Seeing the Father in the Son | Sermon 11/26/23

Okay, if you would, please turn with me in your Bibles to the Gospel according to John. The Gospel of John, still in chapter 14.

We're going to be in verses 7 through 15 today. The Gospel according to John.

The title of the sermon today church is, Seeing the Father in the

Son. Seeing the Father in the Son. So starting in verse 7 of the

Gospel according to John chapter 14, hear now the inerrant and infallible words of the living and true

God. If you had known me, you would have known my father also. From now on you know him and have seen him.

Philip said to him, Lord show us the Father and it is enough for us. Jesus said to him,

Have I been so long with you and yet you have not come to know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the

Father. How can you say, show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the

Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own initiative, but the

Father abiding in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the

Father and the Father is in me. Otherwise believe because of the works themselves.

Truly, truly I say to you, He who believes in me, the works that I do, he will do also.

And greater works than these he will do because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name that I will do so that the

Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

If you love me, you will keep my commandments. Thus ends the reading of God's holy and magnificent word.

Let's pray as a church body. God, I ask that you would illuminate the scriptures today by your

Spirit. By the Spirit who gave us these holy scriptures,

Lord. We thank you, God, for your word. We thank you, God, that we can know what to believe, that we're not agnostic, that is, we're not without knowledge.

You have given us your word and it is sufficient to know you and to know how to be saved.

And of course, accompanied by your Holy Spirit in that process. And so,

Lord, I pray today that we, as your people, would be greatly impressed upon by the fact that Jesus wants us to believe so greatly in the oneness that he has with the

Father, that he has with you, Lord. God, show us how important this doctrine of the

Trinity really is to belief. God, we pray that you would show us your word today, that we would see you and enjoy you and be encouraged by you.

I pray this in Jesus' holy name. Amen. So, church, we have been in the

Gospel according to John. Previous chapters showed us the public ministry of Jesus.

But for a few chapters now, we've been seeing behind the scenes, behind the scenes, how

Jesus was having these discussions with his disciples.

Behind closed doors. We get to see into it. We get to peer in. These have been the final words of the

Master to his students. So, in this chapter,

Jesus has already linked himself with the Father. He said in verse 1, what? Believe in God, believe also in me.

Jesus told them, two persons, to believe in, Father and Son, because they, along with the

Spirit, make up the single object of faith, God.

Jesus put himself on the same level as God, the Father. In fact, he is the one who gets to prepare a place for us at his

Father's house. We saw he has the authority to bring people to his home, because the

Father's house belongs to him, just as much as it belongs to the Father. And then

Jesus ended our section last week, as saying that no one can come to the Father except through him.

And to give all those statements even more weight, he made an I AM declaration.

Yahweh, that is the divine name of God, and he made it his own.

He said, I AM on purpose. I AM the way, the truth and the life. That was all planned out.

And so, this theme has been predominant throughout the entire

Gospel according to John. In fact, if you remember, if you've been with us since a little over a year ago,

I think I started John in August of 2022. And we saw in the first two sermons in John chapter 1, which is famously called the prologue of John.

It is in such a way, it is like an introduction. It's like as if John is saying, here's everything

I'm going to talk about that's laid out in chapter 1. It's almost like a table of contents mixed with an introduction.

This is what I'm going to talk about, John says. And then all the rest of the Gospel according to John has been expounding and expanding on chapter 1.

And what was one of the biggest things in chapter 1? We talked about it last week. That in the beginning was the

Son. And the Son was with God and the Son was

God. And that was God and with God are things that Jesus and John, through the

Holy Spirit, have been trying to impress upon us this whole time. There have been dozens and dozens of examples of that very thing.

And John isn't done yet. He's going to continue to show that. In fact, he'll go all the way to chapter 21 by the time that he feels the

Holy Spirit has told him to stop. If you remember, he said, Jesus did so many things, even all the books in the world couldn't contain all that he did.

Interesting. And yet he stopped at 21 chapters because he wanted to expand on the prologue, on John 1.

If you haven't read John 1 in a while, I encourage you to go back to it just to think about these things. But this is so very important.

John and the Holy Spirit and God himself wants us to believe so intensely that Jesus is

God. It's important on how we're regenerated, how we ought to believe.

It's important on how we're sanctified. It's important to understand on how we're resurrected and glorified.

For lack of better terms, Jesus being God is everything.

It's everything. Now, these disciples, Master, will continue to impress this in our section of Scripture, verse 7.

If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on, you know

Him and have seen Him. What Jesus is saying is if they knew Him for who

He was, or, the language is a little strange here, or since they know Him for who

He is, if they knew the glory He came from, the glory that He's going to, if they knew Him for His identity, and not just that of the carpenter's son from Nazareth who is the

Messiah somehow, if they understood this, then they would really know the

Father. They would know the Father also. But from now on, they know

Him and they have seen Him. They know the Father and they have seen

Him. And He says that phrase, from now on. From now on, maybe indicating to the hour that has finally come upon Him.

That hour that is the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, and giving of the

Holy Spirit. Now what does

Jesus mean though? What does He mean? You know the

Father. You've seen the Father. Was it when an audible voice of God spoke on the day of Jesus' baptism?

Did they see the Father then? When the Father spoke in chapter 12 and it sounded like thunder, did the apostles see

His image in the skies? How have they seen the Father when the

Scriptures from front to back have said that no human has seen Him?

This word, know, is important. This word, know, can also be an intimate knowledge.

It's not simply to know of the Father, but know Him deeply. And this word, see, isn't always just to set eyes upon an object.

It's that something about the Father has become visible. It's become visible, an appearance has been made.

And it's the oneness, the oneness in the Trinity we have talked about and we've seen this whole time.

The oneness of the Father and the Son. And I'm going to go again, back to the prologue.

John chapter 1 verse 18. It said this, No one has seen God at any time.

The only begotten God, that is the monogamist theos, that is the Son, the only begotten

God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him. No one has seen

God at any time, John writes. And John wrote this introduction to his

Gospel after the events that happened here in chapter 14. Still, no one has seen the

Father. Even all these years later. The unique one and only

Son of God, it says He has explained Him. I talked about this over a year ago in chapter 1.

This word explained is exegesato. It's how we get the word exegesis.

You've heard me say that word before, exegesis. That simply means to draw out of the text the meaning.

That is opposed to eisegesis, which is to take an interpretation or a meaning that I like and inject it into the

Scriptures and see it there. Exegesis is to properly go to the text and draw out from it the correct understanding of what it means.

That's something that we seek to do here. And what's interesting is that word is used in how

Jesus demonstrates the Father to the world. He has exegeted

Him. He has explained Him. What that means is, Jesus is the greatest self -disclosure of God that the world has ever seen.

The Son is the greatest manifestation of God on earth. In Christ, the invisible

God becomes visible. He says, If you knew

Me, you would know My Father. But from now on you know Him deeply, and you have seen

Him revealed to you in Me. That's why there's no going to the

Father but through Him. That's what He just said. There's no going to God without going through God the

Son. This is why Jesus is supremely and chiefly positioned to tell us how to get to God.

Because He is God. The disciples don't recognize the monumental aspect of this relationship that they have with Him.

People have longed for the day when Adam walked in the cool of the garden with God.

People have looked at Moses and said, Oh, Moses got to see his backside.

Even Moses did when he passed by him. Oh, even Abraham got to have

God, according to Genesis, come to him under the oak trees at Mamre and they shared bread together.

There's been these moments, what's called theophanies, which means an appearance of God. There's been these moments.

And people longed for this. If only I could see God. That's why so many people make false images of Him, right?

But what the disciples don't realize is each one of those times that God showed up, the same

God is standing right in front of them. That's Him. He is

God. He said, before Abraham was, I am. Abraham lived to see his day,

He said. He said, Moses wrote about me. He was able to write about the one who visited him and spoke to him.

And Jesus said, that was me. As they have gotten to know and love the Son, they have gotten to know and love the

Father. That's a fact. As the apostles have gotten to know and love

Jesus, they've gotten to know and love the Father. Same goes for you and me.

You know, it's interesting though, so many people think though that Jesus is the approachable one, and the

Father is very scary. I don't know if we make projections from our own, you know, broken households, and we project that on to God and the

Son. But so many people put the Son, Jesus, at odds against the

Father. Now the fact is, of course, a real, what the

Bible calls a fear of the Lord, that's a good thing. There's a reverence to God that we ought to have. Not that He is scary to come to Him, especially as a believer.

But really, we ought not to divide the Son from the Father. And Jesus can be just as terrifying.

He can. We saw in His immense power in His voice, He spoke and He calmed a storm system over an entire sea in Galilee.

Jesus tread upon chaos as He walked upon waves of water, and they didn't break

Him down. He had all this power when He commanded death itself.

When He called Lazarus to come forth who was in the grave, this man was dead, rotting, four days.

Corpse was stinking for four days, and Jesus had the power to raise him up. I mean, just read the descriptions in the book of Revelation.

It says that His eyes are like a flame of fire. He has many crowns upon His head.

On His thigh is written, King of kings, Lord of lords. And it says in the Revelation, that the blood of His enemies is filled to the bridles of the horse.

He treads the fierce winepress of wrath. It talks about Jesus. And yet they make

Him this hippy, dippy guy in the media. And so, you know, it's not either or.

It's the fact that Jesus is God, and He can demonstrate amazing power. And yet also at the same time,

Jesus is someone who is Savior, who is Lord, someone who we adore, someone who we can come to and say,

Lord, why weren't you there when my brother died? And He would actually cry in front of you. That's who

Jesus is. He's everything. He's all of those things. Right? But just as Jesus is someone you can come to, so is the

Father. If you see Jesus and love Him, then you see and love the invisible

Father. The One who we thought was never manifest to us, and maybe even mysterious in a way, is manifest and made known to us in Christ.

So church, if you know Jesus, you know the Heavenly Father. However, the disciples don't see it this way.

Verse 8. Look in your Bible, verse 8. At this point, Peter isn't talking right now.

He was, what, strictly rebuked and told that he would deny Christ. Thomas took a shot at it.

Thomas spoke and said, how do we get there? We don't know where you're going. Right? And Jesus gave him an answer.

I'm sure Thomas felt like it was kind of a cryptic answer. Thomas is like, what is it?

I literally asked him where he's going, and he says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. What is Jesus saying?

Right? And so now, you have Peter, Thomas, and Philip is going to speak up.

The other men are quieted. Philip speaks up. The One who in chapter 1 spoke to Nathanael.

Philip came to Nathanael and said, this is the Messiah. The One whom the Law and the Prophets spoke about.

He's here. But here's what Philip says. Verse 8.

Philip said to him, Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.

He wants an immediate display of God Himself. It reminds me once again of Moses, who begged to see

God. Let me just see you, God. I want to see your glory. And again, you look in the

Exodus. All that Moses got to see was the passing glory. He said, you're going to go on this crack in the cliff, and you're going to go there, and lest you die,

I'm going to walk by that crack, that cleft in the rock, and you'll see my back.

But if you were to see me completely, you would be dead. We saw that.

You see that, of course, in Exodus. And so, Philip is saying, just show us

God. Just show us the Father, and that will do. That will be enough.

We'll believe all that you're saying, Jesus, if you just simply show us the Father. Verse 9,

Jesus said to him, Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know

Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, show us the

Father? You know, I can't help but read that, and detect a tinge of sadness, and disappointment in the

Savior's words. You know Me. Show us the

Father. Give us a grand display of God Almighty. Philip, don't you know?

Have I been with you so long? How often are we doing that?

God, just show us the biggest miracle, and then I'll move forward. God, just show us

Your will, lay it out plainly, and I'll do whatever You say. God, show us who You are, and I'll believe in You.

And it's the audacity, right? It's the entitlement. And God says, I have sent My Son.

It's all recorded in the Holy Book. Believe by the Spirit of the living God. Believe. Have faith in that.

And we go, do this. We act like Philip. Show us the big display. Haven't I been with you?

Haven't I shown you who I am? It makes sense that the

Jewish leaders who have opposed him don't know his true identity. But these men have been so close to him for three years.

They've been, as it's said in John 6, they've been taught by God. They've walked with Him.

They're loyal, but they're ignorant. Loyal, but ignorant. Jesus' words, person, and works are not insufficient to show the

Father, but Philip and the apostles' vision is insufficient to see the oneness of the

Father and Son. The insufficiency isn't in Jesus and the Father. The insufficiency is in the apostles.

They don't realize they have known and seen God this whole time with Christ. Have I been with you this long,

Philip, and you don't recognize this? It's been three years, and Jesus has done things that only

God can do. He has said things that only God is in a position to authoritatively say.

Jesus has heard things from the Father and given it to them that only someone with direct access to the

Father could hear. Jesus has given these men everything He has the power to give, but they still don't get it.

But what has He not given them yet? What do the apostles not have yet?

The cross and the Spirit. Maybe these are the missing elements.

Jesus, at least at this time, doesn't indicate that yet. What's been given is sufficient,

He demonstrates. Verse 10,

Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you, I do not speak on my own initiative, but the

Father abiding in me does His works. Philip, do you believe in the oneness of the

Father and the Son? Do you believe in the oneness of God? It seems the

Trinity is very important to Jesus. This is something that ought to be believed, and when it is not believed, it impedes the belief of other things concerning Jesus.

It's hard to explain something that is near inexplicable. But He says the

Father is in Him, and He is in the Father. And this isn't figurative.

This isn't just a way to get the disciples to believe Him. This isn't like when someone has passed away, and they said, you know, and someone goes,

I just miss this person. And someone well -meaning goes, well, you know what?

They're still with you. They're with you right here. They're inside of you. I appreciate that someone cares for someone to say that, but that's a completely different category to what's being said here.

The Father isn't in Jesus in a sentimental way. This is something completely different.

There's something about this that no one has ever seen or experienced.

Before Jesus descended and became man, there has always been one divine will of God.

There's been one divine will of God among the three persons of the Holy Trinity. And that is the same to this very moment in John 14.

There is one divine will. They share the same essence. I know some theology today.

Jesus, being totally God, is also tapped into the one divine will.

But here's the thing. Here's what's unique. Jesus, the second person of the

Trinity, took on an additional will in His incarnation. Incarnation simply means coming to earth, taking on flesh, becoming man, by the way.

Jesus took on a human will. He is totally

God. So, He's part of the one divine will of God. And yet, at the same time, miraculously, mysteriously,

He is totally man and He has a human will as well. Okay?

And so, He has both. This is how Jesus, whom they know is the

Messiah, but still they may not fully understand His deity at the moment, can say these words.

This is how Jesus can say, the Father is in Me and I am in the Father. And notice that there is a distinction between the holy persons, yet a unity.

We see it all the times in our videos, do we not? We see it in our interactions. Maybe you've seen it in your interactions, especially here in this context in Utah.

And people go, what you're telling me is the Father is Jesus and Jesus is the

Father and the Spirit is the Father and the Spirit is Jesus. And they're all just different modes.

They just put on a different hat. Well, that is a heresy according to our belief, number one.

But that is not what the Scriptures show. It shows all at once that there is a distinction, a complete differentiation between the

Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and yet they are one. It's suspended and held up in mid -air.

They are all true, that is true. And just because we can't always comprehend that reality, doesn't make it not so.

The Bible says so. And so, we're not saying, if anyone ever says to you, you believe in the

Trinity, you believe the Father is the Son and the Son is the Father. Nope, nope, that's not what we believe.

That is not what we believe. They are distinct. Three persons, one being completely different.

And so, belief in this is crucial. That's what

He's saying. And even now, the divine will of God is being exercised. Jesus reveals, these words don't come from His humanity only, but the words that I say to you,

I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does

His works. That word I talk about, that abiding, remaining. Father is in Him, He is in the

Father. Something divine is happening, even in His giving of these words.

Speaking through the Son of Man to show that He is the Son of God, is a work of the

Father. For everyone in this world who has said that they believe in God, religions that call

God their blessed Father, when they deny that Jesus is God, and they deny the oneness of the

Father, Son and Spirit, they do not believe the words of Jesus, the

Son, number one. But number two, they deny and reject what Jesus says is a work of the

Father, the Father whom they supposedly love. This is a work of the

Father. And Jesus appeals to them, and He commands them again, knowing how hard this is for them, verse 11, go down to verse 11, "'Believe

Me that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me. Otherwise, believe because of the works themselves.'"

See how important this oneness is? He says, believe it. This is in the imperative form in the original language, that is a command form, believe it.

And He's not saying it like, believe Me, you know, like a, trust Me, trust Me, you know,

I'm telling you the truth. He's saying authoritatively, believe this. Believe this.

"'Believe all that I have said about Me and the Father. The Father abides in the Son, and the

Son abides in the Father.'" And where did this all stem from? This stemmed from Philip saying, he and the others want to see the

Father. Do you want to see God? Do you want to be in His presence?

Do you want to know the Lord? You must know Jesus Christ. You must know the

Christ. He is the way, the truth, and the life. No one goes to the

Father but through Him. And so if you've seen Jesus, you've seen the Father, He says, believe this, and believe also because of the works themselves.

Believe because even now, Jesus can relate these things to men from the divine will of God in a way that is conscious.

It's not like a prophet seeking the words of God where there is this line where God has given the prophet the words to say,

Jesus has these words in Him because He shares of the divine will. This is no ventriloquist act.

You get what I'm saying? This is no dummy being spoken through. This is

God Himself. Jesus' words are divine because He is also divine.

And when Jesus has done some of these incredible things, He says you're supposed to believe because of those.

What? Raising people from the dead, healing people, bringing people back to life, multiplying creation like He did with multiplying bread and fish.

He was able to change the elements of something by changing water into wine.

That's huge. We look at that and we go, ah, water into wine. That's incredible. That's element changing power, right?

He had a voice that calmed the storm system over the sea. He taught with insightful truth and with authority, and not a derivative authority.

All these works He did from a power within, a power inherent from the oneness that He has with the

Father. That's the point. You see, the mighty men of old, Elijah, Moses, Elisha, they did amazing things.

The apostles did amazing things. But they did their deeds petitioning

God to be able to do them. They needed to petition God to give them a power that was not their own, to do those sort of works.

While Jesus acknowledges the Father and gives Him glory, this power to do these works comes from within.

Why is that important? Because then men like Elisha, men like Moses, or even the apostles later could say like, yeah, believe that I'm God because I can do these things.

It's not simply because Jesus can do powerful things. It's because the power doesn't come from God into Him and outward.

The power is from within Him. That's the difference. He doesn't have to petition the

Lord for it. So He says believe these things, believe these works. Someone greater than Elisha and Moses is here.

And also, don't merely believe because of the power shown in the works.

If we've learned anything through the Gospel of John is that each specific miracle, everything has been a sign that pointed to His identification.

Do you get that? You know, these aren't just indiscriminate miracles, just like heal you, got you, stand upright.

In the Gospel of John, John has chosen particular miracles and signs to show us particular and specific things about Jesus.

They aren't just to show that He has power. They're to show His identity. He is the eternal bridegroom who makes water into wine.

He's the one who, in the book of Isaiah and Jeremiah, who is the Messiah, who brings this kingdom that has lavishness and things abounding, and this messianic abundance and wine.

And He heals people, and He cleanses people, and He fulfills Old Testament Scripture.

The lame will walk, they will leap for joy. Things that are identifying markers.

Each act had a greater purpose that went beyond its immediate effects. And so He says, believe because of the works.

He said something similar to this in chapter 5, when He spoke of what He called the witnesses. You remember the four witnesses?

It was John the Baptist, it was the works he performed, the Father and the

Scriptures. Those were the four witnesses where Jesus said, believe me because of those four things.

Like witnesses called to the court stand where they could verify the words of the one speaking. John the

Baptist comes to the stand. John the Baptist, come up. Yes, I am the forerunner of the

Messiah. I'm the one who makes straight the way of the Lord. He is, and He points

Him out, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The works that Jesus does then comes to the stand.

And the works show that there is a power in Christ of heavenly origin and inherent in Himself.

The Father comes. He testifies from the heavenly throne that in every single prophecy, every single act, every single word, every single movement of the

Son, He endorses. And the

Scriptures, the very Word of God, centuries prior, recorded the future that is happening right now with Christ.

So Jesus says, believe me. Believe the Father. Believe my words.

Believe because of the works. Believe all the witnesses. So Jesus has thus far spoken of the unity

He has with the Father, but now there is another unity He has. It's a different form of unity.

It's a different category. But there is a unity with those who believe in Him.

Just as He has done works, so will those who believe in Him. Go to verses 12 -14 in the text.

12 -14 it says, Truly, truly I say to you, He who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also.

And greater works than these he will do, because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name that I will do, so that the

Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.

That's amazing. So Jesus is looking directly at the remaining 11 apostles, and He tells them what belief in Him and the works

He does will grant them. They will do works, and greater works because Jesus goes to the

Father. When the hour has passed and the cross has finished, and the

Son has paid for the sins of His people, resurrected and ascended to heaven, something incredible will happen to these men, and to those who believe in Him.

Next week, we will see how Jesus is giving a hint on how these greater works will occur.

It's going to come through who's called the helper. The Holy Spirit is going to be sent to them in Christ's place.

We'll see that next week. I'm very excited to cover the Holy Spirit. The disciples aren't going to become better, necessarily.

They're not going to become more divine, or divine in any sense. They're still creatures. Belief is necessary for these things, and that belief is in what?

In Christ. In Christ. And therefore, the abilities and gifts they will receive don't come from themselves, but from being what?

In Christ. They come from being in Christ. And the Lord Jesus has a purpose in this.

Right now, as we know, in this context in John, He's ceased all

His activities and healings and miracles among the people publicly. We saw at the end of chapter 12,

He gave His one last warning to the people to repent and believe, but no one has seen

Him do anything since. He's been with His own. He's been with His disciples. But the miracles are not over.

They're not even over after the greatest miracle is ever done, that is, the cross and resurrection.

There are even more miracles to be had after the empty tomb. Miracles and signs are about to cover the known world so as to get the message of the good news of Christ out to that world.

The question is though, why does Jesus say that these works are going to be greater than His?

Why will the disciples' works be greater than His own? Surely believers won't be able to perform things in such a way where they calm storms or change the elements of something, walk on water, raise the dead in such a way that they command death like Jesus, or even raise themselves back to life.

How will what they do be greater than what Jesus has already done? Because they aren't.

That's the truth. None of the works that they've done or we've done have been greater than what

Jesus has done, so what does He mean? One commentator says, the works that the disciples perform after the resurrection are greater than those done by Jesus before His resurrection due to belonging to an age of clarity and power that was introduced by Jesus' sacrifice and exaltation.

Both Jesus' words and His deeds were somewhat veiled during the days of His flesh.

Even His closest followers, as we've seen in these chapters, make it clear that they only grasped a small part of what

He was saying. In other words, in salvation history, everything becomes greater after the greatness of the cross.

Everything becomes greater after the greatness of the Messiah's sacrifice.

Because that's a fact. These things now after the cross aren't simply signs that point to miracles or something about God.

They point to an empty tomb. They point to a Messiah who paid for the sins of His people.

They point to amazing things. The pre -glorification works of Jesus assured that at least eleven men would follow

Him. And the post -glorification works of Jesus, which will be done through men, through men and women, will then bring about not just a dozen men, but men and women and children of an innumerable, uncountable kind.

You see what I'm saying? It becomes greater. All of it, every single bit of it will bring about a kingdom, a huge kingdom, a huge dominion.

And the key is in the phrase, quote, because I go to the Father. While on earth,

Jesus performed His works in such a way that His glory was veiled.

And He did things in His immediate context. But from Jesus' throne in heaven,

He will do more works than He's ever done before. They will be more widespread because His disciple count will expand rapidly.

He will do works through men and women. In other words, the glorified

Jesus Christ in heaven will send out His works. All that He has commissioned, all that He has commanded, all that He has decreed will be sent out, declared from heaven with power.

It won't just affect the immediate people in front of them. It's going to go everywhere, through His people.

It's going to expand. It's going to cover the whole globe. This comes through His leaving.

He must leave for this to happen. He must leave and the Holy Spirit arrives.

That's why He says, later on we'll see, it's advantageous for you, it's good for you that I leave. Because these things are about to happen.

Now, amazingly, believers go from witnessing the works of God to being able to participate in them.

And this text, by the way, is not to pit the disciples' works against Christ's works, as if they are measured as greater.

We know that the works that they do are not inherent in them. We just kind of talked about that.

They have to petition Jesus to be able to do these things. He's going to work through them.

Whatever works they and we get to do are because of Him, not because of us. So as Jesus looks intently at the apostles who were troubled and downcast,

I imagine maybe their spirits became a little bit more uplifted. I imagine they probably even feel a little bit more challenged to believe these things, because He said it very intently.

However, it's hard to see how all this will come to pass when things are progressing to the most heinous death the world has ever and will ever see.

That's all on their mind, likely. Nevertheless, Jesus continues.

They need to know these instructions before the end. With these gifts, with these powers, what

He calls works, they will need to request the use of them from Him when they need it.

They're not going to go around with unbridled indiscriminate power. No. They're going to have to ask for these things in Jesus' name.

That's what's key. Whatever you ask in my name, that I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the

Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. So there are a few things to consider with these words of Jesus, okay?

We've got to understand that names meant something more back in Bible times than they do now for us.

Often, names weren't simply labels of a person, but they could also be a description of them.

They spoke to who they were. Names can tell you who they are.

With the name of God, Yahweh, in the Hebrew, we also see there His being.

His name is His being, and His being is His name. And so to ask for something in the name of Jesus is to ask to perform something that Christ desires to happen.

Because it's not just simply about His name, it's about who He is as a whole.

To ask for something in Jesus' name is actually to deny myself, and put on the character of Christ, and seek

His desires over my own. And so using the name of Jesus isn't a talisman.

It's not some sort of magical word that can be spoken to do something divine.

This isn't an incantation, you guys. If these men sought to use the name of Jesus for their own desires, you can be sure it didn't work.

It would not work. Jesus doesn't honor that. Because these works are to what?

It says in the verse, Glorify the Father through the Son. The glory of God is in prime consideration here.

These works of the apostles are going to be a testament of the oneness and the singular glory of the

Father, Son, and Spirit. If anyone does a work for their own glory, Jesus won't let it happen.

He won't honor that. So let me show you a right example of this. What's an example of this?

Well, one happened shortly after Jesus ascended. If you want to go to your

Bibles, go to Acts chapter 3. Let's take a look at an example of this in Acts chapter 3, or look at your printout.

I have the verses there for you. After the day of Pentecost and the giving of the

Holy Spirit, it says, Now Peter and John were going up to the temple of the ninth hour, the hour of prayer.

And a man who had been lame from his mother's womb was being carried along, whom they used to set down every day at the gate of the temple, which is called

Beautiful, in order to beg alms of those who were entering the temple. When he saw

Peter and John about to go into the temple, he began asking to receive alms. But Peter, along with John, fixed his gaze on him and said,

Look at us. And he began to give them his attention, expecting to receive something from them.

But Peter said, I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have,

I give to you. Here it is, In the name of Jesus Christ, the

Nazarene, walk. And seizing the man by the right hand, he raised him up, and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened.

With a leap he stood upright and began to walk. And he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping, and what?

Praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising

God, and they were taking note of him as being the one who used to sit at the beautiful gate at the temple to beg alms, and what?

And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

Church, Peter remembered these words of his Lord, and he exercised them.

A man who could not walk, in the name of Jesus, got up and leapt about and walked, and what was the result?

What was the result? This wonder and amazement that led to the glory of God.

You see, what was happening in Acts chapter 3? In Jerusalem at this time, in the temple, there were tons of people who would have seen this.

This is right at the time of the festival of Shavuot, which is celebrated on the 50th day after Passover, which was also called the

Feast of Weeks, or what we know to be called Pentecost. Many people at this point are visiting the city, they're visiting the temple, and what?

A miraculous healing is done. Why? Why? Was it so this guy would finally be able to walk?

Yeah, I mean, that's a small part of it. But I think what the text shows us in Acts chapter 3 is so that the people who marveled would listen to Peter's second sermon.

His first sermon was in chapter 2. His second famous sermon is right here in chapter 3, that they would listen.

Go to Acts chapter 3 verses 12 through 16. Look at this. But when

Peter saw this, he replied to the people, Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this?

Or why do you gaze at us? As if by our own power or piety we had made him walk.

You see that? As if by our own power. He says, that wasn't from us. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the

God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus, the one whom you delivered and disowned in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him.

But you disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you.

But put to death the Prince of life, the one whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are all witnesses.

And look at this. And on the basis of faith in his name, it is in the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see now, and the faith which comes through him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all.

And so what happens right after this miracle that was done in the name of Jesus Christ?

After this sermon, Peter calls them all to repent and believe. Repent and believe, that your sins may be wiped away.

Do you see how the works that Jesus would do through believers, that they asking anything in his name and he would give it, is not about the miracles themselves, but about the

Gospel. It's about Christ. Yes, there are miracles that happen and they give glory to God, and chiefly it's about the glory of God, but we see what is at the heart of what

Jesus is saying here, asking things in his name. It's purposeful, it's intentional, it's about the kingdom that Christ came to build.

It's about him. The man who was healed is a beneficiary, but this was that a multitude would see the work of God and come to saving faith in Christ.

These works they did, the works that you and I do are to spread the

Gospel. They're to spread the Gospel, they're to enjoy God, they're to live like God, they're to become more like Christ, and they have a purpose.

God isn't making you more like him in sanctification for no reason.

There's an aspect to it where it even changes things outside of you, not just inside of you.

It impacts what's external, not simply internal. See what I'm saying?

And in the Apostles' time, these works would be so that the Gospel would jump continents, they would jump even whole oceans, and they would come even to us in America, all these centuries later, and that this

Gospel through the works of God would touch every corner of the world. You see, when we became

Christ's possession, when we became his people, we then share in the same mission of the

Christ, to bring the Gospel of the Kingdom and the forgiveness of sins to the entire world, to proclaim that as his people with the

Gospel, that he gives forgiveness. And that's one of the purposes in this.

These things raise the question though, if anyone can ask something in Jesus' name and it be done as they asked, is that possible?

Can anyone ask for something in Jesus' name and it be done just as they asked?

Let me give you another example. Go to Acts 19. It's in your printout. Or go in your

Bible, Acts 19, verses 13 -16. Here's someone using

Jesus' name. It says, but also some of the Jewish exorcists who went from place to place attempted to name over those who had evil spirits the name of the

Lord Jesus. See that? The name. Saying, I adjure you by Jesus whom

Paul preaches. That's what they would say. These are the seven sons of one named

Sceva, a Jewish chief priest. They were doing this and the evil spirit that they spoke to in the name of Jesus said to them,

I recognize Jesus and I know about Paul, but who are you? That's what the demon said to these men.

And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on these sons, subdued all of them.

I mean one man with a demon overpowered seven men and they fled out of that house, it says, naked and wounded.

That's intense. It's clear here that not all who are earnest and eager to use the name of Jesus will accomplish what they will.

It's clear. Because it's not truly about what we will or what they will, but it's about God's will.

As I said, this is no magical incantation. These things the apostles did and asked for in Jesus' name had a purpose and were very much in line with Christ's will.

And so the alternative to understanding this text this way, if you ask anything in my name,

I will give it. If you take it a certain way, then we make Jesus out to be a liar.

We make Jesus out to be a liar. What do I mean by that? It means that some people have asked for things in Jesus' name and they have not happened.

And so, we can take this and use it out of context.

Many have used this exact Scripture, this exact one. If you ask me anything in my name,

I will do it in a way that will flood a person with doubts about Christ's ability.

It will call into question the good loving nature of Jesus. It will call into question

His abilities. I pray this in Jesus' name and it doesn't happen sometimes.

And if we make this out to be a catch -all, everything in Jesus' name will be done, then we make

Him out to be a liar. Because it's not magic. Maybe some have even looked at this verse and gone,

I simply don't have enough faith. I'm asking for things in Jesus' name.

They're not being done as He said. It's probably because I'm the problem, not Jesus.

That's kind of true in some aspect. But that paralyzes us. If only I had enough faith.

You know, I had a friend, great friend. He's now a pastor in Misawa, Japan, Calvary Baptist.

And we went to, before Apology, I went to Levine Baptist Church with him. And he was part of a church where they believed that this verse could be used indiscriminately in any way they wanted and it would be done.

And when he had appendicitis, his appendix was bursting, he started to declare healing in Jesus' name.

And he did it over and over and over again. And it would not happen. And he thought, if only

I had enough faith, then Jesus would heal me and I'd use Jesus' name correctly. Well, guys, my friend started to die.

He was going septic. All that was coming out into his bowels and into his gut.

He was dying. And all of a sudden, it's like as if the

Lord wasn't speaking through that. The Lord spoke to him then clearly in this moment to go to the hospital, to even get the means that God uses because sometimes we divorce

God from doctors, we divorce God from experts. Well, God's not there.

He can't operate through that. Wait, isn't God all -powerful? Isn't He all -sovereign?

And so my friend went, and he was this close to perishing. This close. Because he saw this verse abused and said, if only

I did it correctly, if only I said it right, the right order, if I used Yeshua, you know, if I used the

Greek Jesus, if I used His name correctly, I would receive it. Here's a fact, guys.

I want to encourage you though. Every single thing that someone asks for in the name of Jesus and He desires to come to pass will.

Every single thing that Jesus desires to come to pass through which people have asked for Him and petitioned

Him, absolutely not a single one will not fail to be given, fail to be done.

All of them will. Every single one. But look, sometimes the most faithful and God -loving people ask for something in Jesus' name and a thing that wasn't necessarily bad, it was good.

But for some reason, because we don't know God's will, and it didn't line up with His will at least at that moment or maybe in this life, it didn't come to pass.

We've got to correctly understand these words. This does not mean that if you ask for something in Jesus' name,

He will instantly, poof, give you what you want. Here's what you want. Just say it in my name. Say it in the

Hebrew. Say it in the Greek. Say it in Aramaic. That's not what this means.

He is no genie. The point of this text is that the believer has access to Christ even after he has gone to be with the

Father. And everything that we ask for in Jesus' name ought to be in part of His will and purposes as we saw with the seven sons of Sceva who used the name of Jesus but couldn't get the demon out of that man.

But then Peter whom said in the name of Jesus, walk, and the man walked.

So we've got to understand this. And so this section has been about the unity of the

Father and Son, and now it's about that connection with the

Son and His believers, with His followers. It's not primarily a place where we would learn that God grants every request we make of Him as long as it's in Jesus' name.

Okay? That is an abuse of the text. I'll say it again. But what is unique about a

Christian prayer is it understands these things. We understand that God's providential will and design are best.

We look at the example of Jesus in the model for prayer.

The Lord's Prayer. He says what? Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

In the Garden of Gethsemane He says, not what I will, but you will. And we look at the example of Jesus and we see that the

Christian understands that God's providential will and design are always best.

And the Christian consigns him or herself to that will. The Christian recognizes

God's desires are better than my own. Because my desires can be compromised by the flesh that plagues us.

You know? And we often say that in such a way where I want

God's will. Let's be honest with ourselves. Sometimes you've wanted your will over God's will.

Sometimes I've wanted my will over God's will.

And that's hard to wrestle with. But in the end, this is one of the premier things that we see in Scripture.

Is that the believer goes, God, you know best. You know what I need best.

You know the whole picture. You know the end from the beginning. You know the past. You know the future. You know everything about me.

You know the deepest part of me. You know every hair on my head or lack thereof. You know, He knows everything.

And so we consign ourselves to that and go, God, you know better. You can do better.

Because He's God and we're not. Right? Now that's not typically hard to understand theologically, right?

Oh, I want what God wants. But what is hard is understanding why sometimes.

Why is His will better sometimes than what our will is?

For the healing. For the job. For the person in your life to be saved.

For the child that's about to be born but passes before delivery.

That's the hard part. That's a sermon for another time. So we'll end the sermon today on these incredible words.

Verse 15. Look at this. If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

And this verse acts as a bridge between this section of Scripture and the next on the

Holy Spirit. It's a great verse. I really love this verse. You know, when we go out to abortion clinics and we see cars come up who are about to bring the girlfriend or the daughter or the wife over to have an abortion to kill their baby, sometimes we see

Jesus fish on the back of that car. Sometimes we see a bumper sticker from Philippians chapter 4,

I can do all things through Christ. We'll see someone come out and be like, what are you guys?

We're Christians from a local church. We're here to help you. We love you. Let us help you. Yeah, well,

I'm Christian too. And you can't tell me what to do. And so we see this.

Well, we've seen it for years, right guys? People who have these Christian calling cards on their car.

And in those moments I often quote this verse. Hey, well, if you love

Jesus, he says in John chapter 14 verse 15, if you love me, keep my commandments.

What are the commandments of Christ regarding life? What did Jesus do when He faced death?

He wept. Do you weep for the death of your child? The murder of your child? So, you see what

I'm saying? Wonderful verse from Jesus. I will say it is often quoted out of context, this context.

I think though it's one of those kind of verses that I think it can be. It can be selected and stand alone.

And it can still have weight and application. I think we can use it that way because there's such a broad spectrum to that.

However, here in John 14, what we've been seeing is that these commandments have been what? Believe in God.

Believe also in me. And especially after Philip asked to see the Father, the commandment was, believe me that I am in the

Father and the Father is in me. In fact, if you could sum up chapter 14, it's like he's saying, if you love me, believe in God, believe in me and what

I've said and believe in the oneness of the Father and I. Believe the Helper, believe the

Spirit of Truth, that's next. And if you love me, believe in the Trinity. That's what

I think a lot of this context is saying. If you love Jesus, believe Him. Believe in His Father.

He and His Father are one. And that means in the opposite way, if one doesn't believe in those things, do they really love

Him? Because that's what He wants from Philip. That's what He wants from Thomas.

That's what He wants from Peter. If they really love Him, believe in Him.

Believe all that He just said. Believe Him when He says, if you've seen Him, you've seen the

Father. Believe it. Let that be enough, Philip. Believe it. Have faith that your eyes have seen the one true and living

God. But I absolutely think Jesus means for this to extend beyond that context.

I really do. I think it can be used in many ways. It's to span all that He has already told them and all that will be said from the beginning to the end and through the rest of the

New Testament. From sacrificially serving one another to sharing the truth to not living like the evil

Jewish leaders. All of those kind of commandments are definitely in mind here. I don't think that's off.

The fact is, none of the promises of performing greater works will come to those who think they can manipulate

Christ. The works of Christ are carried out by the disciples of Christ who keep the commandments of Christ.

Now, as far as application goes, keeping Jesus' commandments will be characteristic of someone who loves

Him. There's no way around it. I can't spin it any other way.

But know this, this verse doesn't say, to be saved you will keep my commandments, does it?

No. Nor does it say to earn my love, keep my commandments.

It says if you love me, keep my commandments. This is a love for Christ that is already present in someone before they even begin to think

His commandments. I've done it the other way around. I remember before I was saved, before God regenerated me and gave me the

Holy Spirit, I came to a pastor at a megachurch and I said, how can I know God? And he said, open the

Proverbs, do every single thing they say of them and be holy. And I tried as hard as I could, you guys.

I did it for several years before it all faded away. And I couldn't live holy. I couldn't be all that the

Proverbs said, let alone the rest of Scripture. I couldn't begin to keep His commandments until Christ put a love in me for Him.

There's no way around it. The letter to the Hebrews says, apart from faith it is impossible to please

God. I'd like to harmonize that with this verse, apart from love for Christ, no one can obey

God. These things come with changed hearts.

Some of the most externally obedient people in this world, people like the Pharisees, are the people who hate

God the most. You know that? Obedience is wrought out of love.

It's wrought out of love. You see, a wicked man can make a slave do whatever he wants.

Excuse me. Any tyrant can do that. Do what I command. And the slave in hatred goes,

I'll do what you say, but one day. But a tender father makes a child feel compelled to answer his request out of a love for him.

Yes, Dad, I'll do it. It's safe to say the more you get to know and love

Jesus, the more you willingly and joyfully obey his commandments. But he demands our obedience.

Thank God he gave his obedience first. So don't lose the weight of these intense words of Jesus.

If you love me, you will keep my commandments. But also, church, don't become crippled by them.

Remember the gospel. Well, that is it for today, church. Never forget how incredibly important it has been to Jesus that we believe and know of the oneness of the

Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The doctrine of the Trinity isn't something that's just kept in theological books that are this thick.

The Trinity isn't something that we just take off of a shelf or study in seminaries or graduate courses.

It is the premier understanding of who God is and how

He wants to be seen and worshipped. He is triune. If you truly love

Jesus, you will obey the commands to believe these things. And remember, going to God one day is only through God the

Son. And so I pray that both you and I are touched today by the fact that God actually left his throne, came and dwelt among us and died in our place, and that there is nothing like this in any other religion or any other so -called faith.

This is real love. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you,

God, for the message today. Thank you, Lord, that you have given us your word and we can understand who you are in the way that you've revealed it.

You've also shown us how we can be saved. That Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.

And no one comes to you but through Him. And so, Lord, I pray that you would give us a greater love for your nature.

I pray, Lord, that we would recognize that there is but one

God, and yet there are three holy persons, distinct and yet co -equal in eternality and glory.

God, you have shown yourself to mankind. You have made yourself known.

And you've done that through your Son. And we thank you, Lord Jesus, for showing us the

Father, for leaving and giving us the Holy Spirit, so that one day we understand now through that Spirit that we will be with you forever.