Well, greetings to each one of you in the worthy name of our Savior. It's a blessing to be here with you as we look at his word again. I would invite you, if you have your roadmap with you, that you would open it and go to the Gospel according to John in chapter 14. If I would ask you at what point is this chapter, at what point is this text in the ministry of the Lord Jesus, does someone know just off the top of your head? Yes, yes, very good. It's on the evening before his crucifixion, trial crucifixion and death the next day. The setting here, it's always, I think it's always important here to get a bit of the setting and that in this passage in John 14, We have a very intimate setting, a very close setting, a very dear setting, we might say, with Christ and his 11 disciples. And it, as it were, is kind of the closing statement of Christ to his disciples. Obviously he will speak to them again after his death and resurrection before his ascension. But here We have Judas already has left. He's gone from their presence. The supper has been eaten. Christ has washed their feet. He has ministered to them. And now he comes to them and these next 14, 15, 16 are very informative as to the heart of Christ to his people and this is not a message that goes out into the world necessarily, no it's for his people, it is for his church so to speak. Here today, even today, now as we're gathered together, take these words of Christ as a message for you, it's for us, it's for his people. And so I want to remind you of this setting that it is the night before our Savior's death. He's secluded with his 11 disciples and he told them of his coming departure in John 13 verse 33. And I want to point this out. Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek me. And as I said to the Jews where I'm going, you cannot come. So now I say to you and then again Jesus answered him in verse 36 where Peter said Lord where are you going? He said where I'm going you cannot follow me now but you shall follow me afterward. And so we have in the context of this this coming departure we have Christ speaking these great words of comfort to to his disciples soon to be apostles. So I want to invite you to follow along as I read in our text today John 14 beginning in verse 12 and we'll read through verse 24. John 14. Verses 12 through 24 most assuredly I say to you he who believes in me the works that I do he will do also and greater works than these he will do because I go to my father and whatever you ask in my name that I will do that the father may be glorified in the son if you ask anything in my name I will do it. If you love me, keep my commandments and I will pray the father and he will give you another helper that he may abide with you forever. The spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him, but you know him for he dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you. little while longer and the world will see me no more but you will see me because I live you will live also. At that day you will know that I am in my father and you in me and I in you. He who has my commandments and keeps them it is he who loves me and he who loves me will be loved by my father and I will love him and manifest myself to him. Judas, not Iscariot, said to him, Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us and not to the world? Jesus answered and said to him, if anyone loves me, he will keep my word and my father will love him and we will come to him and make our home with him. 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." Now if you were in a environment where if you would have been one of the disciples I can imagine that there would have been a lot of mixed emotions a bit of a turmoil in your heart as you as the one you have followed for three years who've Who've you've left all as it says one of them was it Peter that said look we've left all what shall be our lot And so they left everything and followed this man and now he's saying I'm leaving you guys I'm going away and He tells them of his plans while he is away though and that's what I want to just recap just a little bit here before we come to our text. But in John 14 he begins in chapter 14 and verse 1. that he tells him, this is my plans that will be happening while I am gone, while I am away from you. And this is a comfort to them to look, let not your heart be troubled. I am leaving. I'm going to prepare a place for you. And when I'm done, I'll come back or I will come back again to you so that you may be or that where I am there, you may be also. And, uh, Thomas says to him Lord you know how do we know where you're going and how can we know the way. And Jesus just comforts them by saying I am the way I am the truth and I am the life. And then Jesus reminds them in verses 7 through 11. This was the message last time we were in this gospel that He reminds them and reassures them of his equality with the Father. And I want you to just think about that a bit. He appeals to them by his words and his works. If you notice in verse 10 of 14 he says, Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does the works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me." Or he's saying believe my words or else believe me for the sake of the works themselves. And so the gospel according to John is over and over utilizing the works of Christ and using them to prove his identity. And I want you to just think a bit that if you would have followed the Lord Jesus Christ for three years and then he told you, look, the Son of Man is going to Jerusalem. He will be offered up as an offering. The high priests and the chief priests and the Pharisees will take him and arrest him and try him and he will be crucified. And this leader, this teacher that you've been following, if you, would have been there. You would have been distraught. You would have been distraught. But I believe that this section verse 7 through 11 is very important for the disciples to understand. It's extremely important for them to understand in light of his coming suffering and death. Because if they don't understand that this is God the Son giving himself for his people, then what they've invested in has fallen to the ground. What they've invested in is as nothing. And so he, in verses one through six, he's giving them comfort. I'm going away. I have a plan. I'm not just leaving you. I'm going away. I'm preparing a place for you. I'm going to return. And he encourages them with this doctrine, this principle that I am equal with the Father. Believe me, believe me for the words that I've spoken or the works that I've done. Chapter 14 in this gospel according to John is one of the most comforting in all of God's revelation. It is the Lord Jesus sitting down with you and telling you of his plans of what is going to happen in his absence. I am going away but I'm equal with the father and now he tells us look there are so many things that are going to happen and I want you to know them. Actually he says, In verse 29, and now I've told you before it comes that when it does come to pass, you may believe. To be forewarned is to be forearmed, right? To have information on the inside, to understand these things. It's incredibly important that we get this truth. that we become confident, that we take comfort from John 14, that things are going according to plan. It's incredibly important for us to grasp that. Remember the Lord says here, let not your heart be troubled. He says it twice. He says it in verse one, let not your heart be troubled. He says it again in, In verse 27, let not your heart be troubled. It's as bookends here. And so this theme of comfort keeps right on going here in our text today. Our text that we want to look at as I read is verses 12 through 24. This theme of comfort in the absence of their master. I want you to get that sense, that sense of uniqueness at this point in the followers of Christ's life. And so I want to begin here at the beginning. He assures them of at least four things in his physical absence. Number one, verse 12. It is almost as if the disciples are saying, well, what's going to happen with your ministry? What is going to happen with all your teaching, everything that you've stood for, your agenda, your plan, all these things, what's going to happen? Most assuredly I say to you, he tells them, he who believes in me, the works that I do, he will do also. That my mission is not in danger. My ministry is not at its end. My agenda will be taken up and it will grow. My kingdom will come. My program will not suffer in my absence. This is important that we know that there is a future, that there is a kingdom coming, you see. And he tells them, most assuredly, Lord, verily, verily, I say to you, he who believes in me, the very things that I've been doing in the last three years, you will do as well. Actually, he says, you will do greater works than these, you see. So he is assuring them that the work that he has begun will not suffer because I'm leaving you. The ministry of the gospel that I have started, you will expand. Indeed, you who have followed me will turn the world right side up. You know that's something that in the book of Acts it speaks about how those in authority were amazed at how these illiterate men turned the world upside down but actually they were turning the world right side up. And so in light of his departure he assures them that What I have stood for, it will continue. It will continue. Greater works you will do because I go to my father. Now there's all, of course, there's a lot of interest in what he's actually saying here. Greater works than I have done, you will do. I believe what this is saying is that the works that Christ had done, they were limited to a certain region. They were primarily limited to the Judean region. I mean, he ministered some in Samaria, but the ministry of the Lord Jesus was pointed and focused to the children of Israel. Yes, he did minister to various others, but that was his point and focus. And soon the world would explode. The gospel would explode into the world. It would explode onto the scene of a global, of all the known world. Then it would go out to the Gentiles. And this idea here, when we see, most assuredly I say to you, he who believes in me, the works that I do, he will do also in greater works than these he will do. Why? I think it's important that we get the whole thought here. He continues, because I go to my father. There is a connection there between the greater works of the disciples and the Lord departing to his father. There is a connection there and I'm not 100 percent sure what these greater works are but I believe it is especially pointed to those who would be apostles and how that they ministered, they healed, they had a ministry of healing. It was after Pentecost that they were filled with power from on high and we have, as one commentator pointed out, we have Jesus healing with the hem of his garment, we have I think it was Peter healing with his handkerchief, we have The Apostle Paul, if his shadow fell on someone, they were healed. So I believe it's more, the idea here of greater works is more to the point that it is extended to a greater group of people, it's more all encompassing, and it is much more geographically far reaching. And where Christ was ministering in one spot, his apostles and his disciples would be scattered into all these various places and they would be ministering as he was, but in various places. It seems to me that the Lord is saying, my kingdom is about to start a new campaign, a new offensive, and I am going to my father for the needed resources. He's saying, you will do greater works than these because I go to my father. Notice what he says here in verse 16, and I will pray the father and he will give you another helper. That there are resources that I will be given to you. These will be available. I am going to my father and you will do these greater works. The ministry of the gospel will soon explode on the known world after I am gone. And then this number two, my second point is, well, what about, you know, in the absence of the Lord, what about our needs? What is going to happen with, we've been following you, you've been leading us. You have been our supply. Well in verse 13 he begins, and whatever you ask in my name I will do that the father may be glorified in the son. My provisions will continue with you in my physical absence. He makes it absolutely clear that there's not going to be a cut off from the supply route. The supply chain will not be cut off. You have followed me these three years in my ministry. My resources, my power, my teaching has guided you and sustained you. That will continue. He reassures these, that's a comfort to us and to them. You know, I think sometimes we think, if only we could have been there with Christ. If only we could have been there. Well, it would have been nice, wouldn't it? But listen, they did not have the comprehension that we do. You understand that they did not have the insights at the time of his ministry that we who have the Holy Spirit within us, that we have. And so verse 13 is a beautiful exposition on prayer. One short sentence and so much in there. One short sentence. And I want to look at about five things out of verse 13 that have to do with prayer. Five things about prayer here. Number one is the scope of prayer. Notice what he says, whatever, whatever you ask, anything you ask, everything you ask, whatever your need might be, whatever that is, It is as broad as whatever. You see, it is not limited. It is whatever you ask in my name. We have so many different needs represented here today. We have so many legitimate needs here today. You can take every one of those, whatever it is, and ask the Lord Jesus for grace and mercy and help and aid and provision. And he promises to you that whatever you ask in my name, You see, that is the scope of prayer. It's the panoply of prayer. It is a vast array. It's like whatever it is. The second thing I want to point out here about prayer in verse 13 is the posture of prayer. What is the posture of prayer? Is it not asking whatever you ask, whatever you request, whatever you implore, whatever you beg for? He says, I will. Notice that this is the posture of praise and asking. It's not a demanding. It is an attitude of persistence, of coming and saying, Lord, I have need here. It is a request. It is asking. Whatever you ask, this is the posture of prayer that we ask. How do you ask someone when you want something from someone? You come with a certain posture don't you? See those of us who have children we are much more receptive to a proper posture in asking because there's an attitude behind a posture you see. We have a much greater desire to bless with whatever provisions they have need of if the posture comes in a proper way. We ask, we ask, we request, we may even beg. You know, I had to think about, well, how were some of these people healed in the ministry of Christ? They cried out, they pleaded, they begged. They implored the Lord. And so in prayer we ask, and whatever we ask with the proper posture in asking. Number three, is the pillar or the ground of prayer? What is the pillar or that which holds up prayer? Whatever, what is the ground? It is in my name. It is in my name and whatever you ask in my name. So prayer is about coming to Christ in his name, not just tacking on, in the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. No, it's not what he's talking about. It is praying for his cause. It is praying for, It is in agreement with the Lord's person and character. That's how we pray. That's how we have authority in prayer. If you come in the cause of Christ, in the character of Christ, in pursuit of his will and character and person, under his authority and agenda, that's how we pray. We come in accordance with his revealed will and purpose. That is what it means to pray in according to his name, in his name. That means that whatever you ask that would agree with the character of Christ, he will do it. Whatever you ask that is holy, he will do it. Whatever you ask that's righteous and just, Whatever that you ask when you pray and you know that it's the will of God that this would happen. He promises to give it to you. What are some of the things that you know are God's will? What are some of the things that you know to be absolutely true? There's no doubt. We heard it right here in the children's lesson. The commandment number nine, that you should speak the truth, always the truth, and if you pray that God would help you to stay by the truth, to be honest and transparent and not hypocritical, He will do it for you. He promises to do it. If you pray according to His name, whatever you ask in my name, Whatever agrees with the kingdom of God, whatever agrees with the glory of God, we have great confidence. See, there are so many things that we pray for that we don't know whether it's the will of God or not. We prayed for Marlon Eicher. We don't know if it's God's will that he be healed or not. But we know without a doubt that it is God's will, that he perceived comfort and grace in the person of Jesus Christ. We can pray with all authority that God would meet his needs and that he would be drawn to Christ, that his family would grow in grace through this occurrence. You see, you can pray with absolute authority in those things because you know them to be the absolute will of God. But his physical healing, maybe not. And so we ask, Lord, would you heal him if it's thy will? But we can ask you, Lord, to give them grace, because we know that to be God's will. There's so many things that if you start thinking about what is God's will, we know them. We know what it is. the actual practical, well should I take this job or not? Sometimes I think we know whether we should or we shouldn't. It might be sometimes easier to say, well I know I shouldn't take this job because this position does not glorify God, this work is not honorable work, I have to do shady deals to to make a living. We know that you begin to weigh these things and we understand these things. It is when something is good, better, or best, sometimes we need great discernment on what the will of God is in those ways. But when we pray to him he says, whatever you ask in my name for my For my glory, for my will and purposes, I will do it. That leads me to the next. The fourth thing here about prayer is the promise of prayer, the promise of prayer, that I will do. No man has ever been more ethical and more filled with character who states something that he will do as the Lord Jesus Christ. When he says, I will do it, you can take it to the bank. It is the promise of Almighty God given to you as a comfort while he is not in your presence. In his absence, he is encouraging you, look, there are all sorts of provisions at your disposal. Ask of me according to my will, I will provide. See, there's no question about desire here or ability. This one beggar came to him, or this one who wanted healing, he says, Lord, if you would, you can heal me. And he says, I will. You know, his desire was there. There's no question here about desire or ability. No, it's you need something for the mission, ask and I will do it. Ask and I will do it. That is the promise of prayer and then lastly as we think about the fifth thing here that we see in this verse about prayer is the purpose of prayer and its answer. The purpose of prayer and its answer, that the father may be glorified in the provision of the son and whatever you ask in my name I will do it, that the father may be glorified in the son. You see that's why Thanksgiving is so important, this is where Thanksgiving comes in, that when we have answered prayer And we give that answer to prayer, we give that provision that we've received, we give God credit for that. That is how God is glorified in the Son, in the provision that was brought to us in the Son. You know, in Psalm 103, all these benefits that have been given to us, we praise God for the benefits of His Son. You see, God is glorified and exalted when we praise Him. because he dwells in the praises of his people, God does. And so we have the scope of prayer, the posture of prayer, the pillar or ground of prayer, the promise of prayer, and the purpose of prayer. Now in verse 14 Jesus repeats the promise of his care, he just says it right again, he says, In verse 14, if you ask anything in my name I will do it. Why does he repeat himself? Well for emphasis, he repeats the promise of his care, he recommits himself to them again. There's a big if here in verse 14, he says, if you ask, you know, A lot of times we don't ask. Did you know many of us have needs that are not met because we don't ask? James says you have not because you ask not. You see there's something about prayer and us asking. See God could put it in our pocket before we ever ask. Couldn't he? He has the cattle on a thousand hills. Whatever need you have, he could have filled it five years ago. But there's something about the fact that you have got to come to the realization that he has resources that you need. And when you understand that, that is when you are also ready to glorify him. You see, if you just had everything handed to you, like a rich kid who has a millionaire father, he never has to work for anything. There's no reason to even, there's just an entitlement attitude. But there's a connection between your sense of need and the glory of God, and the fact that you will return thanks to God, you see. So the reason we have not is because we ask not, and sometimes we receive not because we ask amiss that we might consume it on our pleasures. See, that's not asking in his name. If you want something and you beg God for it, if he would give it to you, would that be good for you? See, that's the question we need to ask ourselves. Would it even be good for me if I had this answer? Well if the answer is ultimately no then you're not praying in the will of God, you see. You have left off asking properly and so to ask is to come with an attitude of need and we come and we ask of God and we ask in such a way that God would be glorified. And if God was going to be ultimately glorified in the answer, I think you have the petition that you've asked for. Verse 15, if you love me, keep my commandments. Now this is the atmosphere or the environment of effectual prayer. It is from this environment that we have effectual prayer. This attitude of obedience from a heart of love. If you love me, and we keep his commandments. We keep his commandments, it's not if you love me, you shall keep my commandments. No, if you love me, you are going to keep my commandments. It's that simple and it's that profound. You see legalism, the keeping of commandments in a legal way out of a sense of duty and obligation does not meet this requirement. But he says, if you love me keep my commandments and if you keep my commandments in this fashion it shows that you love me and out of this place of service and obedience and you come asking you will have what you ask. Thirdly, the comfort that the Lord Jesus is giving to his disciples. First off, it was, my mission will be ongoing. My provisions will be there. And now he says, I will send you another person. I will give you another person. I'm going to make sure that in my absence, you're not going to be alone. You will not be bereaved as orphans. There I am going to send another comforter. And this word another means one like myself, one of the same kind. I am going to send you, verse 16, and I will pray the Father and He will give you another helper that He may abide with you forever. This idea of the Holy Spirit abiding with you forever. Now, what is that if that's not the doctrine of the security of the believer? He will abide with us forever, unlike what we see in the garden, where God created Adam, and then he fellowshiped with Adam, but sin came in and disrupted the fellowship, and God withdrew himself from Adam, right? Yes, he did. So here we have, in the life and ministry of Christ, we have God coming in the flesh, dwelling with man, ministering to man, leading man, calling his disciples, teaching them all these things, yet I am leaving. God again, going, leaving the disciples, not because of sin, but because of the plan that he has put in place. And now he says, I will send you another person and he will never, what does he say in Hebrews, leave you nor forsake you. That you may boldly say, the Lord is my helper. And so that's what we see here. He says, I am going to go away and then you will have another person who will come to you and he will abide with you forever. By the way, if you do not have this helper, you're none of his. You're not his. As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these and only these are the sons of God. And so if this helper is not indwelling you, then you are not his. And if you are his, then you have this helper, you have this indwelling helper. As the old King James says, this comforter. He will send you another comforter that he may abide with you forever. And think about it. I mentioned this earlier that we would have liked to be sitting in the ministry, sitting on the shores of Galilee while Jesus was standing in the boat teaching. And we would have loved to partake of the five loaves and two fish. We would have enjoyed the ministry, seeing someone raised up, But we have this helper intimately. We have this helper personally. He's ours. And now the ministry, the greater works of verse 12, are going with every one of us, you see. And we have a great spiritual ministry that is going every which way that the children of God are going. And I will pray the Father and he will give you another helper. He assures them that they would not be alone, that his relationship with them would continue. You see, you don't want just a mission. You don't want just provisions in your Christian life. No, you want fellowship. Right? That's why we want to go to heaven. We want to be in fellowship with God. You see, we want to be together with God. We don't want just provisions. We don't want just work. No, we want to have fellowship. We need fellowship. In thy presence is fullness of joy. At thy right hand are pleasures forevermore. We have not because we ask not. This is a great challenge to me that these realities would be mine, that I would be living in them. I would be enjoying the relationship of Christ currently, not just some future now but now and it is ours for the asking and it is ours and this is why. This Holy Spirit comes and he abides with us, he indwells us, he will not forsake you, he will not leave you. Yes you may grieve him and that is in a sense as being estranged from your wife. Like there's something between you and you need to talk about it, you need to confess these things, you need to make it right, you've grieved the Holy Spirit. Or you might quench him when he's wanting to lead you in a certain direction. You drag your feet and you do not obey. That's quenching the spirit. But to walk in the spirit is to walk in obedience, in love. As he says, if you love me, keep my commandments. That's walking in the spirit brothers and sisters. If you walk in the spirit, this is the lesson of the Wednesday night Bible study, abstain from flesh to lust which war against the soul. And if you walk in the spirit you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. And so we have in verse 17 this spirit of truth. You know I preached a two part series many years ago on the personhood of the Holy Spirit. Too many times we see the Spirit as an entity. We don't see Christ as an entity, do we? We see Jesus Christ as a person, don't we? Of course we do. We see God the Father as a person. But we fail to recognize that the Holy Spirit is a person. That he is a person. He is meant to have a relationship with. He is called the Spirit of Truth here. He is one who leads us and guides us into all truth as we'll see later in this gospel. The Spirit of God is the person of God indwelling us. We are possessed none other than by the Spirit of Holy God. We have a person of God living in our hearts. Isn't that amazing? That's incredible. You see what a source of comfort this would be if you had been walking with Christ and then he told you, I'm leaving. But he says, I will send you another helper, one like as me, one as myself, one of same kind. That's what this word, another helper, one who is like myself. Actually, This is the same term used for Jesus Christ in 1 John chapter 2 verse 1. If any man sin we have an advocate, Jesus Christ the righteous, that's the same word paraclete as is used here in John 14. We have a helper. If any man sin we have a helper, we have a comforter. Do you know that when you sin as a believer I think one of the first things you need is comfort because the spirit has already convicted you of your sin. You need to understand that in Christ Jesus there is now therefore no condemnation to those who are in him. We beat ourselves up when we sin. We need a helper sometimes that should come along and say, well, let's move on from here. I'll forgive you, but we have to confess. That's in that 1 John passage, that if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins. But if any man sin, we have someone in our corner, an advocate, one who speaks for me to God. who says, well, look, he is mine. I have died for his sin. My blood is applied on his account. Yes, you might have given Satan the opportunity to accuse you to God because you sinned, right? But we have an advocate who speaks for us, and that's this helper. the Lord Jesus and now we have this same helper in the person of the Holy Spirit who is with us and abides inside of us and we have this great privilege of having strength within us. That is this idea of a helper or comforter. We have this helper here with us on earth. This other advocate is currently seated at the Father's right hand. But we have this helper here on this earth, one who comes alongside of us, along beside of us, and walks with us. That is this idea of a paraclete. That is, we understand what a parallel bars are. Some of us have been watching the Olympics. It's something that is alongside, para, parallel. It's a paraclete, someone who comes along beside of us with strength. That is the Greek meaning of the word. And then lastly, I have to move on. As we go down through this passage, he says, I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you. And by the way, I have to finish briefly about this spirit of truth in verse 17, whom the world cannot receive. You and I see that's why this teaching is for the church. The world cannot receive the spirit of truth. They have to be born again. They have to be regenerated by the Holy Spirit of God. And see that's why we always hold up this truth that takes a miracle for you to become a son of God, a daughter of God. It takes a miracle. It's the miracle of regeneration. and the spirit, this spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him, but you know him for he dwells with you and will be in you." And so I'm not quite sure how to understand this idea of he dwells with you. There was some form of the Holy Spirit's ministry to them currently, but at Pentecost he indwelt them, he possessed them. You see, He will be in you. He will be in us. He says, I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you. This is the comfort of the Holy Spirit. A little while longer and the world will see me no more. And you know, I think in just a few hours the world would not see him anymore. After his death, there's no record of the world ever seeing the Lord Jesus again. and by the world I'm speaking about those who are of the world. It was only believers, the record shows in the scripture that it was only believers who seen the Lord after his resurrection. I think this is amazing that the church had this wonderful intimate opportunity to see the resurrected Savior and it was not for the world to see. At that day you will know that I am in my father and you in me and I in you. And this leads to my fourth point is that and that is we find it again in verse 23. 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. Brothers and sisters, we are a habitation of God in the Spirit and we are a habitation of the Trinity. We are a habitation of the Trinity, brothers and sisters. He says very clearly here in verse 23 that we will come, we being the Lord Jesus Christ and the Father, and we'll make our home with us. This is the fourth comfort that Christ is leaving his disciples in this passage, that if you will follow me and believe in me and if you love me, you will keep my word and my Father will return that love and we will come to him. And we will make our home, our abode, the place where someone stays. That is the language here. We will come to him and make our home with him. In contrast, he who does not love me does not keep my words. And the word which you hear is not mine, but the father who sent me. Brothers and sisters I just want to encourage us with this passage from John 14 verses 12 through 24, recognizing that there are needs represented here among us. You don't have a Savior you can see, do you? No, you access him by faith. You hear this passage of scripture. and you recognize the truth of what God has said about what is your calling while he is absent. Surely truly there will be a time when we'll be in the very presence of God in a physical sense but not now. He is spiritually indwelling us. Yes he is in our midst but it's not something you can lay your eyes on. And so we access these things by faith and we ask him, we recognize our mission, we are called to service, he has promised that his kingdom will come, there's no lack of work to be done. Work that is sanctioned by God the Father and fits in with his mission, it is his mission, greater works will you do. We have the promise of his provisions. Whatever you're going through you have provisions at your disposal. And then of course we have the promise of this helper, this spirit of truth that will lead us and guide us into all truth. And then lastly we have the privilege of having the son and the father abiding with us. I want to just in closing comment here yet on verse 19, a little while longer and the world will see me no more but you will see me because I live you will live also. Are you convinced that the Lord Jesus is alive? Yes we are. You've not seen him but the eyes of your faith you take God at his word and the testimony of the church and the testimony of the word here. But it is a documented, it is historical fact that the Lord Jesus Christ is alive because I live. That means you will live also. You will live also. What an encouragement. What an encouragement it is to us that because of the resurrection, we have proof of our own life to come. Because he lives, we will live as well. And may these words of comfort from the Lord resonate in our own hearts and cause faith to rise up and Let's go out about his work with his provisions in the fellowship of the Trinity. Let's pray. Heavenly Father we thank you for this word in John 14. Lord I pray that you would light the fire of our first love again. Father that we would leave off from passiveness. That we would be alive and passionate about your truths and your things and your mission and your work and our relationship with you. That we would find it as the most dear thing that we have. Forgive us Lord where we allow the pressures and the stresses and the busyness of life to creep in and replace our fellowship with you. Father I pray you forgive us our sin and that we could be restored again to this fellowship of that we've enjoyed. And Father, we just praise you. We bless you for this word. And may you quicken our hearts. And we commit each one here today to you through Christ. Amen.