In this sermon, the speaker discusses the practice of the apostles in the past and the privileges of the present. He emphasizes the importance of prayer and how Jesus promised that whatever they ask in his name, he will give it to them. The speaker uses a story of two friends in battle to illustrate the concept of asking in Jesus' name. He also highlights the weakness of the disciples and how Jesus warned them about it. The sermon is based on John 14 and encourages listeners to understand the significance of prayer and the power it holds.

Now, I want to say this about this portion of this chapter of this gospel, that I believe that we're at one of the most difficult portions in the whole of this wonderful gospel. In fact, some of the verses that we are about to look at have been verses around which arguments and battles have raged with the most able of commentators down through the years, so that we're at a very difficult part for exposition this evening. And then, I want to say that this part of John's gospel, the last eleven verses of John 16, is the part of the gospel of John that room won't touch. They're afraid of it. You will find in all the Roman commentaries that they skip by some of the verses in the latter part of John 16 very, very quickly, because it exposes, and it exposes in a way that can't be again said, any intermediaries between the saint and the father. And the Lord Jesus clears out any cause for intermediaries between the saint and the father, and He does it in the way that can't be again said in this chapter. Not only does Pagan, Popist, Babylonist, idolatrous Rome fear this portion of God's word, but all the Russellites, and Jehovah's Witnesses, and Millennial Dawnists, and Philadelphians, and all who deny the deity, and the eternality, and the eternal Sonship of Christ, are afraid of this portion, because our Lord Jesus Christ said very plainly, I came forth from the Father. A mighty statement, but we'll go into it in due time. Not only does Rome fear this portion, and all the isms and ifs that form a Unitarianism, but the devil is afraid of this portion more than any other, because our Lord Jesus Christ ended this great pastoral discourse with these words, be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. And you know that the devil is the god of this world. The Bible calls him the prince of this world, and all this world system that's so subtle around us tonight, the worlds of flesh, and the world of fashion, and the world of film, and so many other sidelines that you can bring in, in the world system, is all controlled and energized by the devil himself. But our Lord Jesus Christ is shouting here, be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. So we're at a tremendous portion that is, a portion that arguments have raged round, a portion that so many of the cults from the pit of hell are afraid of, and a portion that presents to us tonight some real difficulties. Have a look at the verse we're starting with, verse 23. The Lord Jesus Christ is speaking and saying, and in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Have a look at verse 26. At that day ye shall ask in my name. Looking at it casually, it almost looks like a contradiction, doesn't it? Well, it's not. And there are many problems in the passage, just like that this evening, that I could talk out for you, and you'd find yourself tightened up to give the proper answer. So that we're at a very difficult portion this evening, and we shall take our time to get through. I have six headings here before you. The first one is the practice of the past. I want to show you what the apostles practiced in the days when our Lord Jesus Christ was with them, and we shall go in very carefully into the practice of the past. And then I want to show you how our Lord Jesus Christ led them to see the privilege of the peasants, because the dispensation that we live in now has many privileges, and the privilege of the peasant is before us in the portion. Then, of course, clearly stated is the power of prayer. Whatsoever ye ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. And then when we go on down the chapter, we shall come to that wonderful verse, verse 28, I came forth from the Father and am coming to the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father. The verse made of two statements, I came forth from the Father and come into the world. Second one, again, I leave the world and go to the Father. And in between the two stands the cross and the glorious resurrection. But what a verse this is! It gives us the panorama of the whole pathway that lay before the Savior from glory back to glory. Right from the Father's bosom, right to the depths of darkness and Golgotha's hill, up to resurrection and ascension, back to the right hand of the Majesty and High. You have a panorama of the pathway that lay before the Savior. At the end of the chapter, we shall look at the profession of these pilgrims around us. They're saying to them, we are sure, by this we believe. And then, before the chapter ends, he preaches four things to them that they needed to know, just before he breaks into prayer. Because verse, chapter 17, verse 1 says, these words speak Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven and began to pray. He went directly from preaching to prayer. So, here are the headings, the practice of the past, the privilege of the present, the power of prayer, the panorama of the pathway, the profession of the pilgrims, and the preaching just before the prayer. Let's get down to the details of the chapter. Let's have a look at this verse, verse 23. The Lord Jesus Christ is speaking the first phrase, and in that day ye shall ask me nothing. And you must place this other one with it, verse 26, at that day ye shall ask in my name. Now, when you come to the chapter at any time, and you face a problem, I'll tell you how to go about it, and you younger ones listen carefully. First thing you do is, you ask yourself, who's speaking? Always be perfectly sure that you know who's speaking. And then ask yourself the second question, who is the speaker speaking to? Be very sure that you know who he's speaking to. And then third question, where is he speaking from? And then the fourth question, and it's the most important one, be very sure that you're sure of what he's speaking about, so that that will make you look at every word in the speech. But we know who's speaking, says our Lord Jesus, and we know who he's speaking to. He's speaking to the eleven apostles. I'll slip that into your mind. And we know where he's speaking at. He's on the way to the garden of Gethsemane. At the end of John 14, he left the upper room, and he's now walking from the upper room on that memorable level to be, and he's on the way to the garden, and in my opinion, he's very near to the brook that he passed over as he went into the garden of Gethsemane to pray. And as he walks along with his eleven apostles on the way to the garden on that memorable night, he said this to them, and in that day, and we've only got to stop and ask ourselves the question, what day is he talking about? And that's very simply answered because you remember last week's portion, that in five verses, we have this phrase, a little while. Look at verse 16. A little while, and you shall not see me. And again, a little while, and you shall see me, because I go to the farm. And seven times in five verses, you've got this phrase, a little while. And he was looking up to the disciples, and he was saying, now I want you to get the hold of this, a little while, and you shall not see me. And again, a little while, and you shall see. And he was talking about that time when he would go away, and this very dispensation that we're in now would be brought about when he would be our absent Lord, and whom, not having seen, we would still love. And you remember how I went into why he called it a little while, why it has run almost two thousand years. But when we calculated up from his standpoint that one thousand years are as one day, why he hasn't been gone two days yet, in his estimation. And I said last week that after nineteen hundred years of absence, there must be a very, very, very little while left of the little while. Before he comes again, there can't be much of it left now. If it was a little while when he went, and there are over nineteen hundred years gone, there must be very little of the little while left, until we see him again, and I'm positively sure that's true. Now, that's the day he's talking about, the day when he'll be gone. This very dispensation, that's what he's talking about, and that's what he's saying, in that day, in this dispensation, the dispensation when he would be gone from them, and they wouldn't see him. He says, in that day ye shall ask me nothing. And it's the same dispensation in verse twenty-six, at that day ye shall ask in my name. And I'll shut the light out of you when I tell you that the word ask in both verses is two different Greek words. And that's the bit you've got to be sure of, you see. I went over each word very carefully, and I found this, and I found the answer to the problem too. I found the first ask, in verse twenty-three, is a Greek word that just means to ask questions, and he's taken them back to the pictures of the past. You know, when the Lord was here with them, when they'd got any problem or anything to discuss, they just came and they asked him. I will not be asked, it's in the first verse. It's just the Greek word for questioning, coming and asking your familiar friend some question. But the Greek word that's in verse twenty-six is the word for actually getting down and making a petition. And he said, you'll do that when I'm gone, and you'll not do the other. And the thing's plain, isn't it? Oh, there are no problems in the book if you take your time, you know. You see, he's just turning them down to see the breasts of the past. Supposing we try to watch this, have a look at John fourteen over again. Now, here's the sort of thing that went on when our Lord was with them. We'll begin at John fourteen, verse one, and our Lord's talking to them, he's trying to comfort them. Let not your heart be troubled, you believe in God, believe also in me. In 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 unto myself, that where I am there you may be also. And whether I go, you know, and the way you know. And then Thomas watches, and he asks the question, Lord, we know not whither thou goest, and how can we know the way? Well, that's the sort of asking that he's talking about in verse twenty-three. He said, you know, when I'm gone, you'll not be able to do that sort of thing. In that day, ye shall ask me no more questions. That's the idea. You see, he started to talk to Thomas here, do you see him? Jesus saith unto him, verse six, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man cometh unto the Father but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also. I am from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him, and then Philip watched him. Lord, to us the Father, and it suffices us. Oh, he's coming up with a suggestion. And the Lord starts to talk to him, and down the chapter, do you see, verse twenty-two, Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot. How very, how very wonderful the word is to protect a fellow. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou would manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? And if you go through John's gospel, and see our Lord talking to them, and preaching to them, and trying to enlighten them, you'll find that again, and again, and again, they butt in, and they ask questions, and they had a right to do it. He was in their midst, and to whom else would they go? Why, he had got the words of eternal life. And the soldier, I came and asked him questions. And the Lord is just saying in John sixteen, At that day, when I am gone, ye shall ask me nothing. No more questions asked like that. You see, something else would take place. At that day, ye shall get down and petition my Father, in my name. That's the way we go about it now. Yes, you go to heaven with your problems, and I hope you do. Some of you seem to think you only need to run to the pastor. You think that he can just call the dog. Well, you're being taught different by the Lord. You need to know the way into the holiest of all, and how to get down on your knees, and bring your burden to the Lord, and leave it there, and make your request known unto God. That's the teaching of God's word. And so, there's no problem here. You see, he's only showing them the practice of the past. You see, in the past, they asked him questions. And watch this. In verse twenty-four, he said this, Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name. He said, hitherto. Oh, that's the past also. You see, wouldn't it have been nonsensical for these disciples to get down in prayer around the Lord Jesus, probably holding on to a stretch, and closing their eyes, and asking God for something in his name? No, hitherto, they didn't do that. Why, even the prayer that he gave them for a model, they down like this, Oh, Father, we trust in heaven. And it didn't end with Jesus' name at all. Because hitherto, in that day, they were not asking in his name. Oh no, that day had not come. They were talking to the God of history. Hitherto, he said, ye have not asked anything in my name. But watch this. Not only in the past did they ask him questions, and not only in the past they prayed not in his name, but he said this. At that day, verse 26, ye shall ask in my name, and I say not unto you that I will pray the Father for you. You see, in the past, they didn't ask him his name. They came and asked him the question, but in the past he had asked the Father for them. Oh, you remember outside the grave of Lazarus, that he prayed Father. Then he said, I know that thou hearest me, but for their sake I'm crying out loud. And again and again he had asked you, Father, for them. That's all the fractures of the past, for eleven a person. So you no need to get mixed up in it. It's as clean as daylight to me. It doesn't worry me for one bit. And you should see the mess that some of the commentators have made of it. It's absolutely clear. It's just the past practice of these apostles that is touching here. But then he comes to the present privilege. You see, verse 23 over again, says, In that day ye shall question me no longer. Then he says, Verily, verily I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Now, the ask here is the Greek word for petitioning. It's a different word from the word that's used for questioning a familiar friend. It's the Greek word for petitioning. You shall petition the Father. And while our authorized version reads like this, Verily, verily I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it to you. All the best and oldest manuscripts read like this. Verily, verily I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall ask the Father, he will give it to you in my name. It's just that wee bit of difference. Now, on this occasion, the in my name is not connected with the asking. I know that in other scriptures it's connected with the asking. But on this occasion, the in my name is connected with the giving. That makes all the difference, you know. It says, In that day, in that news, ye shall come in before my power, and ye shall ask, and he'll give you whatsoever ye ask in my name. Oh, it's terribly beautiful. Dr. Ironside and Enderstreet did that like this, by a story from the battlefield. Two young fellows had gone to the war together, meted up together, went to battle together. One of them is now lying on Newmound's land, and his blood is draining into the swamp. And his friend, who's quite a way off, crawls and crawls until he comes beside him, puts his arm on the young fellow and says, Jacob, I'm dying. He said, I've never told you, you know. I didn't like to tell you. I just wanted to meet up with you. My father's a millionaire. He said, take my card. Hold it while I sign it. And he signed Charlie on it. He said, Jack, if you get out of this and you get home, go and see my father and he'll do anything for you, for my sake. And the fellow put the card in his pocket, and after the war was over, went home and forgot all about it. And then came the hard times. Then he thought about this. Then he went away to see Charlie's father and sent in his own card, but they sent it out again. The man was too busy, he couldn't see it. Then he took this one out and sent it in. And in two seconds, the big business man was off, and he said, he said, my God, why didn't you let me see this before? For Charlie's sake, I'll give you anything. No, I want you to get the hold of that. Our lovely Lord Jesus Christ, through his death on the battlefield of Calvary, has opened a way for us, right into the holiest of all. And for Christ, God will give you. God will give you. Yes, that's the privilege we have, but, oh, it's so much deeper than that. I want you to get the hold of this. You see, our Lord Jesus is talking here. He says in verse 26, Archbapti, ye shall ask in my name, and I say not unto you that I will pray the Father for you. For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God. This is a tremendous vision. I want to go easy, so that you'll get the hold of it. You know, in the very early days of the Christian Church, in this dispensation, many dear saints of God got the idea that God was so holy, and so inflexibly holy, and so mighty, and so far away, and they themselves were so poor, and so blind, and so miserable, and so naked, just like us, that they actually believed that they would have needed someone to be an intermediary between them and the Father. It is perfectly true that there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. Of course, the moment that we come to Christ, and the moment we embrace Christ, and the moment we trust Christ, we're made acceptable through him. To God? Ah, but wait a minute! We're not talking just now about sinners coming to God through these mediations. We're talking now about sinners who came to Christ who were made trans. You see, you are not only a sinner that came to God through Christ, but the moment you came, you got the adoption of silence, and God became your Father. And I want you to get the hold of this. The Lord Jesus said, at that day, I will not pray the Father for you. I'll not be the intermediary, mind you, to bring you to the Father, for the Father himself loves you because you love me, can believe. Do you know what makes you acceptable to the Father? Just because you believe in the Lord Jesus, and you love him. And you don't even need an intermediary. And Christ won't be it. He said, no, no, I'll not pray the Father for you. The very moment that you believe and accept me, you'll be welcomed by the Father, without anybody in between. And if we don't need Christ, we most certainly don't need Mary. And if we don't need Christ, we don't need King Paul, or King Peter, or King Jude. Now, I want this meeting to get the hold of this tonight, that the day that we trusted Christ as sinners, we were brought into God's presence, not only as sinners gave by grace, but as children of the Father. And we have a right tonight to go into the Father's presence, and he'll accept us because we believed in Christ, and because we love him. There's truth here now. No wonder pagan Rome doesn't like us. Knocks the bottom out of their boots, to put an intermediary in here. And it is the teaching of the blessed Lord Jesus himself, that you can go to the Father without any intermediary in between. And the only grounds that you go on, is that you love the Savior, and that you believe in him. You know, I think this was a tender touch. It's a very tender one, isn't it? When he looked at them, and he said, verse 26 over again, Of that day ye shall ask in my name, and I say not unto you that I will pray the Father for you. For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and believed that I came out from God. You see the crowd that was around them? There's Peter, and Thomas, and Nathanael. You see eleven of them. Eleven miserable characters, I'll call them. Yes, Peter's the man on this very night, who is going to deny him. And Thomas is the man who's going to disbelieve the evidence. And Nathanael is the man who cried at the beginning, shall any good thing come out of Nazareth? And here they're all lined up. And yet, you know, miserable poor weaklings that they were, the Lord says, you know, you shall love me. And you believed in me. Very nice of him. What a beautiful Savior he is. You know, here we are tonight, and we're, we're a crowd, you know. Yes, miserable crowd that we are. And perhaps the posture of the most miserable of all. Here we are, and yet he looked down on us tonight. And he said, you shall not love me. And you believed in me. And that's enough to get the end of the Father's threat. You'd almost hang your head in blush when you talk about loving them, wouldn't you? But he looks at us, poor creatures, and says, you love me. And you believed in me. And the Father loves you for that. You see, the Father doesn't love us because of Christ's intercession. Oh no, no, no. No, Christ intercedes because the Father loves us. Put it on the other way, man. The Father doesn't love us because Christ intercedes. No. The Christ intercedes because the Father loves us. It was on that way. You know, the moment that we put our arms around the Savior down here, and gave him our hearts and souls, poor weaklings that we are, and have stumbled with thee, yet the Father opens his heart and loves us, because at that moment we became sons and daughters of the living God. This is a family affair now. And we can go into the Father, and for the son's sake he will give you whatsoever you ask. It's very wonderful, isn't it? You know, that's the privilege of the present. Now, we must have a look at this power of prayer, of course. You see, it's all tangled up together, isn't it? I'm only teasing it out. Now, let's get down to it again. Verse 23. I think we must stop there for a moment, because that whatsoever is not as broad as you might have thought it was. You see, he's talking to his disciples now, and he's liking them as children who can come to the Father, and he's talking about really asking, petitioning the Father. Now, I want you to get the hold of this, whatsoever ye ask, because you know this, that word ask, a very special Greek word, meaning to petition the Father. And there's a whole lot that goes on for prayer, you know, that's not asking anything. And he's not asking at all, in any sense. We were looking on Sunday morning at a text, and the Lord Jesus looked at his disciples and said, And ye, when ye pray, ye shall not be as the hypocrites are, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and at the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. And he used this word, they love to pray, because there's no other English word you can use to describe it, but it wasn't pray. You see, for a man to stand at the corner of the street, or to stand up in the synagogue, and to close his eyes, and to tumble at a whole lot of words, and in his heart he only wants to be seen of men. Well, whatever he's doing is not prayer. There's a whole lot of that goes on in the prayer meeting. And there's a whole lot of things that's passed over of intercession, and supplication, and praying, and asking, and it's baloney. Real asking is what Jude describes as praying in the Holy Ghost. That's when you're asking. You see, he's looking at this very dispensation of God, this privileged dispensation, when the Holy Ghost will end well every child of God. That's the way we can go into the presence of the Father and say, Abba, Father, by the Spirit. So, if you hadn't the indwelling of the Spirit, you wouldn't be in the family at all. Yes, when the fullness of the time would come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law to redeem them that are under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons by the Spirit, and were able to say, Abba, Father. Oh, this is wonderful. But the Holy Ghost does take men and women, praise the Lord, and removes their hearts, removes their whole beings, until they come into the very presence of the Father, and they make their requests known. And whatsoever you ask in the power of the Holy Ghost, God will give it, for his Son said. So, that's a mighty thing. Do you see the Spirit taking the child to put his hand upon the Father's throne, and for the Son said, the answer will come. That's the triune God, working wonders. That's the power of prayer. It's not twaddle in the prayer meeting, mind you. It's not some old fellow getting up to pray, and kicking the half of the time off, and waddling round the room, and if he wasn't there next Thursday, you could say his prayers for him, and all the old twaddle you've ever had in all your life, that hits up the time. It's not that. Talking about really asking, being moved by the Holy Ghost, for the glory of Christ, a child in the presence of the Father through the power of the Spirit. And if you get there like that, you know, you'll get answers. Prayer's a mighty thing, isn't it? You see what the Lord Jesus Christ said behind that? He said this in verse 25, These things have I spoken unto you in Proverbs, but the time cometh when I shall no more speak unto you in Proverbs, but I shall show you plainly of the Father. You know, all this was desperately difficult for them, and it may just be difficult for us tonight, it shouldn't be. You see, here's the whole thing that was the problem here. These eleven standing round him, their whole mind, their whole hearts, their whole soul, was all filled with the idea of the Kingdom. Although we're always wondering when you'll take the throne, when you'll set up your kingdom, and when we'll be in the cabinets, and they can't understand them going away, and a little while in the lofty hill, and talking about us going to the fatherless children. They can't get it. It's a proverb unto them. They saw sparks of light, but they couldn't get it. It was a new dispensation altogether. He said the time will come when I shall show you plainly of the Father. Wonderful Jesus. And you know, our difficult portions becoming clearer, I hope. Oh, it's a difficult one, but I think if you take your time you'll get it. And then he comes out into the open, and he said this, verse twenty-eight, I came forth from the Father, and I'm coming to the world, again I leave the world, and go to the Father. You know, I don't think that there was ever so much said, and so little, to so few, to mean so much. What a marvelous statement this is. I think you need to take your time at it. I want you to get that, I want you to place the I over there. I, just put it there, it's the Lord Jesus. I came forth from, so that he actually existed before he came forth from. There's your Russell Wagner. Let me tell you that this teaches the pre-existence of Lord Jesus. Yes, it teaches his eternality. And if it teaches his pre-existence and eternality, it's touching his deity. Ah, but it's far deeper than that, brethren. Just put the I there again. I came forth from the Father. Oh, I know there are exclusives who think they know the whole thing, don't they? And they say that the sonship only began in Bethlehem. Hold your tongue. I, go on ahead, came forth from, that's who, the Father. I don't think there's a Father here who's got only one son. Well, I can just tell you how long your fatherhood has, has, has reigned. Just as long as your son. You weren't a father till you had a son. Oh, you might have been married for years. But the day you got a son, you became a father. And so if he came forth from the Father, hallelujah, there was a son before he came. Because it's a deep one, but it's a glorious one. Oh, it didn't begin in Bethlehem. That's Unitarianism and it'll take you to hell. Unitarians are on their way to hell. Deny the deity and the eternality of Christ. You go to heaven, you know. Oh, no, it didn't begin at Bethlehem. He was the son yonder who came forth from the Father. And you know, if you can see his eternality and see a sonship, the very wording here, came forth. I came forth. You can see his willingness, can't you? Oh, I know that officially he was sent. I know that. I know that when the Godhead got down to consider this thing, that the voice came and said, who will do for us and whom will we send? And he said, here am I, send me. And the Father sent the Son. I know officially he was sent. But I know that he stood here and said, I came forth. And I know that Paul, Christ, Jesus, came into the world. He wasn't pushed into this thing. Can't you see the willingness? Can't you see his eternality? Can't you see his willingness? Can't you see his sonship? And he came forth from the Father into the world. Can't you see his humility? Can't you see his humanitary statement? How much he pressed into it. And then, you know, he took the second bit and said, and I leave the world. And again, I leave the world and go to the Father. And in between these two mighty statements stands his cross and his resurrection. Oh, this is a wonderful thing. Look, if you're getting it like this, there are five G's. I came forth from the Father. That's from the glory. And in the next chapter it says about the glory that I had with thee before the world was. And from the glory he came to Galilee. That's where the incarnation took place, up at Nazareth in Galilee. That's where it took place. I know he was born in Bethlehem, but the incarnation took place yonder. And when the fullness of the time must come, the Virgin was brought to Bethlehem. And from Galilee he set his face to go to Gethsemane. And it all was started in our chapter. And from Gethsemane he went to Gabbatha, the judgment hall. And from Gabbatha he went to Golgotha. And from Golgotha he went back to glory. Hallelujah. The level was so much, said in so little, to so few, to proclaim so much as I do of. The glorious version, don't miss it, of it's the whole panorama of the pathway of the Savior. And you know, once he'd said this, verse 29, his disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proper. Now we are sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any should ask thee. By this we believe that thou camest forth from God. They haven't got the fatherhood worked in yet, have they? Oh no, they haven't. They can't get this bit. It doesn't suit their ideas of the kingdom. But you know, it behoves every believer to watch what they're doing. I'm sure they were very sincere when they said, Now we are sure. By this we believe. And mind you, the whole crowd of them, I can see them all around them, maybe one or two only speaking. By this we are sure, and the rest of them nodding their heads. We're all in. We've got it now, Lord. My, we're late now, Lord. We've got it now. And it will behove every believer here to pay attention just here, to have no confidence in that old crash of yours. And there is a teaching that can never be altered. Let him that standeth to teach. You know, I get fed up listening to these fellows who say, I've got it. Oh yes, they've got it. Yes, I'm holy. Oh yes, I'm holy. We're on the top of the hill. They're standing. Hallelujah. So pick me up. It's all I. You listen and you'll hear it. I can hear it for one ear now. And before very long, I've seen them too often, you know. You want a list of them, I'll write them out for you. Dear brother, if you can just get down to see how miserable and poor that anything within you is, you'll begin to say like Paul, it's not I. Not I. Oh, if I outline that chapter and it pleases me well, and I'm getting it over and it's thrilling the people, I always say at the bottom, it's not I. Well, it has got nothing in the white world to do with me. Well, when you begin to talk about I, it's a great pity of your spiritual mentality. It's not I. And the Lord had a look at them, hadn't he? And here's what he said to them. Verse 31, Jesus answered them. Oh, if it had been the apostle that was answering them, they would have been annoyed, wouldn't they? I said to him, he's always talking. It was Jesus that was answering. Do ye now believe? Behold, they all cometh. Yea, yea, is now come. That ye shall be scattered every man to his own, and shall leave me alone. That was tight talk coming behind such statements, wasn't it? And you know, they were just at the very place. Oh, how foolish we can be. Oh, how self-confident we can be. Oh, how this old flesh can be lost. They were at the brook, Capernaum. And on the other side of the brook, Judas was going to come. And they would split. God help us to go slow and low. Always not I, brother. Always not I. I think there's a touch here we wouldn't need to miss. He said, ye shall leave me alone, and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. You know, this was one great, wonderful comfort to the Lord Jesus, that every step right down through those days of ministry, when he was despised and rejected of men, right down until they put him on the cross. And when you hear the dull blow of the hammer swung low, and he's looking into the faces of the men who are nailing him, he's saying, Father, forgive them. And he was still with the Father. But what a moment must it have been when the Father turned away. I wouldn't like to dare to expound it, you know. I can only gaze way down deep into the depths where there was no standing, and the night was dark, and none of the ransomed ever knew how deep were the waters crossed, or how dark was the night that the Lord passed through, ere he found the sheep that was lost. But away down there he cried, My God, my God, why is there no protection? The light of the sun faded out. When he died for me, blessed be his holy name. Wonderful Jesus, wonderful, wonderful Jesus. You'll never understand it. I dare not explain it. And then he said this to them. You see, he was warning them there of their weakness. These things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. He's pointing the pathway to peace. Now, I believe that these things have I spoken unto you. It just doesn't deal with the last eleven verses. I believe it deals with the whole pastoral discourse. And that began in the upper room. Yet it begins with John 14, the explanation of why he was going away. He said, If I go away, I go to prepare a place for you. That was the explanation. And I wish we could get our eyes on the beautiful, beautiful place that he's preparing for us. And then he comes down John 14 into John 15, and he takes the illustration of the vine, that even when I'm away preparing the place for you, there'll be a sufficiency flowing through me that will meet your every need, that will make you live here to the glory of God. And then he comes from the explanation and the illustration to the revelation, I'll send the Holy Ghost. He shall guide you into also. He shall show you things to come. He shall glorify me. Oh, what a revelation. And now comes this new dispensation, when you can go into the Father without anybody keeping you back and get the things, the Holy Ghost lays upon your heart. He says, These things, these things, this explanation, this illustration, this revelation, this dispensation of privilege, these things ought to bring you peace. Oh, dwell on them, brethren. Take up pagan Rome and their rebels. We're going home. There's a house over there for all the redeemed. Thank God there's every sufficiency on the way home. Christ is all sufficient, and the Holy Ghost is here. That's why we're enjoying the book. And we're in a dispensation where we can go into the Father, and we don't need Mary, thank God we don't need Mary. Just before you close your Bibles, look at two things. He said this, In the world ye shall have tribulation. I'd like you to take that statement tonight, and I'd like you to take it home with you. And I'd like you to remember that Christ said it. And I'd like all you young believers to get the hold of it. He's not bluffing you, mind you. He says, In the world ye shall have tribulation. And you can't alter this. And you can't put it behind your back, and you can't blot it out. It's Christ's own words. In the world you shall have tribulation. And don't you forget it. You just live for Christ. You just teach Christ. You just follow Christ. You just worship Christ. You just love Christ. You just obey Christ. And you'll have tribulation. And you will. And you can't alter it. You can't alter it. Brethren, it's just like that. That's just how it's to be. In the world you shall have tribulation. And they'll give you a pretty good dose of it too. And the more you live for Christ, the more you'll get. So you must make up your mind. Don't think because you're going to be a spiritual fellow you're going to dodge it. You're walking dead into it. I've made up my mind about it. It's going to be a battle for me the whole way home. I'm not bluffed about this. I know where I am, you know. I know the wilderness of me. But if he said that, he finished the discourse like this. Be of good cheer for the victor. Blessed, wonderful Jesus. God bless you. Let us bow together before the Lord. I don't think we'll, yes we will, we'll change us. Just let's bow for a moment. Father, we bow in thy presence. We lift our hearts. We bless thee for our wonderful, wonderful, wonderful safety. Thank thee for this dispensation in which we are now acknowledged publicly as thy sons and daughters. We have had the adoption of sons, and we can come to thee as children to a father, and we don't need any intermediary between. And we thank thee that just because we believe in him and because we love him, little as it says, Lord, we're accepted in thy presence. And we know that when the Holy Ghost really moves us to put our burdens at thy feet, that thou wilt answer. We have no doubts about it. Lord, we thank thee for all the way that thou didst travel for us, from the heights of the glory of the bosom of the Father, to the dark, dark depths of Calvary, and back to the glory to prove that the work was done. We know that in the world we shall have tribulation, but Lord, our trust is in thee, and thou hast overcome the world. And by this we shall overcome even our faith in thee. They can't do anything to us, Lord. Our trust is in thee. Bless thy people. And should there be one here tonight who has gazed at thy coming from the Father, and going into the depths of Calvary, and dying alone, and praying sin's tremendous price, and rising from the dead, an all-sufficient conquering Savior, O God, if there's one here without Christ, wilt thou draw them to his feet this evening? Get them to come as sinners, and then they'll be changed in the Son, and be able to come to the Father. Dear Lord, take our thanks for thy words, thy precious words, for thy name's sake. Amen.