This sermon focuses on the comforting words of Jesus in John 14, addressing troubled hearts and the promise of peace. It highlights the importance of trusting in God, the deity of Jesus, the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and the supernatural peace that surpasses worldly understanding. The sermon emphasizes the need for obedience to God's commandments and the assurance of eternal security in Christ.

Thank you. It's such an inspiration to be here tonight to hear these songs of praise to the Lord Jesus who alone is worthy and to see you gathered here for the study of the Word of God. Wonderful to see people who love the Word of God and want to hear more of it all the time. The only thing that could be better would be if my friend Damien were standing here, and I was sitting down where you're sitting. Would you turn to me in your Bibles with to me with John 14, please. We're going to read the first six verses. John chapter 14 and verses 1 through 6. And our subject tonight is Heaven's cure for troubled hearts. Heaven's cure for troubled hearts. Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. My Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself. That where I am, there you may be also. Where I go, you know, and the way you know. Thomas said to him, Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way? Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. As I read these verses of Scripture, I can't help thinking of the vast number of people who will be in heaven singing the praises of the Lord Jesus for all eternity because of verse 6. How the Holy Spirit of God used that verse to bring light to darkened souls. They came to Christ depending on him and him alone for their souls' salvation. I think of people going through trial and difficulty and trouble, pain, sorrow, tears, and I think of the comfort that these verses have brought to them. I go to prepare a place for you, if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself. That where I am, there you may be also. And I think of how God has used these verses at times of bereavement when loved ones have been taken away, taken to heaven, and the comfort that has come to troubled hearts through these wonderful verses of Scripture. So I'd like to look at this chapter with you tonight, see if the Lord might have something for your heart, especially if you have a troubled heart tonight. The Lord Jesus says, let not your heart be troubled. Why did he say that? Well, of course, chapter 14 is closely linked with chapter 13. I'll never get famous for saying that, but it's true just the same. You know that the chapter breaks are rather artificial, they're not part of the inspired text. So it might be good if you read chapter 13 and then immediately read chapter 14, and you'd find that there are several reasons in chapter 13 why their hearts might be troubled. If you just turn in your Bible and look back over chapters, just scan chapter 13, you'll see, you'll see, first of all, the Lord Jesus said he was going away. Well, that's one reason for a troubled heart. He was going to leave them. There was going to be a time of separation. He also said that one of the disciples was going to deny him, Peter. And if that wasn't bad enough, he also said that one of the disciples was going to betray him, Judas. And it says there that when he thought of Judas and of that betrayal, his heart was troubled. So, there are four reasons in the preceding chapter why the hearts of the disciples might be troubled. And so he says, aren't your heart be troubled? And in the chapter that follows, in chapter 14, it's just full of reasons why our hearts shouldn't be troubled. They're going to pop out at you at almost every verse that we read. Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. To believe in God means to trust God. There's a cure for a troubled heart. Trust God. God doesn't do anything but what you yourself would do if you had his wisdom, love, and power. Around every one of his people, there's a hedge. And Satan can't get past that hedge. We learn in the book of Job, except by the Lord's permission. Everything that comes into our lives is filtered through the love of God. The Lord Jesus says, you believe in God, believe also in me. Let me just pause there to say that the chapter is also filled with many statements concerning the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. Statements where the deity of the Lord Jesus is implied. And this is one of them. To believe in Christ is the same as believing in God. To believe in God, same as believing in Christ. You believe in God, believe also in me. And I like to substitute the word trust there. Trust in the Lord, no matter what your circumstance may be tonight. No matter what trial you may be called on to go through in the home, at work, in school, in college. The answer is trust in the Lord. When the Lord Jesus said, you believe in God, believe also in me, he claims equality with God. To trust him is the same as to trust God. And he claims to be the sole revealer of God in this chapter. And verse tells me that, this verse tells me that the Lord Jesus is just as much to be trusted as God the Father is. That's wonderful, isn't it? Let not your heart be troubled. It's good that he didn't stop after the word troubled. He went on to tell them why they shouldn't be troubled and gives many reasons. Let's go down the chapter and look at some of the reasons. He was going to the Father's house of many mansions. That's good news. He was going back to heaven. The cross wouldn't be the end, would it? He would rise from the dead, he would ascend back to heaven, and he was going to the Father's house of many mansions. Verse 2, he was going to prepare a place for them. It's getting better all the time, isn't it? Not only that he was going to the Father's house, he was going to prepare a place for them. Verse 3, he would come again and take them to be with him. Does that make your heart rejoice? It should. Verse 6, he himself was the only true way to heaven. Only true way to the Father. Verse 12, they would do greater works. After he went back to heaven and the Holy Spirit was given, they would do even greater works than he had done when he was here on earth. He would answer any prayers that were offered in his name. My, it's really a, it's just a wonderful collection of promises that he makes here. Then verse 16, another helper would come and abide with them forever. Of course, that was the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was going to come and he would stay with his people forever. Verse 16, this Holy Spirit, he was now with them. At that time, he was going to be in them, and that's what happens, what happened after Pentecost. Verse 18, Jesus would not leave them orphans. Verse 18, he would come to them. That is, he would come back to them in the coming of the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit came to them, in a sense, the Lord Jesus came to them at that time. Verse 19, they would share his endless life. Wonderful, wonderful Jesus. And verse 20, they would understand in the coming day that they shared oneness with God the Father and with the Lord Jesus his Son. Unlike verses 21 and 23, he said that obedience to the Lord would result in a special bond of fellowship between the Father, the Son, and believers. God loves obedient people. He loves everybody. But there's a special way in which he loves his people who are obedient to his word. And then verse 27, he promises peace to his people. Peace, perfect peace. In this dark world of sin, the blood of Jesus whispers peace within. In my Father's house are many mansions. Well, he doesn't tell us all that we would like to know about those mansions. Maybe we wouldn't be able to take it in if he told us, you know. Somebody has said we have five senses now. Perhaps we'll have 50 senses when we get to heaven. I wouldn't be surprised. To take in all the beauty, the majesty, the fullness of that scene, we probably would need more than five. If the joy that will be ours then were poured into us now, we would burst. In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I like that. If it were not so, I would have told you. What does that mean? It means the Lord Jesus tells us everything in the Word of God that we really need to know. That's a comfort, isn't it? A lot of us have a lot of questions. Like to ask Paul a lot of questions when we get to heaven. But I like those words. If it were not so, I would have told. I will tell you in the Word of God, especially in the New Testament, everything you really need to know. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. That's wonderful. You know, I said that the chapter is filled with implications of the deity of Christ. Here's something that is really wonderful. We read it, we're so familiar with it, and we read it kind of as a matter of fact. But when he says this, he's claiming ability to go instantly throughout all the universe, throughout all the universe, to go to the Father's house, to go to heaven, and to prepare a place for you. If I were to stand here tonight and say that to you, what would you ever think? If a mere man ever said that, I'm going to heaven to prepare a place for you. You'd think, let's get the little man in the white jacket to come and take him away to the psychiatric ward, you know. But in the lips of the Lord Jesus, they sound absolutely perfect, don't they? I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself. That's wonderful. How very personal the gospel is. How very personal. Imagine receiving worms unto himself, huh? Receiving people like ourselves unto him, saved by his marvelous grace. When he talks like this, it means that he really thinks we are somebody. Isn't that great? He really thinks that we are somebody. We were worth dying for at the cross of Calvary. That where I am, there you may be also. That's wonderful, isn't it? The Lord Jesus wasn't satisfied just to deliver us from going to hell. He wasn't satisfied to just give us a long life on earth. He never will be completely satisfied till he has us with him in glory, with him and like him forever. I think that's wonderful. Salvation could have done less than that. And where I go, you know, and the way you know. Well, he had already told them where he was going and they knew the way as well. But you know, the disciples were just like ourselves. They'd hear a thing and sometimes it didn't register with them. He told them many times that he was going to go to the cross. He was going to be delivered to the Gentiles. He was going to die. He was going to be buried and rise again. And it seemed at the time that they took it in and then they would go on and they just seemed to be completely forgetful of it all. And we're like that too. And that's why the truths of God's Word have to be repeated to us over and over again. Well, Thomas speaks up at this point. He said, Lord, we do not know where you're going and how can we know the way? Thomas might have thought he was going to Tyre or Sidon or Damascus in Syria. I don't know what Thomas thought. We don't know where you're going, Lord. How can we know the way? And then the Lord Jesus came out with those immortal words, I am the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. I am. When the Lord Jesus said, I am, he took one of the Old Testament names of God to himself, didn't he? God the Father is known as the I am, the ever great I am, the Lord Jesus. And seven times in the Gospel of John, these words are ascribed to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the I am. It really means I was, I am, I always will be. It comprehends all tenses of existence. I am the way. He's not just a sign showing the way. He is the way. And I want to tell you tonight, if you have the Lord Jesus as your own, you're as sure of heaven as God can make you. That's wonderful, isn't it? If your only hope for heaven is the Savior, you're saved. He is the way. He's the truth. He's the true way. And he's the embodiment of truth as well. People go to colleges and universities and they have great philosophical arguments about what is truth. Well, I'll tell you what truth is. Truth is what God says about something. That's true. And the Lord Jesus is truth. He's the embodiment of truth and everything he says is true. And I am the life as well. He not only is the way, he gives us the life to go the way. So I read this in a way. I am the way, the true way, and the living way. No man comes to the Father except through me. I would suggest to you that those words I just read, no man comes to the Father except through me, are some of the most hated words in the world today. People don't like that. They don't like to hear that there's only one way of salvation. That the Lord Jesus is the way. That there's no other way. Nobody else can ever get to heaven in any other way. And that, of course, excludes all the great world religions except Christianity. That's why one reason we have such an increase of anti-Christian bigotry in the world today. They hate that truth. It's the truth, just the same. And you can fight against it. But that doesn't change it a bit. God sent his son to die on the cross for mankind. He presents himself as the way. There is no other way. Verse 7, if you had known me, you would have known my father also. Another statement, clear statement of the deity of the Lord Jesus. To know the Lord Jesus is to know the Father. You say, how is that? They're separate persons. Yes, they're separate personalities. If you look at the words carefully, there's me and there's my father. Separate personalities. Yet to know one is to know the other. It reminds us of John 1, 1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. In the beginning was the Word, the eternity of the Lord Jesus. The Word was with God. His distinct personality. The Word was God, his absolute deity. All great truths concerning the Savior. And here he says, if you had known me, you would have known my father also. And of course, he came to tell us what God the Father is like, didn't he? There was a little girl that was afraid of being in the dark in her bedroom. And her mother came in to comfort her. And her mother said to her, don't worry now, the Lord is here. She said, I want a God with a face. And that's what the Lord Jesus is. He's our God with a face. If you go to Trafalgar Square in London, there's a column there, and on the top of the column is Lord Nelson. But honestly, Lord Nelson's so high up there that nobody can see him but the pigeons. So one year they were going to have a great exposition in Britain there, and they made a duplicate of Lord Nelson, and they brought it down to street level so people could see what he was like. And you know, that's what God did when he sent his lovely son down to this world. The Lord Jesus came down, and he fully declared what the Father is like. So if you want to know what God is like, look at the Lord Jesus. And he'll tell you exactly what God the Father is like. From now on you know him and have seen him, that is, in the Lord Jesus. There is a question whether we will see God the Father in heaven. And I'm not sure we can solve that problem tonight. It says, blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. And Job had the hope of seeing God, yet in my flesh shall I see God. Other people say yes, but they'll see him as revealed in the person of the Lord Jesus. God is spirit, and you can't see spirit with these eyes. I was at a junior high camp one time speaking, and we had a question and answer period. And one of the fellows said to me, will we see God in heaven? And I went through quite a long theological discourse that our eyes being what they are, we cannot see spirit, you know. And went through quite an elaborate explanation. He said, I know, but will we see God? And he wasn't at all satisfied. And so I repeated myself again, hoping that the mere repetition would help me. But he wasn't satisfied. He said, maybe when we get to heaven, we'll have bigger eyes. And that was absolutely right. I think he was absolutely right. When we get to heaven, we'll have bigger eyes. Philip said to him, Lord, show us the Father, verse 8, and it's sufficient for us. Show us the Father. Dear Philip, he had been living with one who revealed the Father. He was one of the earliest disciples, Philip. And all that time he had been traveling with the Lord Jesus, and he had seen his miracles and heard his marvelous words. And now he says, show us the Father, and it's sufficient. That'll be enough for us. Just give us a glimpse of God the Father. And Jesus said to him, have I been with you so long? Referring to the fact that Philip was one of the early disciples, the earliest disciples. And yet the truth had not dawned in him as yet. Yet you have not known me, Philip. He who has seen me has seen the Father. Once again, I mentioned to you at the outset how many statements are in this chapter, which if you put them in the mouth of a mere man, they're absolutely ludicrous, absolutely ridiculous. And this is this is one of them. He who has seen me has seen the Father. So how can you say, show us the Father? The Lord Jesus perfectly represents the Father down here. The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. And that means he has fully told him forth. So we don't really have to be in darkness as to what God the Father is like. We see him perfectly expressed in the life, words and character of our blessed Savior. Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me? Once again, separate personalities, but union. Wonderful union of personalities in the Trinity, in the deity. The words that I speak to you, I do not speak on my own authority. That's a wonderful thing. When the Lord Jesus came into the world, he came in as in perfect subjection to God the Father. He always did those things that pleased the Father. He never did anything through willfulness, through his own, through the exercise of his own will, apart from God the Father. The miracles he performed, he performed in the power of the Holy Spirit and in obedience to the Father. And that, you know, that's a tremendous lesson for us. It should teach us that the greatest glory that any of us can have is subjection to the Lord, to have our wills completely in accord with him. Might would save us a lot of misery. It's so easy for us, even in Christian work, to decide we're going to do this. We can lay out goals for next year and have everything planned and mapped out. But our really calling is to be so in touch with the Lord that we do what he wants us to do. How do you do that? Well, by prayer, by study of the Word of God, and just by yielding our wills to him day by day and letting him reveal his plan to us. The good works that we're to perform have been foreordained for us, and it's just for us to find out what they are and to do them. So the Lord Jesus was the subject, subject, Son of God. The words that I speak to you, I do not speak on my own authority. The Father who dwells in me does the works. You got the words of the Lord Jesus and you got the works of the Lord Jesus as well. He says, believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me, or else believe me for the sake of the works themselves. The best way, the best faith in the Lord is to believe something because he says it. But here he seems to say, if you can't do that, then believe because of the works that I do. I would say that's a lesser form of works. People say, well, if I could just see a miracle, I would believe. Well, God is not pleased really with the kind of faith that demands a miracle. He's not pleased with that kind of faith. Actually, unbelievers say, well, if I could see somebody raised from the dead, but the word of God says, no, you still wouldn't believe. One should rise from the dead. The miracle, I believe that the great miracle that the unsaved world wants to see today, not the healing of a leper, not giving sight to the blind or hearing to the deaf, the great miracle that the unsaved want to see today is the miracle of a transformed life. People who've been saved from sin and defilement and corruption, they're new creatures in Christ Jesus, and they're really different persons. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he's a new creation. All things are passed away. Behold, all things have become new. And we're going to come to that just a little bit later in the chapter. Believe me, for the sake of the works themselves, the Lord Jesus came performing the works that were predicted of the Messiah in the Old Testament. He performed them all. Strange that the rabbis of his day didn't realize that and trust in him. He says, most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in me, the works that I do, he will do also and greater works than these he will do because I go to my father. Well, that's something, isn't it? Greater works on the same. Yes. Well, first of all, greater geographically, the farthest Jesus ever traveled, as far as we know, in Palestine was up to Tyre, Sidon, not very far. That's the farthest that's described. And when he finished his course here on earth, let's say he had about 120 disciples in Judea and maybe 500 up in Galilee. You think of people that travel the world today, you think of people who preach the gospel to thousands of people, you think of the outreach today by radio and by television and by the Internet now. But I think there's something more going back to what I just said. The greater work, the Lord Jesus performed healings, miracles of healing. He raised the dead, but those people died again, didn't they? I think it's a more wonderful work, a greater work to witness to someone, to see that person led to Christ and that person is going to worship the Lamb of God for all eternity, life forever. That's greater, isn't it? I think it's greater. Blind eyes healed, yes, but I tell you, it's more wonderful to see people who are in the darkness of sin, held in the grip of some cult or false religion, see them liberated by the grace of God and they're going to be forever worshiping Him in heaven. To me, that's a greater work. So I read the Gospel of Mark and I see all these physical miracles that the Lord Jesus did, and I realize that there's a spiritual counterpart to every one of them, and that's our privilege. He healed the leper, leprosy speaks of the loathsomeness of sin, and can we see that? Yes, we can see the healing of lepers, moral lepers, sitting at the feet of the Lord Jesus, demoniacs, yes, once again, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in their right minds, paralysis, He healed the paralytics, well, that speaks of the paralysis of sin, and we can see that miracle performed by being faithful witnesses of the Lord Jesus and leading souls to Him. So it's no exaggeration when the Lord said that, greater works than these shall you do because I ascend to the Father. What does that mean, because I go to my Father? Well, it means that when He goes to the Father, when He's glorified in heaven, the Holy Spirit is sent, and the Holy Spirit empowers us in this ministry. We can't do it ourselves, but the Holy Spirit gives us the power, and I think you all know that the work of ministry today is not for a special class of people, it's for all believers, right? If the evangelization of the world depends on a special class, the world will never be evangelized, never be evangelized. But in Ephesians 4, it says that the gifts were given for the perfecting of the saints for the work of ministry. Who are the saints? You and me. We are the saints, and the work of ministry is given to us for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. My Bible teaches every member evangelism. And of course, the greatest is to know the Word of God and exemplify it in your life so that people say, you've got something I don't have. I don't know what it is, but I want it. I've heard of that happening within the last few weeks to someone. You've got something I don't have. I don't know what it is, but I tell you, it's easy to lead a person like that to the Lord, isn't it? It really is. Because I go to the Father, going to the Father meant the coming of the Holy Spirit who empowers us. He's in us. He's with us forever. And whatever you ask in my name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. Oh, you say, that's a blank check, friends. No, not exactly. It says, in my name. Asking in the name of the Lord Jesus means asking according to His will. It means asking according to the principles that are laid down in the Word of God. For instance, can I get down on my knees and pray that the Lord will give me a million dollars tomorrow? Well, He won't. He loves me too much. He knows that could be the worst thing that could happen to me. God wants me to live a life of faith. He wants me to be dependent on Him, to look to Him for the supply of my needs. So it would be completely contrary to the principles of the Word of God for me to ask for a great sum of money like that. Lay not up treasures on earth. Lay up treasures in heaven. So asking in His will really limits the prayers to prayers in accordance with the principles that He has taught us in His Word. I want to tell you, it's a wonderful verse of Scripture. To ask the Lord according to His will is the same as asking God. It's the same as asking God because when we pray to the Lord Jesus, our prayers go through Him and they're purified through Him, Revelation chapter 8, and they go to God the Father and they're absolutely perfect. And I believe that God answers every prayer of mine, as I said before, in exactly the same way I would answer it if I had His wisdom, love, and power. God nothing does nor suffers to be done but what you would yourself if you could see the end of all He does as well as He. That's a comfort to me, a comfort to me. I can pray. I'm a simple believer. I can pray with full assurance that my prayers go to the throne of God and that He answers them in the very best possible way and one answer is no. When I was a younger believer, there was a prayer I sent up and I insisted on it. God gave me my request but He sent leanness to my soul and I wish today I had never asked for it. It was a prideful prayer. I should never have asked for it. But we never come closer to omnipotence than when we pray in the name of Jesus. You and I will never be omnipotent, we'll never have all power. Only God has all power. But when we pray in the name of the Lord Jesus, it's the same, it's the closest we ever get to omnipotence. Wonderful. This should be a great inspiration to us to pray. Say, Brother MacDonald, I've been praying for the salvation of a loved one and as far as I know, that loved one has never been saved. This bothers me. How do you reconcile that? Isn't it God's will to save them? Yes, it is God's will to save that person but let me tell you something. God is not going to populate heaven with people who don't want to be there and God has given each person a will and God doesn't trample on the will of any person. He doesn't drag reluctant people to heaven and my Bible and my experience tell me that there was a time in my life when by a simple act of faith, I had to trust Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. When I was in the Navy, I started to pray for a fellow, we were friends, we were friends in the Navy. And let's see, I think it was a year ago last January, he died and the best, I had prayed for about 50 years and as far as I know, he died without Christ and his wife really read the riot act to me. She said, you think yours is the only true religion after he died. Why? 50 years of prayer, yeah, 50 years of prayer. I still believe that when I prayed for him, God brought the Word of God before him. God, maybe he saw Jesus Saves on a rock as he traveled along the road. Maybe he turned on the radio by accident and heard some gospel, you know. Maybe somebody passed him a tract. I believe that when I pray for an unsaved person, God does something, God jiggles the conscience of that person in some way or other. But whosoever will may come. And the Lord Jesus taught that, he said to the Jewish people of his day, you search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life and these are they that testify of me and you don't want to come to me that you might have life. He didn't put it to their intellect, he put it to their will. You don't want to come to me that you might have life. And there's somebody here tonight who's fighting the Lord on the issue of salvation. Let me say quite clearly, there's nothing about Jesus that makes it impossible to believe in him, nothing. And that's the problem, the problem is in your will. That will has to be broken to come to the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it, the Lord Jesus said, but notice, in my name. If you love me, keep my commandments. It's interesting the way prayer and obedience are linked together, prayer and obedience. Somebody might say to me, Brother MacDonald, commandments, I thought we were under grace not under law. Here in the New Testament, I'm reading about commandments, are we under commandments? Well, let me explain. The New Testament is filled with commandments for the child of God, but they're not commandments like the Old Testament commandments with penalty attached. When God gave the commandments in the Old Testament, this do and thou shalt live, implied this fail to do and thou shalt die. It was law with penalty attached. The commandments of the New Testament are commandments for the new nature, they're instruction in righteousness for God's people. God says to you and to me, look, I've saved you by my grace, now walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you are called. And I say to them, Lord, give me an example. And so he gives me examples, the commandments, the New Testament commandments, let him that stole, steal no more, but let him labor working with his hands the thing that is good. Let no filthy communication proceed out of your mouth, but rather that which is good to the use of edifying and so forth. I say, honor thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long upon the earth. This is the first commandment promised. They're not given to me, he doesn't say, look, if you fail to do it, you're going to lose your salvation, that's not the point at all. I've asked him to let me know what a life that's consistent with my calling is, and so he gives me all these New Testament commandments. Let me say again, instruction in righteousness for God's people down here. So I have no trouble with New Testament commandments. We are under grace, we're not under law, but we still have these guidelines to go by. And I will pray the father and he will give you another helper, verse 16, that he may abide with you forever. And of course, this is the promise of the coming of the Holy Spirit of God. He came on the day of Pentecost. He indwells every true believer. Isn't that marvelous? Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. I tell you, that blows me away, friends. I say that reverently to think that my body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. First Corinthians chapter 6. I tell you, to me, that's one of the greatest motivations to a holy life that there can possibly be. That solves a lot of questions. Is it all right for me to do this? Is it all right for me to do that? The body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. And think of that. Think of God deigning in his grace to send one of the persons of the Trinity to indwell his people. Another helper. Another? Yeah, the Lord Jesus is a helper. This is another helper, the Holy Spirit. A friend of mine went out from Half Moon Bay the other day. One of his customers had just bought a new boat and they went out fishing. And they began taking in water in a brand new boat. There was a hole where a hose is supposed to be. And they sent an SOS to the Coast Guard. And the Coast Guard telephoned Master Seaman there in Half Moon Bay and he set out in his own boat to go to them. And pretty soon, he just pulled up alongside the sinking craft. He said, don't worry. Everything's all right. He said, I'll get you to port safely. A good illustration of the Holy Spirit. That's just what the Holy Spirit does. He comes alongside us in time of need. Another helper, just like the Lord Jesus is. Notice that he may abide with you forever. The eternal security of the believer. Once in Christ, in Christ forever. Thus the eternal covenant stands. Even the spirit of truth, the spirit of truth. He speaks the truth. He is the truth, just as Jesus is the truth. Whom the world cannot receive. Why can't the world receive him? Because it can't see him. The world says, show me and I'll believe. But the spirit of God is invisible. We can see his work. We can see him acting in marvelous ways, but we do not see him except with the eye of faith. It says that whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him, but you know him for he dwells with you. The Lord Jesus said that to the disciples when he was here on earth and will be in you. And that took place on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came and dwelt believers for this whole church dispensation up to the rapture of the church and will be in you. And we really little know how much we owe to the Holy Spirit of God. You know, the Christian life is a supernatural life. I don't know if you realize it, but to me, it's like walking through a minefield. The Christian life. And I can think of many incidents in my life where, for instance, my life would have been taken, I think, if it weren't for the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Many incidents. Conscious of his wonderful ministry in my life. I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you. Well, that expression, I will come to you, has various meanings. It can mean I will come to you in the coming of the Holy Spirit. There was a sense in which the Lord Jesus came back to us in the coming of the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit is the representative of Christ in the earth today. But of course, he came back to us in the resurrection. And he will come back to us at the rapture, which we read about in the first verses of this chapter. Wonderful promise that the Lord Jesus had left you. I will not leave you orphans. And we're not orphans. We're never alone. The Lord is always with us and makes himself very real to us. How does he make himself real to us? Through the word of God, by the Spirit of God. You know, we know the Lord Jesus better today than the disciples knew him when he was here on earth. Did you ever think of that? We know Jesus better today than the disciples knew him when he was here on earth. For instance, Matthew saw him through Matthew's eyes. Mark saw him through Mark's eyes. Luke through Luke's eyes and John through John's eyes. We see him through all their eyes, don't we? And not alone that, but if the Lord Jesus were here and was down there at the front, he'd be closer to these folks at the front than he would be to you at the back, but that's not true today. He's just as close to any one of us as he is to the other. And this is all through the ministry of the Holy Spirit of God. What a blessing it is to know that, that we have such a wonderful revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Just let me close with verse 27. We're not going to be able to get to all the verses. Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you, not as the world gives. Do I give to you? Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. That's good, isn't it? There's the word troubled again. He began with, let not your heart be troubled, and now he says, peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you, not as the world gives. Do I give to you? Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. This peace is a supernatural peace. It's nothing you can cook up yourself. For instance, in some great trial in life, and I know many of you have had this experience, when you should have worried yourself sick, and yet you have the peace of the Lord in your heart. We have a young fellow who went in for a kidney transplant last night at 10 o'clock actually. He was operated on. And you could see the peace of the Lord in that fellow's heart. It's not natural. It's supernatural. And the Lord Jesus left us that peace, just as his joy is supernatural too. You can have joy in the midst of sorrow, not in the midst of sin, but in the midst of sorrow. And what a wonderful bequest he made to us. Peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you. He had that peace himself, didn't he, here in life? When all the scaffolding was falling around him, as it were. He could say, even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. We can do that too. We live in a day when the moral fiber of the nation is gone. When you think you've read every terrible thing that can happen, and you look at the newspaper and something worse has happened. And yet it's possible in the midst of it all to have the peace of Christ monitoring in your heart. How? Staying close to the Word of God, spending time with God in prayer, walking in obedience to the Word of God, trusting the Lord in all the changing circumstances of life. So we pray. Blessed God and Father, we just marvel at your Word. We stand in awe of the Holy Scriptures. We think of the marvel of the Bible, and we thank you especially tonight for these words of comfort for troubled hearts. Perhaps there are many here tonight who have broken hearts. Maybe over wayward children. Maybe over broken homes. Maybe over some serious illness, Lord. We just pray that you'll come and speak peace to those troubled hearts. They may know that you are in control, and that the winds and waves still know your voice who ruled them while he dwelt below. We give you thanks in the Savior's name. Amen.