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Your Greatest Need - [John 14:27]
Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. No Compromise Radio is a program dedicated to the ongoing proclamation of Jesus Christ, based on the theme in Galatians 2, verse 5, where the Apostle Paul said, �But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.
In short, if you like smooth, watered-down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn�t for you.
News flash for you this morning. Peace treaties don�t always work, and they don�t always work the way they�re supposed to work. I mean, you know, peace treaties have been in the news here lately. I don�t know if anybody�s been paying attention, but there�s this deal supposedly between North Korea and South Korea to sign a peace treaty on a war that�s been going on, that�s been declared anyway, for 60-plus years.
And they�re trying to work out a peace treaty. Some famous treaties in history, the Treaty of Versailles, signed in 1920, which is interesting because the war stopped in 1918. So they spent all that time negotiating it.
The great powers get together and they negotiate this treaty, and what happens at the end of it? It�s so bad that we have World War II. Not a great treaty. The Treaty of Fontainebleau, which, of course, very familiar to all of us.
It should be familiar because it put Napoleon on the island of Elba. He was exiled to Elba in 1814. That didn�t really hold all that well, though. He came back in 1815, raised an army, and then was defeated at Waterloo, but the treaty itself didn�t work all that well.
And as I was looking at different treaties, I thought, well, everybody knows about the surrender of Robert E. Lee at Appomattox. That ended the Civil War. Not exactly. In fact, the last�I thought this was fascinating�the last Confederate unit to surrender was a steamship that rolled into Liverpool, England and surrendered there in 1865, in November of 1865.
But the war wasn�t officially over until President Andrew Johnson officially declared it over in 1866, some 16 months after Lee surrendered at Appomattox. But if we look at all the different peace treaties, here�s what we�d find.
International peace is elusive. In fact, there are many wars�people say about 10 declared wars and about another eight military conflicts going on in the world right now. There are wars and rumors of wars.
But if war is a constant, so is the absence of personal peace. We have international peace, personal peace. Go to any bookstore, any library and you�re going to find self-help books aplenty, lots of gurus, practitioners of psychology and psychiatry�excuse me, I have a little bit of a cold here.
But in just seconds, looking on the Internet, I found that there were�good news for me�17 psychologists within 26 miles of my home. Then I looked a little further and I found out that WebMD even had an article to help me choose doctors or therapists for depression�excuse me.
False religions surround us. There�s a proliferation of false religions, but why? At the heart of it, they want to present us with some form of inner peace, some kind of tranquility. So if internal turmoil is part of the human condition, external turmoil is part of the human condition, do we have to have conflicts?
Must we live in a state of not just war, but internal struggle? Let�s turn to our text here in John chapter 14 and I�m going to start reading in verse 12. John chapter 14, verse 12, but I�m particularly going to focus this morning on verse 27.
But starting in verse 12, �Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do. And greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. I have to just stop there for a second and just see, just point out how clear it is that he�s claiming to be a deity. If you ask me, well, how would they do that?
He doesn�t just mean ask me right now, he�s talking about going forward. He�s told them he�s going to be leaving. This is about prayer. This is about going to him and he will do it. 15, �If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another helper to be with you forever. Even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him, you know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you, yet a little while, and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day, you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.
Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him. Judas, not Iscariot, said to him, �Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us and not to the world
Jesus answered him, �If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words, and the word that you hear is not mine, but the Father's who sent me.
These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. Now the Gospel of John is, in effect, a guided tour through the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And it's given to us by his best friend, the one John refers to as the Beloved Disciple. He doesn't even use his own name because he's trying to exhibit some humility. But he is Jesus' best earthly friend.
And it's as if we have the opportunity, you know, when you go on a tour through a country, you want to have a guide to show you the highlights to, you know, so that you don't have to see the mundane and the everyday stuff.
You want to see the great exhibitions, the high points of whatever country you're in. And it's that way with John. In effect, he's got his hand on our shoulder and he's just kind of showing us around the ministry of Jesus and showing us what he thinks is important to underscore.
Things that weren't in the other Gospels. And a lot of what is presented in chapters 13 to 16, the Upper Room Discourse, is not in the other Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. And we're at Thursday evening of the last week of Jesus' earthly life.
Jesus and his 12 disciples had gathered together in the Upper Room to celebrate the beginning of Passover. They're going to have this feast together. But this was not like any other Passover celebration the disciples had ever experienced.
It began with, if you recall, Jesus washing the feet of the disciples. And even when he tells them that, Peter objects. Jesus overcomes that objection by telling him if he won't let him wash his feet, then he'll have no part of Jesus.
And what does Peter say? Well, not just my feet, but, you know, my whole body, just wash me. And then as they're eating, Jesus identifies Judas as the betrayer. He does so to John. Peter looks at him and kind of gives him the eye, saying, well, you know, he keeps talking about this betrayer.
Who is it? You know, John, why don't you ask him since you're sitting next to him? And so Jesus identifies Judas. And it's possible, but not clear, that Peter also would have understood that Judas was the betrayer.
But none of the other disciples, they were all surprised. They didn't know then, and they were surprised when he was revealed. So Jesus then commands Judas to hurry and finish his betrayal, be about it.
Because I've got, you know, it's kind of like, I've got places to be and people to see, you know, and you're not getting it done. So speed it up. And if you turn back for just a minute to John chapter 13, verses 28 to 30, I want to read those.
Now, no one at the table, no one at this dinner table, knew why he said this to him to tell him to be about his business. Some thought that because Judas had the money bag, Jesus was telling him, buy what we need for the feast, or that he should give something to the poor.
So after receiving the morsel of bread, the sign, right, when he gave that to Judas, he, Judas Iscariot, immediately went out and it was night, not just physical night, but there was a palpable sense of despondency among them.
Jesus told the disciples he was leaving them and he meant his death. Peter said he wanted to go with him. And this is when Jesus prophesies of Peter's denial. And it is then, chapter 14, verse one, that Jesus says, let not your hearts be troubled, much like our passage this morning, that he said, believe in God, believe also in me.
Jesus' heart is troubled. Why? Because he knows what lies before him. He knows what has to be done. He knows the suffering that he's about to undertake. Their hearts are troubled because they do not know what lies before them.
All they know is Jesus has said he's going to leave. And the last time we were in, John, we looked at verses 25 and 26. And I said that it is the most important statement in the entire New Testament about the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit.
And if you recall, we said these things about him. He is a person. He's not a force. He is a helper. He's the comforter. He's a comforter of another type. He wasn't going to leave the disciples. He is holy.
He is sent by the Father and the Son. He is a teacher. And he is an accurate guide. It's just so fascinating. I said that one of the reasons we can know that we have the exact words of the Lord Jesus Christ is because otherwise the Holy Spirit has failed.
Because Jesus said that he would recall to their memory exactly what Jesus said. Now this morning, we're going to see the next promise of Jesus meant to comfort the disciples as they entered their most difficult time.
It also provides great assurance and confidence for us as believers. Your primary need, every human being's primary need is peace with God. Peace with God. And Jesus, this morning, addresses that need.
And we have what I propose are three promises of peace, or three types of peace. And the first, where I will spend most of my time, is objective peace. Objective peace. True peace. Peace that will not be violated.
It's not like these treaties that men sign. In verse 27, Jesus says, Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Now the first verb there, translated leave, I leave to you, is to have something continue or remain in place.
And one of the examples, one of the dictionaries I read was, it said, it's like you leave a campfire and you just leave it unattended and you just walk away. Well, there's a little problem with that because the campfire would eventually go out, right?
But it's the idea of a legacy, just leaving something in place. He is, in effect, bequeathing or willing to his disciples and to all believers, peace. The second verb, translated give, is pretty basic and just means he's giving it as a gift.
But also notice he says, my peace. It is his and his alone to give. When he says, my peace, well, what kind of peace is it that he is going to give them? Is it peace of mind? Is it a peaceful, easy feeling?
Enough of the 70s music references. No. No, it is peace with God. Jesus knows he is soon to be falsely arrested, wrongly, wrongfully taught, tried and unjustly convicted and ultimately he's going to be crucified.
He also knows that he is about to give his life to pay the ransom, his disciples and all of us owe for our sin. He is going to establish peace with God for all who believe a peace that is his alone to achieve and therefore his alone to give.
Let's turn for a moment to Acts chapter 10, Acts chapter 10. The Roman centurion Cornelius called for Peter and then he sent for Peter and then he called all of his family in to listen to Peter when Peter shows up.
In verse 34, so Peter opened his mouth and said, truly, I understand that God shows no partiality, which is vital, I would say these days in the discussions that's going on, but just listen. Verse 35, but in every nation, anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.
As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ, he is Lord of all. This is the good news. Peace through Jesus Christ. Well, it's not peace between nations. It's not peace between people groups.
It's not mental peace. It's peace with God. Paul referred to unbelievers as those who have not known the way of peace. In Romans 3, Jesus establishes, you can go back to John, I'm just going to be going through several passages here.
Jesus establishes both vertical peace and horizontal peace. What do I mean by that? Vertical peace is peace between us, mankind and God, right? By dying for our sins, he establishes peace, but he also establishes peace horizontally.
That is to say between Jews and Gentiles, but ultimately that means between all sorts of people groups. Listen to Ephesians 2 verses 13 to 18. But now in Christ Jesus, you who were once far off, he's talking to Gentiles, have been brought near by the blood of Christ, by his death.
For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one, Jew and Gentile, and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two.
So making peace, no longer Jew and Gentile, no longer separate nation Israel and the world, but now one people of God in Christ Jesus, the church, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility, horizontal hostility.
And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him, we both have access in one spirit to the father. There is no more separation of peoples. Only Jesus can give peace because he is Lord of all and because he established peace between God and man.
And here's the heart of our peace in Romans 5, excuse me, Romans 5 verse 1. Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And I want to be very plain here.
The greatest need of every human being, every image bearer is peace with God. Why? Well, Romans 5 goes on to say that we're saved from the wrath of God, that we were enemies of God. We need to be reconciled to God.
We need that peace that only comes through Jesus Christ, because otherwise we're left alone against the creator of the universe. He's our enemy. And there's a trope, a trite saying that says, and it's heard all throughout Christendom that God hates sin, but he, what, loves the sinner.
Is that true? In Psalm 5, David dispels that. He says that God hates all evil doers. What does that mean? It means people who live their lives in habitual rebellion against God. They hate him and his law.
In fact, David goes on to write of those whom God hates in Psalm 5 in verse 10, they have rebelled against you. This describes us before Christ, right? Psalm 5 verse 11, but let all who take refuge in you, let them ever sing for joy and spread your protection over them.
That those who love your name may exult in you. That's what I'm calling us to do this morning is to exult in Christ because we love him. We love what he's done for us. The difficulty, many Christian churches, many in Christendom have is that they've forgotten how holy God is and how loathsome to him sin is.
Listen to Psalm 7 verses 11 to 13. God is a righteous judge. We would all agree with that, but listen, and a God who feels indignation every day. He looks around the world and what does he see? People rebelling, breaking his law, sinning, and basically thumbing their nose at him.
Verse 12 of Psalm 7, if a man does not repent, listen, God will wet his sword. He has bent and readied his bow. He has prepared for him his deadly weapons, making his arrows fiery shafts. God is holy.
God hates sin. He hates those who practice sin. And no one wants to face God or no one wants to face the God who is, who exists, and who will bring justice against or upon all who rebel against him. The good news is, as Paul wrote, that all believers have been justified by faith.
Justified by faith. That was, again, Romans 5 .1. If you have been born again, if the Holy Spirit has caused you to be born again from your spiritual deadness into spiritual life, if you've come to faith in Christ by the conviction of the Holy Spirit, you were at that very moment declared righteous, which is to say justified.
And by the way, justified does not mean, and we've said this before, just as if I'd never sinned. Because if that's all it meant, if being justified by the death of Jesus Christ just meant this, that that gets me up to even, right?
That I'm even, but I still have to have righteousness to get to God. I have to be perfect. I have to have that perfection to get to God. And I have to do that on my own. I'm sunk. I need his obedience imputed to me as well.
I need my sin credited to his account. I need his righteousness imputed to me. That's what justification is. And when you have been justified, you are no longer God's enemy, you are his friend. When you've been justified, you are no longer condemned, you are his child.
If you have been justified, the text tells us, Romans 5 tells us, you have peace with God. Your greatest need has been granted. And it's easy as we live life to lose sight of that, to think, well, you know what, my greatest need is my health.
I need somebody to decongest my nasal passages. Somebody might say, my greatest need is for my spouse to change. My greatest need is for my child to get off the couch and stop playing Xbox. My greatest need is a good job.
My greatest need is a better car. My greatest need is whatever. There is nothing anyone needs more than peace with their creator. Turn for a moment to Matthew chapter 10. Matthew chapter 10. Keep in mind, just in the midst of the context of John chapter 14, what's going on and how this kind of gloom has descended on the disciples.
And Jesus is saying in the midst of this, I'm giving you peace. Did they fully comprehend it then? I don't think so. And we'll see that here in a moment. John chapter 10, or I'm sorry, Matthew chapter 10, verse 28.
And do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. They were concerned about what was going on. Who was going to defend them against the powers that be when Jesus was gone?
What were they going to do? And Jesus is saying, I'm giving you peace, my peace. He's about to die. And his final gift to them is something that cannot be taken from them. It is the objective knowledge that their place in heaven is secure because they have peace with God because of his death.
Now, how do I know he's talking about this kind of peace? Well, we're going to find out by looking. We're going to cheat. We're going to skip a few chapters ahead. Turn over to John chapter 20. I'm going to read verses 19 to 22, and then I'm going to skip a few more verses.
This is the evening of the resurrection. The ladies have found the empty tomb. The disciples have seen the empty tomb. They've received the instructions where he's going to meet them. Verse 19 of John chapter 20.
On the evening of that day, Sunday, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, peace be with you.
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Listen, he promised them peace with God and they didn't understand it. And now he's established peace and he's showing them the evidence of this peace.
He's raised from the dead. He bears the scars of what has happened. Verse 21, Jesus said to them again, peace be with you. As the father has sent me, even so I'm sending you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, receive the Holy Spirit.
He said when he left, he would send another comforter. Here it is. Here's the Holy Spirit. I'm sending you him, the new comforter. But notice also his first word was peace. Everything he has told them beforehand has come to pass.
Imagine their shock. We see it there. They're stunned. For the first time, Peter doesn't really respond with anything, right? He has nothing to say. I think the ESV and the King James sort of missed the part or missed the point here when they say the disciples were glad.
The NAS says they rejoiced, which is the Greek word. I mean, can you imagine your master, the man that you've given up everything for, that you believe to be God, that you've invested everything in. He's gone.
He's crucified. You're dejected. You're afraid of the Jews. You lock yourself in this little room. And now he comes back in and he shows you that he is indeed raised from the dead, that he did everything that he said he was going to do.
And you're glad? They were thrilled. They were thrilled. They rejoiced. Now skip a few verses and go to verses 26 to 28. Eight days later, his disciples were inside again and Thomas was with them. Implication being he wasn't there the first time.
We know that if we read the rest, but we're not going to. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, peace be with you. Then he said to Thomas, put your finger here and see my hands and put out your hand and place it in my side.
Do not disbelieve, but believe. Thomas answered him, my Lord and my God. Now peace, if you study this at all, you'd know it's a common greeting. It was a Hebrew greeting, wishing and hoping it would be, you know, may you have peace.
But now his resurrection was the proof of his claims of deity and it was the proof that he had established peace. He had been the fulfillment of the Passover. He was the lamb whose blood not only protected from the vengeance of God, but permanently assuaged the wrath of God for every sin, every believer would ever commit past, present, and future.
That's peace. That's objective peace. That is sure irrefutable peace with God. That's our first piece. Our second promise of peace is worldly peace. Look again at John 14, verse 27. Worldly peace. Jesus says, not as the world gives do I give to you.
In other words, not this kind of same as the world peace. What kind of peace does the world give? It's interesting, if you study the Old Testament, Israel was pretty consistent and not in a good way. They would have some periods of righteousness, but lots of periods of unrighteousness.
And those periods of unrighteousness were marked by two things. Idolatry, you know, actively worshiping other gods. And then another form of idolatry, refusing to rely on Yahweh to defend them, but doing what?
Going to other nations and seeking security in them. And these promises of security often failed. The world promises peace. In fact, if we, you know, if you watch movies, if you listen to the world political bodies, we're all aiming towards peace, a universal peace on Earth.
It will never happen. Not until the Lord returns. First Thessalonians 5 verse 3 says this, while people are saying there is peace and security, then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman and they will not escape.
This is talking about end times, but there's never going to be a time where the world establishes peace and security. The world also promises spiritual peace apart from God, apart from Jesus Christ. He himself, Jesus, puts the light of this idea by placing the peace he gives in contrast to what the world offers.
Here are the choices. You can have peace with Jesus or you can have the peace of the world. And he says his peace is different. It offers peace and security. It says that you can have spiritual inner serenity.
Well, how does it do that? How does the world give you that inner peace? By redefining sin, by redefining God or ignoring him altogether, by redefining what it means to be right with him. Every false religion presents a very pleasant picture about things that you can do to be right with God.
Every single one. Matthew 7 13 says this familiar words, enter by the narrow gates. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction. And those who enter by it are many. All these religions, every single one of them leads to destruction.
And many choose it. Why? Because it's easy. It makes sense to them. There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is death. The old saying, not everyone talking about heaven is going there is true, right?
That's the peace that the world gives. Now, let's talk about the third promise of peace. And it is a subjective peace, a subjective peace. What do I mean by that? Well, there's the objective peace that God has established between us and him through the Lord Jesus Christ.
But there's also a subjective feeling and there is an inner feeling of peace. Look at verse 27. Let not your hearts be troubled and neither let them be afraid. What does he mean by that? He's not just talking about the peace they have with God.
He wants them to be at peace. Not with the world, so to speak, but to not fear them. Think about this. If Jesus was granted the disciples the ultimate peace, the number one thing that they needed. How could he command them to not be afraid or to be troubled?
Well, it's easy. This is the peace which garrisons our hearts and minds against the invasion of anxiety. Philippians 4, 7 says this, and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
This is Paul writing about what Jesus is saying. Now, back to the upper room. Did the disciples have cause to be troubled, to be afraid? Absolutely. They were going to be persecuted and made miserable for most of the rest of their lives.
And it was only going to become worse here in the next few hours. Jesus is going to be arrested and they go into a panic. But this command is based on the promise of peace that he gives them. He will later pray for the disciples in John chapter 17, and I wanted to just highlight one verse here in verse 20 in John chapter 17.
Listen, I do not ask for these only. Talking about the disciples, he's praying to the Father. This is the high priestly prayer where he's interceding for his disciples. He says, I do not ask for these only, these 11 men, but also for those who will believe in me through their word.
Now, who is that? That's all of us. Jesus Christ, our high priest, praying for all of us. Praying that these promises will come to pass in our lives. We're not to be anxious for anything. Why? Because we have his peace, the peace that he has given us, the peace that only he could establish.
And that peace is with God. In Christ Jesus, we have our greatest need met. We have peace with God. Let us strive to think and act as if that's true, right? To ignore the difficulties that come into our lives, to think about heaven, to focus our attention on our right relationship with God.
Now, as I said, the opening peace treaties often fail. But what of a treaty between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit? We call that the covenant of redemption. You think that can be broken? Absolutely not.
The Father ordains, the Son executes, and the Holy Spirit executes also in time. Seals us to the day of redemption. There was a war. Adam and Eve declared war on God by sinning. You ever think about it that way?
And they enlisted us all. They put us all in their army, so to speak. We were all in rebellion against God. And the Father, Son, and Spirit covenanted between themselves to establish peace with us through the finished work of Jesus Christ.
When the Holy Spirit regenerates us, we cease our rebellion against God. We are at peace with Him, and it is a peace that cannot be broken. It will last forever. So what about anxiety, turmoil, worry?
If you are at peace with God, you have the greatest thing you can ever be given. You can only be at peace with Him if you are under the banner of the Lord Jesus Christ. So my question for you this morning is, are you under His banner?
Have you repented? Have you received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior? Have you trusted Him, His life, His death, His resurrection? Are you in Christ? If so, your greatest need has been met. Let's pray.
Father in Heaven, we praise You for all that You have done for us. We who were far from You, who were estranged from You, who were Your enemies, who wanted nothing to do with You, who were dead in our sins and trespasses.
You caused us to be born again. You brought us to spiritual life. You gave us eyes to see, ears to hear. This is grace. This is mercy. This is peace. Father, cause us not to believe it because we do, but to live like we believe it.
Difficult times will come into our lives, but we know this one thing is true. Jesus Christ opened the gates of Heaven that we might go in. By Your grace and by the Spirit You have put in us, cause us to never forget that.
We pray in Jesus' name.
This is a Bible-teaching church firmly committed to unleashing the life-transforming power of God's Word through verse-by-verse exposition of the sacred text. Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 10 .15 and in the evening at 6.
We're right on Route 110 in West Boylston. You can check us out online at bbcchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.