It is my privilege to introduce once more Rick Light, a man who's filled this pulpit before, and we just are joyed that you're here with us, Rick. God bless you. Thank you, Pastor. I'm delighted to be with you for your World Missions Conference this year, and I do pray that we would know the blessing, but more importantly, that we would know the power of the Lord through his Holy Spirit and through his word today. And we do pray for these missionaries, their families who are here. And what a delight to hear not only of the success of the gospel and their respected places and with their gifts that the Lord has given them, but we also join in with you in the trials, the disappointments, the heartaches and the heartbreaks that go along with that. It is a struggle. But it's a struggle all for the glory of God. I'm convinced that on the appearing of our great Lord, when we consider all of the things that we presently involve ourselves with and all that I've just said as to the struggle of this life and being servants of the living God, that we will come to the end and say it was nothing. Now, probably, perhaps we won't even consider it. in light of the face and the great glory of Christ who appears before us. So the Lord is our objective today. We want to lift Christ up and we want to worship Him and thank Him for all of His many blessings. So thank you for allowing me to come today and tonight and this evening. I'll continue within this look at John in chapter 14 In just a few moments, we'll begin reading at verse number one. But I want to give you something of a challenge today, if you would. This is part of the upper room discourse of our Lord. On the night of all nights, just before he was betrayed into the hands of sinners, this discourse begins in John chapter 13, verse number one. And it concludes with the last verse of John in chapter 17. So it's a few chapters there, but I want you to be able to understand its purpose. Its purpose in this Upper Room Discourse is going to be found today in a particular verse in chapter 14 that I'll make mention of. As a matter of fact, it's a part of the sermon title today, in which our Lord said, after He had ascended, or would ascend unto the Father, that we would be able to do greater works than these. And I want to spend some time with that with you in this two-part message on greater works than these as to just exactly what did Christ mean by that. But I also want you to understand what the purpose of this Upper Room Discourse is as it comes to a loud crescendo in the seventeenth chapter of what we well know as the High Priestly Prayer of Christ. And the purpose is this, to debase the glory of man and to exalt the nature and name of Jesus Christ. Now that's the purpose. If you begin to read that this afternoon with that in mind, There will be a real blessing there as to, not about your inability, but about the greatness and the wonder of the Lord Jesus Christ. In all that we are not, he more than satisfies the inadequacy of our gray matter, the inadequacy of our minds, and the inadequacy spiritually that we are totally bankrupt before Almighty God to know absolutely anything about His will, much less to be able to do it. And yet, the wonder of it all, Christ loves us still. And this is very evident now as we come to this very familiar passage to Christians who love God and who love His Word. Sadly, I think The only time that we really hear these words are at funerals, though it's a great uplifting and a great blessing for folks who are broken before the Lord at death, but much more so for us as we live. Let us live for the glory of God, especially in the emphasis of world missions this Sunday and this Sunday night. So I pray that the Lord would give us the fullness of His understanding by the power of His Holy Spirit as we come. Now to the reading and hearing of John in chapter 14, beginning at verse number 1. Dear ones, this is the Word of God. Jesus said, Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, I would have told you that I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself at where I am. There you may be also, and you know the way to where I'm going." Thomas said to him, Lord, we do not know where you are going, and how can we know the way? Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, You would have known my Father also from now on. You do know Him and have seen Him. Philip said to Him, Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us. Jesus said to him, Have I been with you so long and still you do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, Show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does His works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do, And greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it." And may God add His blessing now to the reading and hearing of this portion of His most holy and infallible word to our hearts. I think that it's among the most stunning words anywhere in the 66 books of the Bible. It comes right down to it. And Christ now, as I said earlier, on the night of all nights, is not leaving any stone unturned with his disciples. I've often thought of Thomas and Philip on this night And let me commend you to you this week, if you would, if you're looking for a devotional to do a word study with Thomas and Philip in mind to see the places that they are mentioned in the gospel. And it's quite numerous and it's amazing to see what they say at certain times in the ministry of our Lord. Three and a half years. They have now been with Jesus in the seminary of all seminaries. How would you like to be there in that classroom on the fields of Judea and the hills of Judea with one miracle after another and just having your breath taken away day by day. And Jesus is not allowing sickness to be around him. Jesus is not allowing death to have any dominion over him. And all of the activity of hell has been unleashed in these four Gospels, concentrated within these four books. You will see no other activity as mammoth in all of the fallen angels as they unleash themselves upon Christ and His ministry, as you see in these Gospels. It was a time of times. And the Twelve were eyewitnesses to it all. How splendid and how wonderful is that? Well, as we said earlier, here is the very purpose now that is revealed in the upper room And I think it is a good purpose to say of the entire Bible itself, to debase the glory of man, namely for us today, these disciples, and certainly as we apply it to our own lives as well, and then to say something of the excellent name and nature of Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God, and he just spells it out so beautifully for his disciples on this night. Now, I want to try to give us some understanding as to the importance of what Jesus is doing in this upper room with his disciples and the words that the Holy Spirit have recorded for us so that we may learn, so that we may understand, so that we may be able to put our hand to the plow as well and not look back and do it. all for the glory of God. And so, as I said, something of the inadequacy of the disciples and certainly our inadequacy, I want to just sum it up this way, as I have been beating around the bush to do and to say about the disciples and the two questions that Thomas asked and Philip would ask as to just what Jesus is. It's amazing, isn't it, I think? of all of the things that they've been eyewitness to, all of the words that they have heard, and even the three saw Jesus transform before them and were able to shake hands with Moses and Elijah and have conversation with them. And to come to this night, at this point, and Jesus seemingly says to them, okay guys, it's final exams. You're getting ready to graduate from the seminary of Jesus. And so I'm going to let you know as clearly as I can put into words, as Jonathan Edwards says, I'm going to speak baby talk to you within this 14th chapter. And baby talk is what we need, isn't it? Because even without the help of the Holy Spirit today, we still would not understand the words and the meaning of what Jesus is saying to them as comforting their hearts even in the face of denial. And that's what prompts Christ to say, in the troubling of their hearts, note this, heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people. In my Father's house are many rooms. Now, at Grand Bible College, John Myers, I think Pastor Myers was your old pastor for a while here, wasn't he? And George Anderson used to say, Well, we understand and know what the meaning of the rooms are. But can you imagine how wonderful these rooms are? So let's just refer to them as mansions. After all, the architect and the builder is Jesus Christ himself. So let's not sell him short. I used to love to hear them say that. And then Christ speaks these words so clearly. so wonderfully to them, and Thomas comes to ruin it all. I wasn't too good with final exams in high school. As a matter of fact, in health class in my sophomore year, I made an eight on my final exam. Now back in the day, some of you all appreciate this, back in the day when you made eights like that, and you just kind of rubbed it in the professor's or the teacher's noses, they would, they would paddle you. And my teacher, took me across his knee in front of everyone and paddled me right there at the class because he knew I could do better than an eight. Look at verse number five, would you please? You might want to write down eight somewhere because Thomas on his final exam makes an eight. By the mercy of God, he didn't give him a zero. As he looks to Christ after all that he has seen and know of Jesus, and says, we don't have any idea where you're going, who are you anyway? It just helps us to understand and appreciate the ministry of the Holy Spirit within our minds and our own hearts, doesn't it? Now, what Jesus is picking up on in this upper room discourse with His disciples is something we need to know about our inadequacy and what makes us adequate within our mind and spirit. And it's this, as long as Jesus was giving explanation, as long as Jesus was condescending, as long as Jesus was taking them by the hand and teaching them with baby talk, again, as Edwards would say, they were all right. Dearly beloved, do you not know that that is the exact ministry of the Paraclete himself? The Holy Spirit of God. Who teaches us, who leads us by the hand, who puts up day in and day out with our sinning, our inadequacies and that which we do not know about the glory of God and loves us anyway. That's the Holy Spirit. So when we see and know the power of the Holy Spirit within our lives, we see and we know the power of Jesus within our lives. Because Jesus said, I must go away. He says that later on in chapter 14. So that the comforter can come and fill in the gap, my gap, he is going to do exactly what I have done. He is going to comfort you and teach you and counsel you because without me, as we've already read, you can do nothing. And we need to know that in light of what's going on today throughout the world. Certainly, as Pastor Andy has already said about 9-11, as we remember that, and we need to remember it, we need to reflect, but we need to in light of the counsel of the Holy Spirit. To awaken our own sleeping minds. To awaken our own bank accounts. To awaken us unto the glory of God that is revealed in heaven and on earth in light of all of the tragedy of 9-11. I want to say this to you. I don't know how God's going to do it. But I know He's going to do it. In light of all of the death that is around us, in light of all of the disappointment of sin that sin brings within the lives of Christians over and over again. I don't know how God is going to pull this off, but He's going to, to say this in light of Romans 8, 28 through 30. All things. meaning everything, works together for good to them that love God and are called according to His purpose. Dear ones, that blows me completely away. Only God could say and then do something as spectacular as that. But He's going to do it. He will do it. There is no plan B. You know, it's why I like to watch Roy Rogers show reruns. You know, there's over 250 Roy Rogers reruns. You know, I'm just a redneck from just over the ridge there. I like to get that RFD TV channel 147. I said, honey, please. I know it's gonna be $5 more to get it, but I've got to get that. I want to watch those cattle auctions, you know, every now and then I want to see all those And lo and behold, not only did I get the cattle auctions, but I got Roy Rogers on Saturday. You know why I like Roy Rogers? Did you know this about Roy Rogers, the Roy Rogers show? No one was ever murdered. Not one episode. Well, there was a lot of gun shooting and a lot of running and a lot of crime and things are going on. But you know what I like best about Roy Rogers show? I know how it ends. So I'm not upset. I'm entertained. And I can take my ease. I can sit back in the lazy chair and know that with every single episode, there's going to be something good that's going to happen within that. You know what? We're not too far removed from knowing about the kingdom of God and the expansion and the greatness of thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, and we should be as rabid dogs unleashed upon the world with the gospel of Christ. Why? Even in the face of death, even with all the disappointment of sin, even though it may cost us something of our fortune and our wealth, we know But in the end, the kingdom of heaven in its fullness will come. Don't we? Well, don't we? We know that. So let's get involved in the greatness of knowing God and learning of Christ through his Holy Spirit. And it may be tomorrow. As a matter of fact, it may be today. You'll make another eight on your spiritual exam. You may blow it. You may do something or say something, but you know, the thing that is such a blessing to me about John 14 with Thomas, and we all know Thomas was always filled with doubt. Jesus did not put his finger on his head and rub him out like an insect and said, Are you an idiot? What is wrong with you? Do you not know who I am? He doesn't do that, nor does he do that with us when we make aids on our exam. Jesus, as the Holy Spirit would do for us, continues his wonderful instruction. And he will do it until the day we die, until the day that the Spirit presents us without fault, without shame, before the Father as the trophies of Christ. Can you imagine that? As an adequate and as shameful and as sinful as we are, for the glory of God, the Spirit will bring us before the Father to say, this is one for whom Christ died. Can you believe it? Worship Christ even right now for the greatness of His redeeming work within your life. I am the way. There's that definite article that has been pounded within our minds. And I'm so thankful that it is to say in verse number six, Jesus is simply saying this. There is no other way. There is no other truth. There is no other life except that it be found singularly in me. And we must come in obedient faith, not with a skeptical mind of criticism. but a heart that is broken and humble before God to say, Thou art my God, and besides Thee there are none, King Jesus. Now, Christ teaches, and He continues from now on. He's making reference now to the future coming of the filling of the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit. You will know Him and you will have seen Him. Now, Philip, wants to be a little bit more spiritual. Do you ever do that in meetings? Do you ever see one brother or one sister fail miserably? Maybe you feel sorry for them and maybe you want to help them. And you're just trying to be a part of this. You want to come alongside of them. You want to exhort them. Here, Philip is exhorting the exhorter himself. He says, well, now I think I'll open my mouth. We need to be careful. We need to be careful when we open our mouths, don't we? And Philip, well, Philip goes ahead and risk it. And it says in verse number eight, Philip said to him, Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us. That's all we need. You know, really what he's saying is what the Pharisees and Sadducees would say all along. Give us a sign. You give us a sign, we'll believe in you. Jesus said what? The only sign that I will give you is the sign of Jonah. What was the sign of Jonah? I've heard a lot of preachers say that the sign of Jonah was repent before you die. That wasn't the sign of Jonah at all. The sign that Jesus was referring to was the great wonder of Jonah being dead in the belly of the fish for three days, and then on the third day he comes back to life. The sign is the sign of the resurrection from the dead. Philip was wanting that. Now, you would think that Philip would know better in light of what we have all discussed or what I've told you about. And then you would think again that Jesus would put his thumb up on his head and press very hard and end his life. That Jesus would say this to him. Have I been with you for such a long time? And Philip, you still have no idea who I am. And there's an evangelistic question, isn't it? For all of us. Oh, by the power of the word and the Holy Spirit today, let us all take serious examination of our own hearts with this question that burns within my own spirit, even as I preach the word, oh, Lord, Are you found within my heart? Is the righteousness of Jesus Christ prevailing for me, or does that still need to happen in my life today? There's the question, Philip. And then here is this wonderful condescending Christ humbling himself. You know, this is the meaning of Philippians in chapter two. When Jesus emptied himself of all of his glory, says Paul, here is this emptying that continues and it comes to a finality as he is hanging on the cross, bleeding from his rib inside. Finally, once and for all, what more could God do to die on the cross for the remission of our sins? That's what he means. Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? Now, here's the question of unity that is secondary in this upper room discourse. Christ teaches us that. As a matter of fact, it is the hallmark. It is the crowning point of his high priestly prayer. As he says to his disciples and he says to us, the world will know that you are mine and they will know that you love me. Because of the love, unity, that you have one for another. You know, Andy, I think you were mentioning it yesterday at the Bible study. Or maybe it was my brother from Africa or who's going to Senegal that mentioned this. And I used to have a very negative view about this. I've been to a lot of Muslim countries and being awakened at five o'clock in the morning many times. with the loud shrill and with the call to worship, and Muslims within that city would just fall on their faces. It's amazing. I'll never forget I was in old Bombay, what we call Bombay now, Mumbai or something like that. It was so early in the morning, the only thing I wanted to do was go home. And I tell you, I was put to, I was just so shamed for Christ, for my own behavior, I was sitting there in a restaurant and it was around five o'clock in the morning and here's this loud shrill and I declare every Muslim that was eating or drinking or whatever immediately stopped, threw out their little prayer rug and right there on the floor, right beside of their restaurant table, they began to praise Allah. And I sat there in amazement and wonder of the commitment. They're wrong. They're on their way to hell. But my, how they love, how they love Allah. And I look and see all of these mosques sticking up everywhere, everywhere, everywhere, everywhere. And I used to be critical of seeing the cross in churches on every corner in America. I'm not critical of that any longer. I like to see it. As a matter of fact, I long to see it in Africa. I want to see it in Africa. and throughout all the ends of the earth, but I. My heart is broken, my heart is broken with world missions and being such a part of that over the years to to just see and know, I know that everyone is at call to do world missions. I understand and I know that. And I pray and I exhort and I teach over and over again, we must get over our apathy. Our apathy of prayer. Our apathy of support. A lack of support. Our apathy of involvement. Let the missionaries do it. And we'll hear them every now and then. We should be on our face before Almighty God for the success of the Gospel wherever He goes. Wherever they go. And that we would send them gladly. And I mean this with our fortunes. With all of our money. For the Kingdom. of God and for the glory of God, Philip has failed. The father is speaking of unity with the son, and he speaks unity to us. Now, here is the beautiful part of this. I think of this again, get this picture of a condescending Christ and not a judgmental Christ within his own disciples. And it's the condescending power of the Holy Spirit within our lives and not his condemning authoritative word. to speak cruelties to us, as Christ did not speak cruelties to his disciples, so the Spirit doesn't speak cruelties to us. Now look at verse number 11. Believe me, fellas. You know what he's saying? Can you take my word for it? You know, have you ever tried to convince your children to do that? They look at you sometimes like you're from outer space. Yeah, son, just take my word for it. Yeah, sure, Dad. Yeah, I've done that. I've been there. I know where you're at. I know the struggle. If you can't just take my word for it. And it just goes, you know, just think about it. And you think they'll never they're never going to figure this out. Jesus makes this infinite stooping. He begins this infinite stooping with his disciples. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me or else believe me. There he goes. He makes another stooping. Fellas, if you can't take my word for it, now remember who's speaking. God is speaking. If you can't do that, then believe me, on account of the miracles that I've performed. I mean, when's the last time you saw water change to wine? I mean, really? Vintage. Get a load of this. When's the last funeral home visit you made and someone was raised from the dead? I mean, really? I've conducted 416 funerals, being pastor at Eastern Heights Presbyterian Church for 25 years. I've never had anybody raised from the dead. And Jesus is saying to his disciples, hey, guys, you remember the young boy that I raised from the dead? You remember that, don't you? Oh, by the way, the last week with Lazarus, just last week. What about that? And these are the words of Christ, if you cannot take my word for it. Then believe me. For that which you have seen with your own eyes. Now, later, Peter gives testimony to that by the power of the spirit of God. And here's the beauty of this. Amen, Amen. In verse number 12. Make note of this, please. Never forget this. In the Greek, Amen, Amen. In the King James, Verily, Verily. Truly, truly. What does he mean? Every time you see those words, look at John 3. Every time you see Christ say, begin a sentence with that, What is going to come out of his mouth next is revolutionary. It's unreal. It's supernatural. It makes us take three steps back to say, you've got to be kidding me. And he's not. Because in verse number 12, he says, Amen, Amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do. Not only that, but greater works than these, because I'm going to the Father. And whatever you ask in My name, I will do it. I will do it that the Father may be glorified in the Son. And if you ask anything in My name, I will do it. What say ye, Church of the Living God? What say ye in light of all of the history of Princeton Presbyterian Church? What say ye in light of this young martyr that came from your own bosom? What say ye for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ and to the uttermost part of the earth? I want to stop there and I want you to come back tonight. And I want to pick up on just exactly what Jesus Christ meant when he said, you'll do these works. You'll do far greater works than I ever possibly did or could do because I'm going to my father. I pray, I pray that it will knock our socks off. I pray that the Spirit of God would so captivate our minds and our bodies and everything that is about us that we would just be in awe of the greatness of our God and the wonder of his kingdom, both now and forevermore. I challenge you today. Look within your heart. Consider these words that are eternal, the very word of God, Has the righteousness of Christ prevailed for you? Can you say yes and amen to such a passage as this? Or, O Lord, help me. Give me the light of the gospel that I may see thy glory. I pray that God the Holy Spirit will be the preacher of the afternoon. In Jesus' name, amen.