40 Matt Session 21

[Music] well we're in session 21 of the gospel of matthew and we're going to take a short little detour you'll see why in a minute we're going to actually take a look at a few chapters from the gospel of john and we've been we're obviously pursuing the final week of jesus ministry and in matthew that's chapters 26 27-28 forthcoming we've been looking at the parallel passages in both mark and luke as we've been doing this but when we get to the to john it's so important i wanted to set a session aside as we budgeted this we realized we had a a session we could commit to this so we're going to explore have you just been you see in the upper room we've just been there with the the lord's supper and and the washing of the feed and so forth but uh we left tilt for this session to explore john now you may recall when we were looking at matthew in the very beginning there are four major discourses in the new testament sermon on the mount the mystery parables discourse and the olivet discourse as it's called and the upper room farewell address that we're going to look at tonight three of these obviously are in the gospel of matthew and we reviewed that as we went and i felt that by just uh budgeting ourselves a session here to pick up this fourth discourse i think it'll give us a much more complete perspective of this very very critical period of time in fact in john's gospel he devotes half of the chapters to this final week of christ's ministry so it's obviously very very critical so so we're going to this session take a look at the upper room farewell address and the new relationships that he announces as a result of his death resurrection and ascension and then his continuing intercession on our behalf so we'll start with john 13 in the upper room discourse now before the feast of passover when jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world and unto the father having loved his own which were in the world he loved them unto the end and supper being ended the passover that we talked about last time is now complete not quite complete there's part of the isn't complete yet remember there's four cups and it's the third cup that he uses to institute what we call the lord's supper and indicating that he will not touch the fruit of the vine until we're all together with him at the marriage supper of the lamb so it's interesting so but anyway the supper having for practical purposes being ended the devil now put into the heart of judas iscariot simon's son to betray him and uh jesus knowing that the father had given all things into his hands and that he was come from god and went to god he riseth from supper laid aside his garments and took a towel and girded himself after that he poureth water into a basin began to wash the disciples feet and to wipe them with a towel wherewith he was girded obviously this rather startled everyone and his outer garment um he's still wearing his tunic but the normal costume for his servant his way is now attired and see a slave of jewish birth could not be forced to wash feet by the way it's an interesting little thing you get out of the torah and so but in any case he's making a demonstration here he cometh to simon peter and peter saith them lord does thou wash my feet he's answered and said to him what i do thou knowest not now but thou shalt know hereafter and peter sayeth i am thou shalt never wash my feet don't you love peter he always knows better doesn't he jesus answered him if i wash thee not thou hast no part with me psalm peter said lord not my feet only but my hands and my head okay peter's basic philosophy if a little bit's good a whole lot's a lot better say so so and just say unto him he that is washed knee is not saved to wash his feet but is clean every wit and ye are clean but not all for he knew who should betray him therefore said he ye are not all clean so it's clear that judas is still apparently among them in this in this uh event here all the events all the accounts are not exactly chronologically identical as you can probably tell so after he had washed their feet had taken his garments and was set down again he said to them know ye what i have done to you in other words do you understand this guys they're obviously startled that the man himself is putting himself in the role of a servant washing their feet and uh he says he called me master and lord and you see well for so i am if i then your lord and master have washed your feet he also ought to wash one another's feet and he's obviously speaking idiomatically that was an appropriate procedure where they wore sandals and so forth that's most of us are not concerned about having your feet washed when you come here for whatever in terms of normal routine it's it's he's using it here idiomatically to make a point he's essentially giving them their org chart and the org chart's upside down the boss is the servant of all that's really what he's trying to say this is an exact opposition to the concept of the nicolaitans that we talked about when we're studying revelation two and three in any case for i've given you an example that you should do as i have done to you verily verily i say unto you no there's a handful of these verily verilies when jesus wanted to emphasize something and say i say unto you thus and so if you want to really underline it's a verily i say unto you thus and so but if he really wanted to underline it he'd say verily verily truly truly i say unto you and so on the servant is not greater than his lord neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him so this is the foot washing it's an example of humility it's also a rebuke to pride boy how pride can can create contention and strife this is a rebuke to pride it's also a picture of our daily cleansing we're going to see references to that before we're through it was also in effect a warning to judas iscariot and it's a picture of his own humiliation that's forthcoming these are just a couple of things and it's also a reminder of his union and communion with the believer we're going to see much of that in this evening as we go through this uh unusual discourse chapters 13 through 17 that we're going to explore tonight continuing if you know these things happy are ye if you do them i speak not of you all i know whom i have chosen but that the scripture may be fulfilled he that edith bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me now i tell you before it come that when it has come to pass that ye may believe that i am he now this of course was echoed in history by a hittaphel who who uh you know who betrayed david absalom was re-leading a rebellion and hit a phil this elderly man left david to counsel um absalom and uh that's exactly what psalm 49 deals with the one in whom i trusted and so forth and uh so now he jesus had warned them about this a year earlier back in john 6 incidentally but uh lifted up his feet against me that's the idiom that comes from the kick of a mule or a horse that's really where it has its originate they're they're all reclining by around about a 12-inch high table john is to his right judas to his left and uh john five times is called the one whom jesus loved and he said he's where he can lean on jesus breast but judas is on the left it's interesting that left-ness is all through classic art now because of that to be gauche in french or sinister those are means those are words meaning left but they've come to be idiomatic of sinister if you look at art the hand of god is always a right hand you know in the rodan especially and many people miss the prayer you know rhode island is very famous sculpture which has the two hands and people don't notice they're both right hands see it's not one person praying it's two people fellowshipping but it's always the right hand interesting enough anyway that's that's been picked up in classical art anyway jesus continues verily verily i say unto you he that receiveth whomsoever i send receiveth me and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me when jesus thus said he was troubled in spirit and testified and said verily verily i say unto you that one of you shall betray me comes up makes it very very clear and uh so you know it's kind of interesting as we reflect on this whole foot washing thing the room obviously had been supplied with water and a towel it's interesting that no one had used it until jesus picked it up and played that role i think that's kind of interesting but anyway moving on the disciples looked at one another doubting of whom he spake they're shook up and someone's gonna betray him and as i pointed out before what jesus is really doing he is forcing the hand here they had not planned to betray him that night not during a feast day that was the that was a strategy in earlier in matthew you may recall but jesus is now announcing it so that's in effect putting judas on the spot he either has to fish or cut bait as we would say and uh so jesus at the point i want to keep in front of us all the way through is that jesus is controlling every step now there was leaning on jesus bosom one of his disciples whom jesus loved that's the phrase that john always uses of himself here speaks of himself in the third person but in a way that you know who it is simon peter therefore beckoned to him that he should ask who it should be of whom he spoke then lying on jesus breath saith unto him lord who is it jesus answered he it is to whom i shall give a sop when i have dipped it and when he had dipped this up he gave it to judas iscariot the son of simon so jesus is clearly identifying at least to the people right next to him there who the identity of the betrayer is or is going to be and uh and after the stop satan entered into him i think that's a very interesting we all know that he entered judas but i was very curious as to when it occurs why because he's later in matthew 27 he's going to confront the pharisees he's going to try to give the money back and when he throws it on the temple floor he's going to say i have betrayed innocent blood i'm always intrigued that that declaration of christ's innocence comes from the lips of satan in effect i think that's interesting i don't think he intended it that way but anyway after the stop satan entered into him then said jesus unto him that thou that thou doest do quickly now so obviously judas had to split and make arrangements they were not ready for this he had to go find his backers they had a lot they had to do they had arranged not only a guard for the arrest they had to start making arrangements to see pilot in the morning you couldn't just do that automatically and they had to make their political arrangements to have an appointment with pilot the next mornings and there's all kinds of things that's why it goes on sometime when we get to gethsemane sometime goes by as they get ready for all this and we know man at the table knew for what intent he spake thus unto him for some of them thought because judas had the bag that jesus had said on him by those things which we have need for against the feast or that he should have given something to the poor they all assume he might be on a business aaron because he was the treasurer of the group and uh so there's the group in general didn't really understand all this until later reflecting back he then having received the sap that's judas immediately went out and it was night and for judas it's still night even now therefore when he was gone out jesus said now is the son of man glorified and god is glorified in him and if glad be glorified in him god shall also glorify him and himself and shall straightway glorify him let's hear more about this as we go here the greatest event in the universe is about to unfold it's going to reverse the results of the conduct of the first man through death destroyed him who had the power of death the devil so that's what's going to be accomplished this night before it's over purchased for himself the entire elect of god every one of us throughout history that are saved were purchased by him in the next 24 hours in effect and one of the questions we need to ponder is what held him to that cross he was crucified on a cross of wood yet he made the hill and which has stood he was the creator of the universe incarnate and at any time you could have said enough i'm out of here it wasn't the nails that held with that cross it was his strength of his love for you and me and he there is now a glorified man as we meet here tonight the astonishing thing is that there is a man a kinsmen of adam strangely on the throne of david excuse me not on the throne of david on the throne of the ruler of the universe god the father he has yet to take the throne of david that's yet forthcoming that was promised to mary by gabriel in luke 1 but is yet to happen he continues little children yet a little while i'm with you you shall seek me and as i said unto the jews whither i go ye cannot come so now i say to you a new commandment i give unto you that you love one another as i have loved you that ye also love one another by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if you have love one to another little children that the word is technical it's a diminutive techne and it's the only occurrence of that word in the gospel of john but it's used frequently in his epistles and now it says a new commandment i give unto you many people say isn't this the same thing as levitic leviticus 19 18 the golden rule no it's something far deeper than that and to really understand that you have to read first corinthians 13 is the ultimate amplification of that which i assume is familiar to you if not check it out put it in your notes simon peter said unto him lord wither goest thou just answered him whither i go thou canst not follow me now but thou shalt follow me afterwards and obviously peter had no idea what he's talking about and this is peter you know this is the guy that was at the transfiguration this is the guy that was willing to step out and try walking on water there on the lake if you recall and so forth so he's a gutsy guy but uh whether i go now thou canst not follow me but thou shalt follow me afterwards one of the lessons we need to ponder we're going to see unfold here with peter's famous um denial of christ is to realize that peter failed in his strongest suit peter's primary strength was his courage and yet that's where he folded we need to be careful about that when we stumble it isn't necessarily our weakest suit it may be what we think is our strongest suit a very sorbent lesson we must have no confidence in the flesh miss the real lesson here the way peter says in him lord why cannot i follow thee now i will lay down my life for thy sake do you think he was sincere i think he was really willing to do that at that time at that moment of course jesus answered him wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake verily verily i say to you the shall not crow till thou hast denied me thrice and that's going to unfold before us in each of the accounts let's go on to john 14 and this of the chapters this one's often overlooked because what he's really talking about is what paul would call the harpazzo the snatching out jesus jesus continues let not your heart be troubled ye believe in god believe also in me in my father's house are many mansions for not so i would have told you i go to prepare a place for you and if i go to prepare a place for you i will come again and receive you unto myself that where i am there ye may be also that's very very straightforward and yet it's often overlooked in terms of its real implications we're going to see four questions unfold before us in this discourse now lord where are you going that's one of the questions he's going to deal with because jesus is soon going to be invisible to them yet he wants them not to be sad but to rejoice he wants to give them at least some limited understanding to what's afoot and you can check that out first peter deals with that in first peter 1 8 and so on now jesus said if my father's house were many mansions if we're not so i would have told you i go to prepare a place for you that's why he went to prepare a place for us and if i go and prepare a place for you i will come again and receive you unto myself that where i am there ye may be also i want you to notice it's you you you you all through you north is focus and he's not talking just to those 12 he's talking to us here this evening if you're in christ the blessed hope many mansions he's preparing a place for us he is going to return for us that's different than the second coming of christ in which he comes to judge when she comes to set up a throne a political government etc we will be where he is and incidentally forever that's why we call it the blessed hope he will return for us that's the harpazzo in the in the in the greek the forcible snatching out the phrase come again is used four times it's used the rapture at the spiritual presence in chapter in verse 18 the indwelling of the believer the holy spirit is going to deal with that in the post-resurrection ministry that he's going to deal with all of these things in this chapter now he also the blessed hope involves a brand new thing when you first study your bible the first astonishing event you try to grasp is the fact that the creator of the universe became a man took on the restrictions of mass energy gravity whatever and became a man and dwelt among us that's mind-blowing but then as we begin to mature further and understand the gap that exists between a holy perfect god and sinful man as we begin to get a glimpse or understanding of what that gap involves an even more astonishing thing in many respects is that there there sits right now today a man on the throne room of the universe astonishing the redemption of the purchased possession in heaven by better sacrifices as hebrews 9 places it all this was not a surprise it was planned on before the foundation of the world ephesians 1 14. and it's all going to be purchased by the events that are about to transpire in the next 24-hour period we're going we're obviously in the evening finishing a dinner we're on our way presumably to gethsemane here there's going to be trials go on through the night there'll be the events with pilot in the morning but by that afternoon he'll be on a cross and by nightfall he'll be in the grave and that's purchasing more than we have any capacity to imagine we need to understand as we use some of these idioms the jewish wedding there's it starts with the betrothal the ketubah where the payment of the purchase price for the bride is consummated she is then set apart sanctified as the term uh for the bridegroom and this is a a binding relationship it would take a divorce to break this this was the relationship between joseph and mary when he found out that she was with child it was uh it was a difficult situation the bridegroom then after the ketubah departs to the father's house typically he would build an addition to that house for his family but he would depart for some indeterminate period of time to prepare a room addition the bride in the meantime in his absence would prepare for his imminent return not knowing when he's going to return but to expect him at any moment that was the game they played and then there's a surprise regathering or gathering of them and the wedding is consummated hoopa then there was a seven-day marriage supper that was the classical ancient pattern and these many of the idioms in the bible assumed that background and so and you can find all kinds of references they'll be in your notes if you want to make a track these things down as a study the covenant was established with us in first corinthians the purchase price was of course christ's purchase of us the first corinthians 6. the bride is to be set apart that's the script that describes our situation today should be reminded of the covenant these all in first corinthians 11 and so forth the bridegroom has indeed left currently for his father's house and uh he will have an escort to accompany him accompany him on his return to gather his bride that's what first that's what paul deals with in first thessalonians 4 16-17 let's move on though jesus and whither i go ye know and the way ye know then thomas spoke up he was from missouri of course thomas said unto him lord we know not whether thou goest and how can we know the way and then we have verse six one of the most famous verses in the bible a real mouthful here you said on him i am the way the truth and the life no man cometh unto the father but by me so this leads to the second of our major questions how can we know the way and that's what jesus is responding to right here jesus said on him i am the way the truth and life no man cometh on the father but by me that says it all that's one of these very very inclusive statements if he had known me he should have known my father also and from henceforth you know him and have seen him wow the way the same word is highway the road if you will the highway to heaven literally by the way it shows up seven times not only here in john but all through the book of acts the way being a christian is what we speak in those days is that they knew the way they spoke of the way as the thing that they were following following christ and uh this whole phrase speaks of the exclusiveness of christ he's the he not only see the way he's the only way acts 4 12 makes that very very crisp and clear also in gethsemane three times he's going to pray when we get there shortly he's going to pray three times if there'd be any other way let's take it father if there's any other way to get to heaven than through christ then his prayer was not answered in gethsemane because he asked to be off the hook if there was any other way by the way it's interesting the word zodiac for the constellations of the heavens comes from the sanskrit word saudi which means the way and the mazeroth in the hebrew from the lion from the virgin birth all the way to the line of the tribe of judah these 12 constellations speak of the plan of god so i encourage you psalm 19 opens that door and you can you can study that if you haven't looked at that i encourage you to dig into it i am the way and the truth and the life the truth the spirit of truth had yet not been given it's going to be given and john's going to talk more about that when you get to chapter 16. in fact pilate puts his finger on the core issue even though he asks the question sort of rhetorically and as a as a cynical gesture what is truth and we'll encounter that in effect tomorrow morning when we get through the gethsemane part of it i am the way the truth and the life the best analogy i can think of here is the prodigal son when he is restored he was dead but now is alive again there's the expression there in luke 15 and elsewhere adam before sin enjoyed communion with his maker he knew him and he possessed spiritual life but in the day that thou eatest he would surely die adam had then from that point on a threefold need for reconciliation for illumination and for regeneration and that's what's being produced here by god himself taking stepping into adam's shoes in effect philip said in the lord show us the father and it sufficeth us jesus said on them have i been so long time with you and yet hast thou not known me philip he that hath seen me hath seen the father and how saith thou then show us the father imagine philip a little embarrassed show us the father how is the father revealed three ways the father is revealed through jesus own words and works we're going to see that the next from verses 9 through 11. believeth thou not that i am in the father and the father in me the words that i speak unto you i speak not of myself but the father that dwelleth in me he doeth the works believeth me that i am in the father and the father in me or else believe me for the very work's sake in other words his words and his works are one of the the ways now the next way is to be revealed through you and i interesting that's verses 12 through 15. verily verily i say to you he that believeth on me the works that i do shall he do also and greater works than these shall be shall he do because i go into my father see by him leaving the earth he no longer is limited to locality the holy spirit can be everywhere and every one of us and that's the exchange that in effect is imminent here and whatsoever ye shall ask in my name that will i do that the father may be glorified in the son if you shall ask anything in my name i will do it if you love me keep my commandments and then the other father's also revealed through the indwelling spirit and that's going to be the verses 16 to 21. i'm not trying to make a big detail study this except give you a sensitivity that this is a highly organized path that we're on here and i will pray the father and he shall give you another comforter that he may abide with you forever there are two greek words for another when if i say to you give me another pencil you don't know if i mean just like the one i just broke or if i want a pencil of a different color a different kind in the english you just i just want another in the greek there's two words there is alos and heteron alice is one of the same kind heteron is one of a different kind you give me another sandwich i don't want peanut butter on tuna or something that's another of different kind okay and when stephen in acts 7 says another pharaoh rose who knew not joseph that was someone not a non-egyptian pharaoh we know from isaiah was an assyrian here though the word another is the is the is the opposite is alan which means another comforter of the same kind there's also another member of the trinity in effect he shall give you another comforter that he may abide with you for how long forever it's a long time even the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it seeth them not neither knoweth him but ye know him for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you and around here is around this there's a whole study you can make and the difference between having the holy spirit with you and the holy spirit in you and that there's a big big difference and that will come to a climax in the in the in the feast that we just celebrated a couple days ago the feast of shavuot the feast of weeks which is at the the feast of first fruits when jesus um rose from the dead was on the feast of first fruits it's the morning after shabbat after passover passover was any day of the week but the following up there's a shabbat or a saturday the next morning which obviously is sunday is the feast of feast of first fruits and he was of course our first fruits what they do then they count 49 days plus one after that and that brings you to chevote which we would have celebrated if you're on our toes this last sunday actually saturday night and sunday and that's when the spirit was given in a very very unique way in acts chapter 2 and following let's see so for he dwelt with you and he shall be in you something very distinctive and i will not leave you comfortless i will come to you yet a little while and the world seeth me no more but ye see me because i live and ye shall live also at that day ye shall know that i am in my father and ye in me and i in you wow what on earth does that mean i encourage you to pray that one through think through it very carefully because i think i believe he means what he says and says what he means he continues he that hath my commandments and keepeth them he it is that loveth me and he that loveth me shall be loved of my father and i wish you will love him and will manifest myself to him those are incredible promises judas a different judas not scary judas saith unto him not iscariot lord how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us and not unto the world this is the guy i'm sometimes called a thaddeus labias he's one of the other disciples the judas was not an unusual name how's that thou what manifest thyself unto us and not unto the world jesus answered and said unto him if a man loved me he will keep my words and my father will love him and we will come unto him and make our abode with him he that loveth me excuse me he that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings and the word which he hear is not mine but the fathers which sent me. so we had four questions now remember we had three of them already here's the fourth one how can you manifest yourself to us and not to the world these are the four burning questions that chapter 14 is hitting head on where are you going how can we know the way show us the father how can you manifest yourself to us and not to the world three ways by fellowship we'll see that in verse 23 by the indwelling spirit there's another one we're coming these things have spoken unto you being yet present with you but the comforter which is the holy ghost whom the father will send in my name he will teach you most things no that's not what your bible says right good for you tracy just keeping me honest here i was baiting her anyway he shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever i have said unto you peace i leave with you and my peace i give unto you not as the world giveth give i unto you let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid comforting words so we have by fellowship by the indwelling spirit and by inner peace judicial versus experiential peace not the peace like some people talk about reconciliation in in lieu of alienation tranquility versus tumult you have heard how i said unto you i go away and come again unto you if you loved me you would rejoice because i said i go unto the father for my father is greater than i and now i have told you before it come to pass that when it has come to pass you might believe he fully understands that what he's saying to them is far beyond their ability to grasp it at this time but what they will do is it all starts to unfold that they they will recall what he said and all start to fit together and that's also true of us we the whole gospel of john is like that they say it's it's shallow enough for a child to wade in and it's deep enough for an elephant to bathe in every time you go through the gospel of john you can take you can slice another layer first time you go through it's a comfortable gospel because you can understand it and it's exciting and it hits it hits head on the reality of who jesus christ really is matthew what he said mark what he did luke his humanity what he felt john who he was but as you go every time you go through the gospel of john if it's be it a hundred times you'll make new discoveries you begin to realize it's highly organized it's just as hepatically structured seven-fold structures revelation except it's not as obvious revelation seven seven seven seven so is the gospel of john except it's more subtle and uh anyway it's a it's a it's a very very fascinating book not to study again and again as you mature you'll discover it always meets you wherever you're at that's kind of exciting so the same things here with disciples what he's saying is pretty straightforward yet they obviously couldn't grasp the the least of it until the events start unfolding he goes on here after i will not talk much with you for the prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me the enmity of the serpent is being readied to vent on the seat of the woman but that the world may know that i love the father and as the father gave me commandment even so i do i you arise let us go hence this apparently is where they got up and started to walk to gethsemane but we're going to go through several chapters here and the scholars are a little divided is how much of those chapters are still here before they actually leave or how much of this is on root and how much this might be in the garden so that's something you can come to your own but clearly this is a point at which they're getting ready to go and the the word is let us go it's very similar to the term that you give to armies getting ready for battle and we don't have no idea if they lingered or they went to an intermediate place we don't know at midnight the temple would have been open so they might have gone into the temple for a bit who knows so but when you get to john 18 verse 1 for you know then it's they're going to cross over the brook into the garden so between here we've got 15 16 and 17 very key chapters there's some place between supper and actually entering the card and where they are as a point of conjecture john 15 this is the famous chapter for vine and branches and so forth familiar to many people i am the true vine he continues i and my father is the husbandman every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away and every branch that beareth fruit he purges it that it may bring forth more fruit now ye are clean through the word which i have spoken unto you so this is by the way if you've been studying the gospel of john the seventh i am statement jesus makes all these i am statements i am the vine so well uh here he is is one is the seventh of these statements and uh so and he's the true vine implying that there are vines that are not true vines and taketh away now what on earth does this mean he's going to those that don't bear fruit will be taken away does that mean you lose your salvation many people are concerned about that sort of thing what do you mean what does it mean by taking away here there's a number of views some people say well what he's talking about is a true believer apostasizing some people try to defend that view the armenians feel that a christian who does not abide in christ loses salvation that's what the that's the main distinctive of people who would identify themselves or armenians and this seems to be refuted by john 4 14 10 28 a handful of others especially chapter 10 28 and other places the other extreme is the eternal security position that uh if that's the case the people who were taken away must be a mere professor not really united to christ but he said they were branches and they were in him the the armenians and the calvinists are both true and what they assert but they're both wrong in what they deny and so uh i want to watch that one but see they were branches they were me otherwise it could be fruit bearing they're taken away in a sense of fruit bearing not salvation is the issue here the word arya which is to take away is the root from is the root from which we get the term resurrection it means to take up or lift up taketh away as one is to be lifted up and this becomes clear when you understand how the fruit bearing really took place the vine dresser doesn't necessarily cut away a vine unless it's dead he gently lifts it up to the sun so it has an opportunity to bear fruit that's what lifting it up is it's not judgment but encouragement that's referenced here in the minds of many and this is similar to daniel 7 14 and elsewhere so there's different views by different people i wouldn't build dr any one of them i would fit it into what you know from the rest of the text abide me and i and you as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine no more can ye except you abide in me that's the real point here is that abiding cannot come without obedience i am the vine and ye are the branches he that abideth in me and i in him the same bringeth forth much fruit for without me you can do nothing the branches can't bear fruit without being connected to the vine the vine the branches don't they bear the fruit they don't strain to make it they do it because they're connected to the vine that's the flavor here if a man abide not in me he is cast forth as a branch and has withered and men gather them and cast them into the fire and they are burned if you abide me and my words abide in you ye shall ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you and herein is my father glorified that she may bear much fruit so shall ye be my disciples one of the questions i usually ask at audiences how many in the room here are in the full-time ministry i usually get maybe 10 hands up then i usually ask you how many of you are saved by the blood of christ no all hands go up you know okay then how many of you are in the full-time ministry whether you know it or not see we all are that's what he he that's what if you're saved the next question is what have you done with it what fruit have you born hearing is my father glorified that ye bear much fruit so shall ye be my disciples by bearing fruit for him there's going to be an interesting event occur when when when peter denies christ and realizes he has three times before the crows he goes out and weeps bitterly resurrection morning they're instructed go tell my disciples and peter see his salvation was not in jeopardy his discipleship was there's a difference i'll leave you with that for now okay loss of salvation the presumption again the same line up here profession without salvation i think the believer losing his reward premature death of the non-abider stripped of gifts not a salvation you didn't contribute anything to that jesus did it all no no but it's a question of rewards gifts good example analysis and sapphire were taken out of the ball game does that mean they were unsaved no but they're certainly taken they were their ministry certainly was ended sin at the lord's table paul deals that in first corinthians 11 same kind of thing there's a sin unto death first john 5. so these are views understand the distinction between rewards and salvation you can't earn your salvation to try to add to that to try to earn it is is a form of blasphemy as the father loved me so have i loved you continue ye in my love if you keep my commandments ye shall abide in my love even as i have kept my father's commandments and abide in his love these things have spoken to you that my joy might remain in you and that your joy might be full this is my commandment that ye love one another as i have loved you obedience is always the love response and we go on and on with that but i think it's pretty straightforward greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends you know i love that verse it may surprise you to realize that that's the verse that underwrites the patriot soldier as the most noble profession those that are really committed to being a professional soldier ye are my friends if you do whatsoever i command you big f there if ye are my friends you know it's interesting to understand how god uses that term friendship abraham was known as the friend of god so called second chronicles 7 and some other places isaiah 41 and also the book of james in genesis 18 abraham uh god says is he not my friend should i not tell him what i'm about to do you'll see an association genesis 18 in god's mind with being a friend and confiding in him what's about to happen and he recounts to him what's going to happen in sodom gomorrah in the next chapter chapter 19. and you may recall that very colorful scene where abraham negotiates with god what if there's 50 righteous in the city and so forth but so it's interesting that here the disciples in in verse 15 henceforth i call you not servants for the servant knoweth not what is lord doeth but i've called you my friends for all things that i have heard of my father i've made known unto you in other words friendship is associated with being on the inside because he's they're no longer his servants they're now his friends he's going to tell them what's he's telling him what's going to happen you can take that to the extreme strangely enough there's one prophet uh in the old testament that was known as the beloved prophet prophet who was the beloved prophet daniel exactly daniel thou art greatly beloved and daniel is the apocalyptic uh comprehensive uh prophet of the old testament in the new testament one of the disciples is known as the one that jesus who is the most beloved which was the beloved disciple who wrote the apocalyptic book of the new testament john you see the linkage i'm suggesting and it's just it's just something it's just an observation it's not some doctrine it's an observation i think it's interesting that um the the intimacy is a function of can be measured by the the degree to which he's disclosing what's going to happen that's exactly what we're saying in verse 15 that's why i call you not servants for the servant know if not what does lord doeth but i've called you friends for all things that i have heard of my father have i made have made known unto you ye have not chosen me but i've chosen you and ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit and that your fruit should remain and whatsoever you shall ask of the father in my name he will give it you these things i command you that she love one another if the world hate you ye know that it hated me before it hated you the world hate christ if you're in christ do you expect the world to love you you know we say that so glibly and yet we're always shook when we begin to see it in action if you were of the world the world would love his own but because ye are not of the world but i have chosen you out of the world therefore the world hateth you remember the word that i said unto you the servant is not greater than his lord if they have persecuted me they will also persecute you if they have kept my saying they will keep yours also did they keep us saying no will they keep yours no okay but all these things they will do unto you for my name's sake because they know not him that sent me if i had not come and spoken to them they had had not sinned but now they have no cloak for their sin he that hateth me hateth my father also if i had not done among them the works which none other man did they had not had sin but now they have both seen and hated both me and my father in the sense of clarifying basically is the flavor there but this cometh to pass that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law they hated me without a cause wow this is the written word in the old testament that testifies against israel it's not the new testament it's the old testament their own word the word of god testifies against them but when the comforters come whom i will send unto you from the father even the spirit of truth which proceedeth from the father he will testify of whom jesus always it's astonishing how many people who study the holy spirit fail to read accountants the fact that he always testifies of jesus christ and you also shall bear witness because ye have been with me from the beginning so now we're getting to john 16 find out what we're going to expect here these things have i spoken unto you that ye should not be offended this is now he's going to show the fulfillment of the verses we just read last chapter here's how it's going to be fulfilled they shall put you out of the synagogues yeah the time cometh that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth god a service boy isn't that a summary of religious history you need to realize that jesus christ the most anti-religious person ever walked the face of the earth and these things will they do unto you because they have not known the father nor me but these things have i told you that when the time shall come you may remember that i told you of them and these things i said not unto you at the beginning because i was with you but now i go my way to him that sent me and none of you asketh me with a ghost thou but because i have said these things unto you sorrow hath filled your heart nevertheless i tell you a truth it is expedient for you that i go away for if i go not away the comforter will not come unto you but if i depart i will send him unto you and when he has come he will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment boy this is a key study here when he has come he'll approve the world of sin of righteousness and of judgment of sin because they believe not on me that's the ultimate sin of righteousness because i go to my father and and ye see me no more and of judgment because the prince of this world is judge so here we're talking about objective condemnation not subjective realization here and uh we could spend the whole hour on those three issues but let's move on i have yet many things to say to you but you cannot bear them now i'll be it when he the sp this is a key verse very verse 13 year 16 13 remember how be when he the spirit of truth is come he will guide you into all truth he and for he shall not speak of himself but whatsoever he shall hear that shall he speak and he will show you things to come you know it's fascinating it says for he shall not speak of himself it's interesting that the holy spirit never testifies of himself and let me give you the extremes of that in genesis 24 we have abraham uh sending his servant to get a bride for isaac it's very analogous in a sense to genesis 2 2 just 22 abram's offering of isaac abraham in the role of the father isaac the role of the son in two chapters later in chapter 24 again we have abram the role of the father and he's calling his eldest servant to get a bride for isaac and he obviously is doing what he's going to he's going to go to the family of laban qualify her by a well offer her gifts she's going to agree to marry someone she's never met and bring her to be the bride advising so he is this eldest servant is in the role of what the comfort of the holy spirit it's interesting that you he doesn't use his name he's an unnamed servant you can figure out his name by going back to genesis 15 because his eldest servant's name was eliezer which means comforter by the way when you get to the book of ruth there again we have a a type being set up boaz is the kinsman redeemer and naomi is israel out of the land but coming back being redeemed by the act of boaz who who does all this by taking a gentile bride ruth and that whole love story little four chapter book of ruth is so fascinating but it's interesting how does ruth the gentile bride get introduced to boaz the answer in verse chapter two is through an unnamed servant it's whenever you see in the typology the unknown servant the holy spirit is always unnamed servant and uh because of john 16 13 he shall not speak of himself that's interesting i think it's it's it's these are subtleties but very real things he shall glorify me he shall receive of mine and he shall show it to you all things of the father hath are mine therefore i said i that he shall take of mine and shall show it unto you a little while and you shall not see me and again a little while and you shall see me because i go to the father then said some of the disciples among themselves what is this that he saith that it was a little while and you shall not see me and again a little while he shall you shall see me and because i go see the disciples hearing all this are obviously baffled confused they said therefore what is this that he saith a little while we cannot tell what he said now jesus knew what they were desirous to ask him and said unto them do you inquire among yourselves of what i said a little while and shall not see me and again a little while and you shall see me verily verily i say unto you that ye shall weep and lament but the world shall rejoice and ye shall be sorrowful but your sorrow shall be turned unto joy a woman when she is in travel has sorrow because her hour has come but as soon as she is delivered of the child she remembereth no more the anguish for the joy that a man is born in the world that's and the analogy is drawing here and ye now therefore have sorrow but i will see you again and your heart shall rejoice in your joy no man taketh from you and in that day you shall ask me nothing barely really i say to you whatsoever you shall ask the father in my name he will give it you hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name ask and ye shall receive that your joy may be full these things have spoken unto you in proverbs but the time cometh when i shall no more speak unto you in proverbs but i shall show you plainly of the father in that day you shall ask in my name and i say it not unto you that i will pray the father for you for the father himself loveth you because ye have loved me and have believed that i came up from god i came forth from the father and then and come in the world again i leave the world and go to the father this hosea 5 15 he's returning to his place until they acknowledge their offense meaning israel of course his disciples said to him lo now speaketh thou plainly and speaketh no proverbs now are we sure that thou knowest all things and he is not that any man should ask thee by this we believe that thou came us forth from god and jesus answered them do you do ye now believe behold the hour cometh yea now is now come that ye shall be scattered every man to his own and shall leave me alone yet i am not alone because the father is with me these things i have spoken unto you that in me ye might have peace in the world you shall have tribulation but be of good cheer i have overcome the world boy do we need to clean that need to cling to that one now we're heading where i've been hoping to go and that is john 17. some people would call this the holy of holies of the new testament many of us use the term the lord's prayer for what really should be called the disciples prayer the prayer that jesus taught in the sermon of the mount is a prayer that he can't pray it's the one he taught us is how to pray this is really the chapter that should be called the lord's prayer we're going to be treated here we're going to go in inside the veil and hear him preach or to pray to the father and the importance of prayer we see it he prayed intensely at his baptism at the commencement of a ministry at the eve of selecting disciples all through the gospel every time there's something important you find jesus now he prayed many times all night long at the transfiguration and so this prayer is important we're going to enter into the one of the simplest passages in the new testament and yet i should say simple language and yet one of the most profound and meaning in the entire new testament as we go forward here he also prayed as he ceased to breathe our most important work yours and mine is prayer it's more important than anything else we do and it's it's so it seems so simple that we overlook it we certainly overlook its importance let's take a look at what he did uh we're going to find in here all the factors of redemption the salvation manifestation the representation sanctification notification all the factors are here you can just outline them and study it at your leisure these words spake jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said father the hours come glorify thy son that thy son may also glorify thee as thou he's speaking now this is this is jesus speaking to the father and thou has given him power over all flesh that he should give eternal life to as many as thou has given him that's interesting as many as has been given him if you have eternal life it's because the father gave you to the son and this is life eternal that they might know thee the only true god and jesus christ whom thou has sent going to be seven specific requests glorification of the son the restoration of his original glory the protection of his disciples and that includes future believers like you and me sanctification prayer for sanctification unification and glorification that the world might know all this he's going to have a status report the filial relationship with god the appointed time has now arrived he has had authority over all flesh that was given bestow of eternal life on the elect as promised this is like a progress report to the father he would be bringing them to a knowledge of the father he had glorified the father on earth these are his this is his progress report most of us think of a progress report a little differently a progress report is a report in lieu thereof but this is a little different this is what he really did he had finished the work he had finished the work given him to do let's see what he says he's speaking the father i have glorified thee on the earth i have finished the work which thou gave us me to do what an awesome thing for the son to be able to report to his father and now father glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which i had with thee before the world was i manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world thine they were and thou gave us them me and they have kept thy word oh i hope that can be said of us amen now they have known that all things whatsoever thou has given me are of thee for i've given unto them the words which thou gavest me and they have received them and have known surely that i came out from thee and they have believed that thou didst send me i pray for them i pray not for the world but for them which thou has given me for they are thine one of my favorite exam questions is name something god loves that he didn't pray for what did god love that he didn't pray for we know he's loved the world for god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son and so forth right john 3 16. but 17 9 john 17 9 says he prays not for the world there's a distinction that's interesting all mine are thine and thine are mine and i am glorified in them and now i am no more in the world but these are in the world and i and i come to thee holy father keep through thine own name those whom thou has given me that they may be one as we are holy father how interesting in a few hours he's he's not going to be able to use that phrase he's going to say my god my god why is thou forsaken me why because he's in our shoes he's alienated from the father there he's not here in fact before he's alienated he takes the responsibility that he's had that he's discharged faithfully and who does he give it to his father holy father you father keep through thine own name those whom thou has given me our security rests with whom right now god himself father god the father himself that they may be one as we are while i was with them in the world i kept them in thy name those that thou gave us me i have kept and none of them is lost but of course the son of perdition that the scripture might be fulfilled how many did jesus christ lose none when we get before that throne and the whole story is in front of us will jesus be able to say the same thing i don't believe it's possible for any that are his to be lost they can fumble they can lose rewards but that's what eternal life means he paid for it he did it the responsibility was his he gave it to the father and i think the father is faithful heavy stuff have yourself when you start going down these doctrinal paths armenian or calvinist both of those extremes you're playing with fire because you can very inadvertently obviously impugn the character of god be careful and now i come to thee and these things i speak in the world that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves i've given them thy word the world hath hated them because they are not of the world even as i am not of the world i pray not that thou should has take them out of the world but that thou should keep them from the evil they are not of the world even as i am not of the world so we have a different standing we're in christ not adam we have a different nature we're born of the spirit not a flesh we have a different master not the god of this world and we have a different aim to glorify god not ourselves that's the long and the short of it then he says sanctify them through thy truth thy word is truth we live in a culture which says there is no truth unknowingly attacking god himself as thou hast sent me into the world even so have i also sent them into the world and for their sakes i sanctify myself that they also might be sanctified through the truth neither pray i for these alone but for them also which shall believe on me through their word now who's that that's us that's the extension of all of this to us it's not just an unbridled inference it's there explicitly that they all may be one as thou father art in me and i in thee that they also may be one in us wow we have no capacity to imagine what that means that the world may believe that thou has sent me that the glory which thou gavest me i have given them that they may be one even as we are one i in them thou and me that they may be made perfect in one that the world may know that thou has sent me and has loved them as thou hast loved me and that's the crux of the entire universe are going to be measured by its relationship to jesus christ because that's where god set it up he makes the rules father i will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where i am praise god that they may behold my glory which thou has given me for thou lovest me before the foundation of the world o righteous father the world hath not known thee but i have known thee and these have known that thou has sent me and i have declared unto them thy name and will declare it that the love wherewith thou has loved me may be in them and i in them when jesus had spoken these words he went forth with his disciples over the brook he'd run where there was a garden into the which he entered and his disciples and that's where we'll be heading in the next session same as the same as is in john 7. the believer has the same life as christ according to verse 2. he has the same security as christ in verse 11. he has the same separation as christ in verse 14. he has the same sending of the world as christ in verse 18. he has the same union as christ in verse 21 the same glorious christ in verse 22 and the same love is christ in verse 23 man that's a plateful do you think those disciples understood what they were hearing i don't think so anymore that i think we understand it having heard it but i do invite us to retrace these steps and to appropriate john 17 into our own hearts by study prayerful study ourselves in the next session we're going to talk about the night of knights talk about gethsemane and we'll take see how snapshots in each of the four gospels and we'll go through the jewish trials there'll be six trials three jewish trials at night and then three roman trials in the morning six trials for anas before caiaphas and before the sanhedrin that'll all occur before sunrise and then the roman trials before pilate you'll try to pass it off inherit that won't work so it's back for it before a pilot and and you know what happens in the afternoon let's stand for a closing word of prayer father we just are overwhelmed as we begin to get a glimpse of what we inherit through jesus christ we're odd father we do pray father that you increase in each of us a hunger and an appetite for your word but also father that through the ministry of your holy spirit you might open our hearts and lives to your word that we indeed might be sanctified through that truth we do pray father you would illuminate that path before us that as you call us friends that you might help us to understand what it is you are going to be doing help us to understand what you would have of us in the days that remain that we indeed might be fruitful stewards of all these things we're overwhelmed father but we thank you father that we can go into this without fear and in the confidence that you keep your promises as we commit ourselves into your hands in the name of yeshua our lord and savior jesus christ amen [Music] you

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Published: Wed Aug 26 2020