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[0:00] Good morning and Happy New Year, everyone. All right, I had to get that out. It's done.

[0:11] Please turn with me in your Bibles to John chapter 14. John chapter 14. John chapter 14.

[0:50] This entire study of the life of Jesus Christ from the time of his birth. It's really loud. Is it loud in here? Can we get, I don't think we can have the deaf guy doing this.

[1:02] Got to turn it down. Rick's giving me the mean look. But he's a Boston Red Sox fan, so I really don't care what he thinks.

[1:14] But all right. Sorry, guys. Getting that baseball. It's New Year, right? New Hope for the Jays. It starts in 2023. Anyway, enough of that.

[1:25] Let's go right back to Jesus Christ. So anyway, we're looking at this story of Jesus Christ through the story of the four Gospels. These Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, were the first or are the first-hand accounts of the life of Jesus.

[1:41] They are the best source for what Jesus said. What Jesus said, what Jesus did, who Jesus claimed to be. These are his words written through the men that walked with him and empowered through the Holy Spirit when they wrote these Gospels.

[1:58] So we've been going through this chronological story. And presently, we are in a section. If you remember back in November, we've just finished the Last Supper.

[2:14] And we find ourselves in the upper room. This is the night before Jesus will be arrested. This is the night before Jesus will be tried.

[2:28] This is the night before Jesus will be tortured, crucified, and ultimately buried. One disciple, Judas, has left.

[2:43] He's gone to the religious authorities to have them arrest Jesus. So when we come to this chapter 14, we can say safely that Jesus is on the clock, right?

[2:59] He's on the clock. The authorities are coming for him. There's a set period of time now between the events of this book and the events when he will be crucified.

[3:16] It answers for us some incredible questions. If you knew you only had 12 hours to live, what would you do?

[3:27] Who would you see? What would you say? What would you think about? Well, the text, as we're going to be looking from John chapter 14 to John chapter 17, tells us what Jesus thought, what he felt, what he said, and ultimately what he prayed.

[3:50] These chapters record for us Jesus' final teachings before the horrible death of Good Friday. Scholars call this passage the Upper Room Discourse.

[4:07] Kind of a bland title, eh? Do you guys have that in your Bibles? A lot of them put that Upper Room Discourse. It almost makes us think that Jesus has got this PowerPoint presentation.

[4:18] He's got all the disciples for him, and he's going to go through key events that they need to learn now before he has to leave. If you've been with us for any part of this series, you know these chapters are anything of the sort.

[4:37] These aren't formal discussion points. Yes, Jesus is the Son of God. But Jesus is also the Son of Mary.

[4:49] He is fully God, and he is fully man. He is perfectly God and perfectly human. And here on this night, he connects with these men who have come to love him dearly.

[5:06] And not only does he anticipate their concerns, but he invites them to share those concerns with him. Just a few hours earlier, these men believed that this was going to be a simple Passover dinner.

[5:24] A dinner that the Jews have been doing for over a thousand years. They've come, they've met, and they've done this. However, Jesus on that night expressed that there will be no more need of the Passover.

[5:41] Because I will be the final Passover lamb. And then he institutes this new service of remembrance. The institution of communion, or the Lord's Supper.

[5:54] However, as he announced that he is essentially the last Passover land, he also announces to them that he will be betrayed.

[6:07] And then he tells them that he has to leave. Not only does he have to leave, but he has to tell them, where I go you cannot follow.

[6:20] Now I want you to understand, this is no small thing when Jesus says, where I go you cannot follow. These are now 11 men that the scripture records that Jesus approached them and said, come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.

[6:45] What that come means, I want you to leave everything behind. I want you to turn your backs on your jobs, your work, your careers, even your families.

[6:58] I want you to come with me because I've got something far more glorious for you. The Bible records two radical stories, right?

[7:10] Peter, James, and John, these fishermen who've built their life by the Sea of Galilee. And they just leave their nets behind to follow Jesus. Another was the one, I believe, at the most extreme, Matthew, a tax collector, hated by the Jews, hated by the people for what he did.

[7:29] When Jesus offers him that invitation to come follow me, he immediately leaves everything behind and follows after Jesus.

[7:41] For three years, these men saw the signs that Jesus did through the miracles that he performed. For three years, these men walked with Jesus and heard the teachings of Jesus, the wisdom that he spoke.

[7:57] But the most important thing that he spoke about is that we have a need to repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. These men left much behind to follow Jesus.

[8:16] Jesus asked them to invest their future with him, and they did. The future they had in mind was supposed to be one that they shared in the glory of Jesus.

[8:30] When Jesus said, hey, the kingdom is coming, their thinking was, I get to be a part of that. Would you not leave all behind if someone said that you could come and reign in a kingdom that would be magnificent, where you'd have the perfect God reigning over all?

[8:54] We would. And yet here, on this night, in a bland upper room, Jesus just tells them, I am leaving.

[9:14] You can't come with me. And even when they protest, Jesus says to Peter, in fact, you will deny me three times before the day is out.

[9:29] This is the context we now come to in the 14th chapter of John. The night continues with Jesus confronting the fears and anxieties of his closest friends.

[9:47] You will note in John chapter 14, verse 1, he comforts them. You see, Jesus not only knows they are distressed, he understands what distresses them.

[10:01] He is the great shepherd who knows his sheep. And we read in the text that the disciples have four questions for Jesus on this night. But even before he considers the questions, he simply says, believe in me.

[10:18] Believe also in me. If you've been here for that covering of that text, we know that he's saying that God has always been and forever will be the God who forgives.

[10:33] He's the God who saves and the God who comforts. This is what it means to believe in God. It means to trust in God. He then shares with them that if they want to receive the blessings they had hoped for about sharing in the Father's glory, it meant that Jesus had to leave.

[10:55] In fact, if Jesus doesn't leave, they will be unable to go into the Father's presence. Scripture clearly states that we are with this thing called sin.

[11:10] It has tainted us. And we can never be in the presence of the Father. But Jesus says, Hey, I have to leave.

[11:22] I have to die on a cross. I must become your sin. And I must bear the wrath that is due to you.

[11:35] And because of that, you will then be able to come into my kingdom. So what follows, and if you're with me, let's take a look at verse 5, is the first question that they asked.

[11:49] It's, Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way? And if you remember, when they asked that question, Jesus responded, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

[12:00] That to come to me isn't following a set rules or set commandments or set customs or having a secret knowledge.

[12:11] It means you know me. Once you know me, you are right with the Father to place your faith in me. I'm not a place on the map for you to do your own thing.

[12:29] I am the way. I already did the customs for you. I already fulfilled the law for you. I already provide all the knowledge for you.

[12:46] So now that you're up to date, this is where we now find ourselves in this text. This morning, I want to begin by looking at the second question that the disciples ask him on this night.

[13:07] This question follows from verse 7, if you will look at it with me. Jesus says, If you had known me, you would have known my Father also.

[13:19] From now on, you do know him and have seen him. How do they respond?

[13:35] And this is the second question, which we find in verse 8. Philip said to him, Lord, show us the Father and it is enough for us.

[13:52] Think of that question for a moment. These are men that have walked with Jesus for all these three years and it's almost as if Philip is asking the question, Hey Jesus, we see you, we know you, we've heard you teach.

[14:12] Now if you would only show us the Father, it would really assure us. Think of yourself from a parent's point of view.

[14:26] Right? Your dad's telling you something really good to happen and your kid kind of looks at you, I don't know about that, Dad. I'm going to go ask Mom. Right? The real authority in the house, right?

[14:40] So it kind of, it's kind of a sad question. Or maybe it's a hurtful question.

[14:53] Look at how Jesus responds in verse 9. Jesus said to him, Have I been with you so long and you still do not know me, Peter?

[15:05] Like tell me there's not a tinge of hurt there, right? Maybe there's exasperation. Later on at the end of verse 9 and going into verse 10, he says, How can you say, Show us the Father?

[15:23] Do you not believe that I am the Father and the Father is in me? Think about the context again.

[15:38] What about Jesus? Doesn't he need time to prepare for his death that is coming tomorrow? Doesn't he need some time to prepare himself for what's coming?

[15:57] Here are these men he spent three years with have lived with him through the most incredible display of Jesus' power to ever happen on the earth.

[16:09] They have seen blind men healed, deaf men here. They've seen people with leprosy all healed in the front of their eyes. They've seen demons vanquished.

[16:21] They have seen storms cease at but a word, like literally winds and waves coming to a standstill before them.

[16:35] And yet it appears that, is that not enough? Have I not done enough? What if I told you that the question that Philip expresses is not all that unusual?

[16:56] Because we think there should be some sort of shame on him, right? Don't you feel a little bit of shame for Philip for asking this question?

[17:06] Do you not feel that if Jesus was saying those things to him, right, how can you say, show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am the Father and the Father is in me?

[17:20] How do you think Philip felt before all the other ten other men? Boy, you're really missing this, Philip. Now, as I said before, I believe all of the other ten men with Philip feel the exact same thing.

[17:39] See, the question that Philip is asking is a question that we actually ask all the time.

[17:49] Do you know that? We do. And in fact, two of the greatest people who lived in the Old Testament who saw God work the most through miracles asked that exact same question.

[18:09] In case you didn't know, when we look at our Bibles, sometimes we think that there was always great miracles from the time of God since, let's just say, Moses from the time of 1440 B.C.

[18:23] and all the way till the New Testament. People sometimes think like there was radical miracles going on all the time in front of the people of God. It's actually not true.

[18:35] There is essentially three, and I'm going to say this word, golden age of miracles in the time of God's people. The first time is when Moses pulled his people out of Egypt.

[18:52] Remember, God acted through a spokesperson, Moses, who delivered his message to Pharaoh. They did these ten great miracles in front of the Egypt.

[19:05] They kept denying. Then there was the miracle of the parting of the Red Sea, which the Jews were able to go and escape Egypt. And then the other miracle of the Red Sea collapsing on the Egyptian army, which absolutely destroys them.

[19:22] So you had God unquestionably working great and mighty works.

[19:34] So at that time, the Jews are in the Mount Sinai area, and God calls Moses up to the mountain. And while he's in the mountain, God is essentially giving him the Ten Commandments.

[19:46] And we know this story from Exodus 32 and 33. It even says that God wrote these two tablets of the testimony of God, tablets of stone written with the finger of God.

[20:04] These are great and mighty works. So God is working all around these people. But Exodus 32 tells us that when Moses did not come down from the mountain in a timely manner, they panicked.

[20:25] So what they did, in their fear, they asked Aaron, Moses' brother, to make them gods of gold, which was the golden calf.

[20:40] Scripture records that God then tells Moses, get down there, for your people have corrupted themselves.

[20:55] If you're not familiar with the story, judgment ensues, God sends the plague, many die. And then God tells Moses to get out of Sinai and go to the promised land.

[21:10] God says, God says, God says, God asks God a question. I need to see you. I need to see you.

[21:26] I don't know if it's about trust or maybe it's about deeper understanding. Even when things have been great and God has never given Moses a reason to doubt him, Moses still asks for a sign.

[21:49] And if you remember, God tells Moses to sit in the cleft of the rock and he will walk by him and he says, you will not see my face.

[22:00] And it literally says that God covered his eyes, but after he had passed, he will reveal himself. You see, what Moses is seeking is understanding, which is what I believe that Philip is seeking.

[22:22] Why did we go all through these things, Jesus? Only to have you leave us now. The other great golden age of miracles was actually appeared with the prophet Elijah.

[22:37] First Kings record for us, and I'm not going to spend too much time, but he was a prophet of God, a man who was to bring the word of God to the wicked kings of Israel.

[22:47] And he saw many great miracles. He ceased the rains for three and a half years. He prayed that the rains would cease and God stopped them.

[22:58] When he was starving, God used ravens to bring him food. If you remember, there was this widow who needed oil, and she had this never-ending bottle of oil that she was able to use to fill other jars.

[23:11] There was also the widow's son who was dead that Elijah resurrected. And then the ultimate miracle was Elijah versus the prophets of Baal.

[23:25] And God rained down fire and completely wiped out the prophets of Baal. And then once again, he saw God make it rain after three and a half years.

[23:42] You'd think this would embolden Elijah to trust Elijah. However, the Queen Jezebel rebukes Elijah. I'm coming after you. I hate you. And what did he do? He ran for the hills and hid in the cave.

[23:56] When God approached him, he lamented. Your people continue to do evil.

[24:09] 1 Kings 19, verse 9, it says, Then there he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him. And he said to him, What are you doing, Elijah?

[24:22] Verse 10, he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword.

[24:37] And I, even I, only am left. And they seek my life to take it away. And he said, and this is God, Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.

[24:54] Behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord. But the Lord was not in the wind.

[25:07] And after the wind and earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake, a fire. But the Lord was not in the fire.

[25:19] And after the fire, the sound of a low whisper. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out.

[25:30] It stood at the entrance of the cave. The cave for God was in the voice of the wind. And what did God do?

[25:44] This was a great and mighty man who was discouraged by the events before him. God brought his word to Elijah, just like God brought his word to Moses.

[25:58] He demonstrated his glory. The question that I wonder is if this is what Philip is asking.

[26:14] I want to be clear. I do not believe that Philip is asking Jesus to prove himself. Philip is not saying, I need to see more power.

[26:27] Philip, like Moses, like Elijah, is saying, God, I need you to show your presence. I need you to show your glory.

[26:42] This life, this place where I am in life, you're leaving. I'm confused. I'm tired. In fact, if I'm honest, I am scared.

[27:01] Has anybody else felt that way? Have any of you at any time in your life asked God, please show yourself to me, right?

[27:13] You're not simply asking that God write his will with a big hand on the wall or provide a pillar of fire to come in the middle of the night.

[27:26] But I think if we're honest with ourselves, every Christian who's worshipped God at some point, who's faced some sort of hurt, disappointment, or lacks clarity and understanding in the work of God, has said to God, please show me your glory.

[27:45] Give me something. Now going back to Philip's original statement, Lord, show us the Father.

[28:01] The word in the Greek doesn't mean give me something to observe or something that I can look upon and think about.

[28:12] He's asking for God to show him something to help him comprehend. So that root of the word means to comprehend, to have understanding.

[28:29] The reality is, we ask those questions when we're either confronted by two instances or events in life. There's the external event and there's the internal event.

[28:45] Let's be honest. I think especially today, with the rise of social media, we're much more aware of what goes on in the world.

[28:57] How many of us ask and say, this just doesn't make sense to me? I don't understand. Even a scientist can be overwhelmed with the vastness of the universe.

[29:14] Right? Do you ever get to that point? I don't know if I should tell you this story. It reveals my childishness and my youth.

[29:24] But anyway, I lived in, do you guys remember Ralph Lauren back in high school? Like that was the big clothing to have. And it was really expensive. And I had a friend, he was actually quite brilliant.

[29:38] He would buy, because you were in the out group or the in group, depending on if you own Ralph Lauren clothing. So he would buy Ralph Lauren socks, cut out the horse, and sew it onto his shirt.

[29:49] That's how much you wanted to be in the in crowd. And I grew up not on the rich side of life. I was never able to afford any of this.

[30:00] So one day I'm over to the States and my friend takes me to a Ralph Lauren outlet. I remember going in and like, I can afford this!

[30:11] And I was so giddy I had to leave the store. And they were laughing at me and I was like, there's too much selection. Like it was overwhelming me. Right? But I think when we're confronted with a true understanding of God and what goes on around us, it has to bewilder us.

[30:30] Who approaches God and does not ask a question? Which, that's why scientists, most scientists in history, if not all, all come from a Christian background with the pursuit of continuing to understand more of God's creation.

[30:45] Amen? Amen? Whether it be astronomy or the health of the human body, these are all great things and they can be overwhelming to us and they make us feel very small.

[30:59] We can't replicate it. We try to explain it away to evolution, but we all know that's a... not true.

[31:14] But we know that war is not a good thing, yet we still practice it. there is still slavery today. Yet man continues in his horrible ways.

[31:31] So it's easy for us to sit there and say, boy, life is unfair. Life is unjust. And the more we read these stories, the more we despair.

[31:46] So that's that person who gets overwhelmed with the external stuff. But then there's the internal stuff, right?

[32:01] Perhaps it's the loss of a relationship. The death of a loved one. Or perhaps it's just one's own struggle with their personal sin.

[32:14] There's a habit that they continue to try and try to get over, but we can't, and we just can't seem to shake it. And we feel like we get to this point.

[32:26] And we cry out, God, show yourself! This week, this passage was made ever more powerful to me.

[32:38] And if you'd allow me to share a story. This week, I learned that a close friend of mine has a daughter who has chosen to place herself on the MAID list.

[32:53] If you're not familiar with the MAID list, it is the list where we can contact the government and ask for assisted suicide. suicide.

[33:05] What's interesting and I learned through this process, now, just to give you a bit more background, my friend's daughter is not simply a daughter to my friend and her husband, but she is a sister to brothers and other sisters.

[33:21] She is a wife. She is a mother of three children. She is horribly depressed, and she's been carrying a pain because of someone else's sin against her since a child and she has been crying out to God to understand because she cannot understand this life.

[33:54] So she decided over the Christmas break to go to her doctor and be put on the MAID list and in case you don't know, when the family comes to her house, the police can't do anything.

[34:06] They can't take her to a hospital anymore. She's considered on the list and no matter how much destruction she's doing, it doesn't matter. We're going to provide her death to solve the problem.

[34:24] In a case, I'm not making this very clear, but MAID is evil and is an instrument of Satan at its very core. See, the cry that she makes, I believe, is Philip's type of cry.

[34:41] It's a cry that we all make at one point of our lives. Whether it's outside of us or inside of us, it says, I don't understand. Does life have any meaning?

[34:53] I need to understand. Jesus, if you go, what hope do we have of continuing your ministry?

[35:05] Judas has betrayed us. Peter, the strongest, you just told us, would deny us. What hope am I left with? Now, know what Jesus does.

[35:18] Verse 10. Listen, the words that I say to you, I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.

[35:33] Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. Listen, if you're struggling, at least look to the signs that I've done that only God could do.

[35:51] All these works you've seen me do, God is in them. In fact, everything you know about God is found in me. I am the divine imprint of God. If anybody ever says, and we know there's hundreds of these cults always claiming Jesus never claimed to be God, he did.

[36:10] I am in the Father, our one. You have seen me, you now know God. Not only that, look at verse 12.

[36:22] He says, truly, I truly, remember when Jesus is teaching and he says, truly, truly, he's like making a major emphasis on this text.

[36:33] I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do. What? Wait a second.

[36:46] You're doing all these works. He's saying, you will do the works that I do. Notice he says, and greater works than these will he do. So that the person in Christ will do greater works than what Jesus did.

[37:02] Now hold on, what does that mean? Now the works that he's talking, what is the greatest miracle? We've talked about this many times. a new heart.

[37:15] When Jesus takes someone who's going to hell, regenerates their heart, and brings them to life, that is the greatest miracle that we can ever see.

[37:25] And we get to be a part of that miracle by declaring what Jesus taught, by sharing the love of Christ, by obeying Jesus to love one another.

[37:37] Father, and I'm going to come back to this, but I'm going to come back to this, but he says, in greater works than these will I do, because I am going to the Father. How is greater works going to be accomplished if God goes to the Father?

[37:54] Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do.

[38:07] The overall theme that Jesus is teaching here is, it's actually better for you for me to go. Because if you notice, Jesus Christ's ministry only happened in Israel.

[38:22] How on earth did we hear about the gospel? Did Jesus come here with the gospel to us? No. These disciples took that work, and the greater work, the greater miracles went throughout the earth.

[38:36] That here we are, B.C., at the foot of the mountains on the edge of the ocean. God's message of love has come to us, and we've accepted that.

[38:51] And it's because they obeyed the mighty works of God. Amen? And some of you guys know the greatest miracle because you knew your life was going in one direction, and it's completely going in a different one.

[39:03] Amen? And you are thankful for that every single day of your life. Some of you knew the destruction you were headed towards. Some of you were headed to destruction, you just didn't know it.

[39:18] But God in His tender mercy pointed you in a new direction. He gave you a new heart. Why is it going to be better? better? Because God is going to be in heaven with His Father.

[39:34] He is what's called the perfect mediator between man and God. And when we get to pray, we have God, the Father, whose Son, who is perfectly like us.

[39:49] He has our flesh, our feelings, our way of life. He knows the pains of what it is to be us. So these greater works are accomplished through prayer.

[40:08] With Jesus being with God, Jesus is no longer limited to just one time and one place. He has multiplied Himself through every believer.

[40:20] And every believer can bring their prayers to God all around the world. You see, with the death of Jesus, God is glorified even more.

[40:33] Amen? The other thing I want you to know, verse 13, it's a promise. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that my Father may be glorified in the Son.

[40:52] if you ask anything in my name, I will do it. You see, Jesus doesn't just go to prepare a place. By being in heaven, sitting at the right hand of God, He mediates for us.

[41:10] You see, Scripture, the word that God gives us, the same word that God gave Moses, the same word that God gave Elijah, is the same word that Jesus gives us.

[41:22] Do you get that? It's the same word. We now actually have it all written down for us. The truth about God, the truth about ourselves, the truth about this existence.

[41:37] And remember at that time, Philip doesn't have the complete revelation of God. So by Jesus speaking these words to Philip, he ministers to him.

[41:54] Just as he ministered to Moses and just as he ministered to Elijah. And then Jesus introduces the truth of the Holy Spirit to the disciples.

[42:05] Please look at verse 15. There's a condition, if you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another helper to be with you forever.

[42:21] Even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him for he dwells with you and he will be in you.

[42:36] Verse 18, Philip, I will not leave you as an orphan. I will come to you. You have a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me because I live.

[42:53] You also will live. In that day you will know that I'm in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me, and he who loves me will be loved by my Father.

[43:16] And I will love him and manifest myself to him. You want to see my glory? Philip, love me. Keep my commandments.

[43:33] And he who loves me will be loved by my Father. going forward, because I'm going to die a death you cannot die, I'm going to be a sacrifice you cannot be, you can have true meaning and true understanding.

[43:58] And the way you harness that power is first you need to trust in me, Philip. Trust my word.

[44:11] pray your prayers. Don't worry. You're not going to be alone. You will have the Holy Spirit.

[44:27] So you might be thinking what happened to my friend's daughter over the Christmas break. well, my friend, being a student of the word, went to her daughter, stayed with her, cried with her, held her, prayed with her.

[44:45] She brought God's word to bear in her daughter's life. They listened to worship music. And she pleaded for the Holy Spirit's intervention. temptation. What's interesting is that the Holy Spirit didn't lead my friend's daughter to point out all the injustice that she had had happen to her life.

[45:11] She actually confessed and repented of the sins that she had committed in her hurt and pain because of the injustices.

[45:25] You with me on that? She basically confessed to God, the Father, forgive me for the pain that I brought to my children, my mother, my father, my family.

[45:42] She recognized that even though her pain is great and she has suffered much, she still realized she needed a savior for her sin as well.

[45:58] She recognizes that she was offending a holy God. So she confessed and asked forgiveness for those she hurt in her pain. The result, I pray, is true, is that she has chosen life and she's taken her name off the list.

[46:18] She not only lives at home alone but her father and children are back. with her. We realize that the war is not over but I believe there's a battle won.

[46:30] Amen? Amen? Maybe that is where we all need to start. Regardless if the event is external or internal, we need to begin by placing our confidence in God's word.

[46:45] Lord. We need to enact his power through our prayers. And we need to place our dependence upon the Holy Spirit.

[46:59] And if you're unsure what that means to put your dependence upon the Holy Spirit, well, Jesus happens to bring that up next week for next week's sermon.

[47:10] Let me pray. Father, dear Holy Heavenly Father, I just so appreciate the example that you demonstrate to us and what could be construed as we'll later know that you will be, it's so intense that you're sweating.

[47:29] Your sweat is so much that it's like blood. As you prepare yourself for the cross where you prepare yourself to be separated from your Father.

[47:42] And we learn here through these words, these wonderful words to Philip, it's so that we no longer need to be alone with our sin, with our disappointment, with our hurts, with our prisons, but that you are indeed with us, that you are mediating for us before the Father, that your word has always been true and always will be true, and it's the source of our understanding.

[48:15] I pray that we would pray a heartfelt prayer, O Lord. Lord, we need you. Father, we pray that we will not give away to our anxiety, our stress, and our fear, but we will trust you.

[48:35] Father, as we go into this new year, maybe that's where many of us need to start. How do we trust God's word if we do not know God's word?

[48:49] Is a Sunday morning service enough, or do we need more? I believe we need more. We need commitment to understand your word, to know your truth.

[49:01] You are God, you have a word for us. Why don't we want to know more of it? Father, may we pray, may we pour out our hearts, our concerns, even our questions to cry out, I do not understand, but know that you are in heaven hearing us and bringing our concerns to the great Father who created us all.

[49:29] And Father, as we go on next week and we learn about the Holy Spirit, may we truly learn what it is to trust in your spirit and not our spirit. May we learn what it is to bow the knee to you and to give the spirit full control rather than our own flesh.

[49:50] Father, you were good and you were gracious and the songs that we sing testify to our belief that these words are true. Father, you know each and every soul here.

[50:04] You know their stories. We also know that your love is not beyond any of them.

[50:16] If there is any here that do not know you, I pray that you don't use the earthquake, the fire, or the wind, but just the still, small voice and know that you are truly God.

[50:34]  May you be blessed by our love for you. time.