Amen. Please remain standing. I would like to invite you now to take the pages of the scripture in your hand and open them to the book of Psalm 119, verses 49 and 50. The psalmist here is showing us how God comforts His people. using his word, his holy, infallible, inerrant word in Psalm 119 verses 49 and 50. Remember your word to your servant in which you have made me hop. This is my comfort, the psalmist said, my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life. The promise of your word gives me life. Now turn to the Gospel of John, chapter 14. We'll continue our walk through the Gospel of John this morning. And we find ourselves in chapter 14, beginning from verse 18 to 24. Verse 18 to 24. where Jesus said to his disciples, I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you, let a little while, and the world will see me no more. But you will see me. Because I leave, you also will leave. In that day, you will know that I am 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, and I will love him and manifest myself to him. Judas, not Iscariot, said to him, Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us and not to the world? Jesus answered him, if anyone loves me, he will keep my word and my father will love him. And we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine, but the father's who sent me. Amen. Let's pray. Our Father and our God, the unfolding of your Word gives insight and understanding to the simple. And this morning we ask you to turn each and every one of us as hearers of your Word into a humble and simple person. so that we all would open our hearts and our minds and receive the message of your Word with a great sense of humility. Lord, help us to treasure your Word into our hearts so that we might not sin against you. In the name of Christ, we pray. Amen. You may be seated. What are some of the comforting promises or farewell words that a dying person would tell to his close family members in his final dying moments. From experience and from what you heard before, some are comforting words like this. If a person is a believer with full assurance of his salvation, He might say to his close family members surrounding him in the moment of his death, I know where I'm going and it is better for me to go this time and I will see you in heaven. When a dying person says such comforting words to his family members, I'm sure his family would be comforted. Or a person might say, thank you for all the love, support, and care you have shown to me. I am dying, thanking God for you. Maybe you have been there with a dying family member. Thanking God for you and all your prayers, love, and support for him or for her. What about when a dying person says to a family member who clearly wronged him for a long time, in his final moments, him dying, saying to that family member, I love you and I forgive you. We can really go on with other same kinds of comforting words of a dying person to his family, except there is no one, no dying person would tell his family members, don't worry, don't be sad, I'm coming back to you. I will return to you. And I will live with you forever until we all die again. I will come back to you. No dying person would use such comforting words to his family. But there is one. His name is Jesus. Brothers and sisters in Christ, In His dying moments, facing the cross, facing crucifixion, Jesus said to His disciples, I'm returning to you. I'm coming back to you. Remember, we are in John chapter 14. It is a discourse of Jesus with his disciples, a conversation that Jesus had with his disciples in the upper room. And remember the timing. Jesus is about to die on the cross. He's about to face death by crucifixion. And it was at that moment, it was at that time, that Jesus saw the hearts of his disciples without comfort, without any hope, them being sad and sorrowful, Jesus gave his disciples three amazing, wonderful promises of comfort. The first one is, he told them that he will return to his disciples, verse 18 and 19. Secondly, he told them he will resurrect his disciples, 19 and 21. He also told his disciples he will unite himself with them. He will unite himself with them, verse 22 to 24. Three glorious, comforting promises that Jesus gave to his disciples. Let's start with the first one. Him returning to his disciples. In verse 18 and 19, Jesus said, I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will not see me no more, but you will see me. Because I leave, you also will leave." Now, as I have been reminding all of us, in knowing and studying the Word of God, context is very important, my friends. And what we should see and realize here is these comforting promises. Jesus returning to his disciples. Jesus resurrecting his disciples. Jesus uniting himself with his disciples. These glorious, comforting promises to those who are sorrowful, to those who feel as if they are orphans. These promises are only for believers. They are not for unbelievers. They are only for those who are in Christ. They are only for those who love Jesus and obey His commandments. If you love me, you will keep my commandments, Jesus said, and I will ask the Father and He will give you another Helper to be with you forever. You see, beloved, these promises, comforting promises, are for believers. And Jesus uses here the word orphans. Now we need to ask, why is Jesus using this word orphans in relation to his disciples? The reason is this. When he told them about his departure, When He told them that He was going to leave them by going to the cross, and then after the cross by going to His Father to glory, they start feeling as if they were becoming orphans. How many of you have talked to men and women who are orphans? How many of you have this experience, you know, having friendship with someone who is an orphan? I remember one orphan girl in a refugee camp with whom I had a conversation one time. She told me, that for her to live her life without having parents, without knowing her parents, was like a smell of death. The word that she used with me was, it's cruel for a person to be without a parent. And I remember her saying to me, I can't call them. I can't have meal with them. I can't have advice from my parents. I can't joke around with my parents. She said to me, you are a very blessed person. You have your parents around you. Do you see how that girl was feeling, being an orphan? without someone taking care of you. And Jesus was like that for his disciples. He was the caretaker. He was the one who was living with them, guiding them, protecting them, defending them. He was with them every day. And now He's leaving them. And can you imagine what the hearts of the disciples were saying? We left everything to follow Him? We confessed Him as Lord? Now He's abandoning us? Now He's leaving us to become orphans? That's what they were feeling. That's how they were feeling. Have you been there in your Christian life? You deep in your heart saying, whom do I have now? I don't see my parents. I don't see my friends. I don't see my siblings. I feel like I'm an orphan. It was in a moment like that Jesus told his disciples first. Listen to Jesus, I will not leave you as orphans. I am giving you this assurance. I didn't save you. I didn't call you to salvation, to eternal life. Then at some point in your life to leave you on your own, to leave you alone. I'm not a God who forsakes his children. I'm not a God who abandons his children. Jesus said to them, I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you. Now we need to ask, come in what way? Come how? I will return to you. I will come to you. Come from where, brothers and sisters in Christ? Come from the grave and come from the glory. You see, you have this immediate fulfillment and future fulfillment. The first one is, I will return to you, I will come back to you from the grave. That's why I was saying earlier, no dying person would tell his family members, don't worry, I will defeat, I will destroy the power of death and raise up from the dead and come back home. But Jesus is able to say that. What does Jesus mean by, I will return to you? First from the grave I will die on the cross and I will be buried and then I will be raised from the dead and return to you. Do you all remember the woman who went to the grave, Jesus' grave in Matthew chapter 28, beginning from verse 5, the angels say to the woman, But the angels say to the woman, Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here, for He has risen. As He said, Come, see the place where He lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him. See, I have told you." That's what Jesus is talking about. What I have promised to you, my disciples, will be fulfilled. I will raise up from the dead. and I will return to you and your eyes will see me." Then the other aspect of the immediate return is Jesus returning to them in the Holy Spirit. He already told them, I will ask the Father and the Father will give you a helper. The Holy Spirit who will dwell with you forever. One who will live with them forever. Romans 8, 9 Paul said, You however are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. In fact, the Spirit of God dwells in you. So you see, the second aspect of the return is Jesus returning to His disciples in the Holy Spirit. Are we orphans now? We are not orphans. Why is that? Because we have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, testifying to each and every one of us, if we are in Christ, that we are the children of God. then he will return from glory. Where Jesus told his disciples, let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am, you may be also." What a comforting promise. I will return from the grave. I will return in the Holy Spirit. Let me ask you this, because every time we hear the word of God, we need to apply it into our own life. Do you have discomfort in your life? Do you sometimes feel as if you are an orphan? Without a father, without a mother, thinking about your heavenly father, but he's not your father. He's not taking care of you. He's not providing to you. He's not protecting you. He's not blessing you with the means of grace, the word, and the sacrament. He will not orphan them in the grave by remaining in the grave forever. He will not orphan them by going to glory. The fact that he will go to glory is for their benefit. He will prepare a place, come back to them and to us, and take us to the place where He will be, and we will be with Him forever. It has never been God's intention, beloved, for you to be an orphan. God's child should never feel being alone, feel abandoned, because God has promised His children His presence with them forever. Listen to some of His promises. Psalm 94, 14. For the Lord will not forsake His people. He will not abandon His heritage. He will not abandon His heritage. Psalm 27, 10. For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me in. What a promise. What a comforting promise. Hebrews 13, 5 and 6, keep your life free from the love of money and be content with what you have. For He said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. You see, all these promises, they come to us from the God through His Son, Jesus Christ, but the God who will never forsake us. The God who'll never abandon us. Secondly, Him resurrecting His disciples. The first comforting promise was, I will return to you from the grave and in the Holy Spirit. Now, listen to the second one. You will find that in verse 19 to 21. where Jesus said to his disciples, I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you. Yet a little while, the world will see no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. Because I live, you will also live. You will also live has two meanings. It should be understood in two ways. The first one, the moment you come to me, the moment you trust in me, the moment you believe in me, you become alive. Alive in Christ Jesus. Because I live, you also will live. Let's examine this remarkable, extraordinary, comfort and promise in light of the scripture. You remember Martha in John 11 said to Jesus, Yes Lord, I know that we will be raised on the last day. And Jesus said to Martha, Martha, Martha, I am the resurrection and the life. If anyone believes in me, He will not die, but he will live, which means that person will have eternal life. Even now, here on earth, the eternal life starts here by us becoming the children of God, by us becoming God's redeemed people. Because I live, you live. In 1 Peter 1, verse 3, Peter reminds us that we have been born again to a living hope. A living hope with an inheritance that will not be destroyed and faded away. But the important promise in 1 Peter 1, 3 is, you and I have been born again to a living hope. So because Jesus, through the power of the resurrection, he's alive, we are also alive in Christ Jesus. He gave us new life, new spiritual life. That's why, you see, Jesus said, even if you die, you will live. Life continues, but it will continue in a more majestic and glorious way. eternal life forever because of what Jesus did for us. In 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 19 to 23, Paul said, then those who also, those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are all people must be buried. But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has also the resurrection of the dead. In Adam, we all were dead, but in Christ, we all are alive, now and forever. That's the reason why Jesus is saying, because I live, you will also live. You see, Jesus gives his disciples these comforting words. I have resurrected you from your spiritual death. You are alive in me. You are alive in me. You have life that is eternal. Life that is everlasting in Christ Jesus. in Christ Jesus. Thirdly, him uniting us to himself. In verse 22, Judas, not Iscariot, another Judas, said to him, Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us and not to the world? Jesus answered him, if anyone loves me, he will keep my word and my father will love him. And we will come, both the father and son, we will come to him and make our home with him. This is the believer's union with Jesus Christ. And this union becomes possible in the life of believers by the work of the Holy Spirit. This is an immediate fulfillment. When a person believes in Christ, when a person repents of his sin, believes in Jesus Christ, The Holy Spirit makes that person his dwelling place. Ephesians 1, 13 and 14. In him, in Christ, you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. Sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. What does it mean? What does to be sealed by the Holy Spirit mean? Have you understood that in a Christian life? What does this mean? Sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. What it means is this, when a person believes in Jesus Christ, repent of his sin, the Holy Spirit is given to him as a mark of God's ownership. God says, from now onward, I own you. You are my child. And I give you the Holy Spirit to dwell in you, to unite you with Christ. You see, it's the Holy Spirit who creates that unity between Jesus and believers. Every time you go to the New Testament, especially the epistles, you will read words like, in Him, Him in us, we in Him. Those words speak of the believers' union with Jesus Christ. We're united with Jesus by faith. You see, that's why He comes back in glory and take us to that room that He has prepared for us. And our assurance, our confidence, our hope is in Him returning to us in glory, and you and I being united with Him by faith. Do you now see the glory of your union with Jesus Christ? the blessing of your union with Jesus Christ, you and Christ being one, he in you, you in him, and he in you, in him. In John 15, Jesus told his disciples, I am the vine and you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him. You see those words are there. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bear much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Apart from me you can do nothing. So how are we going to end up in heaven? Why is that no one can stop us? Even our sin, covered by the blood of Jesus Christ, forgiven, redeemed, will not stop us from inheriting heaven, entering our Heavenly Father's house, home. It's because of what He has done for us on the cross. Yesterday at the Singles Conference, I spoke on Romans 5, 6, where Paul says, for while we were still sinners at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. For the ungodly. He died for the ungodly so that the ungodly, being covered by His blood, by His sacrifice on the cross, would become righteous in the sight of God, declared as righteous people, not guilty, by His mercy and grace. And through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, they would inherit the kingdom of God forever. This is our comfort. This is our hope. And all this hope and all this comfort, beloved, is grounded in Christ Jesus. He is the source and the ground of all these comforts. All these comforts. So the question is, do we believe this? How are these comforts working in your life? How are they working in your life? Do you have these comforts in your life as a Christian? Yes. He has returned to me from the grave. He has returned to me in the Holy Spirit. He resurrected me by the power of the Holy Spirit. I am alive in Christ Jesus. And He has united Himself with me through faith. Through faith in Christ Jesus. These are the comforts. that Jesus gave to his disciples. And this morning, he's assuring you all of these comforting promises to you, my brothers and sisters in Christ. But remember, these comforting promises are for those who are in Christ, for those who have repented, for those who have placed their hope and faith in Christ Jesus, those who love Him and obey His commandments. This comforting promises belongs to them and to you. Amen. Let's pray. Almighty God and Father, Lord, thank you for this comforting promises that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ gave to his disciples and by extension to all of us this morning, those who are in Christ Jesus. Lord, even now we pray that you would comfort our hearts. You would comfort the hearts of those who are grieving, the hearts of those who are sick, the hearts of those who are discouraged, meet each and every one of us with these glorious and comforting promises that you have promised for us in a word. In the name of Christ, we pray. Amen.