John 14:19-31 (Teaching)

[0:00] Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Back in the Gospel of John this morning, John 14.

[0:10] Last week we didn't move very far at all. I believe we covered four verses last week. I'm hoping possibly to end the chapter today, but we'll just wait and see.

[0:22] And that's fine if it takes us another Sunday or two. That works just as well. I told y'all when we began this chapter, this is one of my four favorite chapters in all of Scripture.

[0:34] A lot in this chapter in John 14. But last week we ended with verse 18 with Jesus saying, I will not leave you comfortless.

[0:46] I will come to you. And we talked last week ending on that note that the word that Jesus uses there for comfortless is the Greek word or phonos, which you only find that one other time in the New Testament where James in chapter one of his epistle says, this is true religion and undefiled.

[1:12] And he goes on to talk about caring for the orphans and the widows. And so Christ saying, I will not leave you comfortless using that word, that Greek word there or phonos is he saying, I will not leave you as orphans.

[1:27] And he says, I will come to you. We know that Christ comes to us not necessarily in the physical sense, but he comes to us in way of the Holy Spirit.

[1:41] The Holy Spirit, God the Spirit and God the Son and God the Father cannot be separated. So when God the Spirit comes and indwells inside of us, it is God the Father and it is God the Son in form of God the Spirit that is indwelling us.

[2:01] You cannot separate those three. They are forever the eternal Godhead and you cannot separate them. So all that being said, we'll pick up in verse 19 of John chapter 14.

[2:15] Jesus says, yet a little while and the world seeth me no more. But ye see me because I live, ye shall live also.

[2:26] This is a verse that folks that contend the Bible will use quite frequently. And I know this from my days of being lost.

[2:37] But they will use it quite frequently trying to disprove the Bible. Jesus says, yet a little while and the world seeth me no more. And they will use this verse and say, but will not the world see him?

[2:53] Does not the Bible say in Revelation chapter 1 as a matter of fact that every eye shall see him? And they will say, so Christ was lying when he said this.

[3:05] So folks, you've got to take this into context that it's being spoken in. What always happened here, we've covered it for the past several Sundays. And John 13, Christ tells his disciples again that he's going to be killed.

[3:20] He's going to be crucified. And this must take place. But he tells them, I'm going away and where I'm going, you can't come right now.

[3:32] But he says, I'm going away and we've talked about this for the past few Sundays, how much confusion that this would have laid upon the disciples.

[3:42] Because Christ three years before this was handpicking his disciples saying, follow me, follow me, follow me. And they followed him for three years. And now he's saying, I'm going away and where I'm going, you cannot follow me there.

[3:57] Once again, right now they can't follow him there. They can't go to where he's going. And this not only includes heaven, this not only includes the ascension of Jesus Christ, but they can't follow him up onto the cross and partake in that death because Christ and Christ alone must suffer that death.

[4:17] Christ and Christ alone must be that sacrifice. They can't follow him there. They could see him. They could witness the crucifixion taking place. And we know that that happened because Christ addressed John from the cross.

[4:33] So we know that they followed him there, but they could not follow him as far as the crucifixion goes for taking in that crucifixion. So when Christ says, you had a little while in the world, seeeth me no more.

[4:47] What's he saying there? That verse continues, but ye see me because I live, ye shall live also. He says, the world seeeth me no more. Christ, after the crucifixion of Christ, we know that he was put in a borrowed tomb, and we know that he resurrected from that borrowed tomb.

[5:07] We also know from the scriptural accounts that Christ showed himself to the disciples. He showed himself to his own. We know from 1 Corinthians chapter 15, another of my four favorite chapters in all of scripture.

[5:20] We know from 1 Corinthians 15, he showed himself to Cephas, then he showed himself to the 12, and he showed himself to over 500 of who? Of the brethren.

[5:32] Not to the world. He was showing himself to his own to do what? To bolster their faith because he had told them that he must be killed, he must be buried, but that he would be resurrected, that he would come back to life.

[5:50] He showed himself to Cephas, to the 12, to the 500, to the rest of the disciples, and there in 1 Corinthians 15, it says, and finally to Paul.

[6:00] He showed himself to Paul, who was writing that letter to the church at Corinth. So when he says, yet a little while on the world seeeth me no more, the world didn't see him anymore after the resurrection.

[6:15] He showed himself to whom he wanted to see. Now that's not to say that they might not have called it glimpse of him or whatever the case is, but he truly showed himself to his own.

[6:27] He says, but ye see me, and then he gives them this bit of encouragement, because I live, ye shall live also. Christ is talking about his death.

[6:39] In John 13, he's talking about his death. He's talked about it quite a bit. In John 14, the past few Sundays that we've been in that base, he says, because I live, talking about his resurrection, I will live, and I will live forever, upon the resurrection.

[6:59] He says, but because I live, ye shall live also. Talking about our spiritual life, because he lives, we have spiritual life, but talking about our eternal life with him forever, because I live, ye shall live also.

[7:19] Verse 20, at that day, that's very important. At that day, at that day, ye shall know that I'm in my Father, and ye and me and I in you.

[7:29] At that day, ye shall know these things. And folks, even to this day, 2,000 years after these words were spoken by Jesus Christ, no one can completely and totally explain the indwelling of the Spirit.

[7:49] The Scripture makes it plain that this will take place for believers. It's just like the Trinity. God the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit. No one can completely explain that.

[8:00] I can't do it. You can't do it. The best preacher on the planet can't do it. The best theologians past, present, and I would dare say, on into the future, cannot explain the Trinity any more than they can completely explain the indwelling of the Spirit.

[8:18] Even Solomon says, when he's making his big temple address, he says, the heaven of the heavens cannot contain thee, talking about God. And if the heaven of the heavens can't contain thee, me and my finite mind is, how can I contain God?

[8:35] But I know that I do. And folks, that's a wonderful thought. It's a wonderful thought that not only am I a disciple of Jesus Christ, but I'm the abode of Jesus Christ here on earth.

[8:50] You, if you're born again, you are the abode of Jesus Christ in form of the Spirit here on earth. Again, at that day, you shall know that I am in my Father, and ye and me and I and you.

[9:07] And this isn't the only time that Christ brings us up. He's brought it up. He's brought it up previous in the Gospel of John. He'll bring it up again in John 17. He brings up this indwelling.

[9:18] And he brings up this mutual indwelling of he being in the Father and the Father in him, and he being in us and us in him. And folks, if I'm in Christ and Christ is in me, there is nothing that can harm me.

[9:32] And there should be nothing, just like we sung just a little while ago, there should be nothing that discourages me knowing that I'm in Christ and Christ is in me. But Christ says, at that day, at what day?

[9:46] At what day? In the previous verse, he said, you had a little while and the world seeth me no more, but ye shall see me at the day of His resurrection.

[9:56] At the day of His resurrection, they should know that He is in the Father, and the Father is in him, and that He is in the disciples. But when did that truly take place?

[10:08] It took place at Pentecost when the Spirit of God was poured out. That's when you see all the boldness come out. That's when you see Peter begin preaching with boldness.

[10:20] That's when you see thousands of people get saved underneath the preaching of Peter. Not that Peter had anything to do with it. Peter simply preached the word, but the Spirit was there, and the Spirit is the one that indwelt these.

[10:36] That believed what Peter was preaching at that time. At that day, things began to make sense for the disciples, but why did they make sense?

[10:48] Because Christ was telling them these things right here on the eve of His crucifixion. Christ was telling them these things. And he tells them a little bit further on down in this passage that we're in right now.

[11:03] He's telling them that they will believe. So verse 21, 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 will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

[11:21] He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me. So here's Christ again tying obedience to love and love to obedience.

[11:31] Folks, this is how we demonstrate our love to Christ, is by following His commandments. And we've talked about it in here before, very recently, as a matter of fact.

[11:43] Two things that we've talked about, one is obeying the law doesn't earn us salvation. Obeying the law does not merit us anything with God.

[11:54] Believing the gospel of Jesus Christ and repenting of our sins is how we obtain salvation. And even then, it is God that imparts salvation unto us.

[12:07] So when Christ says, He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, folks, there's a distinction there. The world has the commandments of God. The world has access to the commandments of God.

[12:18] They had access to the commandments in the Old Testament. They've got access to the commandments of God. Now, Christ says, He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, and keepeth them.

[12:30] He it is that loveth me, and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him and will manifest myself to him.

[12:42] This is a strong statement that Jesus says here. He that hath my commandments and the one that keeps those commandments that he has, I will love him, I will follow her love him, and I will manifest myself to him.

[12:57] How so? How so? When we think of manifestation, we think of a physical appearance of some kind. That's what I think when I think of something being manifested to me, that I can physically see it with my own eyes.

[13:15] But folks, that's not the context that we are in here. That is not the context that we're speaking of in this. We're speaking on a spiritual plane.

[13:25] We're speaking about spiritual matters. And the Spirit is how Christ manifests Himself to people, to believers. It is through the Spirit that Christ is shown to us.

[13:38] It is through the Spirit that Christ was shown to us the day that we got saved when we heard the preached Word of God and we believed what we heard is the Spirit of God that showed the truth of the Scripture and showed the truth of Jesus Christ to us.

[13:55] So when Christ is manifested to us, it is in a spiritual way that He is manifested to us, that He has shown us. It is through the Spirit and only through the Spirit that this can take place.

[14:10] Verse 22, Judas saith unto him, not a scary it, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us and not unto the world?

[14:20] Jude asked the same question here that I would have probably asked. How is it possible for you to manifest to yourself to us and not to the world? Once again, as far as the physical aspect of this goes, when Christ showed himself to people after the resurrection, it was only to His own that we have record of in the Scriptures.

[14:43] It was only to His own that He done that. But it is through the Spirit that He will do that, exactly what we was talking about in the previous verse. But Jude says here, and John made sure to write, inspired by the Holy Spirit, of course, not a scary it.

[15:01] Remember, Judas is scary, he done left to see, he done gone out into the night. Satan had done entered into him and all these things. So he says, Judas saith unto him, not a scary it, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us and not unto the world?

[15:17] Most inquiry that Jude is making here to Jesus, but at the same time it shows that he's not understanding what's going on.

[15:28] And folks, if I had been Jude at this time, I wouldn't have understood exactly what Christ was saying. I have the entirety of Scripture to help me to understand things.

[15:41] Jude didn't have that. Jude is part of the entirety of Scripture of this account that we're reading about right here. But he says, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us and not unto the world?

[15:57] Honest inquiry that he is making. But again, it shows that he didn't understand. It shows that his discernment was off because he wasn't thinking about things in a spiritual plane.

[16:10] Once again, had I been in his shoes, I would have been, I would have been, I would have asked the same question. I would have been in the same boat as he was in.

[16:21] But we'll get on to Jesus' answer here in verse 23. Jesus answered and said unto him, if a man loved me, he will keep my words and my Father will love him and will come unto him and make our abode with him.

[16:34] So Jude asks the question in verse 22, how will you manifest thyself to us and not to the world? And Christ answered and said, if a man loved me, he will keep my words.

[16:45] Exactly what he was saying up there in verse 21. 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.

[16:55] Once again, Jesus Christ put into emphasis and glorifying the Father through his ministry. Now remember, this ministry that he's doing right now is to his disciples only.

[17:09] It's to the remaining 11 disciples. But Christ here, this reminds me a lot of the story or the account I should say in the scriptures in the gospel accounts where the man comes to Jesus and he says, good master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

[17:28] And Christ says, why callest thou me good? There is none good but one. That is God. And Christ here putting the emphasis on the Father, Christ constantly glorifying the Father in his ministry, the Father constantly glorifying the Son throughout the ministry of the Son here on earth.

[17:48] But Jesus said, 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.

[18:01] We will come unto him. Verse 18 that we got to last week, he said, I will not, Christ said, I will not leave you comfortless. I will come to you.

[18:11] Here Christ is saying, he and the Father will come to the disciples. And the only way that they will come to the disciples is through the Spirit of God.

[18:23] So like I said at the beginning of this, you cannot separate those three, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit are forever together and you cannot separate those three.

[18:37] But again, Christ is saying that if you have his words and you keep his words, the Father will love them. He says, and we will come unto him and make our abode with him.

[18:50] Remember in verse one, we covered a couple of Sundays ago, two or three Sundays ago I guess. And he said, let your, let not your heart be troubled. He believe in God, believe also in me.

[19:04] He believe in God. You're doing the right thing, but believe also in me. Believe also in me. And here Christ is saying, 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.

[19:23] Verse 24, he that loveth me not, keepeth not my sayings. So he begins to contrast. He just, he just explained what people who love him will be doing.

[19:34] Now he says, he that loveth me not, keepeth not my sayings. And the word which he hears not mine, but the Fathers which sent me. So he contrasts those that love him and what they will be doing with those that don't love him and what they will or won't be doing, which will be keeping the commandments of God, those that don't love God, don't keep the commandments of God.

[19:58] Those that don't love Christ don't keep the commandments of Christ. They don't keep the word of God. And folks, I'm not standing here telling you that I keep it perfectly. And if you're a born again Christian, you don't keep the commandments perfectly either.

[20:13] None of us love God the way that we should. None of us do. None of us love our neighbor the way that we should. Not a one of us.

[20:24] But like so many people in the world, we have it in our mind, I'm not as bad as this one. I'm not as bad as that one. I've never killed anybody. I've never raped anybody.

[20:35] I've never done this and I've never done that. And we put these, these sins on tears and say, I've never touched any of those up there on that top tier.

[20:45] I'm better than this one or I'm better than that one. Folks, sin is sin is sin. The Bible says all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

[20:56] I'm no better than a murderer. I'm no better, although, although I've never killed anybody. I'm no better than a murderer is. We all need Jesus Christ.

[21:08] We all need the gospel. We all need salvation. Every man, woman, boy, and girl on the planet stands in need of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[21:19] So in this contrast, he says, he that loveeth me not, keepeth not my sayings, folks. That's, we're not the ultimate judge. I'm not the ultimate judge.

[21:31] But seeing someone profess Christ and making no effort whatsoever to keep the sayings of Christ, to keep the commands of Christ, what does Jesus say?

[21:43] He that loveeth me not, keepeth not my sayings. If they're making no effort whatsoever, me personally, I have to wonder if the Spirit's even dwelling inside of them.

[21:56] Like I said, I'm not the ultimate judge and I understand that. And I'm glad for that, quite frankly. When Jesus says, he that loveeth me not, keepeth not my sayings, that tells me people that make no effort to keep the sayings of Jesus Christ don't love them.

[22:12] And if they don't love them, they are not saved. Period. The word which he hears not mine, but the fathers which sent me. Christ here again, casting the attention, casting the spotlight on the Father.

[22:27] And again, we can go back to verse one. Let not your heart be troubled. He believe in God, believe also in me, says the words that I'm speaking to you now, these are not my words, they are the Father's words and I'm relaying these words to you.

[22:41] Now that being said, again, you cannot separate the Father, Son, and the Spirit. So the words of God would be the words of Christ. The words of Christ would be the words of God. The guidance of the Holy Spirit, the instruction of the Holy Spirit would be the guidance and the instruction and the teaching of God, the Father, and of God, the Son.

[22:59] They says, these are not my words, but the fathers which sent me. Verse 25, these things have I 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 shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you.

[23:20] Christ says, these things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. In other words, I'm right here with you physically in the flesh. I'm here with you and I'm speaking these things.

[23:31] He says, but the comforter, which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things. Folks, the statement that was made by Jude a little bit earlier shows that they certainly did not know all things.

[23:51] When Jude said, Lord, how is it that thou will manifest thyself unto us and not unto the world? That proves that they did not know all things.

[24:02] Now, again, what Christ is telling them here would bolster, it would fortify their faith in the future upon the resurrection, upon seeing the things that Christ was telling them was going to come to pass.

[24:20] It's the same reason that he told them that Judas Iscariot would betray him. He said, I'm doing this so that when you see it come to pass, you'll believe.

[24:34] And he's telling them these things for the same reason to fortify their faith, to strengthen their faith. And folks, we have an entire Bible here. An entire Bible, 66 books worth of the Word of God that we can and should use to fortify our faith.

[24:55] But too many people look for something physical in their lives to fortify their faith. They look for some miraculous event to take place that they can just look at it and say that had to have been God because no other could do that.

[25:11] And things like that happen don't get me wrong, but folks, it's the words that Christ is speaking here that come to pass in the future that the witnesses or the disciples witness these things come to pass.

[25:26] The words of Christ, though, that is what fortifies faith. And we have this entire book here to strengthen our faith in God.

[25:37] So again, he says, these things about spoken unto you, being yet present with you, but the comforter, which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my name. We discussed this a Sunday or two back about what it means, the name of Jesus means.

[25:50] And we could go off on a year long tangent about everything that the name of Jesus Christ means. But when we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, when we make our petitions known in the name of Jesus Christ, we're affiliating ourselves with Christ.

[26:10] When we go to God with these petitions and with these prayers. So when he says, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things.

[26:23] He remembered last Sunday, I guess it was, or maybe the Sunday before Sunday or two ago when when Christ said that he would send another comforter, said another comforter.

[26:37] Christ was their comforter at this time that they were with him. He says, but he'll send another comforter. And that of course being the Holy Spirit of God, but he says, but the comforter, which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my name, to send him in my name, send him in my place, send him in my power.

[26:59] That's what Christ is getting at here when he says he'll send him in his name, not to mention Christ said, I will pray the Father, I will pray the Father, I will go to the Father and I will request that he sends the comforter.

[27:13] But on that same token, folks, that's why just a couple of chapters away from here, we see Christ say, it's expedient that I should go away.

[27:23] It's necessary that I should go away. Why was it so necessary that Christ would ascend to the Father? Because without that ascension, without Christ petitioning the Father to send another comforter, the plan of God would not advance.

[27:40] That's the whole thing here that Christ is trying to get at in this whole passage is the advancement of the plan of God. And that should have been encouraging to the disciples, which he gets into how they should be rejoicing instead of being sorrow here in just a little bit.

[27:59] But that should have been encouraging to the disciples and it should be encouraging to us as well knowing that the plan of God is advancing. And folks, there is no stopping it.

[28:10] There is throwing no sticks or any stones into the cogs of those wheels. There is nothing that can or will stop the plan of God.

[28:23] He shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth, give I unto you.

[28:34] Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Peace I leave with you. Folks, in this time of Roman occupation, peace was a very rare commodity for these folks.

[28:49] It was a rarity indeed. So Christ talking about peace here, that should have perked up these 11 disciples' ears. Peace I leave with you, but then He goes on to say, my peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth, folks, the world gives all kinds of peace.

[29:08] But it's just like everything else that is in the world and everything else that is of the world. It's temporal. If it's peace at all, it's very temporal.

[29:19] We have a lot of talk, I've heard a lot of talk, just in the past couple of months, a whole lot of talk about unity. I've heard it in the news, I've heard it on YouTube broadcasts, I've heard it, or I've seen it on different social media outlets, a whole lot about unity.

[29:43] And unity brings about a thought of peace in our minds. But folks, Jesus said Himself, I come not to bring peace but a sword.

[29:57] It was a words of Jesus Christ. I came not to bring peace but a sword until the day of Jesus Christ, until our eternity begins over yonder.

[30:13] My eternity has already begun. My eternity began the day that I got saved and I praised God and shouted out, how lose you all day long for that. But when my eternity over yonder begins, when that eternity begins, that's when true peace will set in.

[30:31] Now I have true peace with God now. I have peace with God because I've been reconciled in. I've been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ and I have peace with God and I have the peace that Christ gives.

[30:45] This is peace that does not depend on outside circumstances at all. I have peace. I have peace knowing that if I die tonight, I know where I'll be.

[30:58] I have peace knowing that God loves me. I have peace knowing that God protects me. I have peace knowing that this comforter that Christ is talking about here, the Holy Ghost, He guides me in all things.

[31:11] And He shows me all things. He guides me into all truth as it says, just a chapter or two beyond where we're at right now in the Gospel of John.

[31:21] But this piece of Christ, He says, peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth, give unto you, let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

[31:32] So He reemphasizes what He began this whole chapter with here. Let not your heart be troubled. He says, don't let it be troubled. Don't be afraid. And we shouldn't be troubled or afraid knowing these things.

[31:46] And I said, we've got the entirety of Scripture, which is something these disciples here did not have. You've heard how I said unto you, I go away and come again unto you.

[31:57] If you love me, you would rejoice because I said I go unto the Father, for my Father is greater than I. Again, Christ putting the spotlight on the Father here at the end of this verse.

[32:11] But He says, you have heard how I said to you, I go away and come again. If you love me, you would rejoice. Why? What I just said a little while ago, because they would understand that the advancement of the plan of God was taking place.

[32:30] God is not a God of confusion. He's not the author of confusion. God is a God of order and everything that God has planned and has had planned since before the foundation of the world was ever laid has got an order to it.

[32:48] And it will fall. It will fall in the order that God has foreordained for it to fall in. So Christ says, if you love me, you would rejoice because I said, I go unto the Father.

[33:02] You'd be happy that I'm going to the Father because you would understand that this is just the next step in you receiving the Holy Spirit. And you're receiving that again, or let's go on to verse 29.

[33:17] And now I've told you before it come to pass that when it has come to pass, you might believe. He tells them here, this is why I'm telling you all of these things, that when you see it come to pass, when you see the words that I'm speaking to you, which came from the Father, when you see them come to pass, you might believe.

[33:37] This is the whole reason he's telling them these things. It wasn't just to take up time. It wasn't just to have a conversation, something to do before they came to arrest Jesus or whatever the case is.

[33:50] There was a purpose behind it, and it was to fortify and to strengthen their faith. There's 30 hereafter I will not talk much with you for the Prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me.

[34:02] Well, Christ has two more chapters after this one of talking to the disciples. So when he says hereafter I will not talk much with you, was he lying?

[34:14] No. No, but this is another one of the verses that people try and use to disprove the Bible, or to make people doubt the Bible. Hereafter I will not talk much with you for the Prince of this world cometh.

[34:27] Christ again, chapter 15, chapter 16, he's still talking to these same disciples. Chapter 17 we see him in Gethsemane praying to the Father, which is a continued earthly ministry of Jesus Christ.

[34:41] He says, I will not talk much with you for the Prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me. Christ acknowledging there was a spiritual warfare going on.

[34:54] There was a spiritual warfare that would culminate at the cross where he would suffer, where he would bleed and where he would die.

[35:05] It would begin the culmination process before that as he was being whipped and as he was being scourged, as he was arrested. It would begin then, but it would ultimately culminate at the cross.

[35:18] But I love those last few words, and hath nothing in me. This is the same thing we would phrase nowadays, he ain't got nothing on me, or he can't hang with me.

[35:29] Something along those lines. He says, the Prince of this world hath nothing in me. In other words, Christ is saying the Prince of this world, which is Satan, he hath nothing in me.

[35:40] He doesn't stand a chance. Christ is asserting his victory before that victory is won there on the cross. He's already asserting it.

[35:51] He's already laying claim to that victory. Verse 31, but that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do arise, let us go hence.

[36:08] But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave me commandment. What has Christ been saying all throughout John 14, really?

[36:18] But even this morning we read it, if you love Him, you will keep His commandments. If you love Christ, you'll keep His commandments. He that has my commandments and keeps Him the same as He that loves me, and those that don't love Him don't keep His sayings.

[36:35] And here, Christ says, but that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. So, Christ saying that if we want to exhibit our love to Him, we will keep His sayings, we'll keep His commandments.

[36:50] And Christ is giving us a perfect example here in verse 31, where He says that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do, I'm doing the will of the Father.

[37:02] I'm doing the commandment of the Father by making a way that mankind can be redeemed back to Him. And I love these last few words, arise, let us go hence.

[37:14] What a manly statement by Jesus Christ. Arise, let us go hence again in verse 30, hereafter I will not talk much with you for the Prince of this world coming, and hath nothing in me, acknowledging that spiritual warfare, but there at the end of verse 31 arise, let us go hence.

[37:33] In other words, I'm ready for that battle. I'm ready for the cross. The Bible describes Christ before any of this ever happened, that He looked towards Jerusalem, and He said His flint, here is His face like a flint towards Jerusalem.

[37:48] I mean, there was no turning back from Him. He knew what He was marching toward. He knew what He was going there for. He knew how He would suffer. He knew He would be beat.

[37:59] He knew He would be nailed to that cross. And yet He says here, arise, let us go hence. Let us go forward. Folks, we as Christians have no choice but to go forward.

[38:14] The victory's already won in Jesus Christ. We have no other option but to move forward in our Christian walk. We can't move backwards.

[38:25] When the victory's already been won by Christ, all we can do is progress toward the mark. That's all I got for this morning. We barely made it through that.

[38:36] Anybody got any questions or comments on any of that? God bless y'all. I appreciate you.