0:02 [music] >> I don't think anything we any pain we go through or loss we experience is can compare with what the disciples faced 0:21 when Jesus said, "I'm leaving." They had the most amazing 3 and 1/2 years that anybody could have imagined. And then it was about to end. And I know there's a sadness we're all 0:41 feeling right now. Uh but that's nothing compared to what it was like for those disciples. >> [clears throat] >> And my mind went to that what they must have felt like at that moment as I thought about this uh what to share. 0:58 So, let's turn to John 13. Thought I would mention eight lessons that uh from Jesus' parting words >> [snorts] >> to the disciples. They weren't his last words. He rose again, as we know, and he saw them again, at least the 11 who were still 1:16 alive besides Judas Iscariot. And spoke to them more words before he ascended. But before his death these final words, parting words, as it were, in John 13 through 17 offer us some good encouragement. 1:34 As if to say as if Jesus were saying "I know it's been great. And I know you think it's not going to be great anymore. But it's going to be better." That's how I could summarize John 13 through 17. It's been fantastic. And you think it's not going to be 1:52 fantastic anymore because your circumstances are changing. But it's going to be even better. Remember that, dear young brothers, young sisters. It's been great. You think it's not going to be as great, it's going to be even better. 2:08 John 13, the first lesson. Well, let's begin this. John 13:1, "Before the feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that his hour had come that he would depart out of the world to the Father." This was knowing that his hour had come 2:22 and he was going to depart out of the world to the Father. The first lesson here, it says, "He love having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end." Here's lesson number one. Love everyone 2:39 whom God places in your circle to the uttermost and until the end. One translation says, "He loved them to the uttermost." You'll face situations in your life where people you invest in and love may God may take them out of your 2:57 circle, but while God places you in a circle and places people around you, love them fully. Don't think about how long will that last or will it um will it change? Love whom God has placed in your circle 3:15 to the uttermost and until the end. Um there's a saying in the world which I believe is a biblical principle, but the the saying in the world goes like this. "It's better to have loved and lost than to have not loved at all." 3:33 It's better to have loved and lost than to have not loved at all. And it's an worldly way of a secular way of saying what Jesus said here. He knew I thought about it like this. When Jesus came down from heaven, he knew that 0.0001% 3:52 of the people whom he would give everything up for would actually receive it. I just said .0001%. It might be even smaller. I don't know, but it's a very, very small number of the total number of human beings that have lived on this 4:08 earth in the history of mankind, the percentage of people that actually received the benefit of Jesus' amazing sacrifice is minuscule. Very, very small. And yet Jesus said, "I'm going to come." In fact, 4:25 if I was the only one that needed salvation, Jesus would have come. If you were the only one, Jesus didn't think of the as we say return on investment. In the world they teach you to say, "What's the return on investment? It's 4:40 not worth it if the benefit you'll get out of that is so small." That's what the world says. Jesus says, "It's worth it." And if God places you in a very, very small circle where only one person will get the benefit of it, 4:55 it's worth it. How much value can you put on one soul? And you might think, "Oh, if I could be here at RLCF, I could I'd have such a good time or if I could be at an established church somewhere else, it'd be good. I'm kind of in a lonely place 5:10 and it's just me or it's a small church that I'm a part of or I don't know what the future holds." Don't think of the return on investment in an earthly standpoint. Love until the end. Jesus did it. This is what it means to follow him. And love 5:25 to the uttermost. Pour out. This is something that the Lord really sealed in my heart 8 years ago when we went through a significant change in our church. And and the Lord had called us to love and I felt like I had loved 5:43 fully and then it seemed like that that was changed and that love was not received anymore. The Lord said, "Just continue to love. Pour out your love. Don't think about how many cups are there. As many cups are as are on the table, 5:56 fill them." And so, the number of cups on your table may be small or big. That's not the important thing. God is enough in his pitcher for you to pour into the cups that are in front of you. That's what will matter. Okay, lesson number two. 6:14 John chapter 14 verse 1, Jesus says, "Do not let your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me." So, this lesson number two is don't give any room to anxiety. 6:32 You believe in God, believe also in Jesus. What does that mean? Jesus was saying, "You believe in God, believe also in me." Is there a difference? Well, apparently there is. It's one thing to believe in God as this far away God who is up there. That's 6:49 what they knew up in the Old Testament. Now Jesus was saying he is God. Believe also in the God who is near you in your circumstance. Jesus came down to show us that God is not a far away God, but a nearby God. That's why he came in the flesh. Not 7:08 just nearby physically, but nearby in my circumstance. That means in exactly what I'm going through. I see Jesus there. I don't know if you relate to that. I know sometimes I think, "Oh, Lord, I feel like I have the right to be 7:22 anxious because you're all the way up there in heaven and I'm down here all by myself." He says, "No, I'm with you in your trial." You believe in God, believe also in Jesus, God in the flesh. That's why he says, "Do not let your 7:36 heart be troubled." Up till this point, maybe old covenant people had a reason to be anxious. New covenant people have no reason to be anxious because you believe in Jesus, God in the flesh, God in your circumstance. Lesson number three. 7:56 Go down to verse 16 of chapter 14. John 14:16. Here's the lesson. Having the Holy Spirit reveals to us that we are in the Father more than just having a father. I don't know if you've thought about that. What does it mean 8:15 to be in the Father more than just having a father. Having a father itself is great. But it's so much more than that. Verse 16. If I will ask the Father and he will give you another helper that he may be with you with you forever. We 8:32 just heard that. That is the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it does not see him or know him. But you know him because he abides with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you. 8:51 In other words, up to this point you were orphans. But I'm not going to leave you as an orphan. I will come to you. After a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me because I live, you will live also. 9:07 In that day you will know that I am Listen listen to this. Jesus is saying, "In that day you will know." That is when the Holy Spirit comes. That day was the day of Pentecost. And now that day has already come. So that day is today for us. 9:21 In So today, let's say, verse 20, you can know must know will know that Jesus is in the Father and you are in Jesus and Jesus is in you. So, this isn't 9:40 a father that is away from me or separate from me. This is being not being an orphan in the sense that I am in the Father. And the Father and the Jesus is in the Father, I am in Jesus, Jesus is in me, we are in the Father. This is an 9:59 all-encompassing Father-Son relationship. It's not, you know, sometimes I don't know what your relationship with your father's father was like uh growing up. I had I think the best father I could have ever asked for. And I still have a 10:16 tremendous love relationship with him. But regardless of that, that's still a separate person. And as much as my father is perhaps the man I respect the most in the world, there's sometimes still I can't understand what he does. It's it's it's 10:31 him and me and even in his dealings with me as a child, there were times when I didn't understand that. I knew he loved me, but I didn't understand how he thought or why he was doing certain things. The relationship that we have with our 10:46 heavenly Father is completely different because I am in him. I am in Jesus, Jesus is in me, and we are in the Father. So, now I can actually know in my heart what he is working in my life. I don't have to understand it with my mind. We 11:05 have the mind of Christ. So, you see the difference between having a father, my heavenly Father is over there, with me being in the Father. Me being in Jesus, Jesus being in me, and us being in the Father. That's what he tells us 11:22 we can have if you have the Holy Spirit. Because the Holy Spirit is within us. Oh, I hope this is putting a longing in your heart to have this real experience of being filled with the whole with the Holy Spirit. For years 11:36 I thought I knew I have a father. I have a father. And then when I sing it I'm like, "Oh, you're over there." I have a father. He knows my name. He He has every collects every tear that drops. Okay. It's quite a different thing when I 11:50 realize that that father I'm in him. I have a father and he he's like I'm inside him. It's a wonderful comfort. Lesson number four. John chapter 15. Here's the lesson. Everything you do outside of Christ is 12:08 absolutely worthless. Everything. You could get married. You could get a successful job. You could get your green card. You could get your visa. If you do it outside of Christ, it is worthless. Zero. Complete waste. 12:27 John 15 verse four. Abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine. You are the branches. He 12:45 who abides in me and I in him, he bears much fruit for apart from me you can do nothing. Or I would say your life is absolutely worthless. Good for nothing. The only good for nothing person in the world. You know, there are good for nothing 13:04 people. That's a horrible thing to say to somebody. Good for nothing. You should never say that to anybody. Sometimes teachers tell students, "Oh, you're good for nothing." Maybe parents have sometimes told their children, "You're good for nothing." 13:17 Jesus says there are you're good for nothing if you're apart from me. It's a serious word. Jesus himself says, "Man, you're good for nothing." Why? Because you you're trying to do something outside of me. Something about your life is outside of 13:34 me. So, everything you do outside of Christ is good for nothing. Number five, John chapter 16 verse 7. This is the lesson. If a life of continually being filled with the Holy Spirit 13:53 is greater than being physically with Jesus. A life of continually being filled with the Holy Spirit is greater than being physically with Jesus. John chapter 16 verse 7. 14:16 I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away. It is better for you that I leave. Because if I don't go away, the Holy Spirit, the helper, will not come to you. But if I do go, if I physically separate 14:34 from myself from you, I can send you something better, the Holy Spirit. That is my spirit, Jesus is saying, who can be in you now. I will send him to you. Let's read that verse again. I tell you the truth. In other words, 14:52 in your own uh imagination, you might think, "No, this can't be true. It's not possible, Lord, that there could be something better than you being with me physically. I can't even think about how that that could be better. How could it be better 15:05 that we end the singles discipleship gathering, and I go back to my same lonely place? How could that be better, Lord? I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that this physical experience ends. I could paraphrase it that way. 15:23 It is to your advantage that this physical experience ends because hopefully it will result in your seeking for the experience of being filled with the Holy Spirit continually. That's what he was telling the disciples. It is better for 15:38 you that this physical experience ends because now you won't rely on physical Jesus next to you, you'll rely on spiritual Jesus inside of you. That's what we you and I have. See, we've never experienced physical Jesus with us. 15:51 But can you imagine what that would have been like? How amazing that was? And sometimes I've thought about it like this, if you could live in any time period, what would it be? At one point of time I thought, man AD 25 16:08 uh AD 29 to be a disciple of Jesus to see that would have probably been the greatest thing. And then the Lord reminded me of this verse, no, 2026 is better than AD 29. Why? Because Jesus said it would be. Because Jesus is in heaven physically 16:27 separated from me and his spirit is available to us today. 2026 is better than AD 29. AD 29 is when he died. That that's when he said these words. So it is a life of continually being filled with the Holy Spirit is greater than 16:44 being physically with Jesus. Number six. John 16:23 and 24. Jesus wants you to ask and receive from him anything in his name 17:03 and so to be joyful. Jesus wants you to ask and receive from him anything in his name and be joyful. Now that can only happen if you're filled with the Holy Spirit. I've come to see more and more that this whole 17:23 thing of asking in his name can only happen if you're filled with the Holy Spirit. That's why it he says first filled with the Holy Spirit. Then later in that chapter, he talks about asking anything in his name. But think about what he just said. 17:38 Ask for anything, and I know that if you're like me, you're thinking No, Lord. You're not really telling me to ask you for anything, right? I mean, come on. I mean, you're saying anything? I can ask for anything? It sounds too 17:53 good to be true. No. I I I don't think I can ask for anything because you know, if you if you allow me to ask for anything because if I offer my kids, let's say, "Okay, ask for anything." >> [laughter] >> And your devilish like, "Really, Dad? 18:08 Anything?" Like, you're serious? And you we can have that relationship with God, do you think? No, Lord. No, you you you don't really mean anything. And because you're God, I know you're almighty, you're all powerful. If you 18:23 really give me the as they say in the in the word carte blanche, that means like unlimited credit card. Really, ask for anything. And you're God, you you you can do everything, you can do anything. And you're allowing me to ask for 18:38 anything? I encourage you, dear brothers and sisters. Ask for anything. After you have been filled with the Holy Spirit. After you ask for the Holy Spirit ask for anything. Really. I say, "Lord, fill me with the Holy Spirit." And now 18:55 I believe you're filled with me filling me with the Holy Spirit. I'll I'll mention this in passing. For me, being filled with the Holy Spirit is very simple. It's thirst. And the mark of thirst is that you never stop asking 19:08 even after he's filled you. That's true thirst. He's filled you. Uh you've asked for it and you keep on asking. If you ask to be filled with the Holy Spirit and you say, "Brother, I've I've I asked for 10 days and nothing 19:22 happened, so I stopped asking." Then I say, "You weren't really thirsty." Or I asked for 10 months, I didn't feel anything, so I stopped asking. You weren't really thirsty. I asked for 10 years and I didn't feel anything. You weren't 19:34 really thirsty and you stopped asking. You weren't really thirsty. The mark of true thirst is that it never stops asking. And once you get an awareness that you have been filled with the Holy Spirit, you will you will still keep asking 19:48 because you will taste and see that the Lord is good and you'll say, "I want more." And you've heard me use the the analogy of mango ice cream. If I if I know that there's mango ice cream over there and I come to you with a teaspoon, 20:03 you fill that. Uh uh I'll eat that and I'll I'll say, "I got to find a bigger spoon." I'll come with a tablespoon. You got more? You already filled whatever I had, but it was so good that I said, "I I want more of that." That's thirst. 20:20 And then when you fill my tablespoon of it, I'm going to come with a little cup and say, "Can you have enough mango ice cream for a cupful?" Yeah, sure. Then you fill that and I'll say, "Well, I'm going to get a bowl." That is mango ice cream. There's no no 20:33 mango ice cream in heaven. There's something far better, Jesus. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. This is thirst. Thirst, faith. Once you uh once you ask once you have that thirst and you ask, believe that the Lord is filling you with the Holy 20:50 Spirit. He's going to fill you with the Holy Spirit. This is John 7:37, 38, and 39. John 7:39 said says he was speaking about the Holy Spirit who would be given. John 7:37 says, "If anyone is thirsty and then John 7:38, he says, "He who 21:05 believes in me from his innermost being will flow rivers of living rivers of living water." Thirst, believe, faith, and then go. The mark of true faith is that you just go forward. Go forward into the life that's ahead of you. Go to work. Go to 21:22 school. Go to the meeting. Open your mouth and testify of God's goodness in the church meetings and your the hope that is in you. Do. Work. Go. Having thirsted, having asked in faith, now go and you'll find that the Lord is 21:40 fills you. That's my personal experience. I've heard plenty of testimonies of people who are aware of the moment when they are filled with the Holy Spirit. Biographies you read many of them that. God allows that. But the danger is that many of you I'm 21:54 I'm I'm a little bit on a side track here. I recognize that, but I wanted to share this as I speaking about the Holy Spirit. I just thought I should um For many many many people I read their stories and biographies and they haven't 22:10 a moment when they were filled with the Holy Spirit. In many of their cases it's because they weren't raised in denominations where they were taught about the Holy Spirit accurately. Perhaps that's why God allowed it. But you've had the 22:23 privilege of knowing and being taught to be filled with the Holy Spirit and seeing spirit-filled people perhaps. And so for me, my experience of having an assurance that I've been filled with the Holy Spirit has come months later 22:38 where even though I seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit continually, almost never do I ever have an immediate awareness that God has filled me. Perhaps that's what you're waiting for. And may not maybe the Lord won't give 22:51 you that. But you really thirst, you really believe that God's going to fill you, and you move forward in that confident faith. And I tell you this that 6 months down the road you look back and say, "Man, Lord, you filled me." 23:06 Because you brought me to an experience of life where I'm become I'm an overcomer now in those areas. And Jesus has actually become more precious to me over the last 6 months. And you know that could only happen through the Holy 23:19 Spirit. A year later you look back and say, "Lord, you've been filling me." So, thirst, ask in faith, and go. And don't don't let the well, Lord, I didn't feel anything or I don't have an assurance. Just go forward. Your 23:34 assurance will come when you walk in faith. So, going back to what I was saying earlier, Jesus wants you to ask and receive anything from him in his name and be joyful. Okay, number seven. John chapter 17, verse three. The most valuable and enjoyable thing in 23:53 the world is simply knowing God. The most valuable and enjoyable thing in the world is simply knowing God. It's not um having a church or anything like 24:11 that. It's that simple. Knowing. Not doing. Not serving. It's knowing. You know, knowing has a sense of like you're just passive there. No, this knowing is active, I'll say, but it starts with that simply knowing. Like when you say 24:29 when I say I know my wife, you don't think about what that, you know, it's it's not like we all we go on walks or I give her roses or we go on dates or anything like that. That that's a the extra. Knowing is an experience. 24:45 You don't have to be doing anything to know. So, there will be times when the Lord won't have you be doing anything great in his kingdom. But know him. Then there will be times when you will do service for him, know him through 24:57 that, too. The most valuable and joyful thing in the world is simply knowing God. Just knowing him. People don't have to know that you know him. They don't have to say, "Oh, this is a man who knows God." That all doesn't matter. You know him. 25:14 That's it. Let it be. Let it rest. You know him. You have that, brother, sister? You have the most valuable, enjoyable thing. If there is a lack of joy in your life because of your circumstance, because you're wishing it could be different. 25:32 If you sense that your life is no value, "What's my purpose in life?" It's probably it's definitely because you don't know God. You're looking to You're looking at somebody else who you think, "Oh, look at how that brother serves the Lord. 25:48 Look at how much that sister is doing. Or they are they get to be a part of that church. If I If I had that or if I did that, my life would have value." In the world, they'll tell you the same thing. If you had money or if you have the the 26:01 the beautiful wife or the handsome husband or you have success, that's value. No. Value and joy comes from knowing God. That's it. Last one, number eight. John 17:23. You know this verse well. That they may know that you have loved 26:19 me even that you love them even as you have loved me. Here's how I would say it. Jesus is saying, "I have had the best life possible." This is what I hear Jesus saying. "I've had the best life possible. I'm about to die, but I've had the most 26:38 amazing life in 33 years because my father loves me, and you can, too. I've had the best life possible, and you can, too, because of father's love. That they may know that you love them 26:57 as much as you love me. See, what is the consequence of saying the father loves me as he loved Jesus? It's that I can have the same life that Jesus had. The same joy, the same rest in every circumstance. So, Jesus is saying 27:10 Santosh, Peter, Andrew, James, I've had the best life. Nobody has ever come to close to the life like I have. I have had the most amazing life. He's saying it on his deathbed as it were. It wasn't a bed, it was a cross. 27:25 Um I've had the most amazing life possible. And you can too. Because the father loves you like he loves me. That's what's ahead of you, brothers and sisters. You can have the best life possible not because God's going to change your 27:39 circumstance or anything like that, because the father loves you. This is the consequence. The actual consequence of knowing the father loves us as he loved Jesus. Let's pray. Thank you, Lord, for your tremendous love for us. Thank you for 27:55 >> Yes. >> the richness that is in your word that you've left for us to encourage us. I pray, Lord, that every one of these dear brothers and sisters will be encouraged in your love for them. >> Yes. >> Love for all of us, even us 28:09 older elders, Lord. We need this reminder. Thank you for speaking even to us. >> Yes. >> Thank you, Lord, that your truth is universal. Your word is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword. Will you pour out your spirit 28:22 even upon us even now? >> Yes. >> Thank you, Lord. We trust you in Jesus' name. Amen. >> [music]
