John 15:1-8

John 15:1-8 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. Jesus' words clearly teach us a fruitful Christian will experience pruning in life. For the Spirit to harvest fruit from our lives, times of pruning are necessary that we might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified. (Isaiah 61:3) Pain, disappointment, frustration, and even feelings of loss, uncertainty, confusion, and doubt remain inherent in spiritual growth because the Lord prunes us that we might be even more fruitful. He wants less of us and more of him. Our human will strives for success, achievements, to be all we can be in life. We constantly relive our accomplishments, thinking of the high points and the accolades: the blue ribbons on the wall; the plaque for winning the spelling bee in third grade; that straight A report card; the picture with the prom queen senior year; the positive job performance analysis with no but's attached. We want recognition so we seek meaning through work, experiences, and events. We seek affirmation by meeting our own expectations or the expectations of others and do not handle losses or trials well. We want to go from victory to victory, from point A to C in a straight line with no detours. People facing life's struggles sometimes ask us for prayer and counsel. After a few moments, they often share their successes, tell about the important people they have known, their many accomplishments, and all their high points. Then they despair or express hopelessness or bitterness over their current situations. You can hear: "Woe is me; how could God treat me this way?" They feel entitled to continued prosperity and fruitfulness. Pruning is nowhere on their list of accomplishments: loss is not part of their agenda.

As believers, we carry our natural tendency to strive into our Christian walk. Our need to be important and noticed by others does not help us function well in the body of Christ where we are called to serve. When we ask God to make us the biggest tree in the orchard and to let us bear the most fruit for our own motives, we are as James and John asking Jesus, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask.” Then they request boldly: “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.” Jesus says,“You don’t know what you are asking.” And He asks them, “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” When they innocently answer they can, He tells them they will indeed drink of the same cup He drinks and be baptized with the same baptism, but only the Father can grant what they have asked, for the honors they seek belong to those for whom they have been prepared. Drinking that cup for James meant he would be the first of the disciples to die; and for John, he would watch everyone he loved give all in death for the sake of the gospel. God's will means surrender to him. We rejoice as a small fruitful tree in the corner of a forsaken garden exactly where God plants us, sharing the good news of the gospel, crying out as John the Baptist to the lost, Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. (Luke 3:8) We trust the Master Gardener as He looks to prune what we think are our powerfully long, beautifully impressive branches as they reflect his light. We do not want to experience the pain of pruning when we cannot see the end result. But the Gardener looks at the tree and says, "I see wasted energy put into sustaining those branches and that imposing height. I will prune this beloved tree so the energy will be spent in developing abundant fruit for me." The natural inclination of the tree is to prosper by extending its presence on Earth, by not having any restrictions to its growth, its energy. The natural gardener's will is for more fruit for the present, but the heavenly Father seeks eternal fruit, for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth. (Ephesians 5:9)

After James and John asked Jesus to give them what they wanted, He did not chastise them; He merely taught them spiritual truths they did not understand but would come to understand as they yielded control to him, took up the cross, died to themselves, and gave everything by the Spirit's power. If pruning were easy, we would all want to be pruned. Christians are not bad people; they want God's will for their lives. But pruning is dying to the self and coming alive to spiritual realities by literally giving up control of our own lives. When we are crucified with Christ and lay down our lives completely, we agree to go where He sends us, to do what He asks us to do, to grow where we are planted. We experience pain, struggles, hurts, and sorrows in that process that extend beyond our human coping abilities. In these circumstances, the struggles of life sometimes seem too much to bear: we grow weary, think our hearts and minds will faint or we will die in the desert places without water or sustenance. As a tree of righteousness, the pruning seems too drastic; but God is perfecting us; and He never makes mistakes. We are being pruned for much fruit, abundant fruit that love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ — to the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1:9-11) Those who endure to the end will see God. After Jesus answered James and John, He said to the twelve, Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Mark 10:43-45) He prunes us for that calling. We say, "Yes, Master, prune my life."

John 14:28-31

John 14:28-31 You heard me say, "I am going away and I am coming back to you." If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me, but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me.

Come now; let us leave.

Attempting to calm his disciples fears and anxieties, Jesus instructs as a parent might lovingly teach an immature or forgetful child. "You heard me,

He says, I have been telling you for some time I am going away. You are not listening carefully; you don't have ears to hear." They did not want to "hear" his words. They wanted another message. They sought another proclamation; they expected a King and a kingdom now. Just as He had done before, He spoke God's plan to them; yet they lacked understanding of his words, the depths of his meaning. He had just promised them the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, who would teach them all things. He said, Do not let your hearts be troubled, yet He could see trouble in their eyes, feel fear emanating from their hearts and minds. He knew them, felt their sadness over his departure. He was not sharing some new revelation; but his message sounded strange to their natural ears. They could not "hear" him just as He had predicted all along. Christ was not straying from the path He had walked from the beginning of his earthy ministry. Jesus consistently proclaimed God's salvation plan from his earliest interactions with them. When Jesus asks Peter, Who do you say I am? and Peter declares,

The Christ of God, Jesus immediately says, The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teacher of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. (Luke 9:20-22) After telling Nicodemus he must be born again, Jesus says, No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven--the son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. (John 3:13-14)

He repeated this message on numerous occasions; they did not comprehend his words.

Jesus warned his disciples: The prince of this world is coming. The time was now: Jesus Messiah, Lamb of God must journey to the cross. He would face betrayal at the hands of sinful man; his precious followers would experience shame, suffering, and sorrow. Jesus was not angry with them: He loved them. He did not expect more than they could give. We studied earlier incidents where the disciples failed to understand events in Christ's ministry. When Jesus made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem and a great crowd greeted him shouting Hosanna, John writes, At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him. Even then Jesus knew the people came because of the miracles. He tells his disciples to look beyond the surface, The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me. (John 12:16 &23-26) Now He speaks lovingly, knowing they lack the power to resist the whirlwind of evil forces ahead as they witness their beloved Master persecuted, mocked, and crucified on a cruel cross. He tells them Satan has no power over him before this terrible cataclysm transpires, so when it happens, they might believe in the Father. Nonetheless, He knows in that dark hour when Beelzebub, the prince of demons, temporarily has his way, they will not remember what He told them because the Spirit has not yet come.

Today, is your heart troubled, are you afraid, are you grieving, do you lack hope? Look up: Your Redeemer lives, your Deliverer is here! Even the disciples, those who walked with Jesus throughout his entire ministry, could not overcome the prince of this world and the powers of darkness through their own strength without the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. They could not even remember the amazing insights, the wonderful truths, and the divine revelations Jesus shared with them until they gathered together in one place, in agreement, earnestly waiting for what Jesus promised them. Then just as He said, the Comforter came in all power and authority in a mighty manifestation so magnificent that none would ever doubt and that all might believe: Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. (Acts 2:3-4) Jesus spoke truth to his disciples while He was with them. He said the Father would send the Holy Spirit as a gift in the name of the Son to teach them all things and to remind them of what Jesus told them, to empower them, to enable them, to guide them. This is our inheritance, brothers and sisters. If we do not walk in that reality, we live far beneath our privileges as sons and daughters of our Father God. Let not your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. Jesus says, "The evil one had no hold on me, and he has NO HOLD ON YOU! I PAID THE PRICE." After Pentecost, they remembered: they turned the world upside down! WE MUST REMEMBER AND LIVE!

John 14:28-31

John 14:28-31 You heard me say, "I am going away and I am coming back to you." If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me, but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me.

Come now; let us leave.

Deliverer!

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Note of explanation: This morning, I (Mom) sat down at the computer fairly early because Dad had a coffee date with a former colleague. I wanted to quickly finish a final proofreading of a special breakfast we started two days ago. Several times over the past year and especially since January, we have thanked you for your patience with sporadic breakfasts that come at odd hours. Some of you wrote and encouraged us to write when we could and blessed us with your words. With ongoing health problems, in January I was hit hard when I began an unexpected and difficult journey with repressed childhood memory syndrome and PTSD. Of course I had prior struggles over traumas we thought we had let Christ heal in my life, but we had no idea all these terrible things were buried deep beneath the surface. More than ever before, I (we) began to practice what we have taught and preached these many years: CHRIST IS OUR EVERYTHING.

He is my strength, my hope, my peace, my joy--all that I need, in the day and in the night. I am more than a conqueror through Christ who gives me strength and makes his strength perfect in my weakness. Because He lives, I live also; and by faith in his resurrection power, I can think, walk, talk, breathe, and face another day, another night, another minute without crumbling into a million pieces. And I do that one day, one hour, one moment, at a time as do all people in recovery. I am unsure of many things, but I know for sure who Christ is and who I am in him because I know his Word and his Word is true. He is in me and I am in him. My life is hidden with Christ in God. I have come to realize we have had an amazing dialogue since my earliest days, for as long as I can remember, since before I turned three years old. I have heard his voice saying: "I am here; I love you; you are my little flower of my heart; do not be afraid; hold my hand; listen to me, Jacqueline; look at me; I am holding you; I am beside you; I will never leave you; trust me; I will cover you"; and so much more.

This was a hard week, a hard month, in a series of hard months. The seizures I have had this past year have taken a heavy toll as well as other issues. The aftereffects of the seizure I had on my birthday on July 2nd are not going away as fast as I would like. Some of the misfiring in the synapses in my brain cause me frustration, confusion, and serious problems. Writing the breakfasts costs me time, effort, and energy; BUT they bring me enormous joy in the Lord: a sense of victory, a feeling of usefulness and calling in the body of Christ. By practicing persevering faith and trusting in the Holy Spirit, I am able to function by faith in Christ regardless of vertigo or lack of balance, regardless of whether I stutter because of aphasia or constantly have to correct my spelling, sentence structure, and punctuation. Cliff can give me two inspired paragraphs; and I can expand them as the Spirit leads me and gives me scriptures, insights and revelation that bless us and others. I praise God for that privilege. When I am not at counseling, a medical test, or a specialist's office; I can study the Word, meditate, pray, and WRITE, finding power and strength in the Lord.

Just as I was about to push send today, I realized the automatic spell checker was off, and my brain could not tell me how to spell deliverer, just as some days it will not tell me what day it is or how to use the ATM machine (I am not joking). So I tried to use the spell checker, and I lost six hours of work and what I believe was one of the most encouraging breakfasts I have written all month. I wept bitter tears leaning over the keyboard. I wanted to flail about in anguish--too much, too many little foxes eating at the tender vines of my life, too fragile, too weary. Then I said, "No, it is never too much, that is a lie from the pit of hell, a fiery dart, a messenger from Satan sent to buffet me." I tried everything to fix it. Even called a friend to try to help me. Then the Spirit said, "Let go, Jacqueline. The breakfast was for you. Give it to me. Trust me. I will comfort you. I am here. . ." Later I wept in Cliff's arms as he told me everything I already know, and then I knew what to do. Here is the breakfast for today: Deliverer! That is the truth. Our Deliverer has come; He is Enough. Maybe it is the breakfast for the next week or the next month. Praise God! Love, Mom

John 14:22-27

John 14:22-27 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?” Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. “All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Jesus tells his disciples this world is not their home: they are pilgrims passing through with an assignment from the Father. He is preparing them for a mighty work and wants them to open their eyes to the amazing preparations God has made for them. Don't be afraid, He says in view of their obvious uncertainties: I do not give to you (peace) as the world gives. I am sending you the Holy Spirit to bring peace and love that the world does not have and cannot know and does not comprehend. As Christians, functioning in the natural world, we often seek the peace the world gives rather than seeking the One who is our Peace. We absorb the false mindset our lives should be free from troubles or difficulties, basically at ease and contented. As we stray from communion with the Lord and listening to the Holy Spirit, we become so bold and self-absorbed to think even the weather should cooperate with our good times and leisure activities and we brood and sit around depressed if wind or rain spoil an event rather than rejoicing in the day the Lord has made. We need increasingly more enticing and glittering allurements to pacify and suppress the many stresses and anxieties we feel pressure us beyond measure. Forgetting godliness with contentment is great gain, we cry, "Help me Lord; for surely I must find soothing relaxation and a respite from this life I have striven so hard to build and to maintain."

We say to ourselves, it just isn't working as I planned. I need more satisfaction, more worldly peace. I am unfulfilled, worried, discontented, and I can't rest. I am so ready for that trip to _______; I deserve a break. No one knows how hard my life is, nobody even cares. I need that boat, that cabin, that RV, that swimming pool. I am going camping at the ocean, but wish it was a cruise. This year we can go to Disneyland, but in two years, I'm aiming for Disney World. Wish it was Europe without my whining kids. If I could just get away from my wife and kids for a week and focus on my needs--don't I deserve to be number one? My boss treats me better than my husband; maybe I should take that business trip he's been offering to take me on. Jesus calls to us: Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. Christ would soon remind his disciples you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember the words I spoke to you: "No servant is greater than his master." (John 15:19b-20a) Now, we know the lives the disciples and believers in the New Testament church faced. In his final instructions to his followers, Jesus says, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) Paul experienced starvation, shipwrecks, threats of death, stonings, betrayal, and so much more. He prayed three times about a vexing ailment, and when it remained, he heard the Lord say, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). These same people who suffered and died turned the world upside down for Christ and constantly spoke of rejoicing in Christ their Savior and Lord!

It is not wrong to have fun or go on a relaxing vacation, but we must stop pursuing what never truly satisfies or meets our inner needs for lasting peace, love, hope and joy. We fixate on our relationships, health, troubles, finances, jobs, and the like. As we constantly try to fix or to eradicate the problems in our lives, we hopelessly flounder without an anchor for our souls, without Christ as our center, our cornerstone, our true foundation. Our profile looks much like the world, for we seek peace as defined in the world's dictionary. Jesus does not simply give us peace: He is our Peace who has broken down every wall. He made the Jews and Gentiles one in Him, and He became one with us by making his home in us through the Holy Spirit. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. (Ephesians 2:14-18) If you are in a pit of any kind today, the missing link is abiding with Jesus, keeping your eyes fixed on him, walking with him by faith, doing the will of the Father regardless of your ills, woes, or troubles. We have to stop looking at ourselves and look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. He is in control: yield to him, trust in him and his plans for your life. Arise, shine, take up your bed, and walk. Stop serving your situation and serve him. Get out of the funk; stop wearing that frown; you have a crown of righteousness. Rejoice and live: shine and share the light. People are watching you, and your friends and family do not enjoy serving your moods and your sadness when they know a better you, have seen Christ in you, want to walk in faith with you. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

John 14:18-21

John 14:18-21 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.

The resurrection finalized and culminated all of Christ's teaching. Jesus makes an audacious promise to comfort the hearts of his disciples and followers: Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. As Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost when the Spirit fell, they may have placed Christ's dead body in a tomb, but this same Jesus, the Holy One, God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. For David says concerning Him: “I foresaw the LORD always before my face, For He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; Moreover my flesh also will rest in hope. For You will not leave my soul in Hades, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption." Paul shared this account of Christ showing himself to the faithful, including Paul's own calling out of season: By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. (1 Corinthians 15:2-8)

Jesus most assuredly did not leave them as orphans: they knew him as a living Savior who walked among them before returning to the right hand of the Father. Then God sent the Comforter to be with them forever, teaching them all things, reminding them of everything Jesus had said to them. (See John 14:16 &26) Through the Spirit, they realized Jesus was TRULY IN THE FATHER, and all who believed and trusted IN HIM were IN HIM and would remain in him forevermore. The resurrection transformed Christ's followers and their beliefs in the Son, the Father, and the Spirit, their understanding of eternal life. Before this momentous event, victory over sin and hope of eternal life with God tugged at their minds but eluded their spiritual comprehension. After the resurrection, THEY KNEW VICTORY WAS THEIRS AND ETERNAL LIFE WAS WITHIN THEIR GRASP THROUGH THEIR RESURRECTED LORD AND THE INDWELLING CHICINA GLORY OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD. THEY WERE ALIVE BECAUSE HE WAS ALIVE IN THEM THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT! The resurrection made eternal life a surety for all who confess Christ as Lord, as good as money in the bank with a Holy Spirit guarantee. Jesus said I will send to you the Holy Spirit: He will be the earnest payment, letting you know victory now and forever is your inheritance. All who are IN CHRIST possess this Eternal Spirit now.

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:1-2) The Comforter, Sustainer, and Guide abides in us, bearing witness, advocating truth, convincing us of our inheritance, and constantly revealing Christ in us. He expresses God's plan in us as we yield, ever changing us from glory to glory, perfecting Christ's image in God's adopted sons and daughters. He faithfully reminds us we have life through the Son because

He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.

(1 John 5:12) Many churches rarely speak of the third member of the godhead, yet the Bible is full of references to the Holy Spirit. He is given many names, attributes actually, revealing his nature: Spirit of Promise, Wisdom, Truth, Might, Revelation, Life, Love, Knowledge, Grace, Faith, Counsel, Adoption, and more. Yet He is gentle and humble, never forces himself upon us, and does not speak of himself, only points us to Jesus Messiah, Lamb of God. We should allow the Spirit to reveal Christ in us in a more active and living way by listening more attentively and obeying his voice. Living according to our own inclinations leads to self-absorption and a lukewarm life at best and will take us on a path to sorrow and destruction at worst. We will miss the love, peace, and joy of the resurrected life Jesus won at the cross and fail to meet our responsibilities to take up the cross, die daily, and serve others. We can become pharisaical, following God through the letter of the law while our hearts are far from him and we have no joy, no evidence of a lasting hope. But praise God, Christ arose and signed a death warrant for sin and the grave. Arise and shine, beloved of God, for the light has come! Listen and live, hear the blessed Holy Spirit, hearken to his voice. He helps you obey and you will live FOREVERMORE!

John 14:15-17

John 14:15-17 "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever — the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you."

Today we see Christ's teaching expand as He reveals to his disciples that his earthly mission was just the beginning of God's plan, saying, I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. The intensity of the moments following his words must have built exponentially as Christ shared information concerning the cry of God's heart from the beginning of time toward all people. Now in the fullness of time, knowing He would soon leave his small band of followers, Christ shares one unbelievable statement after another. So much new information to process with natural ears and unregenerate human minds by men who do not know they are about to turn the world upside down through the power of the Holy Spirit. What they do know is Christ is not going to rule and reign on Earth by setting up a kingdom as the Messiah they had so long awaited. He says He is going away and where He is going they cannot come, but He is preparing a place for them. They know they have no special powers, yet He says they will do greater things than the miracles they have seen him perform before their own eyes. Now on top of everything else, as He speaks of leaving them, He begins to share new concepts, new revelations, about another Counselor to be with you forever — the Spirit of truth. This all must have been strange and confusing to say the least.

Jesus must have smiled lovingly and tenderly as He prepared his beloved inner circle, those the Spirit called to spread the Good News. He would not have been surprised by the looks of surprise and incredulity on their faces when He said, But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. These men were faithful: they had left everything to follow Jesus. They stopped what they were doing, put down their nets, put away they tools of trade, gave up their own lives, and surrendered all to go where the Master led them. These were not faint-hearted men. But they were not aware of experiencing the any manifestations of the glory of God spoken of by the prophets: I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. (Joel 2:28-29) I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. (Ezekiel 36:25-27) No, they had no sense of such an experience and they would not until Christ's words were fulfilled when the day of Pentecost came, when they obeyed him to the letter, and they were all together in one place, and the Counselor who had been with them every step of the way came in all power and all authority and the Holy Spirit fell upon them like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then they would know him, for He would abide in them forever and ever! (See Acts 2)

Jesus knew we need the Holy Spirit: the Comforter, the Guide who walks along side and abides within us. Even those who lived with Jesus, slept on mats beside him, heard his every word, and watched him perform his greatest miracles could not prosper without the indwelling Holy Spirit. Jesus knew God would empower them with the Spirit of truth to be servants, willing to go to the ends of the Earth. A servant does not question his Lord. We who call ourselves Christians (all of us sitting here today, enjoying the luxuries of our modern lives) need the Holy Spirit to speak gospel truth into our lives every day. We need to acknowledge the importance of the Spirit in our lives. We know that we live in him [Christ] and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. (1 John 4:13) We need listening ears and open hearts. We need quiet times beside still waters that we might hear and obey the Spirit's leading, stop following the inclinations of our old nature and making excuses for putting our needs and our wants first and foremost. Oftentimes believers make excuses, the newly saved as well as seasoned Christians: we choose to protect our time and our resources. "Let someone else do it," seems to be a universal feeling in our nation. Let someone else feed the poor, encourage the weary, take care of the sick, pray for the lost, give to missions, and help the church. And who is that someone else? Paul wrote: And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. (Romans 8:11) Seven times in the book of Revelation, the Lord says, He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Yes, we should rest and have timeouts, but the work is not finished, the harvest is not over until He says, "Well done, my good and faithful servant."

John 14:8-14

John 14:8-14 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

Philip's statement of Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us reveals his naivete, his lack of understanding about the true nature of the God he proclaimed to worship. When John the Revelator was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, ready to receive a divine message for God's people, he knew with whom he spoke--there was no doubt in his mind. Before John even writes down his specific prophecy, he gives glory and honor to the One Most High: To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father — to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen. Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen. John then asks, Do I have your attention? Because I was just talking to the Creator of Heaven and Earth, all that is, was, or ever shall be; and this is what I heard: I am the Alpha and the Omega who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty. John then describes seven golden lamp stands, and "someone" dressed in a long robe with a golden sash around his chest with wooly hair as white as snow and eyes blazing like fire. With feet glowing like bronze in a furnace and a voice like rushing waters, He held seven stars in his hand and a sharp sword came from his mouth while his face shined as brilliantly as the sun. (See Revelation 1:4-8)

Think of the power inherent in the mere IMAGE of the resurrected Christ that God allowed John to see in that amazing vision compared with the Christ who came to this earth in bodily form: walking, talking, teaching, and even performing great miracles. John experienced so much power in that celestial moment, he admits: When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades." (Revelation 1:17-18) What would have happened to Philip in his unregenerate state had he actually been allowed to see Father God manifested in all of his holiness and glory? If Jesus would have shown him the Father, such an action would have been enough all right, enough to send him to his death. As with the High Priests who went into the Holy of Holies in an unclean state and had to be pulled out by the rope tied to them because they immediately fell down dead, we suspect Philip would have faced the harsh realities of his sinful flesh in the presence of a righteous and holy God. He would have been judged and sentenced to hell right on the spot. But Jesus pointed Philip to a far better reality than seeing God face-to-face in that moment outside of the cross of Christ and the new covenant of God's saving grace. Jesus lovingly tells Phillip, "You have seen the Father in me," graciously explaining as He has done before that He and the Father are one. If Philip will trust in the reality that Jesus is in the Father and the Father is in him, he will arise with Christ when the Spirit lifts him from the grave in victory over death and sin. Philip will not merely see God: he will not only know God but be known of God, find a home with God as an adopted son, an heir with all the privileges of a familial relationship with the Almighty God of the universe.

Jesus alone reveals the fulness of the Godhead. He makes children of God. IN HIM, as new creatures through his shed blood, we are fully acceptable through Christ to our Father God--He makes the way for us to come to our Father. One of the most beautiful verses in the New Testament is in the opening verses of Paul's letter to the church at Ephesus in the salutation: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. We need not fear God's holy presence, for we are eternally accepted in the Beloved and perfect in the eyes of God. Philip's dialogue took place before the cross and the resurrection, but after the cross he would know Jesus as He really is: The Lamb of God who loved us and willingly went to the cross for us. Christ came to reveal the Father's heart, the Father's love. He became sin who knew no sin that He might become our Righteousness, our Everything! After the cross nothing would ever again separate Philip or us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Since we all celebrate that freedom today, may we walk uprightly and joyfully, sharing that glorious Good News with everyone else! For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. (Romans 8:16) Hallelujah!

John 14:1-7

John 14:1-7 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

Jesus promised the disciples that if they would trust and believe in his name, He was going to prepare a place for them so that where He was they would be also someday. He promised them eternal life in heaven through him: the way and the truth and the life. Jesus' death on the cross and his resurrection from the grave by the power of the Holy Spirit would fulfill God's word and validate all that Christ had proclaimed concerning his ministry and God's salvation plan for all people formed from the foundation of the world. In response to Thomas's feeble cry that they did not know where He was going or how to find the way, He boldly declares He is the Way. Only He holds the keys to victory over sin and death and to everlasting life with the Father, saying, No one comes to the Father except through me. A child walking with Jesus with eyes and ears of faith open to the message He taught would have discerned the truth by this time; yet the disciple's faith faltered as human faith so often does. Paul concluded that Christianity has to be more than a form of godliness or a religious way of living. Without the power of the resurrection, our walk is in vain: And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. (1 Corinthians 15:18-19)

Gathered at the breakfast table today, our only hope of peace, joy, and victory over sin now and eternal rest IS IN CHRIST, THE RESURRECTED ONE. He alone won the battle. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” (John 19:30) Only Christ in us is our hope of glory: our Victor, our Redeemer, our Savior. He holds the power to escort us safely into the presence of a holy, perfect God. Yet God is a God of Love who sent his Son to say, If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. As John said: Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God. (1 John 3:1a) Because of God's love expressed through his Son, Jesus, we are known as the people of THE WAY; and we are brought home to the Father through the Son. Our fears of the future are gone because we find hope to overcome the evil one, and we rest in the hope of the final solution of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Jesus told his disciples, Do not let your hearts be troubled. He knew they were upset about his talk of departing from them. They were looking for better things in the immediate future, but their leader talked about death and leaving this Earth. To them, the prospect of Christ's death offered a dead end street, a foreboding future full of suffering and pain, not what they were expecting. Jesus' words of death and persecution troubled their souls. Jesus said, trust me, I have plans for you that surpass anything this life can offer: In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.

A victorious Christian life is not always easy to live: we often suffer in the flesh; yet scripture says: In this [trials] you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith — of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire — may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. (1 Peter 1:5-7) When difficult experiences come, we could eat, drink, and be merry as the world does, for tomorrow we may die; but by faith we stand with John, declaring: We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true — even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. (1John 5:20) Paul said, I die every day. (1 Corinthians 15:31a) Paul did not count his life as dear. Facing every kind of distress and peril, He pressed onward with peace and joy toward a higher calling with unconditional love for his oppressors. He willingly yielded his life regardless of the cost because he knew Christ intimately and was crucified with Christ. He knew none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. (Romans 14:7-8)

The Spirit calls us to surrender completely to the cause of Christ. God asks us to be known as faithful and true not as whiners and complainers. The Holy Spirit seeks soldiers of the cross. The only requirement is surrender and commitment. God did not call the strong; He called the weak who will allow him to make his strength perfect in their weakness: For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty. (1 Corinthians 1:26-27) And yes, when our time is over, we have a home in heaven. Christ sent the blessed Holy Spirit to teach us all things, to remind us of that glorious place. He empowers us, gives us hope during our journey for a better place where pain and sorrow will cease and there will be no more tears. We count on those precious promises: God is not a liar; his Word is true. In his house there are many rooms: one has your name written on the door. We must believe that or flounder as the disciples temporarily became faint of heart and lost focus upon learning Jesus would face an ignominious death rather than rule as a victorious king. Rejoice IN CHRIST and do not let your hearts be troubled: the victory is already yours. Christ has won, the battle is over, there will be no more war! These trials are temporary skirmishes. We are pilgrims passing through. Soon and very soon we are going to see the King. Until then, we rejoice with exceeding great joy: we serve a risen Savior with all power and authority, all wisdom and knowledge, all we will ever need and more!