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[0:00] Welcome to our service this morning. Together as we come before God in worship, we look to Him to bless His Word to us.

[0:15] We can begin our service singing from the second psalm, the second psalm, and we're going to sing from verse 6 to the end. Psalm 2 from verse 6.

[0:34] Yet notwithstanding, I have Him to be my King appointed, and over Zion my holy hill I have Him King anointed. The sure decree I will declare the Lord hath said to me, Thou art mine only Son, this day I have begotten Thee. Ask of me, and for heritage, the heathen I'll make thine, and for possession I to Thee will give earth's utmost life. Thou shalt as with a weighty rod of iron break them all, and as a potter shared, thou shalt them dash in pieces small. Now therefore, kings, be wise, be taught, ye judges of the earth. Serve God in fear, and see that ye join trembling with your mirth. Kiss ye the Son, lest in his ire ye perish from the way. If once his wrath began to burn, blessed all that on him stay.

[1:39] The second psalm from verse 6 through to the end. Yet notwithstanding, I have Him to be my King appointed.

[1:50] Yet notwithstanding, I have Him to be my King appointed, and over Zion my holy hillt yet notwithstanding, I have Him to be my King appointed.

[2:20] The sure decree I will declare, the Lord has said to me, Thou art my Lord, the Lord has said to me, and for every day, the heathen I'll make thine.

[2:52] The Lord has said to me, and for every day, the heathen I'll make thine.

[3:20] And for possession I could be with him, and for possession I could be with him, and for possession I could be with him, and for mine.

[3:38] Thou shalt as with the way he is, and for possession I could be with him, and for possession I could be with him. Thou shalt as with the way he brought, of thy own name he brought, of thy own name he brought, and as a bonder shall in thy house he brought.

[4:06] Thou shalt as with the way he brought, of thy own name he brought, and for possession I could be with him. Thou shalt as with the way he brought, of thy own name he brought, and for possession I could be with him. Thou shalt as with the way he brought, of thy own name he brought, and for possession I could be with him. Thou therefore kings be wise before, Ye judges all the air.

[4:32] There upon in fear not see the heat drawn forever.

[4:51] Kiss ye the sunless in his life, Ye there is no way.

[5:08] If once his wrath may enter, Let them all out of our day.

[5:27] Let us join together in prayer. Have a blessed God as we come before you in worship.

[5:39] Help us to worship in spirit and in truth. Help us in all the ways that we come short of your glory.

[5:51] And there are countless ways in which that is true of each one of us. Your own people need to confess that in their most holy activities they find themselves coming far short of accomplishing their heart's desire.

[6:19] We acknowledge that in your presence and in the company of some who understand for themselves what that means. To be engaged in a relationship with that Christ as their Lord and as their Redeemer.

[6:49] To live out their life here in this world in dependence upon him. And yet they find themselves so often having to confess that their eye has strayed and their feet have wandered from the way that is the way of life.

[7:13] We give thanks for the fact that you are a merciful God and a God who understands the nature of sin and how it has insinuated itself into the lives of the race that is man's.

[7:35] Even though created in the image of God in the fall that overtook our first parents.

[7:47] We find constant reminders of the rapid decline even in the knowledge of God. And in the failure to appreciate all that is true of the God who is ever the same, high and lifted up.

[8:09] One who inhabits eternity and of whom it is said that with you there is no variation, no shadow of turning.

[8:24] You remain the same. And even though this world as you have decreed it to be is under the righteous judgment of God and as a consequence will know.

[8:40] The experience of the experience of God is special even as the dust is destined to return to the dust.

[8:54] This world is destined to melt with a fervent heat and all that has ever existed will be brought to nothing.

[9:06] The whole image of God isross. You are a righteous Украї Hej ž man can view for themselves how each and every person who occupy the scene of time will run their race and then return to the ground from whence they came and that is writ large within your word and the reason for it is set before us and your people are numbered amongst them but they have the promise that though they will perish their soul will return to God who gave it and their bodies remain united to Christ until the day that Christ returns to bring the world and all in it to judgement and the voice of the judge will call to himself his own and he will separate the sheep from the goats and he will bring them ever to be with himself who are his own and forbid from his presence except to experience the holy anger of a fury that is immeasurable because of the decree of God who has said that there is a place to be with him and he will a place prepared for the lost for the devil and his angels and all who emulate their unbelief.

[11:01] we pray then your blessing upon us this day even those who have yet to know God as their God we pray for them and ask that the eyes of their understanding may be opened.

[11:14] no matter how much we have learned even from godly parents and grandparents through the tuition received within schools that once were conscientious in setting before us the truth of God.

[11:36] nevertheless if these things are not married together with the grace that is saving then what we know will ultimately be what will be our condemnation at the last.

[11:55] we pray for your blessing upon us. we pray for your blessing upon the truth that it may be quickened in the hands of the spirit so as to touch our hearts and minds and draw us to put our trust in Christ.

[12:11] we pray for your blessing upon us. we pray for your blessing upon your word thankful that we can trust that you are able to change lives even lives that may at this very moment be steadfast in their refusal to embrace the truth.

[12:32] Lord, Lord, you are able to make many aware of their need by reason of their sin and to seek out a resolution to it in the provision that you have made in the gospel for sinners.

[12:52] Lord, help us to understand that it is in a day of your power alone that any can turn from their wickedness. Lord, Lord, to that end and to that end we lift our eyes heavenwards and ask that you would rend and asunder and come down and as you have in times past, touch the lives of some.

[13:18] May we see the lives of many translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of your marvelous light. we pray for your blessing on the preaching of the gospel in this place to all the congregations of our island and beyond we remember all who seilessly and fearlessly proclaim Christ as the alone saviour of sinners no matter how politically correct this world would have us believe that it is so that all religions are considered equal and all faiths are considered to be as one you teach us in your word that that is not so any and all the faith or religion is false if it is not looking unto Jesus and the author and finisher thereof when we pray for your blessing to be upon the proclamation of that Christ in our cities, in our towns, in our villages, in all our communities and that he would have an hearing from the great and the good, from the rich and the poor so hear our petitions on behalf of the world proclaimed today bless the needy of this world in which we live you are able to meet spiritual need as you are able to meet temporal need you bring these temporal needs before you and ask that the hungry would be fed that the naked would be clothed that the homeless would be housed and that those who have an interest in the welfare of their fellow man would be empowered and that those who have in their possession reaches without measure would learn what it is to show pity and measure to those rather than abuse the privileges that they have remember all the nations of the earth in particular remember these parts of the world that are devastated by natural disasters where there is famine, where there is flood, where there is fire we pray for these places pray for the elderly, the infirm and young of these nations that are so often neglected remember Ukraine again as it continues in war against its neighbour and all other like nations that are embroiled in civil war and in war against their neighbours we remember them to you and pray that your light would be disseminated in the darkness that prevails in these places we remember before you our own needs as a community visiting the sick remembering those who are housebound, hospitalised depending on the care of others within care homes we pray for them all thankful for those who deliver such care we pray for those who are grieving and sorrowful at this time we know that there are some connected with the congregation here who have grief to deal with and we bring their sorrows to your attention and ask that you would assuage such grief to them

[17:19] we pray Lord that you would pour out your spirit upon us so that whatever our need may be temporal or spiritual that we would learn to look to the heavens look to the God who created heaven and earth the God whose arm is always without measure in power that you would reach out to us and bring us to yourself and gather us even as a hen gathers her cheeks under her wing that you would so do for us and remind us of your care for the fallen of this world forgive sin pardon us in Jesus name Amen I'm going to read from the New Testament in the Gospel of John and Chapter 14 John Chapter 14 we'll read the whole chapter let not your heart be troubled ye believe in God believe also in me in my father's house are many mansions if it were not so

[18:35] 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 but where I am there ye may be also and whither I go ye know and the way ye know Thomas saith unto him Lord we know not whither thou goest and how can we know the way Jesus saith unto him I am the way the truth and the life no man cometh unto the Father but by me if ye had known me ye should have known my Father also and from henceforth ye know him and have seen him Philip saith unto him Lord show us the Father and it sufficeth us Jesus saith unto him have I been so long time with you and yet hast thou not known me

[19:36] Philip he that hath seen me hath seen the Father and how saith thou then show us the Father believest thou not that I am in the Father and the Father in me the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself but the Father that dwelleth in me he doeth the works believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me or else believe me for the very works sake verily verily I say unto you he that believeth on me the works that I do shall he do also and greater works than these shall he do because I go unto my Father and whatsoever ye shall ask in my name that will I do that the Father may be glorified in the Son if ye shall ask anything in my name I will do it if ye love me keep my commandments and I will pray the Father and he shall give you another comforter that he may abide with you forever even the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it seeth him not neither knoweth him but ye know him for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you

[21:00] I will not leave you comfortless I will come to you yet a little while and the world seeth me no more but ye see me because I live ye shall live also at that day ye shall know that I am in my Father and ye in me and I in you he that hath my commandments and keepeth him he it is that loveth me and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father and I will love him and will manifest myself to him Judas saith unto him not Iscariot Lord how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us and not unto the world Jesus answered and said unto him if a man love me he will keep my words and my Father will love him and we will come unto him and make our abode with him he that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings and the world which ye hear is not mine but the Father's which sent me these things have I spoken unto you being yet present with you but the Comforter which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my name he shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you peace I leave with you my peace I give unto you not as the world giveth give I unto you let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid ye have heard how I said unto you I go away and come again unto you if you loved me you would rejoice because I said

[23:01] I go unto the Father for my Father is greater than I and now I have told you before it come to pass that when it is come to pass ye might believe hereafter I will not talk much with you for the Prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me but that the world may know that I love the Father and as the Father gave me commandment even so I do arise let us go hence Amen and may the Lord add his blessing to a reading of his word to his name be the praise well before the boys and girls go out to Sunday school just a quick word you're looking over the last number of weeks at the children of Israel taking making their way out of Egypt into the wilderness and today I think you're going to be looking at how God fed them in the wilderness with manna and with quails and it's important for us to remember how often in this story which is our true story how we come face to face with with the human condition that makes us complain we complain regularly we complain bitterly we complain a lot and we find things to complain about in many different ways and unfortunately one of the things we complain about is God and what God is doing or what God is not doing and we find fault with God because of that and that's quite strange is it not that

[25:21] I would blame God or find fault with God when the Bible tells me that God is good and the Bible tells me that God is always doing good and yet I seem to forget that and ignore it and the children of Israel had been taken out of Egypt by God they very soon forgot that they were slaves in Egypt they very soon forgot that they had to work from dawn to dusk and that they were in chains and that their lives were miserable and very quickly these memories of what it was like were forgotten and they were obsessed with what was going on in their present so they complained to God and again we're reminded of the goodness of God because God made provision for them even though they were complaining even though their complaints were bitter and many and very pointedly directed against

[26:37] God God provided for them and made provision in a most marvellous way and there are many things about the story of the children of Israel that it's a true story as I said but it also tells us of spiritual realities there were practical concerns Israel were hungry they needed to be fed and God provided for their hunger by giving to them manna and giving to them quails which were a small bird and this he did miraculously obviously but these words also remind us of the spiritual provision that God makes for his people the spiritual food that he provides he feeds our soul as well as our body he makes provision for the present as well as making provision for the future and God means us to remember that and I hope that you do remember it that you don't fall prey that you don't mistakenly become so obsessed with the present that you forget that God is making preparation for your whole life for what is going on in the here and now as well as what is going on in the future and God is telling us through the dealings the way that he ministered to

[28:42] Israel even though they complained that he is a God who makes provision for them in the book of Deuteronomy God tells the people who bear his name they're his people and they profess to know him to love him and to serve him and yet as I said they complain but God said this to them that when he provides for them when he gives them manna which is food from heaven when he gives them quails which is meat that they don't have to do much to gather in and to prepare for their table he says to them later on you shall remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness to humble thee and to prove thee to know what was in thy heart whether thou would keep his commandments or no and he humbled thee and suffered thee to hunger and fed thee with manna which thou knewest not neither did thy fathers know that he might make thee know that man does not live by bread only but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord as man live we have a lesson in the dealings that God has with his people they complain because they're hungry and God says not only do I know that you're hungry but I know what your real hunger is the spiritual hunger

[30:34] I will provide for your physical need I will give you manna and I will give you flesh to eat that will satisfy you but remember that you cannot and do not live by bread alone that there is food that you need that is more than the food that your body needs and that is the food that your soul needs and we can't forget that and that's what you're in Sunday's go to learn that's what we're in church to learn that we have God to make provision for us in the gospel for the needs of our soul and whatever complaint we have against God more than likely in fact always these complaints are wrong they are very often down to a misunderstanding but God has made provision for our bodies for our spirit for our soul and we do well to remember that and to try and see what

[31:50] God has to say to us through his word I hope you do that we're going to sing as you go out to Sunday school from Psalm 69 this is a psalm that has much to say about the sufferings of Jesus Christ and the experience that he had as he suffered in the place of his own people we're singing from verse 14 deliver me out of the mire from sinking do me keep free me from those that do me hate and from the waters deep let not the flood on me prevail whose water overflows nor deep me swallow nor the pit her mouth upon me close hear me O Lord because thy love and kindness is most good turn unto me according to thy mercy multitude nor from thy servant hide thy face

[32:52] I'm troubled soon attend draw near my soul and it redeem me from my force defend going to sing to verse 20 psalm 69 verses 14 to 20 deliver me out of the mire from sinking do me keep deliver me out of the mire from singing to me free free me from those under me and from the waters lead let none of

[33:54] God none be free free live whose water over flows nor deep is while on heart the pit are my who the heart me flow flow hear me o Lord because thy love and kindness is most true turn unto me to me according to thy earth is all issues not nor from thy heaven

[35:09] I live I am not the moon at end from my soul my soul my soul my heart and me from my holy hand holy hand to thee is thy reproach well Lord my share and my dismay Lord my heart bless thy heart and bless thy heart thy heart and heart may hold thy hast reproach shall grow my heart and hope of great value for one to believe in the heart of the heart and heart come order of thy heart come order of thy love come come come come come come come come and we turn to

[37:03] John chapter 14 and we can read again at verse 30 John 14 chapter verse 4 chapter 14 verse 30 hereafter I will not talk much with you for the prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me but that the world will know that I love the father and as the father gave me commandment even so I do arise let us go hence hereafter I will not talk much with you for the prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me the Bible often reminds us that his ways God's ways that his ways God's ways are not our ways there are many things that God does in the world that we can't fathom we can't understand it's a mystery to us to us and it is true for many if not all that there are at least some areas of God's dealings with them in providence that they have yet to discover the meaning of that they have yet to discover the meaning of

[38:40] I'm sure the vast majority who are in the world are in that situation but you would expect that Christians the Lord's people would know what God is doing and why he is doing it and yet it's not the case but those who are in that situation where God has been responsible for touching their lives or making himself known to them in a way that they can't fully understand why he is doing what he is doing in the way that he is doing it that they just have to reconcile themselves to the ways of God and for that they need God's help for that they need to get grace from God to surrender themselves to his mysterious will and I'm not saying that's easy and it very rarely is but what we need to remind ourselves and the reason I'm speaking of this is that we need to be sure that we understand that

[40:10] God is at work in the world always and that we are not always at liberty to understand what he is doing and we see that perhaps in the clearest way possible in the experiences of the disciples and what we discover even in this chapter is that the Lord has taken time to explain almost minutely to the disciples what his future will hold hold and he explains to them truths that are no doubt but mysterious and yet they're more or less given given the facts as Christ himself is able to tell them about these facts and what the future holds for him and for them but it's as if they're nodding their heads and saying oh yes we believe we believe you we trust that that's what's going to happen and yet the truth is that they don't really believe and they don't really understand and they don't really appreciate the truth that Christ has set before them.

[41:38] For example in this chapter alone we find the encouragement that Christ gives to the disciples and remember he's given this encouragement to them with an eye to the future and what the future holds and the pain that he will endure although he's not concerned about that for himself he's more concerned with the effect that it will have on them.

[42:10] The chapter begins let not be troubled let not be troubled believe also in me my father's house had 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 he may be also.

[42:36] Now he's presenting them there with that truth and you with the benefit of your knowledge of the New Testament scriptures and what happened with Christ and how Christ died and how Christ went to heaven and you're able to read these words and you're able to say oh this is what he meant but for the disciples they couldn't understand what he meant they couldn't understand why he was going to leave them and go to prepare a place for them why could they not stay where they were with him in their midst and enjoying the privilege of being in his company and so on.

[43:20] Then again in verse 12 he says Verily verily I say unto you he that believeth on me the works that I do shall he do also and greater works than these also shall he do because I go unto my father.

[43:37] there again there again he's telling them he's leaving them and he's going to his father and that is not something they want to comprehend they don't want to believe it they don't want to understand it they would much rather that he remain with themselves and then again in verses 18 and 19 he said I will not leave you comfort lest I will come to you yet a little while and the world seeth me no more but ye see me because I live ye shall live also.

[44:11] So he's talking about leaving and they don't want to countenance that experience of being left by him. and it seems at one level if you want to treat it humanly speaking and it is best for us to understand that because of how Jesus has to painstakingly bring the truth of God to their attention explain it to them and also remind them this is what you need to believe this is what you need to understand and all of these things will come to pass and I'm telling you these things so that when they do come to pass that they will not overly vex you.

[45:05] Now, that thing that we have before us here is something that you and I need to take on board because Jesus is here dealing with his most intimate friends the disciples people who know him best and he's explaining to them what they need to understand and yet they find it so difficult but Jesus tells them as he tells us now I have told you before it come to pass that when it is come to pass you might believe and there he tells us something he tells us that he knows having given them all the information that they need that they still don't believe that they still don't understand what he has to say to them now that's important now that's important because you and I are sometimes confronted with the word of God telling us something and it is just as surely the lips of Christ that are saying these words to us it's no less a word from Christ that we have concerning what is in the truth of God which is never a lie another commentator says to us in our future and yet having told us these things we don't believe him we don't understand him we don't understand him we don't manage to reconcile what is being said before us as the truth of God which is never a lie another commentator says to us another commentator says to us simply their failure to understand their failure to believe was also a failure on their part to love him now that's going a bit too far is that not putting something more grievous on the unbelief of the disciples than you would want to countenance and yet what is it doing when Jesus tells them something and they know it is what Jesus is saying is there not a flaw in their relationship with him at that moment that exposes his them to his condemnation or to his accusation that they are lacking in love for him but there are three things

[48:10] I want us to think about in this verse here three things that are highlighted that highlighted he says to us hereafter I will not talk much with you hereafter I will not talk much with you what does he mean when he says to the disciples these words secondly he says the prince of this world cometh Christ Christ knew all things because God had explained all things to him and as God he had access to the truth of God as it contained everything to do with his past present and future and he knew this to be the truth the prince of this world cometh and the third thing that he could say with confidence concerning the coming of the prince of this world he says of him he has nothing in me what does he mean by that and what is the significance of him saying that to the disciples

[49:31] I think what we need first of all to understand about the meaning of these words is that Jesus at this point was clear in his own mind that it would not be long until the very reason for his coming into the world would come to fruition there are many things that Jesus did as a result of coming into the world many things are highlighted his words his teachings his sermons his his explanation of who God was and what kind of God he was and so on all of these things are relevant and important in their own place but the real reason for Jesus to come into the world was to deal with the sins of this world and very often and very often what you find before the mind's eye of Christ was this the thought of the coming hour the thought of this very time when he would go to the cross and there he would be the lamb of God sacrificed to take away the sin of the world that was the reason for his coming into the world and as we said many things were done by him many things were said by him but one thing above all it needs to be before our mind's eye as was before whose mind's eye whose mind's eye and that was that he was in the world to deal with sin there are many today who stand in a pulpit and they preach a gospel which is no gospel really because it does not highlight the truth of the death of Jesus Christ for sin they are happy to speak about Christ the great example for our lives the good person that he was the good things that he did all the nice things that can be said about him are held up and they are said this is what the gospel means to set before us but if your gospel is not a gospel that speaks to us about the death of Christ on the cross the cross for sin it is lacking there is something sorely missing from it in fact it is no gospel at all if you go back just a couple of chapters

[52:30] Jesus speaks about the hour he says in chapter 12 of the gospel of John the hour has come that the son of man should be glorified verily verily verily I say unto you except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die it abideth alone but if it die it bringeth forth much fruit he that loveth his life shall lose it and he that hated his life in this world shall keep it into life eternal and he goes on and he goes on to speak there about what the hour that he anticipates is all about Jesus understood why he was there and it was not until his death and his resurrection that the disciples were able to grasp it but in fact seeing him die was a confusion to their faces it was something they could not tie in with their thinking about Christ

[53:49] Jesus if you remember speaks about the disciples and what they were able to do if you read on in John's gospel he brings to the attention of the disciples of the disciples the provision that is made by him of the Holy Spirit the comforter and he teaches them and he teaches us about the role of the comforter what he is going to do when he comes he tells them that he is going to go away but when he goes away he is not going to leave them as orphans he is not going to leave them alone he is going to leave them with the person of the Holy Spirit and what he tells them about the Spirit is that the role of the Spirit as far as they are concerned is to point them in the direction of Jesus to highlight for them the things that Jesus did and said in order that they might be confirmed and strengthened in their faith but if you notice when you see this happening what are the disciples invited to do?

[55:18] what they are encouraged to do? they are encouraged to remember the very things that Jesus had told them the very things that Jesus had told them the very things that he said about himself dying on the cross that is the things that the Holy Spirit reminds them of you know, read in John chapter 16 how be it, he says when he, the Spirit of truth has come, he will guide you into all truth for he shall not speak of himself but whatsoever he shall hear that shall he speak and he will show you things to come he shall glorify me for he shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you all the things that the Father hath are mine therefore said I that he shall take of mine and shall show it unto you a little while and ye shall not see me and again a little while and ye shall see me because

[56:22] I go to the Father and so on you can read it for yourself but part of what the Spirit was doing was reminding them or bringing to remembrance the words of Jesus concerning himself concerning his death if you remember again chapter 12 of John's Gospel John records for us the passage of Jesus up to Jerusalem and he records for us how Jesus travelled sitting on the colt of Anas and how the people gathered around and they celebrated his arrival at the city but the significance of what was taking place was completely missed by the disciples at the time they did not understand what they were seeing or understand what they were hearing or understand even what the scripture was saying to them concerning the event and it was not until when the Spirit came that the mind's eye was opened you know they were very early on endowed with the Spirit so that these truths would be something that they understood now we are in a privileged position today are we not?

[57:59] we have the Gospels we have God's Word which has the Old Testament and the New we have prophecy and we have the Epistles and they explain to us they expound to us the Word of God but while we can look at these truths and while we can examine them and hold them up to the light of our understanding one thing we need to remind ourselves of is by nature we are unbelievers by nature we find it difficult to accept even what God's Word brings to our attention and the provision that God has made for us in the person of the Holy Spirit is such a provision that if we look to Him if we ask Him if we seek from Him the light necessary in the darkness of our own intellect that He would open the truth to us and enable us to understand how it took place why it took place how it took place the implications of it if we do not already do so

[59:21] I think I think I can say for myself that one of one of the things that encouraged me to believe that the Spirit of God was at work in my life was that my mind's eye was illuminated by the Spirit of God I understood the truth of God in a way that I had not previously done so I had not whatever knowledge I had prior to that and I had accumulated like many of you much from the Scriptures from the short catechism that I was taught the Psalms that I memorized the scripted passages that I had learnt by rote they were indelibly imprinted into my psyche but as far as believing them was concerned it was something else but when the Spirit of God came into my experience although I can't say for sure

[60:32] I was not sure that that I understood the role of the Spirit at that moment but with the passage of time I understood exactly what had taken place who was responsible where the light came and why it was the way it was we need to understand that if we today are in a situation where we are looking at God's world even the world that we have seen you know I have looked in the last few weeks at prophecies that have come to be fulfilled and yet I think that is the most encouraging thing for the Lord's people to do to delve into Scripture and to see what the Scripture says concerning the future as it concerns Christ and when you see the prophecies of God fulfilled it cannot but be an encouragement to your faith but if you don't see that for what it is what it is then there is something clearly lacking there is something that you need that only God can supply so that you are not numbered amongst those who look at the truth of God as if it is something you can take or leave something you can accept in part and choose to ignore that you ignore in other parts that is not an acceptable position that is not a safe situation to be in now the not only do you have difficulty if you are the way the disciples were as far as understanding the truth that Christ said before them if you are in that situation today and you are looking at the word of God which is the word of Christ and the promises that he has made concerning this world and you are not believing them you are in jeopardy as far as your soul's welfare is concerned you know he has promised he is here dealing with something and he is telling the disciple you know the time hereafter I will not talk much with you because I know that I am coming to the point at which I am going to experience death the time that I have to discuss these things with you is running out my opportunity for speaking the truth to you is coming to an end your opportunity for hearing is running out and the same applies to the truth that he uttered concerning the future of this world what lies beyond the cross we know what happened when Christ died he was buried he rose again he ascended to glory he sits at the right hand of the majesty on high the scripture tells us that is what he is doing the spirits coming tells us that that is what took place the fact that the Holy Spirit applies God's word to the lives of believers and unbelievers alike in the world tells us that God was pleased with what God what Christ had done on the cross if he wasn't

[64:37] there would not be a single solitary believer in this building if God was not pleased to accept what Christ had done on the cross the spirit would not come the gospel would not be preached the blessing of God would not be upon his word but it is now Christ has said that he is going but that he will come again if you have difficulty believing that he has gone and you have difficulty believing that he will come again you are in a serious serious situation because just as surely as his disciples were struggling with you are in a situation you are in a situation where you may be finding it difficult to comprehend the need for his coming again and yet it is written large in the scripture that he has to go and that he will come again and when he comes again he will come to judge the world we are told however unlikely it seems to you and this world in which we live in is in a dark world but the truth that Christ speaks is the same truth that we have in the Bible and it may seem to some people that what the Bible says is false and that in a sense for many is a forlorn hope they hope it is false because after all surely any person that believes that if they die out of Christ they will go to a lost eternity and they contentedly believe that to be so there is something seriously wrong with that person seriously wrong if you believe the word of God says to you categorically that the place for sinners outside of Christ is a lost eternity and you are in that situation where you do not believe Christ to be telling the truth telling the truth where else are you going to go but a lost eternity where else are you going to be except the place that God has prepared for the devil and his angels and you can't believe that and be content you can't believe that and sit as if it means nothing to you you you have a hope that the Bible is wrong and Christ is wrong and what he's told us are lies but he has told us the truth and he will come again well the second part of this probably explains why you are the way you are out of Christ he says the prince of this world cometh who is Christ describing here well we know that it is one of the names that is given to the devil and in many ways I suppose some people would find it it sticks in their throat to call the devil a prince it is as if you are giving him credit it is as if you are elevating him to a status the prince of this world but as John Calvin says you have to remind yourself the devil does not have a kingdom distinct from God's

[68:39] but by God's promises and by God's provision he is allowed he is permitted to exercise authority within this world but it is a tyrannical exercise of power I often quote Bishop Ryland he is very very good at pinpointing this picture that we have before us here he is called a Prince Ryland says because he reigns and rules in the hearts of the vast majority of mankind of the extent and intensity of Satan's influence on earth he says even now we have probably very little idea but all you have to do is look at your own nation my nation the United Kingdom do you believe that there is an influence accepted on our kingdom that is anything other than pernicious and wicked the apostle John in his epistle writes the whole world lies in wickedness but at the same time thankfully John says in that epistle he that is begotten of God knoweth himself and that wicked one toucheth him not he keepeth himself because he knows Christ he is able to trust in the Christ who is greater than the one who exercises influence on this world now the thing we notice here is that

[70:45] Jesus speaks of the devil coming while elsewhere he identifies those who will accuse him and betray him as devils in other words when he talks about Judas Iscariot for example and he speaks of what Judas was going to do he says I have chosen you twelve but one of you is a devil that's a mystery is it not why Jesus would choose twelve disciples knowing that one of them was a devil and yet that was what he did but he knew it because he was in the world to do the business that God entrusted to him he prophetically understood he understood the prophecies that said concerning his death in the world that he would find a betrayer from the house of his friends remember this as far as the power and influence of the devil is concerned he is not a god he is a fallen angel he is not omnipresent he is not omniscient although he has many minions no doubt some are present here today trying to influence your thinking trying to plug from your very mind the word of God as it is sown but he is a defeated foe but Christ here anticipates him coming he is not indifferent to that fact he is not he is not he is he is not careless about that because he knows that what he is going to do that he is going to use emissaries to do his bidding

[72:50] Judas is going to betray him with a kiss the Jewish authorities are going to come and imprison him and put him to death and Satan is in it all and he is at work in all the ways that he possibly could to frustrate the will of God but is it not a marvel that what we come to at the end of this passage is this that Jesus is able to say yes he is coming he is coming but he comes to someone and he has nothing in me in my other words whatever he wants to do he will not do it because I have failed he will not do it because he will find sin in me he will not find a weak link he will not find a chink in my armour he will not find one who is compliant or complicit in the will that he exercises in bringing this world under his full submission he has no claim

[74:04] Jesus identifies himself as not of this world someone who is without sin he is holy, he is harmless he is separate from sinners and yet it did not stop Satan from doing his utmost to this day he is still doing his utmost the Christian theologian Don Carson points out the ignorance of Satan you know he is a clever being he is a spirit he is clever he is an intellect that is powerful he has many years of gathering and gleaning in the fields of this world but Carson says this he with the world thinks that Jesus is defeated but the opposite is true

[75:06] Jesus is vindicated in his death and that the cross the cross, resurrection and exaltation of Jesus Christ ultimately turn on the commitment of the Son to love and obey his heavenly Father at all costs despite how it appeared to the disciples despite how it appeared even to the enemy of our souls that he had the last word Jesus Jesus in his death in his resurrection in his ascension is given the Father's seal of approval the world as it is represented in our experience today seems to think like Satan I have had the last word this nation of ours is godless it is indifferent to the gospel it is perpetuating repeatedly laws that are anti-Christian and the devil may sit and fold his hands and say and say

[76:20] I've got the mastery I am the prince of this world but at the same time Christ will have his own even from our nation Christ will bring his own to be with him and to be one with him in spirit and throughout the world and throughout the world the gospel is still being preached and throughout the world the gospel is still being believed even in nations that the devil once thought they were under his heel nations that once had little glimmer of hope in them little light of the gospel now they are shining brightly because Christ and his kingdom will be highlighted as the kingdom that will remain and continue and not the one who thinks as prince of the world that he will have the last word but he says that the world we know that I love the Father and the Father gave me commandment even so I do

[77:38] And I say that the world will know that I love the Father there is a lot in that the world will know that I love the Father that I love the Father that's the reason I went to the cross because I love those that the Father gave me that's the reason I went to the cross Because not one of them will be lost.

[78:11] Because they are mine and I love my Father and I will give them to him. That's the reason. If only God were to open your eyes today, if you have yet to see that for yourself.

[78:27] If only God were to open your eyes so that you can see for yourself that his kingdom is not of this world.

[78:39] And it's a kingdom that will no end at all. I wonder if you'll be one of the citizens of that kingdom and that you will have him as your king.

[78:51] And may he bless to us these thoughts. Let us pray. Never blessed God we give thanks that your word is the truth. And you will not allow the truth to be trodden underfoot by any living soul.

[79:08] And the day will come when we will answer to what we have done with God's truth. Help us to believe it. To the saving of our soul grant mercy for our sins.

[79:21] In Jesus name. Amen. Amen. We're going to sing in conclusion from Psalm 86.

[79:33] Psalm 86. And at verse 14 to the end. O God the proud against me rise and violent men have met.

[79:46] That for my soul have sought and thee before them have not said. But thou art full of pity Lord. A God most gracious. Long suffering and in thy truth and mercy plenteous.

[80:00] O turn to me thy countenance and mercy on me now. Thy servant strengthen and the son of thine own hand may save. Show me a sign for good.

[80:12] That they which do me hate me see. And be ashamed because thou Lord didst help and comfort me. O God the proud against me rise and violent men have met.

[80:24] O God the proud against me rise and violent men have met.

[80:44] That for my soul have sought and me before them have not yet.

[81:02] O God the proud against me. And be ashamed of hope and comfort me. Amen. Now you are full of pain.

[81:14] Thank you.

[81:44] Be thy garden of the mercy of me, God.

[81:57] Thy heaven's exon on the sun, all thy own hand is still.

[82:17] Show me the sign for a night which in me is busy.

[82:35] And me as in because the Lord is heaven and glory.

[82:56]  May grace, mercy, and peace be God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit rest and abide with you on earth and always. Amen.