John 14:25-26 (The Spirit and Revelation)

Thank you for subscribing to the Shepherds Church podcast. This is our Lord's Day Sermon. We pray that as we declare the Word of God that you would be encouraged Strengthened in your faith and that you would catch a greater vision of who Christ is.

May you be blessed in the hearing of God's Word and may the Lord be with you. Perhaps the most important and most consequential conversation that has ever happened in human history is the dialogue between Jesus and his disciples in Matthew 16 13 through 20.

Peter’s Confession and the Church Built on Christ

I Think this conversation has some of the most far-reaching Implications of any conversation that has ever been spoken. It's a conversation that happened in Caesarea Philippi and it's a conversation that has absolutely changed the face of the world.

Those may not be correct. Now that's a subjective claim that I'm making that this is the most important conversation that ever happened in the world but I think you'd find it hard to Justify any other conversation being more important than this one after you see what all that it states.

In the text it begins like this. Jesus asking his disciples. Who do people say that the Son of Man is. And then the disciples began sharing the local opinion? That you know some believe that you're John the Baptist which was an interesting thing because John the Baptist had been beheaded.

So maybe they thought he was the second coming of John the Baptist or maybe they thought he slipped out of prison and the rumors Were greatly Exaggerated of his death. I don't know. Some believe that he was Elijah.

That he was gonna come and he was going to set his people Free from all of the idolatry that was going on in the world. Some thought that he was that the new or the second Jeremiah. The text even says that they believe some that he was the Jeremiah Figure which is interesting.

Jeremiah was the prophet who oversaw the downfall of Jerusalem. Maybe there were some zealots and some people who thought Jerusalem's pretty corrupt this time. Maybe he's coming to oversee that. Some even still thought that he was a generic prophet just a prophet who had been raised up nothing special.

But just a run-of-the-mill prophet of the Lord. But none of those answers were correct and Jesus then narrows the focus of this conversation to what his disciples believe. So he says who do people say that I am.

Then he says who do you say that I am and in this passage? We get one of the greatest the clearest and the most concise Declarations of who Christ is and all the Bible through the lips of his servant.

Peter Peter says you are the Christ the Son of the Living God.

And.

Jesus does not in that moment rebuke him. Any human being who was told you are the Son of the Living God should have rebuked that statement unless it was true. Christ by not rebuking it is acknowledging it.

He is admitting it and he is supporting it. I am the Son of God and he even says to Peter blessed. Are you Peter? Simon bar Jonah for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you. But my father who is in heaven the only way you could have known that me.

Standing in front of you is God in the flesh. That's what Jesus is saying to Peter is by God the Father revealing that to you. And then Jesus goes on. He says I will tell you Peter on this rock. I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Now those short lines that I shared with you are the most consequential statements. I think that were ever made. And there's three reasons for that. The first is that Peter is acknowledging Jesus's Messiah ship.

Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah that all of them were looking for who's gonna come as Savior and reconcile them back to Fidelity to God. He's the Messiah that they were waiting for for generation after generation after generation.

So this is consequential on a local level on a national level. This was big news. This is the man that we've been waiting for since Genesis 3 who's gonna crush the head of the serpent. That's the first thing.

The second is that it's even more consequential than just a Jewish Savior. He pronounces that this man is God deity incarnate the royal son of Psalm 2 who is going to inherit all the nations. The one in Psalm 110.

Who's gonna put all of his enemies as a footstool under his feet. The covenant keeping God come in the flesh of man.

This.

Was astounding and The crowds were wrong about it, but Peter through the inspiration of the father uttered the truth You are the son of the Living God. What could be more consequential than that?

And.

Yet it gets better. Because the third thing that Jesus affirms on why the statement is so consequential Is that it doesn't just have a lot of horsepower. Like Jesus's divinity. It has a lot of torque and it's gonna change the world.

Little by little. County by county city by city nation by nation. The world is going to be changed because of this truth. And he says that the reason that that's so is because of the foundation of the church.

The Messiah has come to save his people. God incarnate to reconcile them and upon that confession Peter's confession. The church would be built that would absolutely and undeniably Change the world. If you don't believe me, let's take a walk through history.

Very briefly, by the way, there's thousands of pages we could cover. The church is what toppled Jerusalem. The church is what toppled Judaism. Biblically formed the church is what toppled the Roman Empire.

It was the Caesar Constantinople or Constantine in Constantinople who Declared Christianity the religion of the Empire. So that now there's more than two billion people who are filled with the Holy Spirit of God.

Lights in a darkened world who are declaring the gospel. You think that this conversation didn't change the world the foundation of this church didn't have an impact that is now emanating out to the ends of the earth and We love as Christians.

We love to be Debbie Downers and ostrich and the Sanders. Don't we the world's getting worse. Oh, it's getting worse right now. But your frame is too small. You're looking at five years ago. It didn't look as crazy as it did today.

Look at five hundred years ago and see all that God has done. Look at a thousand years. Look at two thousand years all the things that God sent and you look at the world. Everything in this world today has the fingerprint of Christ in his church.

Everything. Education. Literacy. Billions upon billions of people today are literate because of the church. It was the church who emphasized literacy throughout the world. Why? Because if we have the Bible that was written by God, everybody should read it.

So everybody should learn how to read. Before anyone else was talking about literacy the church was talking about literacy colleges. The reason we have universities, it's the church planted Oxford plants at Cambridge planted st. Andrews plants at Harvard.

It's the church who invented the education system and elevated the world. You think about all of the people today who can simply pick up a book and read and Have no idea that the reason that they can do that is Because of the church having an impact on this world because what Christ has done through his church.

Christianity did this. Think about science. Science today seems to be this great god-hating discipline that has no connection at all to the to the faith but yet all of the original scientists all of the people who developed the scientific method all of the Geniuses that that that discovered such great things were Christians.

Isaac Newton Francis Bacon Johannes Kepler. These are men who studied the world because they knew the Creator. There's this idea today in Christianity that we can't study the world because maybe we'll find something that that nullifies who he is.

Maybe we'll find the missing link and then gosh. Then there won't be evidence of a creator. God at all evolution will be proven true. These men didn't run away from science. They ran towards science because they knew the God who made the world and they wanted to know him.

But getting to know the world that he made. The world is benefited by the church and by Christians and having major impact in these great disciplines. You think about humanitarian work. Charities were founded by missionaries.

Medical missions went to countries and and and helped people who've never had medicine Rise out of their diseases and their brokenness and their poverty. The hospitals were created by Christians and the church.

Orphanage. Orphanage is created by Christians in the church. Why. Because our God's a great physician. That's hospitals. And because our God adopts people into his family orphanages the gospel has caused the church to Fundamentally change the fabric of this world.

The world would still be lost in darkness. In a way that you can't even imagine if the church had not existed. I was watching a documentary once if the Nazis won the war and it was hypothesis. What would the world look like if the Nazis won the war and it was bleak?

Imagine how much bleaker would be if the church never existed. Imagine all of these things that we're talking about. We would still be in the heart of the Dark Ages. You think about arts and culture? It was godly men who were the ones who were developing on the cutting edge of art.

Now it's art that Satan has used to pervert and to and to you know, profess our hatred of God. It was the men who loved God who were the artist and the artisans. Michelangelo Sistine Chapel. Leonardo da Vinci.

Many others you look through history. There's countless men who had a vigorous Vigilant Christian worldview and faith who developed these things. You think about music. Bach. Bach wrote his music. Oh my goodness.

If you get a chance just look up on YouTube the complexity of Bach's music. You can play it forward and backward and it still makes sense. How many songs can you do that? You can not only do that. You can splice the song in half and invert it and it still makes sense.

It still has logic. Bach was this Incredible intellect this genius this mathematician who wrote his songs explicitly for Christ. He wrote him for church Beethoven. Handel all of these guys. We're Christians.

You think about literature. The greatest fantasy writer of all time. J. R. R. Tolkien. Undeniably, so. You think about Shakespeare with a biblical worldview. Dickens who had who had a biblical world. You think about the great writers of the Western?

World and.

You think about all the contributions that have made you think about the abolition of slavery. That would not have happened without the church. A World without Christianity Would be a world that's colder darker and filled with a lot more hate.

I Think this conversation where Jesus says that the church would be founded on his divinity and on his Messiah ship is the most profound words ever. Spoken and it's changed the face of the world. So when you're tempted To look at the world and listen to Fox and daily wire Or any other news network and you're tempted to be angry and just and depressed and despondent We're in a rough patch in route to victory and the church has been Undeniably a part of changing the face of the world and it's not finished.

Jesus says that every enemy will be put under his feet. Jesus says that all the families of the earth will be blessed in Genesis chapter 12. The church is just getting started. The world's gonna look a lot different when Christ returns.

I.

Think.

The church.

Being his hands and feet. Going to the nation's making more disciples more converts for Christ. Bringing more life and beauty into the world. More God honoring scientific Explorations. More epic literature and philosophy and theology and art and architecture.

Healthcare to the vulnerable people's income to the impoverished tribes. God-centered education to children all over the world. Discipleship to those children. I think more gates are gonna fall down.

You know It says in the scriptures that the gates of hell will not stand as the church advances. The only reason that the gates of hell stand is because we don't advance. They don't stand because we're vigorously Advancing against them.

They stand because we're not all his enemies every family on earth. Christ has given the church a great mission. It has changed the world and it will continue to change the world now. I want to reiterate that I think that this conversation has had the most impact of any conversation in history, but There's an even more important conversation That's happening under the surface of this conversation.

There's words that are happening underneath it. There's there's power that's coming up underneath it. There's a conversation under the conversation rumbling under Jesus's words. Echoing underneath the writers written testimony that is bigger and grander and greater.

There's an eternal conversation underneath this text. That fuels the reality that's happening here and everywhere else in Holy Scripture. There is something going on under the text that makes this Bible different than the Wall Street Journal.

That makes it different than any other book you've ever read. C .s Lewis wrote a great book called the lion the witch in the wardrobe and he described the Bible as the wardrobe. It may look unimpressive on the outside.

But when you open it up you enter into a world where you can interact with God. No other wardrobe and no other book is like that. It's the conversation that's going on underneath Matthew 16. Now I Could say this is the most influential conversation in the world because why Jesus is a great motivational speaker.

That's not it. He was not Palestine's Tony Robbins or Norman Vincent Peale. I Could say that it was because Jesus with his breathy multi-syllabic Utterances ruled by canon of grammar and syntax arranged eloquently and rhetorical flair as a vehicle for meaning did it better than anyone else?

Sort of a theory of language.

No.

Underneath everything Christ said Underneath these everything Paul said Underneath everything that Peter said is the breath of Almighty God. It's that breath that makes these words revelation. It's that breath that makes seemingly ordinary characters arranged in order with spaces and commas the words of life.

The reason Matthew 16 is so powerful and the reason every passage of scriptures like Mariana Trench you can't get to the depth of it. The reason that it's living and sharper than any two-edged sword.

The reason that it's active. The reason that it Disciples you the reason that it that it admonishes you and corrects you and challenges you and breaks you and humbles you and excites you. The reason this book is living is because there's something living underneath it.

You think about Peter standing there a Very ordinary man. Which makes him so attractive to all of us because we're very ordinary people. He says Jesus. You're not gonna wash my feet. Jesus says well if I don't wash your feet, you don't have no part of the kingdom.

Jesus wash all of me then. He's walking on the water and Peter's like That seems like I should be able to do it too, and he jumps out of the boat and there he goes. Peter is impetuous and he is. He's persistent and he's like us.

We've seen if no other character in the scriptures. We see Peter and his ups and downs and his foibles and his moments of brilliance and when he gets it, right. It's not because he's smart when he gets it, right?

It's not because he's together when he gets it, right? It's not because he has a moment of rare genius. It's because when he says That you are the son of the Living God. The words that he spoke in that moment was the breath of God met with the ordinary man.

Making those words a declaration called revelation. Any other time Peter could have said give me a ham sandwich. That's not revelation. He could have said I'm so glad Peter Here healed my mother-in-law.

It's a joke. He could have said a lot of things. But when his words said those things it was the breath of God met with his ordinary tongue. And it became revelation. The same phenomenon happens to scriptures writers when Isaiah cries out here.

I am send me he's not speaking Isaiah's words anymore. He's speaking the words of God. When Paul sits down to write a letter to the Corinthians his he's been Bore along by the Spirit of God as he writes.

So that his his lunch order that he gave to the prison guard is different than the book that he wrote to Corinthians. God is doing something with his communication there. This is what we call revelation where ordinary men are saying extraordinary things.

Because God is meeting their communication with his breath with his power with his life. Now today in our passage, we're back in John. No. We're gonna look at what revelation is. And we're gonna look at what the role of the Holy Spirit's the Holy Spirit's role in revelation.

And I'm providing this sort of foundation because there's a lot of misunderstanding on what the Holy Spirit does of all the members of the Trinity Father Son and Spirit the Holy Spirit's the most misunderstood and how he speaks is Very misunderstood.

So I want to provide a foundation for what revelation is. So when we get to the Spirit, we'll know what he does what he speaks. So if you will Turn with me to John 14. We're in the final conversation of Jesus's life with his disciples.

He's encouraging them. He's telling them to hang on and fight until he returns. He's telling them to do greater works than then he he's telling them all of these things. But underneath them he's promising something grander than they could ever possibly imagine.

The revelation of the Holy Spirit of God. That's what we're going to talk about today. We're gonna do so in three stages. We're gonna look at stage one. Jesus's words are not his own. Stage two the Spirit's words are not his own.

At number three. We need to understand the importance of what the Holy Spirit does because if we don't There'll be a lot of error. And if we do there'll be a lot of blessings. So let's turn there and let's read John 14 25 through 26.

These things I have spoken to you. This is Jesus speaking while abiding 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 remembrance all that I have said to you.

Let's pray Lord Jesus. We thank you so much for passages like this. Where we see very clearly Father Son and Holy Spirit all in one verse. We thank you for your revelation. We thank you that revelation is what scripture is Divinely inspired infallible inerrant sufficient revelation.

That it's sufficient for everything we need that it's the Words of life. That you gave for us so that we may live you could have given us any number of different combinations of books and libraries and you gave us the scripture and You committed yourself to the scripture.

Lord, I pray today that we would see Underneath the surface of this passage and underneath the surface of every passage. Why the Bible is so important to the health and the life of a Christian Lord we pray these things in Christ's name.

Amen. Now this passage begins with a phrase these things I have spoken to you and as Bible interpreters we should ask what things. Well, it's just like whenever you see a therefore in the text. You should ask.

What is it therefore? What are these things that Jesus is talking about he's Pete he's appealing to something that he just said he's appealing to something known. For all of the grammar hammers that are here today.

This is a near demonstrative pronoun. For all of those who don't like grammar and and I would say the majority of us don't. It's just a pronoun that talks about something that's close in proximity to you.

There's demonstrative pronouns that point to things they're pointer pronouns some are near and some are far. For instance the far demonstrative pronouns would be those mountains way over there those or That sunset that's way over there.

Jesus is using near demonstrative pronouns like this and these. When I say this podium, I'm talking about something near to be not that podium that would be over there. This is right here or these Chairs, they're near to me.

Not those chairs these do you see the difference? Jesus is saying these things I've spoken to you because he's saying the things I just said. Not those words. I said last year. These things have I said to you.

So now we have to ask the question is what has Jesus just said? Will you go back to verse? Verse 24. He says he who does not love me Does not keep my words and the word which you hear is not mine. That's a confusing statement.

You're not keeping my words, but they're not mine. He said but they're the father's who sent me. So what Jesus is admitting here and what these things he's talking about is that his words are not his own.

That when Jesus speaks he's not speaking of his own initiative in his own strength in his own Intelligence, although as God he has every right to speak. He is submitted ultimately in every way to the father so that everything Christ said was from God.

He says if you see me, you've seen the father if you've heard what I've said. It's because God gave me those words and there's all kinds of examples that Jesus Uses in the Gospel of John even to drop the little breadcrumbs through the forest.

I cancel and Gretel to show us that Jesus is saying only what God has told him to say. He's not saying anything original. He's not saying anything novel anything Inventive he is saying only what God has told him to say.

John 5 19. Jesus answered the Pharisees saying truly truly I say to you the Son can do nothing of himself. Unless it is something he sees the father doing. For whatever the father does these things the son doesn't like manners fully submitted to his father.

John 7 16 through 18. This is the Feast of Tabernacles. So Jesus answered them and said my teaching is not my own. But his who sent me it's not my teaching. It's the father's teaching. That we're teaching.

Usually refers to a body of Teaching and often refers to the Old Testament just Pepper that in Johnny 28. So Jesus said when you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he. Why will you know.

Because I do nothing of my own initiative, but I speak these things As the father taught me. So he only speaks what the father tells him his words are not his own. This is really important if you want to understand what Scripture is what the Bible is because In verses like John 17, he's starting to hint at and give us the point.

For the words which you gave me I have given to them and they received them and they truly understood that I came forth from you. And they believed that you sent me. He's saying that all of the words that you gave me father were for their belief.

That's what it says about the Bible. The Bible was given for our belief. The words of God were given so that we would believe so that no word would return void. Jesus is starting to speak as. If all of the Bible is all that he said He didn't say anything new or inventive.

He said only what the father told him and only what the father told him was Scripture. We'll see this even as we continue going because if we don't believe that then we have to believe that. That God maybe had an earpiece in Jesus's ear and he was whispering to Jesus what he wanted him to say.

That's that's not what was happening. It wasn't like he was in a job interview and he was trying to get some friend to give him chat GBT advice. That's happened. God's not downloading messages to him like the matrix.

So there's some agreed-upon body of words that God has given to Christ. That he's only going to speak and then John 12 shows us exactly what this is. For I did not speak of my own initiative. But the father himself who sent me has given me a commandment as To what to say and to what to speak and I know that his commandment is eternal life.

His words are eternal life. Therefore the things I speak I Speak just as the father has told me. This word commandment is Only ever used to describe the Old Testament the commands of God. Every time it shows up over 70 times in the New Testament not once does it apply to anything but Old Testament revelation?

It's not new commands that Jesus is getting from the father that he's showing up and saying all you know in a novel way. It is he's saying that the commandments synonym Old Testament.

The scripture is.

What the father has given me to say and I only have said that. Now when we hear pastors in this country talking about unhitching ourself from the Old Testament. There's a man in Atlanta, Georgia Andy Stanley who said that Christians Don't have any relevance to the Old Testament.

We should just read the New Testament. He's throwing away the book that Jesus says is what he quoted from. That what he spoke from that what he bound himself to and refused to deviate from how foolish.

To say that the Old Testament is irrelevant. Take a couple examples of the word commandment just to prove the point. Matthew 15 3. Why do you yourself transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?

Jesus is appealing to the law that the Pharisees were breaking. Matthew 22 40 on these two commandments depend the whole law and the prophets. It's another example of the word commandment being used of the entire Old Testament.

Jesus summarized it all on these two commands is Everything. So when Jesus saying that God gave me a commandment and that's all I'm gonna speak. He's saying I'm only gonna speak the Bible. I'm only gonna speak revelation.

I'm only gonna speak what has already been revealed. See this idea that Jesus came to give us something new is actually a modern Addition to Christianity. Jesus didn't come to give us something new. He came to fulfill everything that was old.

He came to be the true prophet be the true priest be the true King be all those things that we could not be. It's not new material. It's it's fulfillment of Everything that already has been said. He's saying God sent me to declare Scripture to you because for your whole life.

For our whole life. Scripture made no sense to us. So the the one who authored it in the first place came to teach it to us and to tell us about it in Jesus's words never deviated a moment from what was written in Genesis through Malachi.

Now, why is this so important? Because it teaches us that the Father speaks through Holy Scripture. The Father does not speak to you unless it is through Holy Scripture. That's a strong statement. But the Father does not speak to you unless it is through Holy Scripture.

If You want to hear God speak read the Bible. I said this a couple weeks ago, and if you want to hear God speak to you out loud, then read it out loud. He has decided to speak to you in Scripture, let me give you an example.

Deuteronomy 29 29. The secret things belong to the Lord. But the things that have been revealed belong to us and to our sons forever that we may observe the words of his law he's saying that there's secret things that you'll never know and I'm not telling you and There's things that have been revealed.

Those are yours.

He didn't say that. There's those that have been revealed. And a couple thousand years later after you've eaten a bad burrito. Then maybe you'll get a word from the Lord.

No.

He's saying there's two categories of revelation the things that are mine. That don't belong to you the age of the universe. The Trinity when we can't understand it. Wow, he saved us. Look at yourself in the mirror and say I don't understand that at all.

It's not for yours to understand. The things that have been revealed though are yours. That's the subset of knowledge that he's given you and he has not promised to give you additional revelation. So first we know that Jesus speaks through Scripture.

The Father speaks through Scripture. We're not responsible to know everything. But we are responsible for the things that he's told us. We're responsible for the things that he's revealed. Second says recap.

Jesus is not giving new data. He's not juxtaposing himself against God, you know, God says some confusing things in the Old Testament. I'm here to clear it up. I'm gonna tell you exactly the new stuff that that's not what's going on.

He's speaking the Father's words in a way that we could finally understand them through the Spirit of God. Third there's nothing new in Jesus's ministry. There's nothing new Miracles, those were prophesied that we're gonna happen.

They were already happening before Jesus came as the fulfillment of all of that God dying for his people. That's prophesied in Isaiah. That's prophesied in multiple different passages. There's nothing new nothing novel nothing Inventive about the ministry of Christ.

It is exactly what the Old Testament said. It was going to be Him dying for his people so that they could be saved according to the shed blood of the lamb is all.

There.

Every New Testament doctrine is in the Old Testament and in at least seed form. If you look at an acorn and you look at a hundred-year-old oak tree. In some ways, they're the same thing. In some ways they're not.

The Old Testament is a lot of acorns. The New Testament is a forest of mighty oak trees. But it's in the same direction. It's not new. It's not a forest of oak trees and a maple tree. There's nothing new in Jesus's ministry.

There's everything that's old. Beautifully fulfilled. Matchlessly fulfilled in Christ. To the ends of the earth. Now, why do I spend so much time upon this concept? Other than just a desire to go deep into something esoteric which is fun to do as well.

Well, why am I worried to try to prove that God only speaks revelation. Because there's lots of people who say that God has spoken to them and have told Them to do things that aren't in the Bible. Or told them to neglect things that aren't in the Bible.

You know.

God told me today that it would be a good idea to go take a walk on the beach because my stress levels high and I'm gonna avoid church. God didn't tell you that because he says in the Bible don't neglect the gathering.

God told me that I need to spend time with a friend and and and I don't. I don't need to read scripture or pray or do any of that. I'm just gonna I'm just gonna love them into the kingdom. God didn't tell you to do it that way.

This idea of share the gospel and if necessary use words is wrong. The gospel is words. How many times have we justified our own behavior by saying God told me and it's not in Scripture. I'm afraid that that sort of looseness To the text has crept into the church.

So I want to I want to share that for that reason. The second thing is I want us to be clear about what revelation is and the third is I want us to understand what the Spirit is doing in Revelation because I've seen the most error in this particular area.

The Holy Spirit told me to tell you somebody came up to me one time and said the Holy Spirit told me to tell you That one day you're gonna go through a lot of pain but then it's gonna get better and Then you're really gonna be something and I was like, I feel like I'm talking to mother Cleo like the lady on the 1 -800 number.

Like I'm Okay. Yeah, I went through a hard time. Oh that must be what it was and Then my wife told me how good-looking I looked. I'm really something that must be what it. It's unfalsifiable. That's not how the Holy Spirit speaks.

I'm concerned about our theology the Holy Spirit and how we understand what he says and how he speaks. Because as we will see just as the father only speaks Scripture and the son only says what the father says.

Which means the son only speaks Scripture what we will see in our passage today. Is that the Spirit only speaks Scripture as well? He is committed to Holy Scripture he will use Holy Scripture he will not deviate from Scripture.

Now maybe you're worried that was a long introduction now, we're finally at the sermon. No. This is one of those sermons where we get to the point at the end. Praise the Lord. Let's look at the passage one more time and let's see what the Holy Spirit is doing.

The Holy Spirit Teaches and Reminds Through Scripture

These things I've spoken to you while abiding with you. And we know these things are the words that the father gave him. But the helper the Holy Spirit whom the father will send in my name. He will teach you all things and bring to remember.

It's all that I said to you. First thing we learn here is the Holy Spirit is submissive to the father. It's not the Holy Spirit who sent himself. He was sent by the father. So the father is head in the triune relationship and the Spirit is submitting to the leadership of the father.

The second thing is we see that he's submissive to the to the son because he's not sent in his name. He's sent in Jesus's name. So he's not only submissive to the father. He's submissive to the son. He's being sent for a purpose.