Paraclete (John 14:15-24 Jeff Kliewer)

Cornerstone Church

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June 12, 2023

Sermon Notes: notes.cornerstonesj.org Paraclete

01:24: As we join together in worship, it is always, always exciting.
01:40: Today is especially exciting. We have some activities that are going to go on outside after service.
01:47: We have a God who is amazing. As believers, we have a God that we can call
01:53: Abba Father. We have a God who cares for us in so many ways. I want to read a quick passage out of Proverbs 3, verse 12.
02:03: My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline. That sounds like kind of a weird one to open up with, but here's the point.
02:12: This is an important point for us as believers. My son, do not despise the
02:19: Lord's discipline or be weary of his reproof. For the Lord reproves whom he loves, and as a father, the son in whom he delights.
02:31: The reality, my brothers and sisters, we do fall, and we do fall short, and we do sin.
02:37: But here is the good news. Good news number one. Jesus died on the cross for my sins and for your sins.
02:43: And so when the Father looks at us, he looks at us through the blood of Jesus Christ.
02:50: And here's good news number two. God continually is drawing us closer to him.
02:57: And so those moments where we have fallen short, those moments where we have sinned, he is a loving
03:04: Father, and he will discipline and reprove us, not to beat us down, but to draw us closer to him.
03:11: We rejoice in both of these truths. Some announcements. As I just said, after first service, please stick around.
03:19: Outside, we're going to have the blessings of baptism. We have several individuals who are prepared and are going to give a public testimony of their faith in the waters of baptism.
03:32: So please join with us out there as we celebrate that in the public. Pray that there will be somebody that walks by the road, sees what's going on, and out of curiosity comes in and hears one of the testimonies, and their hearts are drawn to him.
03:48: What a great opportunity this is. And then also, we're going to have some time of fellowship, some great food.
03:54: So enjoy the afternoon together. Wednesday evening, not tomorrow,
04:00: Wednesday evening is our congregational meeting. Please come out and join with us for that.
04:07: The next VBS planning meeting will be next Sunday. If you're part of it, join in the meeting.
04:14: If you're interested in it, join in the meeting, but it will be next Sunday. We have a movie night coming up.
04:21: It's going to be for the church family. This isn't the normal first Wednesday, third
04:28: Wednesday, whatever it is. There is a movie that's at the Cherry Hill Lowe's, and so we're going to have a time of fellowship.
04:36: Initially, there'll be a place we're going to stop by, have dinner earlier in the evening, and then join in.
04:43: It's a 6 .30 showing, The Sound of Freedom. Jim Caviezel? How do you say that?
04:49: Caviezel. Caviezel. I don't know how to say it, but it's his movie, The Sound of Freedom, and so we're going to join in with that.
04:55: There will be emails coming out for sign -ups, so you'll get more information on that.
05:01: This coming Saturday is our cleanup Saturday, so please join with us Saturday morning as we clean up the building.
05:11: At this point in time, I'm going to ask ... Oh no, that will come later. No, this is now.
05:18: Oh, wait a minute. First is this, and then I get to pray. Out on the foyer and on the back table are these blue sheets.
05:28: A week from tomorrow, Jeff and I will be leaving for Fullerton, California for the Pastor's National Conference, and a week from Wednesday, Jeff will have the opportunity to defend his faith and to proclaim to the pastors his faith, and we are going to shower him with prayer for a full week.
05:51: So this blue sheet that's out there, please take one, maybe one for family or if you want to find ...
05:56: The idea is for a week, we are going to have a walkthrough of prayer on this sheet preparing
06:03: Jeff's heart, preparing our heart, interceding for him in front of the throne for the opportunity that he will have.
06:12: This coming Wednesday at the congregational meeting, we'll basically be launching a week of prayer, and the following Wednesday, which is the 21st, is when
06:21: Jeff will have the opportunity to speak. We want to shower him with prayer. Please take these and join with us.
06:27: If you feel motivated and one of the topics on this sheet speaks really to your heart, turn it into a day of prayer and fasting, but let's go before the throne for Jeff.
06:39: Let's turn to prayer. Lord, we do thank you for the gift of salvation. Lord, we are undeserving but your love.
06:50: We thank you for the grace that you give us so that we might have a real relationship with you and for the
06:57: Holy Spirit that teaches us to call you Abba, Father. Lord, we thank you.
07:04: You watch over us. As the Proverbs proclaim, we rejoice that the
07:09: Lord reproves whom he loves. Lord, as your children, you love us and you desire the best for us.
07:17: We rejoice in that. We come here this morning, Lord, seeking you. Be with us, we pray,
07:23: Lord, for those in need. We remember those that are grieving and we continue to pray for those in physical need.
07:30: Be with them, we pray. Be with our pastor as he opens the word, as he brings your truth to us.
07:36: Give him your words that he should speak and prepare our hearts to hear and to respond.
07:42: We pray these things in Jesus' name. And now I will ask Jeff and Rick and Ron if you would come forward.
07:56: This is Rick Thompson. He is our new chair of the missions committee. So I'm going to ask
08:02: Rick to bring an update on the D'Souza missionary family. Good morning.
08:08: I'm a first service guy, and if you don't recognize me, you're forgiven.
08:16: And I hope you would forgive me if I don't recognize you. One of the things that I want to emphasize, it's been said that the most important missionary work is done on our knees.
08:31: And we have in the church directory a list of all of our missionaries, and I would really encourage everyone to be checking with those missionaries and also praying.
08:43: I try to pray for two of our missionaries each day of the week, two different ones, and move along that way.
08:50: However it works for you, I would encourage you to do that. A few months ago, the
08:55: D'Souzas were here, Francisco and Elian, his wife. And they were at the time ready to go to Europe with their son,
09:05: Fernando, and they visited France and Germany and Greece and had a really good time.
09:14: From that point, Fernando, their son, went to South Africa and actually got engaged at that time.
09:23: He will be married this December. So that's big news for the
09:29: D'Souza family. He is director of Fellowship International Missions in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and he has asked for prayer for a candidate's orientation, which begins today and runs through this
09:51: Friday. So if you would remember the D'Souzas and their candidate training this week,
09:58: I really appreciate it. Let's pray for them right now briefly. Father, we are so thankful for all of the missionaries whom we support, and we ask your blessing on them, and we ask particularly for this week for Francisco and Fellowship International Missions, and that they would be a real blessing to you, that they would get the important information and be delegated to serve you where you want them to.
10:34: We thank you for their service and their willingness to serve you. Pray these things in Jesus' name, amen.
10:42: Amen. Thank you, Rick. About two years ago, there was a gentleman, young guy, came walking in the church, and I met him after the service.
10:51: I said, where are you from? He said, Lilongwe, Malawi. I thought, wow, that's amazing that you're here.
10:58: Well, he was studying at Cairn University to get his master's degree, and so for that year while he was in the
11:06: States living in Pensacan, he attended Cornerstone Church. So we got to know him well, and then he ended up going back to Malawi where he has been opening orphanages and serving people and preaching the gospel, a powerful ministry.
11:21: You can follow Hamilton Banda on Facebook, if you have Facebook, or any kind of way you can email and listen to his updates.
11:31: So we're so blessed to be able to support and be part of orphanages in Malawi.
11:36: Now, wouldn't it be great if we could go see what that looks like? Well, as God's grace would have it, we have
11:44: Rick as the missions committee chair. We also have a young understudy. This is
11:50: Ron Jacobs, and he is going to be working with Rick, trying to help out with missions things, and he has in his heart to use some of his own travel expenses and things from his business to be able to go and do mission trips to visit missionaries.
12:08: So tomorrow, he is flying and staying for two weeks in Malawi, and will come back to us and give us a report what the ministry is like there.
12:18: What are some of the things, Ron, that he's going to have you do? I have no idea. I just told him to put him wherever he wants.
12:28: Very good, and that will include physical things, building, but also working with the orphans, teaching, and preaching the gospel.
12:36: God is going to open doors for Ron. So I thought, hey, as a church, why don't we commission him and pray over him and send him halfway around the world?
12:45: Sound like a plan? So, Ron, let's pray for you, brother. Hey, guys, let's all just bow our hearts before the
12:50: Lord. Heavenly Father, we come to you now for Ron Jacobs, asking that you would fill him with your precious
12:57: Holy Spirit. We pray that you would put a fire in his heart to share the good news of Jesus Christ.
13:03: Lord, we pray that you would open doors of opportunity for him. He doesn't even know exactly what he's going to be doing, but Lord, you already know.
13:11: You have a plan. And Lord, we pray that you would go before him and be his rear guard, keep your hand of favor upon his head.
13:19: Lord, we pray in Jesus' name that you would protect him from all harm, from diseases and from changes to his body, from the different kinds of water and all of those things.
13:29: We pray that none of these would have any effect on Ron, but that he would remain perfectly healthy through his mission trip.
13:36: We also ask, Lord, that some would come to saving faith through Ron's testimony and through his work there.
13:42: We pray that you would bless him and keep him. We pray that you would keep him from the evil one and guard him,
13:48: Lord God. Fill him with your Holy Spirit and send him out in the power of God. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.
13:55: Thanks, Ron. Let's all stand together and worship the
14:02: Lord. We bow down and worship him now.
14:34: How great, how awesome is he. We stand. We stand and lift up our hands.
14:47: For the joy of the Lord is our strength. We bow down and worship him now.
15:00: How great, how awesome is he. Together. Together we sing.
15:12: Everyone sing. Everyone sing. Holy is the
15:19: Lord God Almighty. The earth is filled with his glory.
15:29: Holy is the Lord God Almighty.
15:36: The earth is filled with his glory. The earth is filled.
15:42: The earth is filled with his glory. It's rising.
15:48: It's rising up all around.
15:54: It's the anthem of the Lord's renown.
16:00: It's rising up all around.
16:06: It's the anthem of the Lord's renown.
16:12: Together we sing. Together we sing. Everyone sing.
16:27: Holy is the Lord God Almighty.
16:32: The earth is filled with his glory.
16:39: Holy is the Lord God Almighty.
16:45: The earth is filled with his glory. The earth is filled.
16:51: The earth is filled with his glory.
17:08: Holy is the Lord God. The earth is filled with his glory.
17:20: Holy is the Lord God Almighty. The earth is filled with his glory.
17:32: The earth is filled. The earth is filled with his glory.
17:43: Father we are so thankful that the earth indeed is filled with your glory. We ask that you receive the joyful sounds of our hearts.
17:51: We are singing praises to you. We ask that your hand be upon Pastor Jeff today as he delivers your word.
18:00: Hearts and eyes are open. Lives are changed through that. Father we thank you so much for this beautiful day you have given us.
18:08: For the baptism we are going to have. We just pray that you bless that Lord.
18:15: Bless the heart of those that are getting baptized today. What a glorious thing it is to see people coming to you
18:21: Lord. During this culture that we live in Lord that has forgotten how to blush. We pray that you help us and all of us and them in particular that are getting baptized
18:32: Lord. To stand strong Lord. We are so grateful for who you are. In Jesus name we pray.
19:24: Amen. It's who you are. It's who you are. And I'm loved by you.
19:32: It's who I am. It's who I am. It's who
19:37: I am. Oh I've seen many searching for answers far and wide but I know we're all searching for answers only you provide because you know just what we need before we say your word you're a good good father.
20:21: It's who you are. It's who you are. And I'm loved by you.
20:30: It's who I am. It's who I am. You're perfect in every way.
20:39: And you're perfect in all of your ways. You are perfect in all of your ways.
20:47: You are perfect in all of your ways. To us.
20:55: You're perfect Lord. Yes you're perfect in all of your ways.
21:02: You are perfect in all of your ways. You are perfect in all of your ways.
21:11: To us. Oh love.
21:27: So undeniable. I can hardly speak.
21:35: Peace so unexplainable. I can hardly think as you call me.
21:47: Deeper still as you call me. Deeper still as you call me.
21:56: Deeper still into love. Love love love you're a good good father.
22:04: It's who you are. It's who you are. And I'm loved by you.
22:12: It's who I am. It's who I am. It's who I am.
22:20: You're perfect in all of your ways. And you're perfect in all of your ways.
22:26: And you're perfect in all of your ways. You are perfect in all of your ways.
22:35: To us. You are perfect in all of your ways.
22:44: You are perfect in all of your ways. You are perfect in all of your ways.
22:54: To us. Perfect in all of your ways. You are perfect in all of your ways.
23:03: You are perfect in all of your ways. You are perfect in all of your ways.
23:13: To us. Blessed assurance.
23:58: Jesus is mine. Oh what a foretaste.
24:05: Oh what a foretaste. Of glory divine. Heir of salvation.
24:17: Purchased of God. Of his spirit.
24:26: And washed in his blood. This is my story.
24:34: This is my song. Praising my
24:42: Savior. All the day long.
24:50: This is my story. This is my song.
24:59: Praising my Savior. All the day long.
25:06: Perfect submission. Perfect submission. All is at rest.
25:18: I and my Savior Am happy and blessed.
25:25: Watching and waiting. Filled with his goodness.
25:40: And lost in his love. This is my story. This is my story.
25:51: This is my song. Praising my
25:57: Savior. All the day long.
26:04: This is my story. This is my song.
26:15: Praising my Savior. All the day long.
26:24: Praising my Savior. All the day long.
26:39: Awesome, thank you. Let's pray.
26:50: Dear God, we ask you for help. Lord, we know that we can do nothing good in ourselves that we are totally unable to please you in our flesh.
27:05: We don't have the resources in us to obey your commands. We all stumble in many ways.
27:12: We all fall short of the glory of God. But we thank you for the
27:17: Advocate, the Counselor, the Helper, Jesus Christ who died on the cross for our sins who makes intercession for us at your right hand who pleads for us, not on account of our righteousness or any good that we have done but by his own merits, by his own blood shed for us.
27:38: Thank you for that help. And thank you also for the Helper, the Paraclete, the
27:44: Holy Spirit who dwells in us, who strengthens us, who empowers us to obey the commandments, even to love you and to delight in the things that you have commanded us to do.
27:59: Thank you for the Holy Spirit. So I pray now, God, that your Holy Spirit would come over me and upon me and help me to preach.
28:08: And I pray for those listening that you would help us all to hear your word and that you, by your
28:14: Spirit, would change us from the inside out. We're calling on you to help us, in Jesus' name.
28:21: Amen. Remember back in the day when
28:26: I was growing up in the 1980s some of you can relate that boys were allowed to run around the neighborhood and have all kinds of fun, just get home for dinner.
28:38: You could be out for weeks, not weeks but hours, playing basketball at the park, making some makeshift boat to cross the lake and having all kinds of fun.
28:51: You just had to come home for dinner. Well, that was really good. You were outside instead of looking at a screen.
28:58: But at the same time, it did afford opportunity for mischief and for some forms of error.
29:06: Well, we had in the neighborhood one of the boys who really began to love to play with fire.
29:13: It started with kerosene on sticks and wood and making little fires and we would all get in on this until finally it escalated to the point where we decided to make a blowtorch.
29:29: We put gasoline in a sprayer and connected that to a
29:34: PVC pipe with a lighter in the middle thinking that we would spray this gasoline and shoot fireballs out of the end of the
29:43: PVC. Do not try this at home. It was only a miracle of God's grace that that fire didn't come backwards into the gasoline and kill one of us.
29:58: Very easily could have happened. It was the grace of God protecting us. Church, fire is a good gift from God.
30:07: It's how we cook our food. Fire enables us to travel.
30:14: The internal combustion engine, the power of fire to move people about the world, planes flying through the sky.
30:24: The industrial revolution depends on the power of combustion and on fire. Fire is a good gift from God but it must be kept in its place.
30:36: Fire is meant to be kept in a fireplace not running rampant like a wildfire in which would cause great harm and even kill.
30:47: In the same way, sexual passion is a gift from God meant to be kept in its place and the fireplace of sexual passion is the marriage bed.
31:01: A man and a woman joined in union in marriage come together in the marriage bed.
31:08: Hebrews tells us that the marriage bed is undefiled. There's nothing gross or unnatural or even dangerous about fire kept in its place.
31:21: It is a blessing of God. But in our day, sexual sin has broken out of the fireplace and begun to run rampant across the culture.
31:32: Sexual sin has become in our day like the days of Israel when they were surrounded by pagan nations.
31:41: In Isaiah chapter 57 -5, we see a description of lustful sexual passions no longer restrained to the marriage bed but running about in the culture.
31:53: Isaiah describes it this way, they burn with lust among the oaks under every green tree.
32:03: Sexual passion outside of the marriage bed. And then it goes on to say they slaughter their children in the valleys under the clefts of the rock.
32:14: One of the fruits of sexual immorality is unwanted pregnancies and the solution of our culture is to kill those babies conceived this way.
32:27: It's as old as the fall of man. Sexual immorality.
32:34: This paganism of the surrounding nations like we see in Isaiah 57 -5 was also characteristic of the
32:42: Roman Empire. The Roman Empire at the time that the church was born. Sexual immorality rampant in the culture.
32:51: And Paul describes it in Romans chapter 1 verses 24 -28.
32:58: You can turn with me or just listen. Our main passage today will be from John chapter 14.
33:03: But first let's read Romans 1 24 -28. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the creator who is blessed forever.
33:29: Amen. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions for their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature.
33:41: And the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another.
33:49: Men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
33:58: As Paul describes this homosexuality which was a part of the pagan culture in the days of the
34:08: Roman Empire. He describes this as the exchanging of natural relations for those that are contrary to nature.
34:17: And today as people discuss homosexuality many will make the point that it is only natural.
34:25: A person will say that they have only ever felt attractions for the same sex.
34:32: And so for them it is natural. But this of course is precisely the point of Romans 1.
34:41: We read from verses 24 -28 and the point is that people have excluded
34:46: God from the equation. God who is the creator has been set aside in exchange for man as the creature in the place of God.
34:57: And so what's happening when a person says that it's natural for them to practice homosexuality they are saying that they define what is natural.
35:07: Their emotions, their affections, their desires become the standard of nature itself.
35:14: But natural in the context of Romans 1 speaks to the design of God.
35:20: What is natural is what procreates. And that is the design of God for husband and wife in marriage.
35:29: It is the beautiful natural design of God as he made it. And he has given us an owner's manual in the scripture to let us know what is his definition of natural.
35:45: Now once the country, the United States of America passed as a supreme court ruling in 2015 the case of Obergefell.
35:55: The court took the initiative to redefine what marriage has always been.
36:04: They defined no longer marriage as between a man and a woman as God had defined it in the
36:10: Garden of Eden that a man shall leave his father and mother and be united to his wife and the two shall become one flesh.
36:17: There is a complementarity between male and female as God created them male and female in the
36:25: Garden of Eden. They have exchanged that definition of what is natural for the desires of men and so after Obergefell the redefinition of marriage it is no surprise that the next step was the
36:40: T in the LGBT acronym. It's a small step to go from desire to identity.
36:48: If the person if the creature is at the center of the universe defining for himself what is natural in terms of desire it's a small step to say that he can also define what his gender or her gender is to be.
37:04: Because now the creature is already at the center of the equation. This movement in our culture has become a wildfire.
37:15: Has anybody noticed that there is a lot of attention given to the pride month of June?
37:25: Gone are the days in Canada where they could sing their national anthem and say
37:30: God keep our land glorious and free. And here in America gone are the days that we can say
37:39: America the beautiful God mend thine every flaw confirm thy soul in self control thy liberty in law.
37:50: Because the law of the land no longer supports the liberty of God. But it is a prayer in America the beautiful mend every flaw.
38:00: That should be our prayer for this country. And confirm thy soul in self control self control is a fruit of the spirit.
38:09: The smoke of sexual immorality and the pride movement has swept across the country like the smoke from a wildfire here in June.
38:20: And under the banner of pride many people are parading what is contrary to the nature of God's design.
38:32: It's interesting that they have taken the title pride for this month. Proverbs 16 .18
38:39: says pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.
38:46: Proverbs 18 .12 says pride before destruction a man's heart is haughty but humility comes before honor.
38:56: And Proverbs 29 .23 says one's pride will bring him low but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor.
39:06: 1 Peter 5 .6 says humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you.
39:17: In the garden pride ruined a beautiful angel making a devil of him.
39:25: Lucifer used to dwell among the fiery stones and he was beautiful in moral excellence and as a guardian cherub the highest rank he was in Eden the garden of God.
39:39: But his heart became prideful on account of his beauty and so he fell and became
39:45: Satan. Likewise in the garden of Eden man and woman were made beautiful bearing the image of God but in their pride they rejected what
39:57: God had to say and accepted the lie of the devil did God really say and ate the forbidden fruit.
40:05: And this killed them spiritually and then physically as all men are dying.
40:12: Pride goeth before the fall. We in this country were blessed with a season of grace where the gospel very often was preached and believed broadly to the point where it was salt and light in the culture but we were warned by Paul in the book of 2nd
40:29: Timothy chapter 3 verses 1 to 5 that the end times would be marked by the pride of man and sexual immorality.
40:40: Understand this that in the last days there will come times of difficulty for people will be lovers of self, lovers of money proud, arrogant, abusive disobedient to parents, ungrateful and unholy, heartless unappeasable, slanderous, without self control, brutal, not loving good treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit.
41:14: Pride is a mark of the last days. These days in which we are living.
41:22: Guys, when somebody says that it is natural for them to have attractions and therefore they need to follow their heart understand that we who are born in Adam and Eve's sin are born with a fallen sin nature.
41:42: Very often characterized by wild desires, sometimes unnatural desires.
41:50: There is in the fallen inheritance of Adam and Eve a brokenness which includes a sexual brokenness.
41:59: This is to be expected and I will say something more. The one who is born in Adam and Eve's sin which includes everyone is unable to restrain the passions of the flesh and can do nothing to keep the commandments perfectly.
42:19: All will fall short and though the commandment is given thou shalt not commit adultery all people are born in Adam's sin and unable to control themselves.
42:30: This is actually to be expected but God. He has not left us here to wallow like pigs in the mire.
42:44: To wallow in our sin. All of us alike have fallen into sin and there is no one righteous, no not one the one who points a finger of condemnation is likewise guilty because we have all broken the law at some point and any person who breaks the law is a lawbreaker.
43:05: So there is but one hope for sinners in our sin and it doesn't come from within us.
43:12: The hope is not that we would ever be able to keep the commandments in our flesh.
43:19: The only hope is that God himself would come to rescue us.
43:25: That he would put on flesh and yet never sin. That he would lay down his life for sinners like us and die the death that was earned for us in the
43:36: Garden of Eden. This inheritance of death would be put upon him and he would bear the iniquity of us.
43:44: His name is Jesus. He is an advocate. He is a comforter. He is a counselor.
43:51: He is the help from heaven for sinners who cannot help ourselves. We might be born in sin but there is such a thing as being born again.
44:07: We have Jesus the advocate but we have also another helper.
44:15: Whereas no person has self -control enough to obey the commandments we have a paraclete.
44:23: The fruit of the paraclete, the fruit of the Holy Spirit includes self -control. The one who has been born from above, who has believed in Jesus Christ has received the
44:35: Holy Spirit into that person's life. And the
44:40: Holy Spirit can do in us what we cannot do for ourselves. Church, this message that we have of Jesus and his
44:47: Holy Spirit is such good news to the world. The world cannot know him.
44:57: And they do not see him. And so they stumble headlong in the darkness and they fall and they trip and they're broken and they themselves will describe their families and their life as in a ruin.
45:10: But you have the remedy. You who have
45:16: Christ have the one solution that this world lacks. And we who have the
45:22: Spirit of God do keep the commands of God. We are no longer controlled by the flesh.
45:30: We have been set free and the paraclete, the helper keeps us in this righteous walk.
45:36: Let's turn to John 14 for this most precious promise. Jesus promised to give the paraclete.
45:47: John 14 verses 15 to 24. If you love me you will keep my commandments.
45:59: And I will ask the Father and he will give you another helper to be with you forever.
46:07: Even the Spirit of Truth whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him.
46:16: You know him for he dwells with you and will be in you.
46:22: 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.
46:33: Because I live you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in the
46:41: Father and you in me and I in you. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them he it is who loves me.
46:50: And he who loves me will be loved by my Father and I will love him and manifest myself to him.
46:59: Judas, not Iscariot, said to him, Lord who is it that you will manifest, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us and not to the world?
47:11: Jesus answered him, if anyone loves me he will keep my word.
47:19: And my Father will love him and we will come to him and make our home with him.
47:26: Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the
47:33: Father's who sent me. May God bless the reading and now the preaching of his word.
47:41: Recall from John 14 that the point is the revelation of the
47:48: Father. John 14 1 -14 repeats the Father 15 times.
47:55: And so at the end of that section that we studied last week, verses 12 -14, we are promised that anything we ask in Jesus' name will be given to us.
48:06: And we're told that we will do the same kind of works that Jesus did.
48:12: Greater works will you do. Now did that mean that as Jesus walked on water for eight miles across the
48:23: Sea of Galilee, we will walk on water for a thousand miles? Was he saying that we don't need to buy a plane ticket for Ron Jacobs?
48:35: He's just going to run across the ocean to Malawi? I mean that's a greater work than walking across the
48:41: Sea of Galilee. What is meant greater works in verse 12?
48:48: The greater works here are not greater in kind or quality. It's not greater in terms of the wow factor.
48:56: It's greater in the actual effect. Jesus' ministry was limited to Israel and few believed in him during his earthly ministry.
49:08: But when the Holy Spirit comes into us and he is at the right hand of the Father, we ask in his name and the gospel will go to Malawi.
49:18: The gospel will go to New Jersey and here we sit, a room full of people, because the
49:23: Holy Spirit is in us. The greater work is the effect of the making known of the name, that's the issue, representing the
49:34: Father in the knowledge of the Son. It's a revelation of the
49:39: Father by the preaching of the name of Jesus. And yes, it will include miracles as God sovereignly gives them.
49:47: These things confirming as he desires. That's according to his sovereign will. Which things we will see.
49:54: The point here though is the effect of the gospel and the revelation of God. And so as you come on to verse 15, we're not talking about a different thing.
50:06: How will they know that God is in you? If it's not walking on water across your friend's pool, so they say, wow, this guy really has
50:19: God. If that's not what's in view here, what is in view? The answer is the keeping of commandments.
50:26: Look at verse 15. If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
50:35: Notice it says you will. This means that the keeping of God's commandments is not an optional addendum to the
50:44: Christian life. You get saved and then hopefully you keep the commandments. No, the mark of genuine love.
50:50: If you genuinely love Jesus Christ, then you will be obeying his commandments.
50:57: You will be keeping the commandments. Well, what are his commandments?
51:04: One of the most prominent arguments that you will hear against the Christian sexual ethic and the biblical teaching on sexual morality, but this could be extended to all areas of morality.
51:17: One of the most common things that you'll hear is that Jesus never said what we have in the
51:24: Old Testament. Jesus never condemned abortion. Jesus never condemned homosexual practices.
51:35: And so somebody will say this means that Jesus approved of those things.
51:42: Look again at our text. John 14 verse 15 says, if you love me, you will keep my commandments.
51:51: The 10 commandments are Jesus's commandments. The entire moral law of God are his commandments.
52:03: It's precisely because nothing has changed that he didn't change anything or say anything about them.
52:11: In fact, what he did say in Matthew 5 17 is that he did not change them.
52:16: I have not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill the law.
52:22: So what was right in the Old Testament is still right today. And what was wrong in the Old Testament is still wrong today.
52:29: Notice that Jesus didn't speak to very much of the Old Testament moral law. In Deuteronomy chapter 18, we see a command against sorcery and going to mediums and necromancy contacting the dead.
52:47: Jesus never spoke of these things. Does that mean that we can go to psychics now and contact the dead?
52:53: Of course not. That's absurd. The law of God remains intact.
52:59: In Deuteronomy 19 there are commands against laying in wait to murder, moving a landmark on your property to take some of your neighbor's yard and make it part of yours.
53:12: This is not repeated by Jesus. Does that mean that you can go ahead and do that? Of course not.
53:18: And in the same way, the sexual ethics of Leviticus 18, that a man shall not lie with a man as with a woman, or forbidding incest or forbidding bestiality.
53:31: Jesus does not repeat any of those commands because all of them remain intact.
53:38: These are his commands. The woman caught in adultery, he did not need to repeat, thou shalt not commit adultery.
53:46: He wrote with his finger in the sand, implying that his law, what he has written by his finger, remains intact.
53:55: But what about Jesus saying you have heard that it was said, but I say to you.
54:02: Take that with regard to adultery. Did he undermine the teaching on adultery? You have heard it said that a man shall not commit adultery, but I say to you that if you even look at a woman with lust in your heart, you violated the deeper meaning of thou shalt not commit adultery.
54:26: Clearly, Jesus only intensified the teaching of the law, pushing it not merely to the external, but applying it even to the thoughts and the desires, the intentions of the heart.
54:40: And so here in verse 15, when he says, if you love me, you will keep my commandments. Anyone who's honest with themselves and looks deep into their heart will recognize that in themselves they cannot keep the commandments.
54:58: If even lustful desires are adultery in that sense, then who can stand?
55:07: Who can help themselves? And this is why verses 16 and 17 are so precious.
55:16: The promise is of the paraclete, a supernatural
55:21: Holy Spirit coming inside of a believer to empower you to do what you could not do in the flesh.
55:31: It says I will ask the father and he will give you another helper to be with you forever.
55:40: 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.
55:53: Church, I want you to hold on to this passage as an exceeding great and precious promise given to you.
56:03: He has promised the paraclete, the helper, the advocate, the counselor, who can come and will come to live inside you.
56:12: Notice in verse 16 he reveals all of the Trinity. I, says the son, will ask the father.
56:20: There is a distinction between father and son and yet another distinction between the other, another helper.
56:28: God exists in three persons, father, son, and Holy Spirit. Three who's but one what?
56:36: One essence, one deity, one God existing with a distinction between father, son, and Holy Spirit.
56:46: So the father is not the son. Notice there is another counselor. The son is not the spirit, he is another.
56:54: There is distinction between the persons but there's only one God, one essence of God.
57:00: That's the teaching of the Trinity right here revealed in Scripture. But if there's to be another counselor, doesn't that imply that we already have a helper?
57:11: Who is the first helper sent into the world? Jesus himself.
57:18: That's why I entitled this sermon Paraclete. The word paraclete is Greek here translated helper.
57:25: But it could also be translated counselor or advocate. And that entire semantic domain, the entire sense of the word paraclete is communicated here.
57:39: Helper doesn't quite catch it. Jesus was the advocate from the father.
57:46: He came into the world to advocate for us. He represented us in the flesh living a perfect life and then died the death that we deserve.
57:56: He was buried and on the third day he rose and right now he sits at the right hand of the father.
58:02: Making intercession for us. His blood intercedes for us.
58:10: He is an advocate. But he's at the right hand of the father. Here we are on earth.
58:17: How do we restrain the lusts of the flesh? Notice what we're told in verse 16.
58:24: He will give you another helper. You could not obey the commands of verse 15 if it were not for the helper of verse 16.
58:37: We're told that the helper will be with you forever. Even the spirit of truth.
58:43: The Holy Spirit exposes the lies of the enemy so that you're not deceived.
58:50: What the world presents is so beautiful and attractive and alluring. The spirit moves in your heart to notice for what it is.
58:59: He is the spirit of truth so that you are not deceived. The world cannot receive him because it neither sees him nor knows him.
59:10: When your life is controlled by the spirit, it does not look like that to the world.
59:18: They neither see him nor know him. As you walk in righteousness, according to Peter, they are surprised that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of debauchery and they malign you.
59:33: When they look at you obeying the commands of God, not running off into sexual sin, they do not cheer you on.
59:43: They think there's something wrong with this person. And they feel condemned as Noah was a preacher of righteousness and therefore condemned his generation.
59:55: They feel condemned because they're living very differently from you.
01:00:04: Notice what it says. The world cannot receive him because it neither sees him nor knows him.
01:00:12: Jesus here is drawing a very sharp distinction between those who have the spirit of God and those who do not.
01:00:20: And in the world in which we live, that line is becoming increasingly obvious.
01:00:29: We're told at the end of verse 17 that the spirit dwells with you and will be in you.
01:00:39: The Pentecostal teaching that began in the 1900s made much of the distinction between with you and in you.
01:00:49: The teaching at that point was that the spirit is with everybody, convicting of sin, righteousness, and judgment.
01:00:59: But in John 20, verse 22, when Jesus breathes on them and says, receive the
01:01:06: Holy Spirit, that's when the spirit went into them. And then the teaching continues to say that in Acts 1, verse 8, the spirit will come upon you.
01:01:18: And so the teaching became that the Holy Spirit ministers equally to everybody in the world convicting of sin and trying to prod them to come to Christ.
01:01:29: Only those who receive the spirit, who accept Christ, have him in them.
01:01:35: But there is a second work of grace where the spirit comes upon someone to empower them for ministry.
01:01:45: Because in Acts 1, verse 8, it says the Holy Spirit will come upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth, right?
01:01:55: So they will make reference to John 14, verse 17 and point out the word with and in.
01:02:02: In the Greek that's para and in. And then upon Acts 1, verse 8 is epi.
01:02:10: And they will say that there is a higher Christian life. It came from the Keswick movement. Remember the holiness movement of the late 1800s?
01:02:18: That you can achieve this moral perfection? There's a higher Christian life?
01:02:24: Hannah Whittlesmith. Well, the Pentecostals picked up on that. And the teaching is that there is a baptism of the spirit which is subsequent to salvation.
01:02:34: And only a few people have that compared to how many people are saved. Now, this teaching has become very widespread in the church.
01:02:46: But I want you to look now at the text more carefully. And notice, that is not at all what
01:02:53: Jesus is saying. In fact, all who have the spirit of God, according to Romans chapter 8, verses 1 to 11, have the spirit of life.
01:03:07: And we have been set free from the law of sin and death. Look at verse 17. The world cannot receive the spirit because it neither sees him nor knows him.
01:03:21: The teaching here is not that the spirit is striving equally with all men and only those who let him in have received him.
01:03:30: The teaching here is that the spirit must do this work on the heart or else the world will not see him.
01:03:39: The point is exactly the opposite. The world does not receive. And in fact, I want you to underline and circle that word cannot.
01:03:50: Cannot receive. Paul will say the same thing in Romans 8, verses 7 and 8.
01:03:59: The mind set on the flesh cannot please God. The person who is in the natural man has no resource in himself to obey the commandments, even the command to repent and believe the gospel.
01:04:20: They are slaves to sin. They are dead in sin. And they cannot come to Christ.
01:04:27: The point of verse 17 is that the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him.
01:04:34: And the distinction is between those who cannot come and those who have been given this gift of salvation.
01:04:44: You know him. Well, how have you come to know him when others have not?
01:04:55: The answer is that God has sovereignly opened your heart. Your dead heart came alive.
01:05:04: Your blind eyes were opened. Your deaf ears were opened. And God revealed to you the son of God by his spirit.
01:05:13: And his spirit came to live in you and regenerated you, made you new from the inside out.
01:05:20: The distinction here, he dwells with you and will be in you, refers it is present tense and then future tense.
01:05:29: It refers to Pentecost. And this is so important church because unless we understand what
01:05:37: God has done in us by the Holy Spirit, we won't walk in the victory that is our inheritance.
01:05:45: Listen, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in every believer.
01:05:53: If you are not controlled by the spirit, if you do not have the spirit, you do not belong to Christ.
01:06:00: That's the point of Romans 8, 1 to 11. You're either controlled by the spirit of the flesh, by the flesh or by the spirit of life.
01:06:10: It is not a distinction between lower level Christians and those who have received the baptism of the spirit.
01:06:19: Every Christian has the spirit in us and dwelling with us.
01:06:26: Listen, in the Old Testament, the Israelites were very inconsistent.
01:06:33: Even genuine believers like David, here was a man of God who slayed the giant
01:06:41: Goliath and he wrote the Psalms and he ruled well as a king and yet he fell into gross sexual immorality, into adultery with Bathsheba and even murdered
01:06:55: Uriah the Hittite. And he prayed in Psalm 51, take not thy
01:07:02: Holy Spirit from me. Peter, prior to Pentecost, was very indecisive and failing.
01:07:15: He denied Jesus three times, even though in his heart he desired to do right.
01:07:20: He said, I will go die with you. The difference between Peter denying
01:07:28: Jesus and Peter standing and preaching on the very streets that crucified the
01:07:35: Lord is the Holy Spirit dwelling in believers. The promise of the new covenant given in Jeremiah 31 and in Ezekiel 36 is that the
01:07:48: Holy Spirit will now come in and teach you how to obey the law of God.
01:07:54: From the inside out, the Holy Spirit will help you and he will make you consistent.
01:08:02: Every Christian in this room should be a more consistent believer and commandment keeper than King David was.
01:08:10: Did you know that? And that's the meaning of verse 17. I want you to see it for yourself.
01:08:17: Jesus is speaking to the apostles and he's cleared Judas out of the room.
01:08:23: He dwells with you. Are they already saved or do they need something more to be saved?
01:08:31: They're already saved. Back in chapter 13, he said you are already clean. You've already been bathed.
01:08:39: You're regenerate. But he tells them of a future. There's a future tense. Even in the
01:08:44: English, it reads what? Will be in you. And that refers to the new covenant ministry of the
01:08:52: Holy Spirit when he comes to live inside of you, making all the difference in the world. So now look at verse 18.
01:09:00: I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you. Jesus went to the right hand of the
01:09:06: Father, but he did not leave us here as orphans. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more.
01:09:15: But you will see me because I live, you also will live.
01:09:22: In that day you will know that I am in the Father and you in me and I in you.
01:09:29: Church, there are probably 50 churches in our surrounding area that I can think of.
01:09:37: And all of these churches claim the name of Christ, but only a handful are genuinely preaching the gospel.
01:09:53: How do we tell the difference? Is it by signs and wonders? Look at the next verse, 21.
01:10:01: Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. The outward evidence that you could know that Jesus is in a church, that the
01:10:14: Holy Spirit is genuinely in a believer, is obedience to the commands of God. Jesus warned in Matthew 7, many will say to me on that day,
01:10:25: Lord, didn't we cast out demons and do these wonderful things in your name? And Jesus will say, depart from me, you worker of iniquity.
01:10:33: I never knew you. The test of genuineness is the fruit of a believer's life.
01:10:40: It is commandment keeping. Look at verse 21. He's saying the same thing as in verse 15.
01:10:47: Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me.
01:10:56: Look back at verse 15. It's really the reverse, but saying the same thing. Verse 15 says, if you love me, you will keep my commandments.
01:11:05: Verse 21 says, whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. It's the same thing in reverse.
01:11:12: Why the difference? In the first case, he's speaking to the disciples who belong to him, and he knows they belong to him, and they know as well.
01:11:26: And he's saying the evidence will be commandment keeping. In the second case, he's telling them that the world does not know the
01:11:38: Holy Spirit. So church, how can you look out at the world and know who is genuinely with Christ?
01:11:49: Notice that word whoever that begins verse 21. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, you will know disciples by their love.
01:12:04: They will love one another. That is the commandment of Christ, that we would love one another, and not just as the world loves, but loving from the heart, and loving as Christ did.
01:12:16: He laid down his life for the sheep. You will know a genuine believer, whoever keeps the commands.
01:12:24: Thou shalt not commit adultery. The prohibitions against sexual practices that go against God's word.
01:12:35: Those who keep the law. This is the evidence according to Jesus. Whoever, when you look out at the world, he it is who loves me, the ones who keep the commands.
01:12:51: He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself.
01:12:57: That word manifest means make known and shown. It will become obvious the fruit of the
01:13:02: Spirit, which includes self -control, will be evident in the life of a believer.
01:13:08: Now lastly, in verses 22 to 24, notice that Judas, not
01:13:14: Iscariot, asks a question that he should already know. This is the pattern in John 14.
01:13:24: Jesus teaches something, and then one of the disciples totally misses the point, and asks the very thing that he just taught.
01:13:33: In John 14, 1 to 3, he says, I go to prepare a place for you in my Father's house.
01:13:40: And Thomas asks, where are you going? He just said, to the Father. And Thomas is thinking in the earthly, in the natural.
01:13:48: Are you going to Rome? Are you going to Samaria? Where are you going? And Jesus says,
01:13:53: I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life. No one comes to the Father except by me.
01:13:58: He explains and he answers. Again, in chapter 14, verse 8, Philip asks the question that Jesus just answered.
01:14:06: From now on, you do know him and have seen him. And Philip asks, Lord, show us the Father. Jesus just said, when you see me, you see the
01:14:15: Father. I am the revelation of the Father, and he's missing the point. And likewise, in verse 22,
01:14:23: Judas says, Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us and not to the world?
01:14:32: Hasn't he already said it twice in church? Do you know? If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
01:14:41: The world doesn't love me. They don't know. How will you know the difference? Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, it's he who loves me.
01:14:50: That's how it's manifest, in the keeping of commandments. A changed life, obeying the commands.
01:14:57: And so Jesus graciously repeats the point. Verse 23,
01:15:04: Jesus answered him, if anyone loves me, don't miss this, he will keep my word.
01:15:14: And my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
01:15:21: Church, your body, each of you individually, your body is a temple for God.
01:15:30: It is not a vessel for immorality. It is to be a holy place, a holy temple, where God himself dwells in you.
01:15:42: And so it is not the part of Christians to go on in sexual immorality. The genuine believer who has the
01:15:51: Holy Spirit dwelling inside must have the fruit of self -control. You cannot go on practicing sexual immorality if you're making a home for the true and living
01:16:02: God. You'll find that you can do that if the
01:16:08: Jesus you serve is nothing but the figment of your imagination. If you make
01:16:13: Jesus in your own image, you make an idol of him to be whatever you want him to be, disregarding his commands, and this is the
01:16:23: God that you serve, this figment of your imagination, you will be perfectly happy and content practicing sexual immorality and disobeying the commands of God.
01:16:36: But church, if you have the Holy Spirit living in you, he will bring conviction when you sin. And if anyone says they are without sin, he's a liar.
01:16:47: Even Christians will fall into sin, and 1 John 1 9 tells us you must confess your sins to Christ, the advocate in that context.
01:16:59: He is faithful and just to forgive your sins and cleanse you of all unrighteousness. But if you are going on in sin, making a practice of it, then you do not have the
01:17:12: Holy Spirit of God. Verse 24, whoever does not love me does not keep my words.
01:17:24: And the word that you hear is not mine, but the Father's who sent me.
01:17:31: Jesus is saying, thus saith the Lord. If you reject this teaching, you are not rejecting a mere preacher, you are rejecting
01:17:42: God. This is the truth of God. So in closing, we are seeing a culture ablaze in sexual immorality, wildfires in our land.
01:17:56: But this passage is good news, isn't it? The good news is there is an advocate that God sent.
01:18:05: For all who call upon his name will be saved. The advocate died for sinners like all of us and all people listening.
01:18:14: The advocate died that if you believe in him, his blood washes your sin away.
01:18:23: And he makes his home with you. By his Holy Spirit, he will live in you and empower you to keep the commands.
01:18:30: The law of the flesh has been put to death by the
01:18:36: Spirit of life. Read Romans 8, 1 -11. Isn't it interesting that the culture is promoting pride?
01:18:47: Pride of all things. But Jesus is humble and lowly of heart.
01:18:57: Consider his humility and how his humility, not pride, saved us.
01:19:06: In humility, he left the splendor of heaven where he was worshipped and adored by angels and took on flesh dwelling among us.
01:19:17: He lived a perfect life, never stumbling into sin. Never committing even one sin.
01:19:24: But his humility was greater than that. Not only did he humble himself to take on flesh, he humbled himself to die.
01:19:36: He died. The author of life humbled himself to experience the loss of life.
01:19:46: How humbling. But not only that. According to Philippians 2, we learn this threefold humility.
01:19:55: He humbled himself to death even on the cross. The cross was the most humiliating, humbling device that mankind had ever invented.
01:20:10: To be strung up, to be gawked at by people, to be mocked, and to slowly die an agonizing death.
01:20:20: This is the humility. We are saved by humility, but not our own. We are saved by his humbling himself to die the death that we deserve.
01:20:32: And then rising triumphant from the grave, he is our advocate forever. He ever lives to make intercession for us.
01:20:40: And he did not leave us as orphans. He gave us his Holy Spirit that we could live righteous, pure lives.
01:20:48: And so we must come to him with humility. The Bible says such were some of you, in reference to sexual sin and even homosexual sin, in 1
01:20:59: Corinthians 6 .11 But you were washed, you were cleaned, you were sanctified, justified in the name of Jesus Christ.
01:21:08: Anyone who turns from sin to look upon Christ will be saved.
01:21:14: But it takes that humility. One of my favorite parables that Jesus ever told is of the man who came to the synagogue and he was so ashamed, so riddled with guilt that he didn't even dare look up.
01:21:29: He looked down. And he beat his chest and said, Lord, have mercy on me, the sinner.
01:21:36: He knew himself a sinner and he begged for mercy. He was humbled before the Holy God. And then there was in that synagogue one who looked up and looked over the crowd and looked down his nose and saw that man beating his chest.
01:21:51: He was a tax collector. And this man, haughty and proud, he said,
01:21:58: Lord, thank you that I'm not like him, a sinner, a tax collector. And the parable of Jesus tells us it was that first man who went away justified that day.
01:22:11: Humble yourself before the mighty God and he will lift you up. Beat your chest in repentance and say,
01:22:18: God have mercy on me. He will wash you. He will clean you and he will give you his
01:22:23: Holy Spirit to keep you from sinning. He is the
01:22:28: Savior and there is no other. Church, the clouds, the dark haze that is over the
01:22:38: United States of America will one day break. As long as there's clouds in the sky, there's going to be rainbows, right?
01:22:46: Because rainbows are water droplets that reflect light. And those rainbows in the sky, they proclaim the patience of God.
01:22:58: It is the covenant with Noah to tell the world that God is not judging sin.
01:23:04: He's not yet pouring out wrath. He's being patient as man goes their own way.
01:23:12: But the point of that patience is that he's storing up wrath for a day of judgment. And according to 2
01:23:17: Peter 3 .9, that just as the world was destroyed by water and flooded in the days of Noah, this world will be destroyed by fire.
01:23:30: It will be destroyed by fire. Jesus will come on the clouds. There will be no more rainbows because he comes as the judge of the world.
01:23:42: He breaks through the clouds and he comes to earth the second time. Not this time to save, but the second time as the judge over all the earth.
01:23:54: He comes to judge. And so the days are short. We're living in the last days.
01:24:02: It's returned like unto the days of Noah. Matthew chapter 24 said it would be this way.
01:24:07: Returning to the days of Noah. Wickedness and the thoughts of intentions of people's hearts are wickedness all the time.
01:24:15: It according to Paul is marked by pride, conceit, arrogance.
01:24:23: That's what you're seeing in the culture. But church, look to the clouds.
01:24:29: When Jesus ascended he entered the clouds and he told us he's coming back the same way he went.
01:24:37: He's coming. We should not fear the coming of the Lord. We should look forward to that day and hasten it.
01:24:44: Hasten the day by the preaching of the gospel. Here we are today.
01:24:50: Maybe there's someone here that's never repented of sin. If you'll humble yourself before the mighty
01:24:58: God, he'll lift you up. Maybe you've been entangled in sexual sin. He can deliver you.
01:25:05: Turn to the advocate. He'll wash you and cleanse you and he will help you. That's what paraclete means.
01:25:11: Helper. You cannot do it on your own. I agree. No one can. So let us turn to him in prayer.
01:25:20: Heavenly Father, we thank you that you have given your son into the world.
01:25:28: We thank you that he lived a perfect life and died the death that we deserve.
01:25:35: Thank you for the blood, the atoning blood. Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness for sin.
01:25:45: Thank you Jesus that you paid it all and thank you
01:25:51: Jesus that you did not leave us as orphans but you came to us in the person of the
01:25:57: Holy Spirit to live inside of us and to empower us to keep the commandments. So Father, I ask now in Jesus name that anyone listening to this sermon that has not humbled themselves and repented of sin would do that right now.
01:26:20: I pray that they would bow their heads, they would beat their chest and say have mercy on me the sinner.
01:26:30: Save me. I cannot save myself. Help me. Help me Lord. God give them the good confession that Jesus is the
01:26:44: Christ, the son of the living God, the holy and the righteous one.
01:26:53: Open their hearts to believe this good news. Do this work by your spirit for the world cannot do this, cannot receive.
01:27:03: Only you can save a dead sinner God so I call on you to grant repentance and faith.
01:27:13: And Lord I pray for this church, all of us who have your Holy Spirit. We are like living stones being added to the spiritual house of God.
01:27:24: I pray that you would make your people holy this morning and if there are any that are wandering into sexual sin
01:27:31: God we pray in Jesus name that you would set your people free. By your
01:27:37: Holy Spirit enable us to obey the commands. Give us self -control.
01:27:48: Protect us from the evil one. Lead us not into temptation.
01:27:55: Deliver us from the evil. For yours is the kingdom and the glory forever and ever.
01:28:02: Amen. Amen. Let's all stand together and worship.
01:28:08: A gift of grace is
01:28:26: Jesus my redeemer There is no more for heaven now to give
01:28:37: He is my joy, my righteousness and freedom.
01:28:45: My steadfast love, my deep and boundless grace.
01:28:53: Through this I hold my hope is only
01:28:58: Jesus. For my life is wholly bound to Him.
01:29:08: Oh how strange and divine I can see
01:29:14: All is mine, yet not I but through Christ in me
01:29:32: The night is dark but I am not forsaken
01:29:41: For by my side the Savior He will stay
01:29:48: I labor on in weakness and rejoicing
01:29:56: For in my need His power is displayed
01:30:04: To this I hold, my shepherd will defend me
01:30:11: Through the deepest valley He will lead
01:30:19: Oh the night has been won And I shall overcome
01:30:26: Yet not I but through Christ in me
01:30:39: No fate I dread I know
01:30:47: I am forgiven The future's sure
01:30:53: The price it has been paid For Jesus bled and suffered for my was raised to overthrow the grave.
01:31:13: To this I hold, my sin has been defeated.
01:31:20: Jesus now and ever is my
01:31:25: The chains are released
01:31:31: I can speak, I am free Yet not I but through Christ in me.
01:31:53: Every breath I long to follow Jesus Has said that He will bring me home
01:32:07: And day by day I know He will renew until I stand
01:32:17: With joy before the throne To this
01:32:23: I hold My hope is only Jesus All the glory evermore to Him When the race is complete
01:32:41: Till my lips shall repeat Yet not I but through Christ in me.
01:32:50: When the race is complete Shall repeat yet not
01:33:00: I but through Christ in me Yet not
01:33:08: I but through Christ in me. Amen.
01:33:17: So we are about to celebrate baptism. It'll probably be about 1 o 'clock because we're going to eat first.
01:33:23: But baptism is that picture of being buried with Christ and raised to newness of life.
01:33:28: The old man is dead, the new has come. Romans 6. We'll talk about that out there. We're going to go ahead and eat now.
01:33:34: So as you go out there will be food outdoors there. You're also welcome to eat inside if you'd rather stay out of the heat.
01:33:41: This is an air conditioned building set up in here somewhere and hang out until 1 o 'clock.
01:33:47: So ladies first. Guys let the ladies go out first. Let's do the benediction.
01:33:54: And actually let me pray for the food because then you can just go right at it. So let's pray guys. Heavenly Father thank you so much for this meal that you have prepared for us and for all those who are working hard out there cooking on the grills and those who have brought side items and desserts.
01:34:09: We pray that you would bless this meal to our bodies and the fellowship Lord that we would draw nearer to one another.
01:34:16: Thank you so much for the blood of Christ that has cleansed us. And thank you God for this baptism service that's about to happen.
01:34:23: In Jesus name. Amen. The benediction. We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning.
01:34:31: But he who was born of God protects him and the evil one does not touch him.
01:34:39: We know that we are from God and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
01:34:46: And we know that the son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know him who is true.
01:34:54: And we are in him who is true in his son Jesus Christ. He is the true
01:35:00: God and eternal life. Little children keep yourselves from idols.