The Helper

Command what you will and give what you command. Command what you will and give what you command. This is one of the most powerful sentences in Christian history. Now, obviously, what scripture says is much more powerful. It's inspired. But this is one of the most powerful and even most provocative theological statements in the history of the church. I'll say it again so you can write it down. Command what you will. Give what you command. This is a one small sentence in Augustine's Confessions. And it started a huge debate in the church because as this was being publicly read, a British bishop, welcome back. named Pelagius stood up in protest, saying this is outrageous. Because he's declared whatever God commands, we can do. This is very important. Command what you will give what you command versus whatever God commands we can do. One, the Pelagian, he thinks that it's already in our power to do whatever God calls us to do. Augustine, on the other hand, saw that man was so sinful, so twisted, so corrupt, that in order for us to do what God commands, God must give us the grace to do it. The debate really comes down to a couple key questions. How much does man need God's help to do anything good? How sinful and corrupt is man? And I think when we answer these questions correctly, we just step back and we boast all the more in Christ because we see that we need his grace and he is abundant in his grace. See, God not only gives us the commands, but he gives us a new desire. He gives us a new ability that is beyond our natural ability as sinners. He must give us grace. He must give us grace to see our sin as it is. He must give us grace to resist sin, to repent of sin, to pursue and persevere in righteousness, to see His love and His worthiness, to turn our hearts towards loving Him. This is why we only boast in Christ. This morning we're going to see that we're completely dependent upon Christ and what He does for us. Our message this morning is this. Jesus empowers us to love and obey with the Spirit in our new relationship with the Father. That's a mouthful. Because the passage is quite packed. So let me say that again. Jesus empowers us to love and obey with the Spirit and with our new relationship with the Father. We're in John chapter 14. Our passage will begin, our message, our section of scripture begins at verse 15. If you're using a pew Bible, you can turn to page 901. Let me read this. I was going to sing it, but I don't think you'd appreciate that now after they've sung it. So anyone ever heard me sing? You know, that's a joke. Let me give the outline so you can be thinking about the outline as I read it. First, Jesus calls us to love, verse 15. Jesus calls us to love, verse 15. Verses 16 and 17, Jesus gives us his spirit to help us love. Jesus gives us his spirit to help us love, verses 16 and 17. The majority of our time will be on those two points and those three verses. Third, Jesus gives us a new identity With the father versus 18 to 24, Jesus gives us a new identity with the father, 18 to 24. Jesus gives us victory in peace versus 25 to 31. Hear the word of God. If you love me. You'll keep my commandments. And I'll ask the father and he will give you another helper. to be with you forever. Even the Spirit of Truth whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees Him nor knows Him, you know Him for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is 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 him, if anyone loves me, he will keep my word and my father will love him and he will come to him and make and we will come to him and we will make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine, but the father's who sent me. These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you, but the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace, I leave with you. My peace, I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, I'm going away and I will come to you. If you love me, you would have rejoiced. Because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place, you may believe. I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise. Let us go from here. Will you pray with me? Father, we praise you that you sent your Son so we can come in His name and make this bold request that your Spirit would be with us now, moving among us, changing hearts, bringing life to what was dead, breaking what was hard. Soften our hearts. Give us ears to hear. Change us, Almighty God. Change us by letting us see Your great love for us and giving us a greater love for You. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Our passage is quite fascinating. We think about it in its context because Jesus is giving His last words, the last charge to His disciples. He's about to die. He's about to go away. We heard it there. In a little while, I'm not going to be here anymore. It's going to be troubling what you see. But I'm making promises. You'll see me again. I'm making promises. It's going to be better for you if I go away. Because I'm coming back. Because I'll go to the Father. Because we'll send the Spirit. Now, in the passage we had before, we see that He's going to go to the Father. And this is good because when he goes to the Father, he's going to make a place for them. When he goes to the Father, they'll be able to do greater works. When he goes to the Father, they'll be able to pray boldly in the name of Jesus Christ. So last week we saw how it's better for us after Christ goes away, the blessings we have in Christ. This week we're focusing our attention on the Holy Spirit. Now, this is a major move in redemptive history. That's a big phrase. Redemptive history. If you want to know more about that, we'll be discussing it Wednesday night. Please come. Think about this. These disciples have been trying to understand how their father and the son are the one God. Right? These disciples, they've been listening to God, walking and talking with Him. Jesus saying, I'm the son of the father. These are good, faithful Shema confessing Jews. Behold, O Israel, the Lord, your God, the Lord is one. I mean, their primary confession as Jews, but here they've been hearing others, a father and a son who was the one that that's hard to comprehend. It's hard to wrap their head around, and now the son says there's another. This is difficult. But we see here God slowly, actually quite speedily here. There's just so much revelation happening in the gospel times when Jesus is revealed, when Jesus is God revealed fully. God is disclosing more and more of himself. The focus is on the paraclete. Now, I wanted to stop and give a hopeful point, I hope. God calls us to believe more than we can comprehend. God calls us to believe more than we can comprehend. These poor disciples, we really have to show them some sympathy here. Because we have more about the Holy Spirit and we still don't comprehend it. God is more than we can ever wrap our heads around. If you think you understand God fully, you don't know God. Your finite mind cannot do that. But here it's helpful because it's a reminder. We're called to believe more than we can understand. Our faith seeks understanding. We do not understand in order to believe. This is why we pray, Lord help my unbelief. Isn't this the only contribution of the disciples in this, or questions? There's no really fantastic input of the disciples. They're asking questions that Jesus gets frustrated with. Have I been with you so long? Their only contribution is asking questions, and He explains it more clearly and more helpfully. Now, our passage needs to be focused on what was said before. He's going to the Father. He's going to make a place for them. It's going to be greater. Now, the greater works, as we explained last week, if you weren't here, Greater works doesn't mean that we're going to do something better than turning water into wine, as if it would be champagne and cornbread, right? It's not doing something greater in terms of signs. The works of God are going to be greater because the new stage of redemptive history, God is making hearts new. He's reviving hearts. He's reviving worship. He's empowering a greater work. And that greater work is a love for God and keeping his commandments. God calls us to love. Jesus calls us to love. Verse 15. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. Now, this one declaration controls everything else in this passage. This one simple declaration controls everything else in the passage. We're going to focus in here. This is our calling to love and to obey. This is the greatest work. This is the greatest commandment to love God with all your heart, with all your strength, with all your mind, with all your mind. This is a great work. Now, I want to focus on something else just to make sure we're qualified. Jesus had the greatest love for God. The love between the Father and the Son is perfect. Our love will never be greater than Jesus's love. We actually get to share in that love. What we're saying here is that our love for God is greater than the works of Jesus. Our hearts being turned away from sin and being destined to hell and being turned up to God and being lifted up to heaven, that's greater than feeding 5,000 people. A heart turned to worship as it was designed to worship is greater than any of the signs, even raising the dead. Lazarus, a heart turned to worship is the greatest work. That's the work of the church. Empowered by the Spirit, exalting Christ, trusting the Father. Our passage launches us into the great call to love Jesus. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. So the question this morning, do you want to love Jesus? You're here, but are you coming with a desire and a question, how can I love Jesus more? Is that why we're here? If it's not, we're wasting our time. This is what we're thinking about. This is what the Bible is about, to hear about the love of God and our love, our call to love him. This is Christian true love. It's an intentional call to follow, obey, deny ourselves, seek him. If you love him, you will obey him. It's very clear we deny ourselves to take up our cross to follow him. I wanted to set something just for a moment here. Christian love obeys Christ. There's two false kinds of way to think about this. Obeying without love is moralism and self-righteousness. That's dangerous. That's a false response to the gospel to not love him, but to say, I'm going to try to obey him. That will only lead to you boasting in yourself and what you do and make you look around everybody else who doesn't do it as well as you do. And it will hinder you and destroy you. That's a false response. You must love in order to obey. The other problem is a love without obedience. That's just mere sentiment. That's what we're saying. Jesus makes me feel good. Jesus does make us feel better, but it's because we love him because he loves us and then we obey him. A true love works from within and that has demonstration in the what we do. How much does your life reflect a love for God? How much does the outward demonstration reflect a stirring within from the love of God for the love of God? Here's the good news this morning. If you're Jesus's, if you're his, he calls you to love him and he's the most lovely being. There's nothing more lovely than God. This is not a burdensome command. God says, love me, I'm the most lovely being in all the earth, in all creation. I am beyond creation. I am infinite in value and worth and love. To love him is not a burden. It's burdensome because we're so prone to love so many of the things. It's easy to love him once we see him and we ask him, please show us how great your love is so that we can love you. So my question this morning, what do you love more than Jesus that commands your obedience? What do you love this morning that commands more of your attention, your mind, Your thoughts, your time, your actions, your money, what commands you? More than Jesus, what do you think is more lovely? What have you believed in the lie that something's more lovely than Jesus? How is sin calling for your obedience and winning? This is the beautiful truth of the Christian gospel. God has spoken. He's revealed himself. He's lovely. We have not been lovely, but yet he loves us anyway. And he calls us to love. How could we choose anything else? There's a great call to love, and then the news gets better. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. Verse 16, Jesus gives us the spirit. Who helps us love. Look at verse 16. And I will ask the father, everything in John hinges upon Jesus being the son of God. Everything hinges upon who he is in his deity and his relationship to the father. If he's anything less than God, anything less than son of God, we're wasting our time because he's not worth our interest in time we're spending on him. He goes to the father. When he goes to the father, he will send another helper. Now, the father sent his son. The father sent his son to seek and save sinners. The father sent his son to die for us. Now, he says in verse 16, I will ask the father when I go back. And he will give you another helper. Another helper, the first thing that really should stand out there is another. Another. Another implies there's already been one, right? So when we break after the Lord's Supper and we end our worship service, we're going to go eat and everyone needs to go to the line once. And after everybody goes to the line once, you can go get another helping. It implies you've already had one helping and everybody else has already had one helping. Another already implies a first. Well, who was the first helper? 1 John 2.1. My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not be, may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have a helper with the father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. That's the same word. The ESV translated as advocate. That's another good translation for that word. The Greek word is paraclete. You see, Jesus was the first sent one. He's the second person of the Trinity of the Son, but he's the first sent one. The Spirit is the second sent one, the third person of the Trinity. And notice the Father is never sent. It's important. It's important as we look at the verse later. This is why the Father is greater than the Son. He never is sent. He's the one who sends the Son. He's the one who sends the Spirit. So another is another one like Jesus. There's a third person of the Trinity. Another one from the one God. Now, it's mistakefully another what? A paraclete. This is a legal term. A helper, an advocate, a representative. All these ways we could translate this word. They all have some problem in the way our words are used. I think helper is the most hopeful translation. Here's a question. Who is the spirit helping? He's another helper. Who is the spirit helping? God or us? Who is the spirit helping? God or us? I think both. But first and foremost, I think it's God. God's perfect. God doesn't need any help in his perfection. However, we are so sinful and so ruined, it takes the entire Godhead to be focused down and angled down towards us to fix us and to make us new again. You see, the Father sent the Son to pay the penalty. He died for our transgressions. He took the guilt. He reconciled us to the Father. Then the Spirit comes and completes that, not in the sense that the death wasn't sufficient. He completes it by applying it to your exact heart. Christ dies for all the elect. The Spirit applies it to the specific person elected. That's a beautiful picture of the Spirit. That's a beautiful picture of salvation. It's completely triune. The Father calls and draws. The Son dies and gives life. The Spirit, He's the one who applies it like a physician, precisely and effectively. The Spirit completes the work of Christ in our hearts. The union the Father gives us in Christ, it's sealed in the Holy Spirit. He finishes the work. If you look at Ephesians 1, that's how that great passage on the union with Christ concludes. It's the sealing of the Spirit. It's the peace that He brings. We all need all of God and He has given us all of Himself. Look at verse 16 again. At last the Father, He will give you another helper. to be with you forever. Even the spirit of truth in the world cannot receive because it is neither sees him nor knows him. You know him for he dwells with you and will be in you. Two important phrases here forever. That's a word. He will be with you forever. He's not going to depart like David or Saul. It's a different way the spirit is ministering to us as New Testament saints. And then for 17, notice it's very clear here. He dwells with you. That's that's present tense. Right. He dwells with you. He will be in you. After Christ rises, after Christ blows the spirit on the apostles, after Christ descends, he and the father will send down the spirit to work in a different way. It's better for us. Throughout the Old Testament, God was with us. God was for us, for us. He's still with us. He's still for us. Now he's in us. It's better for us. What Christ is doing is trying to prepare them that it will be difficult. It will be troubling. I'm going to die. You're going to deny me. But all of this is part of God's plan. It is better. He's going to send the spirit of truth. Spirit of glory, the spirit of Christ, the spirit of adoption. Now, the spirit of truth, he's going to remind them of all he taught them. Now, we're thankful for this because these are the men who are going to write the New Testament. It's helpful that we know that the spirit was leading them and guiding them and and carrying them along to give us this clear word. But it's more than that, that he's dwelling them to illuminate their hearts, to change them. The Spirit is working in us now, empowering us now. Now, let me give us an application from this. First, we must not be afraid of experiencing the Holy Spirit. We cannot be afraid of experiencing the Holy Spirit. We should long and be eager for some experience of the Holy Spirit. It's internal, so there's an experiential element of the Holy Spirit. He cries out, Abba Father, He's indwelling you. He's renewing you. There has to be some experience. But here's some rules as to how we think about that experience. First, we need to be careful in making our personal experience normative for everyone else. Now, there's one Holy Spirit. He doesn't change. He works consistently. The difference isn't us. Some people are more emotional. Some people are more rational. I'm not saying emotional people are irrational. You may have said that, I did not. We all have different experiences. We all have different ways of responding. Some people love to raise their hands when they're singing in worship. Some people want to sit down and be somber. That's the beauty of the creation. I look and there's so many different kinds of people here. The Spirit is one and the same, but our experience can be different because of how we are different. We need to be careful of saying, this is how it always has to look. He's a precise physician who works in us, in our precise sin, and with our precise personality. You can look at Scripture for evidence of this. The New Testament is, well, the whole Bible is such one beautiful, consistent story. That's the oneness. It's remarkably one. But when you look at Peter, James, Paul, Jude, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Moses, Isaiah, their personalities come out in the writing. So the Spirit is using each one so distinctly and differently according to the way God designed them, uniquely, but it's one story. Be careful in making everybody else have to fit the way you experience the Spirit. What we need to be more worried about is making sure that our experience of the Spirit aligns with Scripture. Number two, we must interpret and understand our experiences through the lenses of scripture. We do not build theology off of our experiences. We take what scripture says and we understand and interpret our experiences through the lenses of scripture. The third thing, the spirit does not draw attention to himself. This is kind of the interesting thing about the Holy Spirit. The Spirit doesn't ever draw attention to himself. He's always illuminating, highlighting the authoritative name of Jesus Christ. If what you are focusing on is taking you away from the authoritative and powerful name of Jesus Christ, it's not the Holy Spirit. That's what the Holy Spirit does. He's just a big spotlight on Jesus. So if you're paying attention and focusing on something other than Jesus, the Spirit you're listening to and following is something other than the Holy Spirit. That's all the Holy Spirit does in Scripture. Continues to apply and focus upon Jesus Christ and His work. Now, how do you experience the Spirit? How do you experience the Spirit? Well, there's a couple of pretty simple things. You pray, you go to the Father in the name of Jesus Christ, being led by the Spirit in prayer. You read the words the Spirit has inspired and you fellowship with other spirit indwelt believers. That's kind of the easiest way to experience the Holy Spirit. It's by those things he's obviously done. He's given us the inspired word. He's given us other saints who are indwelt and he's given us prayer. One of the key things we need to realize that hinders our experience is our lack of obedience. If you're not experienced in the Holy Spirit, that's where I would start. How have I quenched the Spirit with the way I live? How have I quenched the Spirit with the choices I'm making for sin? Now, if you're trying to abandon your own strength, if you're trying to pull yourself up, it's only going to get more and more frustrating. If you've been failing for some time, I want to encourage you to strive harder, but in a different way. Seek the power and the work of the Spirit. Pray for the Spirit to empower you to see your sin for what it is, to see the power of Christ. If you want to look at these application points I'm about to give, they all come from Hebrews 12, except for one. So, you can meditate on Hebrews 12 later on. I'm taking Hebrews 12, John 14, and I'm going to mend them together. First, how can you experience the Holy Spirit? First, set aside the sins that entangle you. Pray for the Holy Spirit to take away the desires that so easily entrap you and ensnare you. This means you ask for other desires. Desires just don't go away. You just don't have a desire that dissipates. You have a desire that's changed. Your heart is turned from one thing to the next. So you ask Holy Spirit, take away my love for this and give me a greater love for God. We have to first usually see sin for what it is, how disgusting it is. how it's seeking our demolition and our destruction and our death. We have to realize that sin has come from the depths of hell and wants to destroy us and drag us back down to hell with it. Before we can start praying, get me out of this entanglement, get me out of the slavery that's seeking to destroy me. Pray for the spirit for you to see sin and how dangerous and disgusting it is. Because then you will find the freedom of Christ. Secondly, look up to Christ, who is the perfecter of our faith. Again, the Spirit is just a big light on Jesus. Spirit, help me to see Jesus. Help me to see the victory I have over this sin that's more powerful than I am. Help me to see Jesus in his victory that he provided. Help me to see Jesus in the glory that I can know. Help me to see the love you have for me, even though I'm disgusting in my sin, so that I can love you more. See your sin for what it is, and then see Christ for who He is. Third, recognize that it's a hard, long road. Being a Christian disciple, being a disciple of Christ, is not easy. Just get that out of your mind. There's no easy fixes. It's a hard, consistent battle that we have to fight against the temptations, against our flesh, striving to be more like Christ. That's where four is so important. Let this lead you to long for the day of joy. The day when you will go on the height of Mount Zion and you will see God face to face and all of his glory and the angels surrounding him and your sin will be demolished and abolished and removed from you completely. Long for that day. This is why after Lord's Supper we say, Come Lord Jesus. Let's do that again. Come Lord Jesus to remind us that this world with this sin, this flash that keeps hindering us, it's going to be done away with soon. We long for the day when Christ returns. Now I'm going to jump back to Hebrews 10. Do not forsake the gathering. It's a body with all the members and parts moving together. It's a temple being built up. God intends for us being spirit and 12 believers to be with other spirit and 12 believers so the spirit can speak to us through one another. Finally, two ways to pray. Help. My unbelief, it's not a logic problem. It's not a knowledge problem. It's a faith problem. And secondly, going back to the first application I gave, help me overcome the power of sin that entangles me. If you're not a Christian this morning, This isn't kind of intro to Christianity. There's some heavy lifting in this passage because this is the full Trinitarian gospel. But let me just make this very clear. You do not earn God's love with good works. Those who are Christian, they're going to take the Lord's Supper and celebrate it. We're not doing it because we think we've achieved or accomplished something, and that's what God calls us to. God calls God to love us. We're sinners. If it is daunting and deflating to think, I need to love Christ enough for Him to love me, that's good news. I'm glad that that feels daunting because you can never love God enough for Him to love you. He loves you because He chooses to love you. While we were still sinners, God sent His Son to die for us. That's the good news. Trust in His love, in His death, that when Christ died, He took your wrath upon Himself, so that you no longer are guilty, you no longer await judgment. And He gave you His righteousness, His standing, His new life. If you're wrestling with this, pray for the Holy Spirit to help you see Jesus. If you're really wrestling with this, cry out, God, help my unbelief. Help me see the salvation I do not have. Do not leave without talking to somebody this morning about that. Our third section, beginning in verse 18. Jesus gives us a new identity with the Father. I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you. This is one of the sweet promises of Christ. He's preparing them. He's going to die just hours away. I will not leave you as orphans. They're going to feel left behind. But God never leaves his people behind. He never leaves us alone. Now, verse 19, it has some interpretation issues. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me because I live. You also will live. Some people wonder if this is referring to after he ascends to the Father. I think this is referring to his death. in a little while, but then you will see me. That's his resurrection. Because I live, you also will live. I believe he's just referring to this very small time period between his death and his resurrection and a little while the world will not see me. But then you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day, you will know that I am in the Father and you and me and I and you. Again, that identity as a son is so important here. When he is risen from the dead, when he is the raised son, that's when they have the clarity. That's when the spirit gives them clarity. But I want you to see something here. This is this is very important. You will know that I am in my father. You and me and I and you. The Father sent His Son to unite us to Him so that every spiritual blessing we could possibly have is in Him. This is why the doctrine, the emphasis on union with Christ is so important. We're children of God when we believe in the Son. We receive a whole new inheritance when we believe in the Son. When we're united with Christ, we are God's. We are God's people. Why we are not left as orphans. This is actually kind of the beginning point of what Paul will explain more later in Romans 8 and Galatians 3 and the spirit of adoption. We have a new family identity. When you were in me, you were in the Father because I am in the Father. I will not leave you as orphans. I'm going to give you my spirit. And that spirit is the spirit of adoption that cries out, Abba, Father. We have a new family. Which means we're all sons. Now, let's think about how this applies to our lives now. Jesus says, you know, I'm the son because I obey the father. Do people know you're a son of God by the way you obey Jesus? If Jesus says, look at my works and you'll know that I'm the son, could people look at your works and know that you're a child of God? Is there demonstrations of obedience from a love that has changed and formed you? Our actions must reflect our new identity. We need to hold on to this precious gift we have that God is now our father. Liberal Christianity gives you this one. Everybody is God's child. We are all one brotherhood. They universalize the fatherhood of God and they universalize the brotherhood of man. That's a lot. Now, yes, we are all under Adam. We're all together as neighbors. But this specific language of being able to call it to God as father, it's uniquely New Testament. It's uniquely the benefit and blessing we have in Christ. It's ours to call God father. It's ours to go to the name, go to him in the name of the son. It's ours to depend upon the spirit and have that crying out of a father. Are we focusing on that? Are we delighting in that? Don't believe that that's just generic. That's specific for God's people. Here's what Augustine had to say about this passage of the triune God, Father and Son and Holy Spirit come to us while we are coming to them. They come with help. We come with obedience. They come to enlighten. We come to behold. They come to fill, we come to obtain, to contain that our vision of them may not be external, but inward. And they're abiding in us may not be transitory, but eternal. The way they focus on us, they help and we obey. They enlighten. We get to behold the glory and the love of God. Look at verse 22, Judas, not Iscariot. That's very important. He's already gone. He's about to come back being empowered and indwelt by Satan. Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us and not to the world? Now, Jesus answers is is is remarkable. Notice how all these things are connected. If you love me, you'll keep my commandments. We've already discussed that. Then my father will love him and he will come to him and make and we will make our home with him. The union of fellowship we have with God is based upon our love and our obedience. Which begins with the father sending his son. All these things are wrapped in together. We cannot pretend to have fellowship with God while we're walking in disobedience. We cannot pretend to love God without obedience. We cannot pretend to be obedient without the love of God and the fellowship of the father. These things are all wrapped together. Our final point. Jesus gives us peace in his victory. Now I promise you I'm spending less time here. Don't worry, the clock is working now. Don't worry, I'm not going to pay attention to it. We're doing the most important thing we could possibly doing right now. Jesus speaks, verse 25, these things I've spoken to you while I'm still with you. But the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and bring to remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace, I leave with you. My peace, I give to you. Not as the world gives, do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, I'm going away and I will come to you. If you love me, you would have rejoiced because I'm going to the father for the father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it takes place so that when it does take place, you may believe. Remember the whole purpose of John? All these things have been said that you may believe. I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, but I do as the Father has commanded me, so the world may know that I love the Father. Rise. Let us go from here. Jesus saying, I'm going to send you the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, who is going to remind you of all things. We've already discussed how He's the Spirit of truth, who makes sure that the doctrine and the teachings are secure in the church through the apostles and now through His Word. The once for all faith handed down, as Jude says. Let's jump down to verse 27. Peace I leave you. My peace I give to you. Now, Christian peace is unique because it's a peace with God. It's knowing that we are no longer under judgment. We're no longer guilty. You can look later at chapter 20, verse 21. He blows the spirit out and he says, peace is now with you. The spirit applies what Christ has accomplished on the cross, and we now have peace because the wrath of God is satisfied. Now, it's not peace like the world. I wonder if, in mind here, the readers of John would be thinking of Pax Romana, the Peace of Rome. This existed from 27 BC to 180 AD. This is a long period of peace for this particular land and this particular region. No great wars. Now, we have to remember, why were there no great wars? Because the sword was being handled very steadily and mightily in the hand of Rome. Peace, according to the world, was brought with a sword. Rome had conquered all their enemies. Rome had made Israel, these Jews, subject to them with a sword. That's what the peace is that Rome celebrated. It made them victims and slaves. The peace that Jesus brings, it doesn't make us victims. We're the beneficiaries. He becomes the victim. He becomes the object of God's wrath so that we have peace. We become the beneficiaries. Secondly, as we know, that Pax Romana, it ended. There's been many wars. The peace that God gives, it is eternal and forever. It does not end. Jesus says, Do not be troubled. I will die. It is to bring peace. I'm going away. You should rejoice that I'm going away. Now, imagine that you're sitting here. There's the master. He's been saying things that are really blowing your mind. All of a sudden, he says, you're going to rejoice when I go away. They've invested everything in him. How is it they could possibly imagine they're going to rejoice when he goes away? Well, when he goes away, he's going to prepare a place for them. When he goes away, he's going to send a spirit. When he goes away, they can do greater works. When he goes away, they have the new authoritative name, Jesus Christ, who's risen. Now he says you should rejoice because the Father is greater than Jesus. The Father is greater than Jesus. What does that mean? Let me tell you the first thing it can't mean. It can't mean Jesus is not God. Everything else in this whole passage is pointing out that Jesus is the Son of God, fully divine. There's actually a long-standing tradition, and here I'm actually going to disagree with Augustine, so those of you who have been waiting for that moment, I'm going to disagree with Augustine. He believed that it's referring to his human nature. That takes this completely out of context, and what kind of a bold statement is that? God, you're greater than me. That's not a great statement. What he's saying here is his sonhood, his sonship, his being the son, the father is greater than he. Now, why does this matter? It's the father who sent the son to accomplish his plan, and when the son goes back to the father, it's because the plan of redemption is accomplished. It's complete. His work on the cross and the resurrection is done. It's great because the father who is greater than the son has sent him and the plan is complete. Now there's a new and greater blessing. Jesus says there's not much time, there's not many words, he's encouraging the spirits going to come. So he says the ruler of the world is coming. This is referring to Satan, who's entered Judas, just just chapters before. Judas has gone out, he's betrayed Jesus, he's about to come and give him the kiss of betrayal. See, he's the ruler. of the world. The world in John is that system that is opposed and against God. It's that system of man who is against God and working not for him and worshipping him, but worshipping everything else. John 12, 32, the ruler of this world will be cast out, Jesus says. He will be overcome. Listen to Ephesians 2, as Paul reflects upon who we worked for under the ruler of the world, but now how we have a new master. Ephesians 2, and you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked. Following the course of this world, following the prince, that's him, the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, while we were dead, while we were following Satan, the rule of this world, while we were living out the passions of the flesh, but God being rich in his mercy because of the great love of which he loved us. Even when we were dead in our trespasses. Made us alive together with Christ. By grace, you've been saved. And raised us up with him. and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace and kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through Him. This is not your own doing, it is a gift of God, as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Notice the contrast. We're dead, left to ourselves. We're alive when God acts. We're either following Satan or we're in Christ, secure by what he's accomplished for us. It's important. Jesus says, Satan has no claim on me. There's a hierarchy of being. God, angels, men. It's very important. angels, men. He's more powerful than us. Our sins more powerful than us. We needed a champion. And Jesus Christ came to conquer sin, death, Satan, and we now share in his victory. His death is for our life. His resurrection is our victory. We must learn to walk in this victory. We do that by walking in the Spirit. What Ben will talk about next Sunday. As we conclude, let's focus on our hymn of response. Arise, my soul, arise. Five bleeding wounds he bears, received on Calvary. They pour effectual prayers, they strongly plead for me. Forgive him, oh, forgive the cry. Forgive him, oh, forgive the cry. Let not that ransom sinner die. Christ has purchased us. His prayer is effectual because His death on the cross was effectual. The Father hears Him pray. His dear anointed One. He cannot turn away the presence of His Son. He who died for you is in the Father's presence, pleading for you. The Father must hear Him. His Spirit answers to the blood. That's how our souls arise. That's how our souls arise. We're coming in the name of Christ who died for our sins in the presence of the Father and the Spirit is stirring in us because He answers to the blood and He tells me I am born of God. My God is reconciled. His pardoning voice I hear. He owns me for His child. I can no longer fear. With confidence, I now draw nigh. And because of the father who has adopted us in Christ, because of the father and son who was sent down the spirit of adoption, we now cry Abba Father. Will you pray with me? Father, we thank you that your great plan of salvation is beyond our understanding, but we do know is that we can trust you. Our faith is secure in you and what you've done for us. We thank you, Father, for the son and the clear salvation he has given us. We thank you for the spirit that applies it and serves us and illuminates us as we now sing to one another and to ourselves. Help us, Lord. To know how our souls can arise into your presence and praise you and worship you and be in awe and wonder of you because your spirit is helping us to see Jesus at the right hand. Help us to see you as you are in your love and your power and your glory. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.