse 26 of 1 John 2, these things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you. But as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things and is true and is not a lie, just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him." That obviously is not teaching that we don't need a teacher. We have in Ephesians 4, we have the clear teaching that God has given teachers to the church for the edification of the body. But the truth of the matter is if we don't have the anointing of the Holy Spirit of God, then all the teaching that we can give will not resonate with you. Really and truly, it's an amazing thing that the children of God can hear the word of God and we as teachers and preachers have the privilege of having someone agreeing with us inside of you. We have someone who is dwelling within and you have a built-in lie detector. It's really interesting how as we, as we, as our mind is renewed through the reading of the scripture, as we bring in truth, the Holy Spirit will, will then as you hear teaching, as you, how many times have we experienced this? Well, we say, well, where did that come from? You know, we, We might hear something, a message, or somebody preaching, and we immediately sense something wrong with that. We may not be able to nail it down right then. But there's a discernment that comes from the Holy Spirit that is an anointing, as John calls it. And this anointing, it's absolutely essential for us. And Jesus here in verses 25 and 26 is telling us, this is a comfort that you're going to experience in my absence. You will have someone dwelling within you, the Holy Spirit. And it's the Holy Spirit who teaches. And not only does He teach, but He will also bring to remembrance. And I believe this means that That there will be illumination for you. There will be things that you understand by the ministry of the Holy Spirit within you. And truly, how many times do we hear a message and it resonates with our spirit and we say amen. We know what that's like. And I believe it's the work of the Holy Spirit to guide us and direct us and to keep us from error. because ultimately those who have the Spirit of Christ, they have the mind of Christ. They have the mind of Christ. One thing I want to point out is the wonderful unity we see in verses 25 and 26. The things that the Lord spoke and the things that the Holy Spirit taught. I think this is an important point because there are many people who say, well the Spirit showed me this, or The Spirit taught me that. Well, does it agree with the recorded words of Christ? Does it line up with the recorded words of Christ? Does it agree with the work of Christ? And indeed, I think we will come to that here as we think of this comforter, this teacher that we have indwelling within us. He truly is the Spirit of Christ. Notice what he says here. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name. There is no discrepancy between the teaching ministry of the Lord Jesus when he was here on earth, and the ministry of the Holy Spirit in your life today. There will never be any discrepancy in that teaching. It will be a united ministry. And notice that he says, as I'm pointing out, that he will send him, the Father will send him in my name. Think of this, the Holy Spirit, he comes for the cause of Christ, to apply the work of Christ, in the authority of Christ, for the glory of Christ. As we see, he will glorify me, he says in John 16, 14. So the Holy Spirit comes in the name of Christ. What does that remind you of? What does that bring to your mind? John 5.43 says this way, I have come in my Father's name. I have come in my Father's name, and you did not receive me. If another comes in his own name, him you will receive. He goes on to say that how can you believe who receive honor from one another? But the point I want to bring out here is that Christ came in His Father's name, that He came in His Father's authority. He continually, or again and again He says, I came not to do mine own will, but the will of Him who sent me. And so, this now is this, the Holy Spirit then comes in the name of Christ, you see. And so, He was always will be representing the cause of Christ, the will of Christ, the person of Christ, the glory of Christ. That is how we can evaluate the Spirit's work. How do you know when someone says, well, the Spirit told me X, Y, Z? Well, then we come back and say, well, does it agree with the work of Christ? Does it agree with the ministry of the Lord Jesus? Does it agree? with what He has taught us, because there will never be a discrepancy, as I mentioned. And so we have verses 25 and 26, the comfort that Christ provides by the teaching ministry of the Spirit of Christ, or we have the mind of Christ. we have the very mind of Christ illuminating the teaching. So think about it, if we have, if Christ is absent from these disciples and from, we don't have a physical Christ to follow, we don't have a physical Christ to listen to and be taught, but we have the very mind of Christ indwelling. that the Comforter that He has sent in the name of Christ helps us to understand verse 13. You remember last time, whatever you ask in my name that will I do. You see the Holy Spirit is sent in His name, and so it helps us to understand what that is talking about. In praying in His name is that we are asking even in accordance with the ministry of the Holy Spirit, asking in His name. Now this need for the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit is evident in chapter 16. If you would just flip back briefly, chapter 16, verses 12 through 15, and I've already mentioned part of this text, But chapter 16 and verse 12, the Lord tells them, I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. He had more to tell them, but they were unable to bear it at that time. However, when the Spirit of truth has come, He will guide you into all truth, for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears, He will speak. And He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you." Indeed, this teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit paramount importance. We see that they were unable to bear even the teaching of Christ, though He was in their very presence. He has so much to tell them, but they were unable to bear it. I want to go back again to 1 Corinthians 2, continue this reading in 1 Corinthians 2. If you would flip back, I want to show you a few things here out of this text as we think of the ministry, the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit. Paul is making a point to the Corinthians in the first part verses one through five about his ministry. And he says in verse four, and my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. And then we, let's jump down to, I read verses six and seven earlier, but verse eight, Verse 7, But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew. For had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. Now, interestingly, this is often misunderstood to be referring to the glories of heaven. This is rather referring to the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit. Here, eye has not seen. Okay, in other words, my eye cannot behold the things of God. My ears cannot hear, nor has my mind or my heart ever conjured up the things about God. The human faculties, I think that's what is being taught here. The human faculties are unable to access the truths of God. We absolutely must have the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit in order to comprehend the deep things of God. Eye has not seen, nor has ear heard, It's not even entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. But notice what he says in verse 10. So many times we do not read verse 10 with this text, but God has revealed them to us. Well, how did He reveal them to us? He revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. You know, I believe here the point is, man, for what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? You know, there is, I cannot, I don't know what's necessarily in your heart. I don't understand you, but you know, your spirit is often, you're better acquainted with yourself than with anyone else. Even so, no one knows the things of God except the spirit of God. Now, we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. And so, humanity, as I said, the human faculties will not grasp the deep things of God. They will not understand. the hidden wisdom of God, which Paul is referring to in verse 7. We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, or the hidden wisdom ordained from the ages past for our glory. Notice verse 13, these things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. Literally, the Holy Spirit uses words. Did you see that? These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches, or which the Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him. nor can He know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But He who is spiritual judges all things." Really? You know, we have so much said today, and this is coming back to this idea of discernment, this idea of weighing things. Whatever is coming in, are you discerning these things? Am I discerning these things? It says very clearly here, he who is spiritual judges all things. You know, the popular idea in nominal Christianity is that we judge nothing, we judge no one, but we judge all things. Yet, it says here, he himself is rightly judged by no one. For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. And so, the spirit of Christ is allows us to know the very mind of Christ. We can comprehend by the Spirit of Christ what Christ is teaching and what He has left for us. This is why someone must be born again. We must be born again. We must be born of the Spirit in order to comprehend the things of God. The second comfort from Christ that we have here in our text. The second comfort is the peace of Christ. He says in verse 27, peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives, do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Peace. The absence of hostility. The absence of turmoil. The absence of anxiety, we might say. Peace, I leave with you. The prince of peace. Indeed, that's Isaiah 9. Lord the Prince of Peace." And in Isaiah 53 he says, he bore the chastisement of our peace. I was thinking about Hebrews 12, this idea of the chastisement of our peace. Hebrews 12 says that the chastisement is not pleasant at the time, but afterward it yields the peaceable. fruit of righteousness. And so, the Prince of Peace bore the chastisement of our peace that the peaceable fruit of righteousness might be found among us. And I was thinking about the chastisement of our peace. The reproof was applied to Christ that the fruit might abound in us. He bore the penalty that we might have peace. Romans 5, 1 of course says, therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God. This absence of hostility. But in the context of this text today, His peace their comfort. Can you imagine if Christ would have been in turmoil? No, His peace in this text is their comfort. He was about to wage war against the ruler of this world by giving His life in the most demeaning way, yet He's here encouraging His followers to by telling them of the coming glory. He says, my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives, do I give to you. You know, the world says, peace, peace, when sudden destruction and sudden destruction will come upon them. But Christ gives true and meaningful lasting peace. He gives peace middle of a storm, doesn't he? You know, you may be in the middle of a storm as I seen on a church sign one time, but the storm doesn't need to be in you. The storm does not need to be in us. As you think about this peace, this peace from Christ and what he did to procure this peace for us, to buy it for us, have you ever considered that the only time in all of time and eternity that Christ's peace with his father was interrupted was on the cross? His peace with his father, he said, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Well, he was buying our peace. He was buying our peace. He was giving us his peace. Let not your heart be troubled. You know, I think this is a command. Do we recognize this in verse 27? You recognize it, that it's a command? He says, let not your heart be troubled. How do we let not our heart be troubled? How do we keep us from having a troubled heart? Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Neither anxiety or fear. Surely, I'm not the only one that struggles with this. Surely, there are challenges that we face. But it says very clearly, don't let your heart be troubled. Don't let your heart be afraid. Well, how can we tap into this? I think we have a bit of a clue also as we look at verse 29, verse 30. I will no longer talk much with you for the ruler of this world is coming and he has nothing in me. And I think we'll, I want to look at that. But in John 16, 33, he says, these things I have spoken to you that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. Now, if your assets are in the world, if your dreams are in the world, if your longings are in the world, then you will not enjoy the peace that is in Christ. If your eggs are in this basket over here and it gets rocked, You're going to be troubled. You're going to be anxious. But if your future is secure in Christ, then he says very clearly, don't let your heart be troubled. In me, you have peace. I have overcome this world that you're living in. I have overcome it. And I want to, this is a very real comfort to us. that the world will not win. What did we read in 1 Corinthians 2, that the rulers of this age are passing away? Have you ever considered that? That all of this that we hear today in the news, this whole 24-hour coverage of the election, for instance, Notice what he says here. However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age who are coming to nothing. They're coming to nothing, brothers. They're coming to nothing. The rulers of this world are coming to nothing. but our Lord has overcome the world. Let us take joy here. The third thing I want to point out in the comforts of Christ, the third comfort we have here is the joy of Christ. Verse 28, the joy of Christ. You have heard me say to you, I am going away and coming back to you. He says to them, a very provocative statement, if you loved me, you would rejoice. Because I said I'm going to the Father, for my Father is greater than I. In Hebrews 12, too, it says, for the joy, who for the joy set before him, he endured the cross, despising his shame, and has sat down at the right hand of God. who for the joy that was set before him." Notice what he says here. I have told you time and again that I'm going away and then I'm coming back to you. Now, if you loved me, you would rejoice because I said I'm going to the Father. So, we see here that from Christ's perspective that To love someone is to wish the very best for them, to rejoice in their joy, in their well-being. If you love me, you would rejoice because I said, I am going to the Father. Christ's coming joy at His reunion with His Father is what we see here. Christ tells the disciples that the proper perspective of His departure is rejoicing. But this was kind of the opposite, isn't it? Now he says, I am going. You should be rejoicing about that because I'm going back to my father. Well, why? Because he's going to his father who is greater than he. Now, this is a bit of a challenging passage. When we see here, when he says, I am going to the Father for my Father is greater than I. How do we understand this passage? If we believe in the equality of the Son with the Father. And we see that time and time again. The statements that Christ is making that I am equal. He just said it in this chapter. If you have seen me, Philip, you have seen the Father. This equality with God, with God the Father. I think this greater than I statement has to be understood in light of the Lord's statements of equality. His Father is greater in position, greater in prestige, not greater in His person. That in the Incarnation, Christ had humbled Himself a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death. He had humbled Himself in His Incarnation But in His ascension, He is going back to the Father and He is highly exalted. He is highly exalted. I want to read a little here in John 17, two verses, John 17. verses 4 and 5. This idea of the Father being greater than I, how do we relate to that? I believe it is simply that in his earthly ministry he had lowered himself in position and in prestige he had lowered, he had, he laid aside his glory, the manifestation of his glory, but he was soon to be Taking that back up again. Notice what he says in his high priestly prayer in John 17 and verse 4 and 5. I have glorified you on the earth. I have finished the work which you've given me to do and now Oh father glorify me together with yourself with the glory, which I had with you before the world was you see Christ is teaching his disciples that I am going back to my father. I am going to a better place. I'm going to the place of exaltation at the right hand of my father. I am going to share again in the glory that I had with him before time began. You should be rejoicing with me, he says, that I am going to this place of glory, of this place of exaltation. And what a message that is to the people of God. Think about this teaching in regards to our loved ones passing. Yes, there's sorrow, isn't it? But if they're going to the Father, what a joy we can have. What a rejoicing that we can have that their earthly sojourn is over. That they're going to a place of glory and rest. That is what he is saying here, that I'm going away and coming back, but I'm going to my Father. You should rejoice in this. And what a lesson this is even for us, that if we believe these things, why do we lament as those who have no hope? Isn't that what Paul tells the Thessalonians? We should not sorrow as those who have no hope. because indeed we have a great hope. We are going home. We're going to the Father. I want to look at verse 29. I want to linger here on verse 29 a bit and go to a few other passes in John, because verse 29 is a recipe for faith. We ask, how can we not have a troubled heart in light of everything that is going on around us? We're in the middle of a moral decay. Are we not? Yes, we are. We're in the middle of a social turmoil. We're in the middle of a spiritual war. How can we How can we not let our heart be troubled? Well, notice what he says in verse 21. And now I have told you before it comes that when it does come to pass, what does it say? That you and I may believe. Just practically, how do you strengthen your faith? When you're doubting in your faith, what do you do? I want to ask you that question. What do you do to strengthen your faith when you're doubting? Well, I think what you should do is who said it. Christ said it. Did it come to pass? Yes, it did. You see, this is the concept of us building our faith. We believe, you know, for instance, it says if you're justified by faith in Christ, you know, we have peace with God. Well, how do you, you know? How do you know that subjectively? How do you reassure your heart? It is an objective truth that is given. It's a statement of fact that we have peace with God through the blood of Christ. But how do you subjectively feel that? Well, you begin to think about all the things that Christ said that came true. And you reassure your faith that these things are indeed happening. He says here, this is the recipe for faith. And now I've told you, I have foretold you and forewarned you about these things. And when you see them come to pass, then you're going to be reassured that indeed, I was who I said I was. Then you will believe. Notice what he says in John 2, 22, in this very gospel. I'll just flip back, you don't have to turn to it. He says, you know, he made this statement, destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up. But he was speaking of the temple of his body. Therefore, when he had risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this to them, and they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had said. See, the Spirit, the Holy Spirit had reminded them of the words that Christ had spoken. And when those words came true, the very disciples experienced the reality of those things. They were reminded, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them, and they believed the Scripture and the Word. That, I guess, is what I'm trying to reinforce in our hearts and minds. How do we know that these things are so? Because they're documented. He said it. It happened. You see. You can take Old Testament prophecies of Christ and see them fulfilled in the New Testament, and that, brothers and sisters, is how your faith is practically built. You see Old Testament prophecies, you see the forthcoming of them in the New Testament, or whenever. And these things practically build our faith. Faith is not intended to be a theory. It's not to be, it's built to be on, it is supposed to be stable and solid. And they are built on concrete facts. And so we just need to be acquainted with these facts in John 12, 16. And obviously these, You know, faith is a gift, but there are things that you can do to grow your faith. But John 12, 16 says this way, that his disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about him and that they had done these things to him. You see it also in John 13. verse 19, Jesus said to them in verse 19, now I tell you before it comes that when it does come to pass you may believe that I am He. That is, He was making this statement about there is a betrayer in your midst. He who eats bread with me has lifted up his heel against me." I'm telling you, so that when you see it happening, you're not going to be blindsided. You're not going to be distraught that this happened. No, because it's in the plan, you see. When Jesus foretells it, that gives us confidence that it wasn't, that he wasn't the victim, you know. He was planning this out. Just a wonderful truth. In 16 in verse 4, it says this way. in John 16 and verse 4, but these things I have told you that when the time comes you may remember that I told you of them. And these things I did not say to you at the beginning because I was with you. And so he is giving them these four warnings so that they are forearmed and that they can then grow in their faith because he had already foretold them. He was giving them a recipe for faith. Then lastly, I want to point out in verses 29 and following, the comfort of Christ in His example of obedience, the comfort of Christ. Verses 30 and 31, I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. Indeed, Satan had already stirred in the heart of Judas. Judas was out there gathering his mob. Soon he would bring, he would come, and there would be a violent arresting. But Jesus is saying, I will no longer talk much with you, my time is short. For the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in me. This is an amazing statement, brothers and sisters. It is why that His sacrifice avails for our sin. That there is nothing in Christ that resonates with the ruler of this world. There is nothing, there's not a stain of sin. There's no mark of Satan in himself. There's no hidden claim of allegiance. There is nothing to mar the perfection of Christ. Nothing to spoil His peace. Satan has no legal power. has no legal right to claim anything in Christ. You see, none of us can say this. Truly, none of us can say this, that Satan has nothing in us. I want to just bring this kind of home as a challenge to us. What came your way this week? It came my way this week. What came your way this week that Satan touched and you responded negatively? Well, when Satan, when the ruler of this world was coming for Christ, There was nothing in Christ that He could lay a claim on and that He could blot His record. There was no allegiance in any hidden form or fashion, no hypocrisy, nothing that marred His perfection. And we see this in verse 31, but that this world may know, that the world may know, and its ruler, that my allegiance is with the Father, that I love the Father. You see, now we're saying very clearly what it means to love the Son. What does he say in the last message? He who does not love me does not keep my words, right? If anyone loves me, verse 23, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Now he is saying that the world may know that I love the Father. You see that? That the world and its ruler may know that my allegiance is with God, with the Father. And as the Father gave me commandment, so I do. You see that? His love for the Father was demonstrated in his obedience. This is the example that the Lord gave us. This is a comfort to us that the Lord walked this way before us. He's asking from us the same thing that he himself lived out, that we simply show our love for him by our obedience. You see, there's no divorcing that. There's no possibility for us to legitimately claim our love for him if we disregard his word. And so, whenever we disregard the word of God, whenever we are going our own way, that is when the devil has his way with us. That's when he comes at us, he has something where he can work against us. See, we should not give, what does the scripture say in Ephesians? Do not give place to the devil. See, Christ never did. And when the devil came at him, the ruler of this world came at him, he had no place in him. He could find nothing to get a toehold in. But see, when we do that, that is where we fall, that is where we falter, that is where we stumble. That's where I stumbled this week. When we give place to the devil, when we don't walk in obedience as we should, where, brothers and sisters, do you need to work on? What do you need to work on? What do you need to give attention to that you would not give place to the devil, because you will not give place to the enemy. That he, when he comes against you, that you can be victorious and that you can show the world that you love the Father. I had to, I had to think of Todd Beamer. I don't even know if he's a believer or not. Wasn't it Todd Beamer? And flight, whatever that flight number was that crashed in Pennsylvania. Flight 93 that crashed in Pennsylvania. Some of the last words he says was, let's roll. Let's roll. I had to think of that here. That's the words of Christ. He said, let's roll. Let's go. That the world may know that I am willing to lay my life down, to suffer the most demeaning death for the sin of the world. Prove my allegiance that I may obey my father. Arise, let's go. That's what he said. Arise, let us go from here. Let us go to the cross. Let us go to the grave. Let us go to the resurrection. Let us go to the ascension. Let us go to the exaltation. Yes, he was very, very willing. And all these things are a comfort to us, brothers and sisters, that we might truly, truly put our trust in Christ. Again, let's take this to heart that the words of Christ, we might rejoice with him when he says that he has nothing in me. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we pause at the close of this text. We marvel at the glorious Christ that is ours. The comfort of the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit. The comfort of the peace of Christ. The comfort. Of his reunion and exaltation with you. the comfort of His purity of character, that there was nothing that the enemy of our soul could lay a hold of in Christ or on Christ. Father, I pray that you would feed our hearts one more time with these words, with the words of your scripture, that we would be strengthened and renewed in our heart. Father, we Just pray that you would bless each one here with these words. And in the name of Christ, we pray. Amen.