Are You Prepared for Passover?

The sermon topic today is, Are You Ready for Passover? And that's the whole season. That's what we've been focusing on. Some specifics, but that's a general question. And we've had really a lot of good answers and explanation this year, more than most, for the last several weeks. Two months, or a little more even. Really appreciated some of the messages I have heard that added to the things that I was saying.

Just some outstanding things. So I appreciate that very much from the other speakers. And also some of the conversation that I've had with various members of the congregation here at Des Moines, that you know, you pray about these things. And if you focus on them, God teaches you. So I've just received a lot of encouragement, understanding, insights I wouldn't have otherwise, would not have otherwise just on my own. So we've had the question posed, and which Mr. Ratcliffe just brought up for at least a third time, by the fourth or fifth.

Repetition is sometimes good, sometimes boring, but not in this case. But, you know, are we worthy? Are we unworthy? And what does that mean? It's been explained. So I usually summarize it and just say, we are unworthy. And that question is settled. That's what the examination does. It proves to us how much we need the Passover. And it shows us how gracious God is, because there's no question about being good enough to take the Passover, or being good enough for anything.

That is so important to get into our heads. We've had it reviewed. I'm sure everybody understands that. But not as well as you might next year. God gives a deeper understanding, if not to just the general concept, but to our own situation. So that was one. That's settled. And when you get that settled, there's a huge relief. I've mentioned Psalm 32. It's just, when God does answer your prayers, and you're able to see, there's just a certain amount of faith and joy that is increased.

Great relief sometimes. And that Psalm 32 is where David specifically was putting it off and didn't want to think about it, or even mention it. When you quit that, and are able, and it's hard to, repeatedly through your life, once again open your heart up, would you show me what I need to know? Because we're always learning. So that's a wonderful blessing before we even start, as we prepare to understand. Secondly, it follows that we cannot possibly get ready for a perfect Passover. I guess I already mentioned this in another way.

Of ourselves, we can't get ready. Jesus must get us ready. Our part is to submit to God. Well, but I already did. Plus all those other years I already did before Passover. I'm living in submission as well as I can. But specifically, that's what does it. As soon as you get your attitude just about right, it'll start degrading. Start wandering off. We're just human. That's what happens. Lose our concentration. Think about other things. So when you get back to that every time you do and come to this, in the end, I don't really care about myself or what I get.

Thy will be done. Because I know that's going to be best for me and everybody else. When you come back to that, where it's, thy will be done, no reservations. Thy will be done, except I wish you would do so and so. Or can I please? And we can still have, and we do have our desires, which God wants, our own will. And we're supposed to tell Him what we're thinking, what we want. But bottom line is, I really don't care if his slightest bit off, do your will.

I know your decision is going to be best for me. And when we get to that point, Christ has done his job once again. Very acceptable. And then you wonder, well, yeah, but what about all those things I haven't even learned about? Yeah, well, you don't have to worry about that. Christ has it in hand. He says, if your conscience bothers you, don't even worry about that. That's immaterial. I'm your creator, and I will fix that. You just do what I say and have the faith to do it, and I'll fix your conscience.

I'm the creator. Anyway, it's pretty comforting to hear those words. John 3, 20, I think. No, 1 John 3, 20, the letter. So, third point, we have knowledge.

And about the importance of Passover, the symbol is a joyous thing. It's momentous. It's the beginning of the Holy Day review of God's plan of salvation for the year, which is just so great we can't grasp it fully. We usually have, and maybe I'm projecting onto you, but most people usually have trouble maintaining this high level of joyousness and understanding of glory and realizing that we're about to step into it. We're in the process of Jesus bringing us to this, bringing us to the Father.

And it's hard for me, perhaps you, to just keep that excitement. Maybe you don't have to have the excitement that can worry you out. But that realization and that true joy and appreciation and happiness. But that's what we're doing here. We're showing the source of human joy and therefore joy forever. And that is Christ's sacrifice to change us so that we can have that and so that He can give it to us.

So we know a lot about that. We know much about God and a lot about Jesus Christ. That's what you have to have to come to know them. And that we are to examine the relationship between us and the Father and Jesus and our covenant. It is a covenant relationship. But that's what we're supposed to do. We've been reading from wide selections of Scripture to prepare. We've talked with different ones and you've been reading, I've been reading. And it's just inspirational just to go through and read the book.

It's a living book, meaning that, among other things. When you read it, Christ is right there. And that's a hard concept to really. So again, when you're reading the Bible with a good attitude, presumably, but that's probably mostly true, if not almost always, Christ is there. So I'll never leave you. And He gives us understanding and inspiration. You turn about any place in the whole Bible. And I thought, you know, okay, yes, but let's first 10 chapters of First Cryingles.

So and so begat, so and so begat, so and so begat, so and so begat, and your eyes glass over in about four verses and you've got 10 chapters to go. Even, you know, just a little bit. If you had a comment, a little bit behind each one of those verses, it's inspirational.

That is, it will, as you understand, you begin, it's God's Spirit. God says He will do that and He does. So we've been preparing. And we always prepare for the next year by reading from John what Christ said to His disciples that last night. But I wanted to go over, we've gone over most of 13 quite a bit.

And 17 we've emphasized Christ's prayer for unity, His blessing on Himself, His strength, and His glorification along with us. We've gone over that more, but 14, 15, and 16 get short shrift. And it's presumptuous to try to think you'll cover one of these chapters in a sermon. But let's do some review on those three chapters, because we usually, this really bugs me, in Passover, you have to choose selections through those three chapters to read, and it's so brief. So this will be brief, but not like usual. And that's what I want to do today is go through the preparation. This is right after they took the Passover and so on, but this was our preparation for future Passovers.

What He told to the disciples and to us were disciples to what He told us, and what He wants us to be thinking about, the concepts to get ready for the Passover. Now Paul, of course, said, well, think on these things, you know. Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is just, whatever is pure, lovely, and so on. Three more. I'm going to save time. He just mentioned five. But these are general categories. What Christ gave here is concepts and truths that are relevant to our covenant with Jesus and the Father. So it's real important. It's kind of an understatement. It's very important.

Okay, so let's go to...well, let's start with chapter 13. There is usually an introduction to something in the Bible except for Genesis 1.1. So that was the introduction. And that's the reason for this particular sermon. Chapter 13 and verse 1, because 13 is the...we always start with this. It's the story. It sets us up for the others. So I'll try to quickly go through this. It starts out, not before the feast, the Passover.

When Jesus knew that the hour was come... Now this is repeated, the hour and the word now. Now is the time. It's time that I must. And now is the hour. The next five chapters. Four chapters. So that's an interesting concept that he starts with. But it says, The time has come that he had passed out of this world, departed out of this world, Unto the Father, having loved his own, who were in the world, he loved him unto the end.

So the first big point that Christ makes is the time was come and he had accomplished his job. And the main thing is that we know that he really loved us. We have plenty of proof, evidence, and so on, but when he died for us, then that was just absolute...

You don't die for something because of some little reason. You don't choose to die. He chose to die. Christ was totally committed to us. And of course, then he proved it. So we're being ended, and we have the time where he girds himself, puts a towel around his waist, and washes their feet.

And we have the famous... a couple of famous stories here. But verses 1-3, it's pointed out, they are a concise statement about the great importance of this world-changing event of Christ, who is God, as a man, washing other people's feet and just serving them. That was a symbol of something far greater, and that is his death, which actually accomplished that. But it was a world-changing event. The first three verses should be noted. That's the introduction to this story. There's something before that that leads up to it.

That has to do with chapter 12, in verse 20-22. I'm not going to turn there, but there were some Greeks that came and said we want to talk with him. It may be because it was Philip's hometown. Not sure. But he said, no, sorry. The time is out following this theme mentioned in verse 1.

Nope, I'm out of time. Don't have time for them. These Greeks weren't from Greece, probably, or probably across the lake from Decapolis, or some of the Greeks. And some of the other Gentiles went or were classified as Greeks. But anyway, they were probably there to keep the Passover, and they wanted to meet him because they had heard about him. So he just said, sorry, folks. Now's the time. He basically cut everything off at this point. Everything was focused on finishing this up right. Because he didn't say, well, it's time to do this. He said it's the very hour and a few days before that.

He says, now is the time. So Christ was very conscious of the time was running out and what he needed to do probably every hour. You know what? He was far beyond our capacity to plan. Then he said, the time has come. He was troubled. This is in verse 24, following the previous chapter. And he said this, and people heard a rumbling. And it was a voice. Then they could tell it was a voice.

It was God saying, I have glorified you and I will glorify you. And so that was an encouragement in verse 28. And it was time for the world to be judged. And how does that fit? Well, they were about to kill him. The world, all of us were about to murder him and give proof that we deserved the judgment of death for sins. So just to... That's just an introduction to even the introduction. Okay, let's go on here with...we were at verse 3. Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things and he was about ready to go. Everything was done. He rises from suffering, He grishes Himself, and then washes their feet.

Then you have the situation where Peter jumps up not once but twice and decides to improve on what Christ would do. Because of course He knew so much better how to do things. And we shouldn't laugh at Peter. It's kind of funny when you think about it.

But that's us! He was...there He was the most vocal we think. We know better and it takes a long time to learn that. If I got my little magnifying glass with which I was going to read a note in the margin that I wrote about 45 years ago. Just a minute, I'll check it. I can't really...here it is. Just a note. It's interesting. Peter didn't understand the humility that was required to have authority. They all just wanted to be in charge.

That was one of the things they wanted. And they thought it was a great idea. Which we all think. We all think, you know, I know what to do with that. Just give me the presidency for 10 minutes and I'll fix the world. Or whatever it is. We have this element of our thoughts. And so government is supposed to be a service and he didn't get that yet.

It's supposed to be our honor to be of service. Excuse me. Well, this is my little note. I thought it was worthwhile. It gives honor to Jesus Christ to serve us. That makes him more honorable. And he wants to pass that along to us.

And Peter helps us out by showing an example of what we look like to God a lot of times. By thinking we know better. And he jumps up and, you're not going to wash my feet. And so on. And so we have this story. We review it. We'll review it tomorrow night in the service.

But verse 12. So after he'd washed their feet, taken out of his garments, Do you know what I have done to you, said? And I did cover that last sermon, so I'll move right on. Judas is excluded. There's one side note I'd like to mention in verse 29 of chapter 13. And this is when Judas did leave as soon as he received this sop. He had had his feet washed. They hadn't taken the bread and the wine yet. But he received this piece of bread, dipped into the whatever. And he accepted that like they all did. That was done anyway. And right after that, he went immediately out, verse 29. But he said, for some of them, the other disciples didn't know why he was leaving. But he had the money bag or the money box that Jesus had said unto him. They thought that Jesus told him, we'll go out and buy those things that we have need of for the feast. Or give something to pour or something. But they thought he was going to go out and buy something that night after they had Passover. What does that tell you? That tells you it wasn't a holy day. And that tells you that we are keeping it just like Christ did the day before the night to be observed, which starts the holy day. Very important little scripture. You have all these little hints in scripture. Just lock it down and prove it. There are 12 scriptures that prove that in the New Testament and 12 in the Old. I learned this from an old-time English preacher who has been dead for, oh, I'm thinking, 15 to 20 years. I knew him, but I was a kid when I knew him. And he was from England. I had occasion to talk to him on the phone, and I just started writing. I just learned a lot. I tell you his name if I could think of it. I'll never forget good old What's-His-Name. It's an old song. Robin, Robin Jones. And he married the oldest of the Engelbart children. And they lived up here, and they attended Omaha, and that was the connection. But they thought he was going to go out to buy something after the Passover service, showing that Passover is not a Sabbath or a Holy Day. It's a very holy time, a very holy secret ceremony, but not specifically a Sabbath. Now, I thought I would read this one selection. I brought this up here for that purpose. This is in verse 32 to 35. I'm going to do it in the NLT. The time has come, verse 31, that the Son of Man to enter into His glory, and God will be glorified because of Him. I've been thinking about this and have many times somebody mentioned it recently about, I think it was, Mr. Rick Beam, who died about three weeks ago, as you have heard probably. And he wasn't afraid of death. He didn't want to die just right now, thank you. But that's the door to the future that we desire so much. So it's like childbirth, you know. You don't want to die. But you don't have to fear that because God has it under control like always. So, He's going to be glorified. And since God receives glory because of the Son, this is just a little clearer than King James, since God receives glory because of the Son, He will give His own glory to the Son, and He adds He will do so at once. This is about to happen.

Well, a lot. Am I willing to die for you? If I had my wits about me? If I weren't in my frequent aberrations where I'm selfish? If I were thinking about Jesus and the Father and my covenant, I would. I can say it with confidence. I hope I would, for sure. But I would, I think you would too, when you consider what God offers to us.

To die for one that you love. And of course, Christ did that for people not knowing before we were ever born. The enormity of His sacrifice is inure us. To use a statement that doesn't make sense of itself, but anyway, it's huge. And so we have to analyze that because Christ did that. We're supposed to love others as we have been loved by Christ.

That was new. Love your friends. Maybe give your life for them. But you don't have to. The other rotten people, which is the vast majority of the billions, you know. Old Testament, hate your enemies, but be sure to love your friends. A whole different level. That was new. So now I'm giving you a new commandment, love each other, just as I have loved you.

And what He had been doing was giving His time and His life to those men, and their wives, and the whole group, day by day, using it up so it was useful. When we serve and give to others instead of our own selfish pursuits, hobbies are fine, but when we have the opportunity and decide not to give but get, we lose, I guess.

We can say several things. That's not pleasing to God. What I was going to say is it's not used well. You can use your hour or your day up. You can kill time. My dad always had us saying, he said, if you're going to kill time, okay, work it to death.

Get something out of your time. Make your life useful! Except he said it louder than that. Big guy. I listened. So that you should love each other just how I've lived you. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples. So it's pretty important, obviously. I just wanted to read that from the NLT. Okay, now we're ready to start Chapter 14. And 14 is bigger as far as explanation is because Christ does repeat the same concept through this section, several concepts.

So, let's go with... just a minute. Turn the wrong way. This is called His Discourse to the Disciples. It's to us. It has to do with fellowship with Jesus Christ, intimate, direct, profound. The thoughts, the attitudes, the principles, the concepts that He wants us to think about in terms of this relationship that we have. The first six verses are just reassurance or assurance, I should say. Let not your heart be troubled.

You believe in God will believe also in me. They said they believed that He was God, but they were easily squeezed to change their mind or have doubts, as we are, human. In my father's house are many mansions. The word means offices or positions or places in the family, as it were, and specifically offices, positions that we have. If it were not so, I would have told you, I'm going to prepare a place for you, a place in the family. How would you like to have a deal? You're searching for a job and you want a better job than you have, and you find what seems to be the perfect company.

You interview, it's the perfect boss. You can't find a thing wrong. Then you're offered the position. You weren't sure of what it was, and it's just what you've always wanted to do. You look at it and the workspace is just what you wanted.

You can't believe it. And then you look at more specifics and it wasn't what you wanted because you hadn't really thought of it, but it's the best thing you ever saw. And on down the line, it turns out it is the perfect position and the pay is high. How would you like that? Perfect job, perfect situation. Well, that's what God is offering. Just think about what was your perfect job. We don't even know because we don't know ourselves as well as God does and how He's creating us, what He's creating us into. That's why it's so important to put obedience to Him because that's when He is able to create and change and act the part that He has, which is the potter.

You squeeze the clay and the praise, you smooth that over, you shape it and mold it so it's absolutely beautiful and strong and all those things and all those analogies. So, verse 3 then, and so this is how He starts out. Well, this isn't the start, but the sad continues. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again.

He just affirmed that He would and receive you unto myself. They would get worried and would worry more during this because He said, I'm going to kill me. They were very unsettled that where I am that you may be also. So, what's this talking about? It takes you back to the tabernacle, picture of the house of God in the wilderness.

It takes you past the altar and going in the light and the table and the bread on the table, which is called the bread of the presence. When we are eating, that is, living, learning daily from Jesus Christ, the true manna, that is the true principle, some of which we're studying now, we are in the presence of God just as a fact and it symbolizes His presence in our life. When we study and learn more, which we're doing especially during this period of time, and meditating on how can I put this into action, dedicating ourselves more deeply to Jesus Christ, we're picturing the bread of the presence where, later explained as far as the unleavened bread that we take, we're just symbolizing being at one with God.

I've taken to, a lot of times, not all the times, prayer at the table, just including that the main thing, asking for various things, blessing on the food, of course, just asking, usually there are things to ask about that day. But in general, what we want is God's presence in our lives through His Spirit, which comes to us directly from God and through our study of His Word and meditation upon it and striving to obey it.

And so God's presence then is woven right into here by Christ and into the idea of getting ready for our Passover. We are yearning to be in God's presence. That's what we want. We want to be with God.

He says, I'm going to be there and you can be there too. And where I go, you know, here's an element of humor, absolutely dead true, but dead right on, you know, but a little bit humorous. Let's not laugh too loud at the disciples. They represent us. Where I go, you know, and the way you know. And Thomas, who was mystified, said, Lord, we don't know where you're going. Read that in N.L.T. or Good News Bible or some of the others, some of them, a bit humorous. But we don't know where you're going. And how can we know the way? And so he was thinking, he's going to walk physically and go somewhere.

And Christ then just resets everything and gives him the spiritual answer. I am the way, the truth, and the life. We've read that and it can roll off your tongue very quickly. But it means, here's a section where Christ is showing them, and some study bibles have this right in the margin, or in the top. This is Christ showing the way to God, which is another way of stating his whole reason for coming. He is showing the way to the Father.

I am the way, you have to know me, I'll tell you all about it. I have the truth, you have to have that, or you have nothing, and you have to be alive. And I'm going to give you eternal life. So you'll know the way to the Father, the truth of the Father, essential. And you'll have the life of the Father, the same life I have in me, he could have said. So no man can come to the Father except through me. Pretty astounding when you think of the depth and the organization and the point-by-point explanation Christ gives.

Verse 9-11 then, 7-9 first, If you had known me, and you should have known my Father, He was setting up for another question, and from henceforth you shall know Him, and you have seen Him. Well, He was speaking on the same line, but they all were just trying to keep up with His thoughts, and Philip said, Lord, show us the Father, and that'll be sufficient, you know.

At least show us the Father. It was kind of a desperation. They knew that He was way ahead of them. But we don't know. Have you ever felt that way? We're supposed to know. But you start looking at yourself and you say, Holy, I know some things, but I'm woefully, sadly, behind.

And then you pray, please help me to understand this verse, this statement. I actually don't get it, even though I thought I did fifty five years ago or whatever it was, you know. And I thought I surely did thirty years ago, and you just are able to realize, in reality, I just have to be completely tutored and taught to the very end, because there's just always so much more. Jesus says unto them, Have I been with you a long time, and you haven't known me, Philip? He that has seen me has seen the Father, and how can you say so is the Father?

So he's acting incredulous. They should have known, but they couldn't know. He's the same way with us. And of course, at one point, he had said, no one has seen God the Father at any time. And so that's true. So what was he talking about? He was talking about his example. Now I think just like the Father. I am just like the Father. I believe just like we work together. We are one. We're so close. Do you believe not?

Don't you believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me? Of course, he had taught them this, but they didn't understand it. And then he gives the key. And he had given this key in John 6, verse 63, in which he had said, unless you actually eat my body and drink my blood, then you can't have any part of it. You can't be in the kingdom. And then, verse 63, he explained it.

And he said, it's the words. They are the manna from heaven and the blood of Christ, that which we take in, the body and blood of Christ. It's the words that I speak. Now going back to verse 10 here. It's the words that I speak unto you. I speak not of myself, but the Father that dwells in me. He does the works. So you can see what God does by looking at what I do and how God thinks by what I tell you, what words I tell you. So no matter what, you can say, oh, I understand that.

I was talking to my neighbor the other day, and she understands this. She always brings up the, God will not leave us comfortless in King James and others. But she has her Catholic Bible, and she says, God will not leave us orphans. And that's the actual word. God will not leave us orphanos. And so it's just translated into English more directly.

But she always quotes that to me because she's worried about the politics and the dangers in the world and so on. So it's the Father that does the works, and people understand that as well. They'll rattle it off to you, but they don't understand it. What's more, we have a hard time keeping up and understanding it more and more deeply. Okay, believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me, or else believe me for the very works sake.

Look at what I do. I couldn't do this without being God. And so look at it just for the very works sake. My dad used to quote this. It meant a lot to him, so I know that one pretty well. Let's see, let's go. Now verse 13 is the first of four statements that he makes that are the same. I've given this before, but I'll point it out.

Verse 13 and 14. And whatever you shall ask in my name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. Or that what the Son does will bring the Father glory, as the other translation has it. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it. And he says that four times in this section before Passover, meaning that's really important in analyzing our covenant with God. Do we actually believe that? Or well, if I ask him, I don't know if he will or not, you know?

Because there is leeway, just like in healing. One time, God says, I will heal you. One time, he will not heal you physically. Because he's given to man and wants to die. So will he heal you by resurrecting you? And we don't know that. The vast majority of times we ask, he builds us up over our lifetime, so that there's a pattern you ask and God answers. So here's the first one.

The second one is in verses 13-14. I'm just going to get them all together here. Chapter 14 verses 13-14 goes with... that is... I take it back. That's what we're reading. That's number one. Number two is chapter 15 verses 7 and 16. 15 verses 7 and 16. And that's 2 and 3. And number four is in chapters 16 verses 23-24.

And then add to that... so 16 verses 23-24 is the fourth time we'll come to them. Add to that 1 John 5 verses 14-15. Just a little nutshell. I use the nutshell method. Just write a little small note, maybe a few scriptures or two comments or something. And just put it in a nutshell. And with an arrow right to where you're talking about. And you have a Bible study on that point that will review all your study from previous times. Okay, so he says, whatever he asks. Now notice what the context is. I mentioned this the other day too. But this is in doing greater works. And I didn't read verse 12. Truly I say unto you, he that believes on me, the works that I do, shall he do also. Okay, that's spiritual works. That's not necessarily anything you might want to do, a hobby or something, that would be good. But this is doing things for God in his work. Overcoming specific things, developing specific skills or knowledge and so on. The works that I do, he shall also do in greater works than these shall he do, because I go to my Father. And the Father was the source of all this. And so Christ then would be able to have all of us, who the Father had called. And Christ doing the work through us, us taking, we taking the directions from Christ and the thoughts. Would be doing the same things, just many more and even greater, as he says. So, this is just a profound thing. The thing is, he that believes on me, and he had said, if you just believe, your daughter could be healed. And people have ripped that out of context and said, all you have to do is believe, you don't have to obey. That's just absolutely wrong. That's not right. What Christ was saying, well, you are obeying, and you have some faith, and you really want it. And you're worshipping me, after all, asking me to heal. And he said, all you lack, just relax and have the faith. I will do it. And if we take that step, and faith is a decision. I think I mentioned that last time. Faith involves a decision. You have to step out on faith. When you do that, then God gives you the faith, because you have determined and set your will to do it, and set your example of doing it. And that's when your faith grows. It's one of the times when your faith grows. So, he repeats that. Verse 15, if you love me, then keep my commandments. You want to prove that you love Christ? You simply have to obey.

And he mentions this in several ways. This is one of the themes through this area, and it's actually all through the New Testament, especially, but through the Bible. If you want to show your love, then obey. In the Old Testament, it says, Fear the Lord says that many times, but then at other times it says, fewer times, love the Lord. The idea is, when you fear the Lord enough to obey him, that's when God changes your deep respect and devotion. You change that into just love. Absolute devotion and dedication and desiring to be with and be like God. This is a hard thing to come to, but it's the promise, and God does that. So, the context for doing God's work and helping us in doing that work then brings up this. He said, if you are doing my work in whatever you want to do, do it. Have an idea. You want to try it? If it's in my work, try it. I'll be with you. However, if you want to go off and do something and just ask for God's help to do something that isn't good for your life and isn't good for his work or anything, it doesn't apply, because the context of this, of doing anything you ask, is that you are engaged in throwing your heart into the work of God. So, verse 16, I will pray to the Father, and he shall give you another comforter, a very famous verse, that he may abide with you forever. So, the word he should be it. I've demonstrated this. We have the booklet on the Trinity, and it just really goes through this. It just nails it down. It's a grammatical thing. Like in Spanish, if you talk about a table and you want to say the table, you have to say la mesa. You can't say el mesa, because it's a feminine word. Tables is a feminine word, mesa. So, you use la, which means the for a feminine person or just a feminine word. Same thing in Greek, and a lot of languages have this. If you're going to be honest with what it means, you have to say, no, that has to be it. It doesn't mean a person. You can say he. We use he and she. The old girl was really struggling in the waves of an old ship, and she was about to go, and she, she, she, you know. Or in a storm, you know. We do that in English to some extent, and we understand what we mean. It doesn't mean that the car or the tree is a boy, or it should be called he. You say that for dramatic effect, and so on. So anyway, that's enough of the doctrine there, but we have a whole but really important booklet. I really recommend you spend the time, sometime, and it'll take you days, if not two or three weeks, to really get through that one. A lot went into it. But the Spirit of Truth is what he's talking about, the Comforter or the Counselor, Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it hasn't seen him. It should be it. And usually, I just read it to myself. I just read it like it's written. It's so hard to translate as you're going through. Why bother? But that's what it means. It's not saying that the Spirit is an actual person. There are two persons. They have the Spirit and the power and the intelligence and the knowledge and everything else that makes up what they are, and they will share it with us. They do.

But you know it, you know him, for he it dwells with you and shall be in you. So there's a period of time where you're baptized, and I thought about this a lot, because as a kid, then as a teenager, then more and more, until I was baptized, I could tell when God was helping me and when I needed to go pray.

Sounds like I was a real righteous kid, you know, a real fervent. No, I was a typical teenager, but I knew where my bread was buttered. When I needed help, I cried out, and God helped. So I've given some of these examples in another church before I learned how not to say it. It sounded like I was just this righteous person.

No, I was a teenager, after all, and normal in those respects, but I was just being called by God, and I was so thankful for that. I am so thankful for that. Has been with you, and shall be in you. So there is a difference, and we've explained this on so many baptismal counselings, that it's when the Holy Spirit is made a permanent part of your mind, and never to go back.

That should happen at baptism. That's when we pray for the Holy Spirit as a gift, and that's when He says He will give it. So sometimes you can tell in yourself right away, and sometimes you can't. It was like two and a half years before I could tell any growth whatsoever. It was baptized, and I felt... I prayed about that. Dr. Hay mentioned in a sermon one time. He said, you know, for me, it was a whole year, not one piece of discernible growth I could understand.

But God made the promise, and He is in the process of giving it. So that really my mind a little bit. I pass it on to you. So I will not leave you, or phanos is the Greek, as orphans, or just comfortless, just fatherless, comfortless orphan.

I will come to you, same theme, of being in the presence of God forever. In chapter 14, I'm having serious doubts about chapter 15 and 16, because there is so much here. It's so deep. And I'm not a fast talker. Let's get to verse 20. At that day, that always refers to the resurrection, or almost always in the Bible, the resurrection. You shall know I am in the Father, and you in me, and I in you.

And of course, that's what He's going to pray about specifically in chapter 17. So this is hard to understand, because it's deep. And this is Judas Christ's younger brother, half brother, says to him, Lord, how is it that you will manifest thyself to us and not to the world? How is that going to work? So he's thinking deeply. And Christ answered and said, if a man love me, he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with him.

It says that in Revelation also, chapter 3. If I knock, I'm waiting at the door. We will come in. We will have dinner with him. And so this is a spiritual thing. You can know, and we do know, as He said. You know, because there are lapses, and you can say I'm kind of empty, but there are times, you know, that you know what you know. Namely, God has become our Father. He has given us His Spirit, which is His attitude and everything else about Him. It's Him. The word you hear is not mine, but the Father who sent me, and He said that in several places, too. So He re-emphasized that before the Passover. Not before, for us before the Passover.

But the Comforter or the Counselor who is or which is the Holy Spirit, which the Father will send in my name, it shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance, whatever I have said unto you.

That's what's going to happen. That's what He will give to you. So we have Christ then giving assurance after assurance, reminding you of the promises He's made, and then giving this explanation that we didn't have before. Now we have Christ's bequest, His gift to us, several gifts, specifically called peace. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, not as the world gives give I end to you.

It's something totally different because we can have peace in the world. It's wonderful, usually for a short amount of time. But you can have, He says, let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. What was welling up in them was He had told them about this, and the way He was talking is, I will come again, I will go and come back, and so on.

There was a feeling of foreboding. They were starting to feel like orphans, which is why He brought it up. He's going away. We have depended on Him. He had become their whole life. They looked at Him for everything. He was their rabbi, their teacher, and more than just a teacher, He was their personal leader, had a personal relationship with Him. And so He says, let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. He's saying, don't do this. But they were sinking and sinking, and they would learn later that they couldn't. They didn't have the Holy Spirit yet.

And so when it came to crucifixion, they just all ran. They just fled. They had enough faith to take Him up to that. But when it was just, you know, you can get scareder and scareder and scareder, and pretty soon just about everybody will break and take off running, or scream, or yell, or do something.

And that's what was happening. And He was saying, now don't let yourself be afraid. Well, when Peter died, we don't have, we don't, we have only tradition on that. But when he was leading up to it, and when Paul was doing the same thing, he comments about it, and they had lost their fear of death. Even their fear of pain.

Yes, I know it's going to be painful, but they saw Christ. And so, he tells us, preparing us for the future, don't allow yourself to have the, um, the luxury, is what I was trying to think of. Don't allow yourself the luxury of just going ahead and being fearful.

Face it. And stop it right now. And you might come across something bigger than you've ever found, and say, okay, stop it right now. Cry out to God. Ask Him in Jesus' name to help you not to be fearful. And it might be bigger than you ever came across before. And if it is, then you do the same thing.

Stop it, I said. And double down on yourself and on your prayer. And different ones have proven it. You may have yourself. I definitely have. It has to be proven over and over during a life. But God will help you, and you can demand that your attitude straighten out. He will give you help to do that if you have the help of the Holy Spirit. We have it available when we are called.

Children can do that. Young folks can, you know, not anywhere near baptism. It's if the Holy Spirit is with you, if God is calling you, and you have the Spirit, you can do these things. And it requires us to. You have heard now, I said unto you, I go away and come again. And that's what they were just worrying about. If you loved me, you would rejoice, because I said, I go unto my Father, for my Father is greater than I.

Because His Father had everything with which He would be able to bless them with. If you loved me, you would really be happy. How can you say that? Well, He's talking, if you really understood, and you've come to that level of, thy will not mine, no matter what, I want your way, not my way, then you can have this power, no matter how big the threat becomes. I have a lot of martyrs in history that died for the name of Christ.

And I remember reading about one of them. There's Fox's book of martyrs. I didn't think I needed that much bad news, but didn't read the whole book. But there are some people, one man was burned to death. He didn't flinch. He just focused and was praying to God. And God apparently protected him from feeling. And of course, that he died rather quickly, because he didn't flinch. He was just praying to God. And even if you're praying and really concentrating, if you get burned, you're going to howl. So I think it's rather obvious God gave that power to him, just to set an example to all those who were torturing him and were in the process of killing him.

So even if it's as bad as a martyrdom, a deliberate murder, trying to make you like the devil, try to make Christ break, you don't have to break. You can go to the end without your faith breaking. And of course, a lot of people have been tried and righteously died in the faith before God didn't compromise and did scream. So that's not the... I mean, that was a special thing.

I'm not sure why God did that that time. But I've thought about that many times. Maybe you have. I've never liked pain. I'm sure you haven't. I hate pain. But if it's going to happen, you have that power. So keep that in mind. That's what Christ said. Do not allow that in yourself. And now I have told you, because before it come, come to pass, that when it come to pass, you might believe.

So here he's telling us in advance, this is a prophecy of persecution, and it's his bequest, his gift, and that is the faith. Now, we are up into verse 27 and past. Christ was very aware of the forces that were around him, powerful forces, against him, and he knew that they were going to win that battle and kill him.

And he knew, of course, all about it, that that's what he wanted to do. I came into the world for this purpose, he said. You're not going to keep me from it. If you really love me, understood completely, you would be happy that I'm going to my death.

So you really have to understand the background and what all God is giving us, the power that he's giving us, making available to be happy. Because his death was our death, too. He was aware that Satan was around, and the armies, and the Jews, and the Romans, and so on.

He didn't buckle at all. He was close to God, and he stayed close. There's an interesting scripture in verse 30, I think it is. Hereafter I will not talk to you much. About done, this world comes because Satan and the gang was on their way, apparently. No, not quite. That wasn't quite yet. And he says, and he has nothing in me. The ruler, the evil prince of this world is coming, but he has nothing in me. What does that mean?

Satan has nothing that we would possibly want. Like I say, if you have your wits about you, if you're thinking about everything, I guess I might want something, but that's not what God wants me for. Satan has no way to get to us, no contact. God has something in us, the spirit in man. All humans have the spirit of intelligence and this spirit awareness of spiritual things. And God taps that and he connects right with us. He has made us so. But Satan didn't create us and he doesn't have, he has this evil spirit, but he doesn't have a permanent implant. You know, he has, you could say human nature is permanent in that sense. But if you have the Holy Spirit, you have a direct line to God and it can't be broken except by you. If you neglect it or decide against it or something. But Satan can't beat that, so he has no key. He has nothing in us. I can't read that clock, so I'm going like this to read my clock.

Sorry about my bending all over the place, that's what I was doing. So he just, if you are wholly dedicated and focused on the Father's will, Satan cannot get to you. Satan cannot get to you, but most of the time we aren't. We're lacking in that. So what do you do when you realize, I'm being attacked or I have a trial here or I have a huge temptation here? You just do that one thing. You focus on God, you pray to Him, you don't, if you have to, remove yourself from somebody's presence or the situation and get out of there and focus on God with God. And renew that contact that you have. And then that's when you have that power. Okay, now this is... just a minute...

There's just a mistake here. Oh, yeah, here it is. The mistake was me, I missed this point. Jesus Christ will not depart from us. He said, verse 28 is a mild challenge. No, not just a minute. That's still wrong.

I had to go back. I skipped something a little section here. Philippians 4 and following, verse 7 and following. He says He has the peace that passes understanding. And this is a description by Paul. Other translations are better. And that's what I was talking about here. Skipping in the wrong... quoting verses from the wrong chapter. It's actually Philippians 4 and 7. So on the peace which passes understanding, it's beyond human thought. That kind of peace. People have... I've heard two or three explanations. It means that's something that's beyond us. You can have a peace that Christ was talking about here in John. A peace of mind and a resolve and a resolution of everything. All your worries, conscience and fears, everything that passes human thought because it's spiritual. It comes from God. And that's what He is promising. Now, I'll try to get back onto my notes here.

And that's all. We're just done with John chapter 14.

And I'll hit some highlights with chapter 15. We'll see about 16. I don't want to go too much longer. To a great degree, chapter 16 summarizes what He has already said. And this whole thing is a repeat of things He had said that He's either adding to or putting a new light on. But I am the true vine. So you have the vine allegory. It's called. The Old Testament concept was that Israel was a vine. Isaiah 5, Ezekiel 15, and 19, and Psalms as well. Israel was a vine, and its purpose was to produce and to accomplish. So what Jesus is saying, Israel failed. They were the Israel, the winners of God.

The conquerors with Christ. It's been... Israel had...the word has been defined in correctly in different ways. Conquerors with Christ. So they weren't. They failed. And so Christ is saying, that vine didn't produce the fruit. But I am the true vine, the true Israel, the true conqueror. And of course, Israel means conqueror with El, conqueror or winner with God, meaning Jesus Christ for us. But for him, it was with the Father. So he was the true Israel in that sense. I'm the real vine, the one that really will produce. He mentions bearing fruit in verse 2. And everyone that doesn't bear will be purged, but anybody that is bears and then is pruned or corrected and directed bears even more. He says, Now you are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you, very deep. Peter talks about being cleaned through obeying the word. Abide in me and I in you. And I won't read that much here because we're so familiar with it. But he did say, without me, you can just do nothing. You cut the branch of a vine or a tree off, and with it can't produce any fruit at all. So it's the same with us. It's a strong analogy. Now, a comparison. Same thing, I guess. Verse 7 is number 2.

Notice what the context is here in chapter 15. It's the same as it was in 14. And that is, it's doing the work of God and bearing spiritual fruit. Maybe not, maybe physical too. You know, the work and things that we do in accomplishing the work, but the spiritual fruit is the main thing. And in this, when we change and we grow, the Father is glorified. That you bear much fruit. So you shall be my disciples. And so, in the context of burying fruit and doing spiritual things, ask anything you want, and God will give it. It's not talking about silly things for our hobby or just things we want. It's talking about in accomplishing our growth. Know a man that wasn't especially good in foreign languages, and he just developed this desire to know the Greek language because he thought he could help his congregation. And then later he thought, well, he could probably help the whole church. So he asked that God would really help him learn that language, which was Greek.

And he started studying into it. It was hard and strange, but he kept on. And later, like five or six years later, he told me, it's just like I have, it's like God has given me a gift. I'm able to do this. It's like I have the gift of language. As far as Greek, he said, I didn't have it. God answered that prayer. That's King Graham, Mr. King Graham, if you know him. And he wasn't good at language, especially, but he really focused on that. What would you like to focus on? What would you like to do? Let's say this next year, before next Passover, how would you like to be different? I can think of so many things. It's discouraging. So try to choose one, two, or three things the most to work on.

Well, if you actually do want to do that, you can pray about it. And you can have more faith, more love. You can have more concentration. I know a man who asked for that. He was really a lazy man. And he hadn't bothered with his memory work for years. He realized it, and he asked. God blessed him, and that was me. I've been telling you to memorize these seven points and this and that. I've been working on my memory. And I used to have a good one. I had a poor memory. I said, what's going on here? And then I realized it, and I asked God for that. And he has helped me with that. I have to renew it ever so often because I'm still lazy. But just keep your memory work up. That keeps the word in your mind. It helps chase away wrong thoughts.

Okay, so this is verse 7. I'm going to skip over to verse 16 right now. And you have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you shall ask of my Father, in my name, He may give it unto you. And then he finishes up with, Love one another, and that's referring back. So we'll go back there. But once again, it's in the context of giving you anything you want, in the context of doing God's work or His will, or helping others, or those things that are spiritual. And of course, a lot of times, He gives the physical things we want, just because He likes to give things to His kids, like we like to. You like to really please. You give something to your child, and they're not very interested, you know? I did that to a granddaughter, and Bill Kleinert said things, but she didn't want a book. Her older sister just loved the book, and she said, thank you. So I learned, the next time I got her a ball, she was pretty young. Plain old ball. And she just loved it. So, you know, you learn the lesson. But you want to please your children, grandkids, friends, you know, God wants to. Sometimes He just gives us a bonus. Just an extra thing, like you do, with your own family or your friends, just because you want to. You want to express goodwill and happiness and so on. Verse 10, going back to verse 10. If you keep My commandments, you shall abide in My love, even as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.

The commandments are presented in the Bible, in the New Testament, over and over and over, as absolutely necessary. They're part of faith. You have to have obedience and submission and conforming, keeping God's commands. That's the door to faith and the door to joy. Right next, He brings, These things have I spoken unto you that My joy might remain in you. He wants to make us happy and keep it, so that you don't have those blue, sad jimes. We do as humans, but we can really reduce them greatly and chase them away. That My joy might remain in you, that your joy might be full. So if you're feeling sad, or well-advised, to say, you know, what am I dwelling on? What am I thinking about? What's been the tone of my thinking? I have done this throughout my life in different situations, and if I start to be blew it out, you know, discouraged, or just kind of a negative or not quite faithful, ask not with really the confidence that Christ said, you ask it in My name and the Father will give it. And you can tell if you're backing off and slacking. And I've found the thing to ask is, okay, now what has My mind been on? Or what tone has it been on? Might be on this, on that, on the other thing. But what tone? What's some attitude and is it generally a negative tone or cynical? Cynicism gets in all the time because of the world around us. But if you want joy, then you will probably, and you don't have it, you'll probably have to change what you're allowing your mind to dwell on. Just so many deep things. And this is in preparation for Passover because it has to do so much with our covenant with Christ and with God the Father. You know, our tone and what we allow ourselves to think about is really important. I found that I had to stop watching certain movies. I watched so many shootings, all those cowboy movies.

I figured one day, you know, if something happened, and I happen to be holding, I don't hold a gun very much, but, you know, I were holding a loaded gun. And somebody came in and threatened me. I have gone through it. I've seen it and acted it through, you know, in movies so much, I might just haul off and plug him. Instead of having my wits about me and saying, oh, maybe you better not even, well, I don't carry a gun, but maybe I better not touch that gun. Maybe I better not think that thought because that's allowing a door for Satan to come in. I'm not saying that if you ever watched somebody get shot in a movie, that you're bound for hell, you know. We think thoughts were aware of many things that are bad, but let's not dwell on them and go over them. Because that's the problem when you don't have peace, and that's his bequest to us. This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. Of course, you're repeating that. This is a new thing, as he said before in chapter 14. And then the greatest thing, greater love has no man than this, that a man lays down his life for his friends, for you are my friends, if you do whatever I command you. Now, there's one other thing I want to cover, and then I think that'll be enough. It's not like we haven't read these before. We've read them before. I wanted to go over them a little more than we have a chance in the Passover service. I'd like to point out here, henceforth, I call you not servants, because that was an honor to be the servant of Christ. They were honored, and we are honored to be a servant or a slave, wholly owned by the Father, the price being paid by Jesus' life. For the servant knows not what his Lord does, but I have called you. That's of itself is a statement. That means it refers to calling us to himself. But I have called you friends. For all things that I have heard of my Father, I have made known unto you. So this is a new intimacy, a new closeness, and I just took that word in the study Bible, a new intimacy that Christ is announcing here. Abraham was a friend of God. I don't think, maybe I don't remember Scripture, but I don't think he ever called his disciples friends until now. I'm not sure that he called Judas a friend, but in the way, when you point out he's not being very friendly, not really a friend. Well, friend, what are you doing? How are you doing? Why do you come here, friend, to Judas? But that was not satire. What's the word? Sarcasm? Maybe not. But it wasn't. He meant the opposite. It was obvious. But now he's calling after Judas is gone, he's calling them his friends because he has brought them closer, let them in on things. And then I already read this, you haven't chosen me, I've chosen you. So he makes that point. I wanted to make this point.

There's a progression of closeness in here. First of all, we're sons by creation, God loves man. But secondly, we are his servants. This is mentioned, we read it in chapter 13, verse 13. And now he contrasts that in chapter 15. And we are friends, and later this goes all the way to 2017. And I'm just going to go over there briefly and read this one verse. Jesus said into here, touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my father, but go to my brethren. That was a promotion. He had died, he was now resurrected, and his friends were promoted to brothers. And saying to them, I ascend unto my father and your father, and my God and your God. This is something because when he was resurrected as a child of the father, then we all became brethren. All those he would call were actually brothers in the family of God. We are not some lesser beings on a lower level. And my neighbor just asked me, had a conversation over by the tree who's got to be trimmed, which has... Well, I said whose. The tree which has to be trimmed. The tree whose branches must be trimmed. See? So we use that. But now I forgot what I was going to tell you. That's okay. Don't need to. I'll think of it later. Go to my brethren and say to them, I ascend unto my father and your father to my God and your God. So she was expounding on this doctrine because tell me what she thinks. But he doesn't really talk about it. She's the one that mainly talks about it. Anyway, I've thought about this long and hard because Christ said to my brethren, he's talking about us here. Brethren, as the old Baptist preacher said, your brethren and sisterin. You know, that old joke. Please don't die laughing on me here.

But we become actual family members. Oh, I know. Yes. She was talking about, she said, well, do you believe in the Trinity? I said, well, we believe in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, but we do not believe that the Holy Spirit is a person. And she couldn't believe that and, you know, tried to explain what she was believing. So I didn't try to impress her with what I believed about it, but she'll think about it for a few years. Maybe ask me later. You know, I didn't relate to her. Or she may. I don't know. But that's, if the Holy Spirit is not the power of God that comes into us and makes us a child of God, that limits the God family to three, and God is not able to have children. But that's one of the biggest things the whole physical world teaches about God, the physical being the picture of the spiritual. God can create and have a family that is, that has part of Him in every member of that family, not just a visitor or an errand boy or a godly messenger. The Spirit is part of God. It's what He's made out of, if you could say it, you know, if you want to say it that way. And the trouble, we don't have human words and concepts to say it. It's spiritual. But if you have the Holy Spirit in you, you have actually God in you.

Christ living His life in you and the Father living in you as well, through His power. And we actually, it's like the leader of the band, if you know that song, and I'm, he says, his music runs, no, his soul or what? It runs through my music. And the old saying is, my dad's blood runs in my veins. You know, I'm a product of my parents as you are of yours. We actually are our parents in some ways. It's a continuation of their life. Okay, so this is, this is super important. And that's, that was a, that was a promotion. It was a demotion for Christ in some ways. It's a promotion for all of us. And so that's from servant, from just creation, to servant, a servant of God, to the friend of God, like Abraham, and then to actually brethren. This is the first time they were brethren. It was right after he was resurrected. They said this in chapter 20. Okay. There are, there follows a warning of persecution that's in verse 15, chapter 15 here, the rest of the chapter. They have hated me without a cause, verse 25. It had to happen because that was prophesied. He warns that the church will be hated at times and kind of ignored at other times. Chapter 16 follows that up. He tells us about further growth as well, that the Spirit will teach us the guide into all truth in the future. It's 16, verse 13. And so there are warnings, and then he repeats a lot of the things that he has said about joy. He kind of ends it on, verse 33, about peace and joy. He tells us once again to ask, Whatever you shall ask the Father in my name, He will give it to you. This is the last one I mentioned of the four. And as I say, he repeats it and explains it more thoroughly. It's for our meditation. I doubt if you'll meditate too much on this because there's one day before Passover, but I hope that helps you understand, at least see some things differently. And if so, then this Bible study that I used for a sermon, this reading through here and analyzing it, is well worth our time. It helps us to have those concepts, remembering that these are the things Christ wanted us to think about. And he said this, of course, after the service, but we review this, have this fellowship with Christ every year. And we will, to an extent, tomorrow evening at the Passover service, chapter 17 wraps it up, this section. And this is Christ's prayer. When you look at it, he prays for himself because he needs help desperately facing this, his worst trial. But he leaves off of that and prays for the church because we would have the same kind of trial of our faith, not that severe, but we would have the same thing. We would need to think the same things. So, let's lay it out. I leave it to you to go thoroughly than I have. Perhaps we'll have this in other sermons, you know, review this. But it's been extremely helpful to me to think about these things and the concepts that Christ laid right out for us. It's been very helpful to prepare my attitude for Passover. And so, I leave that with you now. Looking forward to tomorrow night where I will physically see you and Des Moines for Passover. And we'll be all together with brethren around the world in spirit in the same family mood of devotion to Father that he tells us here. Happy Sabbath and blessings on your Passover.