Good morning, everyone. It is a wonderful privilege to be with you and to be able to preach to lots of faces that I've recognized for many years and lots of new faces and even some of you have not yet seen in our couple of weeks of being here. I have two tasks in this morning. I want to give you a brief, very brief report of the work that God has been doing in Ecuador, give you some prayer requests for you to write down. So if you have a notebook or your phone that you can write these down, please, I'm gonna give some prayer requests. I'd love for you to write these down and pray for them in your care groups and in your families as well. And then I have the great privilege of preaching God's word to you. In Ecuador, we are involved in various ministries. We are active in the local church there in Santo Domingo, Ecuador, where I preach regularly. As my father mentioned, currently preaching through John chapter 17, going on sermon number 12 of one chapter. It's very fun. And also we have the pastor school program, which is a pastoral training intensive that lasts, originally the intent was two years, but now it is lasting three years because of COVID and various other things. And we'll be going back to continue that in the end of January. We have three students who live with us, not in our home, but in the same city with us. And we spend a lot of time with them teaching and engaging in practical ministry together. We are currently working on planting two different churches in the capital city of Quito, and three hours towards the beach, right on the beach, in a city called Atacames. And that is a work that the local church is doing, and we have been praying for for a long time. There's not a Reformed Baptist church in the capital, or in any of these cities, but in the capital, which has about two million people, the same quantity of people as Arkansas, and there's not a single Reformed Baptist church. There is a very good Reformed Presbyterian church, and we give God thanks for that, and some other good churches, but there's not yet one that is Reformed Baptist holding to our same confession of faith. And we are hoping to see that change in the next few months. Also, we are involved in publishing books through Legado Bautista Confesional, or the Confessional Baptist Legacy, a publishing company that my friend Jorge, my partner, and I started last year at the beginning of 2020. So those are just kind of some of the things that we're involved with there, and the Lord has been blessing that and working through that, getting books and materials in various other parts of the world, including Cuba, our beloved Cuba. Many people who have been coming to the church for a few years and listening to what God is doing through our ministry knows that God has put Cuba on our hearts as well. We do not live in Cuba, but a big portion of our heart does live there as we're helping do a seminary program there that is on a three-month basis, though unfortunately due to COVID we've had to suspend that for a short time and are looking forward to restarting those classes soon. Without giving any more detail, I've been sent with a letter from the church and pastor of the church where we serve in Santo Domingo. And they asked me to read this to you. So this is from them. And I want to read this to you so that the church can hear the gratitude that the church where I serve in Ecuador feels towards you and their love for you and this partnership that we can have in this ministry. My dear brothers receive affectionate greetings from our hearts, wishing that all things are being guided and blessed by the manifold grace of God. I'm writing this letter on behalf of the members of Iglesia Bautista Gracia Soberana in Santo Domingo, Ecuador, with the purpose of sharing with you a brief report of the ministry of the Walls family among us in these almost two years of service to the Lord. for the welfare of our local church and its ministries, and to express the immense gratitude we have with you for collaborating with us and loving us by sending this family for our good. From the very beginning of their trip in February of 2020, the Walls family was an example to us, not only of dedication and love for God's work in coming to Ecuador, but also of how to react to unexpected circumstances, such as the one they experienced with the loss of their suitcases and personal possessions on the trip from the airport to their new home. After settling into their new home, the teaching ministry with the pastor school began in March 2020 with much enthusiasm and excitement to see the readiness of our students. However, the Lord and his providence allowed the pandemic to cause us to face the challenge of carrying it out in a way that we had not yet anticipated. Using technology and embracing God's grace, classes were conducted with our students day after day and week after week. In the midst of the uncertainty of the things we had to live through because of the pandemic, the Lord led us to experience life and community in the closest and most effective way. much better than the plan we had outlined at the very beginning with the pastoral school class curriculum. Through various food collections and delivery to the brethren most affected with the pandemic, a wonderful facet of the Walls family's heart began to become visible that although we had seen this aspect never in the way it was manifested in those difficult days, their compassion and loving concern for the families of the church by giving sacrificially and sacrificially of what was theirs for the love of others. Certainly that brought an even deeper impact on our respect and admiration for them. Taylor and Ariel have been a blessing in their example as a married couple and their willingness to help anyone who needs a word of encouragement or the warmth of a family to take refuge in. Our sister Ariel has been an example of love and service. The Lord has allowed her to model the value of being a woman devoted to her husband and children becoming a great motivation for many young sisters. The ministry of our brother Taylor in the pastor school has been an immense blessing in the lives of our students and the church. It is common to hear our students speak of the impact caused in their hearts and minds by the teachings received and of the joy they feel in being taught by men they greatly respect and admire. Personally, having Taylor and his family has been a great gift from God. Although we have experienced difficult circumstances and trials in these months as a church, his company, counsel, and unconditional love have been a balm from God for my life as a believer and as a pastor. Taylor's friendship has blessed my life and has been used greatly by the Lord for my sanctification. A few weeks ago, as members of the church, we performed a nominative consultation where they asked the church about who they had seen in the congregation to be pastors or deacons. With respect to Brother Taylor Walls, as a candidate for the pastoral ministry in our church, and unanimously, the church expressed their recognition of our brother as a pastor. We wanted to do this prior to his departure to be with you, because although the church has been considering him in this way for a long time now, we did not want to pressure our brothers to have to stay in our midst, understanding that his time among us has the purpose of serving the pastor school in a more direct way. However, we did not want to stop short of telling our brother Taylor and his family, and through this very letter, also to you, of our recognition and desire to call him to be our pastor. Beloved church, we have nothing but gratitude in our hearts and an immense feeling of being reciprocal with you for this gift of grace you have given to us by sending the Walls family to serve among us. As a church, we are indebted to you and want to be your faithful partners in the work of ministry. May the grace of the Lord be always shining in your midst. We love you and live in your debt. In Christ, Jorge Rodriguez. So if you have a notebook, here are some prayer requests that you can pray for my family and I as we deal with the decisions that come about from this letter of taking on the role of pastor there in the church. Please pray for me in that and the requirements and the responsibilities. We understand the weight of being a pastor. And we do feel called to that, but it is a decision we want to take with caution and care and a clear conscience before God. Pray for the church planting ministries that I mentioned in Quito and in Atacames. You can just say the city near the beach. Also pray for our three students. We have three students, as I said, in the pastor school program. We will be concluding that program this year. towards the end of next year, finishing the class part around maybe September, and then the rest of the year being practical ministry in the church. And then pray for their future ministry desires. One of them is in a plan now to be ordained by the church that sent him to us. And also we are praying that one of them would be sent to the city on the beach to be their first pastor as well. So pray that the Lord would raise up these men and give wisdom to the church as they examine them. and pray also for the work of training pastors in other parts of Latin America. We had a meeting of about seven or eight churches the Saturday before we came, and many of the churches had an opportunity to give a report of what God has been doing. And they all mentioned that they are involved in missions and reaching their community or helping other communities that have reached out for help. But at the same time, they all expressed a need for more men, that God would raise up more men. So pray for that as well. Pray for these various ministries all over the country that are happening with our church and our sister churches there, with whom we are in association, and also that God would raise up even more men for the work of the ministry. That is the first task, the brief report and prayer request about the ministry in Ecuador. Now I would like to invite you to open your Bibles to John chapter 17, verses 11 to 13. John chapter 17, verses 11 to 13. We will read the text and then we will pray. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world. And I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given to me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost, except the son of destruction, that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I'm coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. Oh Lord, we come to you this morning in need of your Holy Spirit and the work of grace in our hearts. Lord, many of us come to you with trials and sufferings and pain and sickness and death and fears, loneliness. But oh Lord, we come to you with a God of all comfort, the God of all encouragement and peace. O Lord, fill our hearts with comfort. May the joy of Christ be fulfilled in us as we study this text. Lord, may you guard us, may you keep us for yourself, and may you hasten the day where we will see the face of our Savior. In Christ's name we pray, amen. Back in the month of July, I had a difficult experience where I had the privilege of doing some ministry things for a seminary in a country I can't mention. We decided as a family that it would be best for my wife and children to come here and to visit with some of my family here and my wife's family in Louisiana. And so I was left in Ecuador alone. And we were separated for about three weeks, her being here and me being there. And if anybody has experienced something like that, that time of separation is very difficult. I lost about 20 pounds. I did not sleep very much. I was lonely because I was separated from those whom I love. I was separated from my wife who is part of me, from my children who are part of me. And we oftentimes experience that type of loneliness and that type of feeling abandoned and forsaken and that we are destitute. in the Christian life as well. We often realize that we are living in a time where we are united to Christ. In a spiritual way, we are seated in heavenly places with Christ, but we are not yet in his presence. We are not yet with him. We cannot yet embrace him. We cannot yet express our love to him directly. He is in heaven, reigning in heaven, and we are on earth. As we see in our text here, He was departing to be with His Father, and His children, His people, were called to continue in this world for a little bit longer because He had a specific mission for them. But here in this text of the Gospel of John, at the end of the Gospel of John, in John chapter 13 through 17, we find the conclusion to this gospel and the conclusion to the teaching ministry of our Lord Jesus. He leaves them an example to follow of service, of love, of sacrifice in John chapter 13. Then He gives them comfort knowing that He will soon depart from the world and go to be with His Father and He wants to prepare them and give them comfort for that time of separation. And then he concludes with this final prayer in John 17, where we, as some of the Puritans said, we get to see the heart of Christ in heaven revealed towards us on earth. We get to see a glimpse of the heart of Christ towards his people. And that is what I want to give you this morning. I know many of us are battling with many struggles, tribulations, and sorrows. And the pain of being separated from Christ. The fact that we are not yet in glory. But I want to give you encouragement that Christ has prayed for you. That Christ is interceding on your behalf. That Christ has invoked the very power and honor and respect and reputation of God to ensure that you make it to the end. to ensure that you make it through the trials that you are enduring. And I want to give you that hope this morning, because I believe that is the encouragement that this text would give us. So we're going to see that we are separated from Christ, but we are not forsaken. We are separated from Christ, but we are not forsaken. We will see that in three points. First of all, we're going to see that we are separated from Christ, but we are not lost. We are separated from Christ, but we are not abandoned. And we are separated from Christ, but we are not forsaken. My dear brothers, we live in a time where our Lord, our Savior, our friend is in heaven. He has gone to be with his Father. He has been glorified, having completed his work that he was called to accomplish on this earth. He has now gone to be with his Heavenly Father in the ascension. And now we are called to live in this world for a time. We have to endure the tribulation and sorrow that accompanies life in this world. And for the disciples, imagine what they were experiencing in this time. They had the Messiah in their midst, the one who would be God with them, the one who was going to be the eternal king of the kingdom of David and would destroy all of their enemies. They had so much hope. But here he comes and he says, For a little bit more time I will be with you, then you will not see me any longer. I am going away. The one who would set up the eternal kingdom, who would save you from all of your enemies, who would reign eternally, I am now going away. It doesn't seem to make sense. How can this be? Does that mean that his work has not been finished? Does that mean that he failed to do what he came to accomplish? Why is his kingdom not being set up? Why does it seem that what their expectations were are falling aside? But what we see is that this very departure is actually the sign and seal of the fact that Christ has completed his work. As he says in verse 4, I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. Now, Father, glorify me in your very presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. This time of separation, my dear brother, is a time of sorrow and pain, but it is also a sign and seal to us that Christ is seated in heaven, having obtained eternal redemption for us. He has completed His work. He has completed His work, and thus, though we are separated, we are not lost. We are not lost because His work was perfect. His work was completed. His work was sufficient for our eternal life. He was glorified, it says, that He might give eternal life to all those to whom you have given me. He says in verse two, Christ was exalted and his separation from us brings us sorrow, but it is a sign that his work has been completed. It is a sign that there is hope that we will make it to the end because Christ has completed his work. We also see, dear brothers, that we are not lost, but we are guarded because the Son himself has prayed for us. He says in our text, in verse 11, I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them. Keep them. We are separated from Christ but we will not be lost. We will make it to the end because the Father Himself is going to answer the prayer of His Son. The Father listens. The Son knows the will of the Father and the Son is praying perfectly in accordance with His will. and His will will be fulfilled in us as He guards and keeps His people unto the very end. Christ Himself has asked and Christ has shown towards us His heart. He is separated from us but the flame of His love towards us has not dwindled. His commitment to our eternal life has not wavered. His covenant with the Father has not faltered. He is separated from us being in heaven, but he still intercedes on our behalf. What we see in our text is merely an example of how he continues to pray for us in heaven. As it says in Hebrews 7, 25, because that he has been exalted as our high priest, He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. My dear brothers, Christ is praying for you in the midst of your loneliness and pain and sickness and death. He has prayed for you that you would be kept through this. He has, as we see in the next phrase, invoked the very power and reputation of God to ensure that you are kept to the end. He says in verse, at the end of our verse, verse 11, Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me. Christ here is using a very peculiar language. And by invoking the name of God, the name of the Father, it would be more likely for God to cease to be God, for God to give up His honor and His reputation as God, than for His people to be lost. Because Christ here is invoking the very reputation of God. He's putting the reputation of God on the line. If his people are lost, keep them in your name. If these people are lost, your reputation is lost. But my dear brothers, our God is an unchanging God. Our God is a God who keeps his word, who is faithful to his people. And not one of them shall be lost. See how Christ prays for you. See how Christ prays for his disciples and through them towards us. Also we see in this text that we are kept according to the scriptures. Someone might say, well what about Judas? Was he not lost? Was he not one of his people that were lost? And it says in verse 12, while I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost, except the son of destruction. that the scripture might be fulfilled. Do you see what this means, dear Christian? Do you see what this means? That we are separate from Christ, but we are not lost because Christ will guard his people. Christ has invoked the power of God to guard his people. And we also see that it is according to the scriptures that we would be guarded. And I'm saying the opposite of what the text is saying, but I think it is a natural application of it. It says that Judas was lost according to the scriptures. And what that means is that that was what was necessary that one of his disciples would be lost. If it were not for prophetic, divinely inspired scriptures, God's revealed will in scriptures, even Judas himself would have never been lost. If it was not for God revealing that this was his plan, That would have never happened. It was in order to fulfill the scriptures. But he says that not one of them has been lost. And the only one lost was only because in this way it was revealed in God's holy scriptures. And my dear brother, what is written of you in scriptures? What is written of you in the Bible? What has God revealed about his people who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ? He himself says, all those who come to me I will in no wise cast out. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one. Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that he made to us, eternal life. My dear brothers, it was only scripture that could make a difference in the case of Judas. And what it says of you is that you will make it to the end if you have believed in Christ. If you are united to Christ by faith, there is now no condemnation for you. If you are in his hand, there is not a single demon who can snatch you out of his hand. There's not a single peril. in this world that could snatch you out of His hand. There's not a single one of your own sins that could snatch you out of His hands. It would be easier for God to cease to be God and easier for Scripture to pass away than for His people to be lost. But, my dear Christian, the Bible says, that it will be easier for the mountains, the stars to fall, the seas to dry up, the earth to dissolve into sand, than for one jot and tittle of the scriptures to pass away. And in those scriptures is recorded your hope. We are separated but not lost. But also, dear Christian, we are separated but we are not abandoned. We are not alone. He has not left us to be orphans. He has not left us to be alone. Think of the disciples who had Christ there in their presence. They could enjoy the presence of Him who sticks closer than a brother. They could go to Him whenever they were afraid. They could go to Him and cry to Him whenever they were in peril. Whenever they had questions, whenever they had doubts, whenever they were attacked by the enemy, Peter could hear Christ say, I have prayed for you that your faith would stand. They could hear his wisdom as they were indulging their foolishness. They could be guided by him. But he is now gone. Has he taken that guidance, that care, that companionship with him? Has he left his people now to be alone? Do you sometimes feel like that, dear Christian? I do. Does he leave them to fend for themselves now? Has he left us to be orphans? No, he says, I will not leave you as orphans, John 14, 18. We are separated from him, but we are not abandoned by him. Though we are separated, he still accompanies us. And he accompanies us because he is continuing to work on our behalf. Dear Christian, Christ is seated in heaven, but all he does in heaven is for your good. He is reigning, He is subduing your enemies beneath His feet. He is taking your death and taking out its stinger. He is reigning on your behalf so that even the sorrows and pain and tribulation of this world would work for you a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. That is what Christ is currently doing for you. He has not abandoned you. Everything he does in that place where he is now is for us. He is now ensuring our eternal life. He is now, as he says, preparing a place for us. Part of the glorification of Christ that he is now experiencing is that he would be able to give eternal life to his people. Christ is glorified. in giving eternal life to his people. He is now exalted, reigning over his enemies, so that even the great serpent himself will soon be crushed under our feet, as it says in Romans 16, 20. He is subduing all our enemies under himself and under our feet so that even our suffering will work for our good. He has made it so that Sheol has no claim on us. It has no way to hold us, no stinger to harm us, because even death itself has been turned to our good, because Christ is now separated from us. Because He is in heaven, that is where we will soon go. Because He is in heaven, our victory is assured. See the heart of Christ here towards his people. Though he is in heaven and we on earth, his heart of love towards us has not dwindled. When the enemy strikes, his reign and dominion come to give us victory and assure us that we are more than conquerors in him who loves us. When the accuser would lay guilt and charges of sin at our feet, the righteousness of Christ covers us and asks, who will lay claim? Who will lay charges against God's elect? When death would lay claim on us, his death steps in and says, Their old man has already been crucified with me, and the sting of death is thus removed. When we would be discouraged and lose hope, his intercession rings throughout the courts of heaven. His prayers on our behalf fill the ears of the angels, and he is sure to be heard and to be answered. Christ is interceding for you, dear Christian, in the midst of your loneliness, in the midst of your sickness, in the midst of your temptation, in the midst of your sorrow and grief. Christ prays that you would be kept. He prays that you would be guarded. We are separated from Him, but He accompanies us because the Father loves us. He says in his farewell discourse, John 16, 27 to 28, for the father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came forth from the father. I came forth from the father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the father. I am leaving the world and I'm going to the father, but take courage. The father loves you. The Father loves you. The Son is praying for you. The Son has accomplished your redemption. The Son is assuring your eternal life. And the Father loves you and has abundance of grace to accompany you in the midst of your sorrow, in the midst of your trials and your tribulation. We are separated from Christ, but we are still in His hand. We are also accompanied because he sends to us his Holy Spirit. That is one of the major themes of this final section of the Gospel of John. I will not leave you orphans, he says. but I will come to you. He says, I will pray the Father in John 14, 16, and he will give you another comforter to be with you forever. That is the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him, but you know him because he dwells with you and will be in you. Dear Christian, He has not left you to be orphans because He has asked of the Father on your behalf that the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, would come and accompany His dear people in this sorrowful time of separation. As we await for His return, as we await for the consummation of His kingdom, He has sent the Holy Spirit to accompany us. We are not abandoned because we have His personal presence in the Holy Spirit to guard us, Guide us, protect us, and to make His love and care and comfort tangible to us. To pour out the love of God in our hearts, Romans 5 says. He has given us His Holy Spirit, and His Holy Spirit comforts us and guides us, but even so, as the foretaste of the far greater comfort we will have one day, whenever we see Christ, whenever we awake in glory. We are accompanied as well by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, but we're also accompanied by the Holy Spirit who dwells in our brothers. It says in verse 11, Think about how Christ is using the unity of his people here in this prayer. It is both the product of God keeping and guarding, but it is also the context where he does that. Think about the glory of dwelling in union with Christ's people. Whenever we Get a taste of the love of the brothers? Do you know what that is? It is Christ's very love for us, poured out to us through the channels of his people. He has called us to love one another. even as I have loved you." So dear Christian, whenever you experience the love of a Christian, you are experiencing the love of Christ. You are getting a glimpse of the gospel, a reminder, a reenactment of the gospel played out before you as we serve and sacrifice for one another. Dear Christian, we are called to sorrows and tribulations and perils in this life. But yet in the midst of the unity of the brothers, we can experience in a real and tangible way, the way that Christ loves and serves and sacrificed himself for us, who is now in heaven. Christ is in heaven and he says that whenever we love our brother, it is though we are loving him. we love our brother, it is as though he himself is loving them through us. As we are loved by the brothers, we are loved as unto Christ. Christ identifies himself whenever we are served. He feels served and satisfied when his people love and serve us. He also is exemplified, manifested, revealed in His love whenever we enjoy the love and service of other Christians. We live life in the body in the midst of this time of separation. because there he has commanded a blessing. There he has called for us to enjoy the foretaste, the samples of how much he loves us. And he has so organized it, so ordained it, so that while he is in heaven, his people do not go without some example, some show of his love and care for us. What a privilege for us to receive that blessing from others. And what a privilege it is for us to be the channels of that towards our suffering and burdened Christian. He says, this is my commandment that you love one another just as I have loved you. When we lay our lives down, when we serve others, whenever we love our brothers in the midst of their sorrows, whenever we get down into the pit with them and suffer along with them, we are displaying the gospel to them. We are a living reminder of the love of Christ, a living reminder of Christ's very care for his people. So dear Christian, you are separated from Christ. He is in heaven. He is seated on the throne in heaven, but he has not abandoned you. You may feel lonely, you may feel abandoned, but dear Christian, he has sent a multitude to accompany you. He accompanies you now in heaven as he is doing all for your good. He accompanies you now in that he has poured out the love of the Father towards us. He has sent us the Holy Spirit and he has given us the privilege of tasting his love through the love of his people. And finally, we are separated, but we are not forsaken. We are separated, but we are not forsaken, but rather, He comforts us. Dear Christian, imagine the disciples who found such joy, hope, expectation in what Christ had come to do. He was going to set up their kingdom. He was going to give them a place on His right and left hand. He was going to take away all their sorrows, all their oppression, all their exile was finally going to come to an end. He was going to do away with all these things. He was bringing comfort. He was proclaiming the acceptable year of the Lord, the good news of healing, of comfort, of consolation, of hope. But now he's leaving. Now he's leaving. Why is he going? Is he taking that comfort with him? But no, dear Christian, he has not taken it with him. But yet he has left comfort for his people. We are separated, but we are not forsaken because he comforts his people. Christ has shown us this in His very ministry. Whenever He was here on earth, He was busy guarding and keeping and comforting His people. He was bearing our infirmities. He was carrying our griefs. The chastisement of our peace was laid upon Him. He was acquainted with our weaknesses, our infirmities, and our temptations. He experienced our death. He experienced the wrath of God that we deserve. He experienced our pain. He experienced the attacks of the enemies, the onslaughts of sin. He experienced loss and peril and danger. But no matter the depths of our woes, Christ is there to bear our infirmities and carry our griefs. No matter the strength of our temptations, Christ is there to strengthen us, to arm us, and to assure us that he knows our infirmities and our temptations. No matter the depth of our sorrow, Christ is there to assure us of future rest and his present comfort for weary pilgrims. No matter the depth of our pain, Christ is there to bear our pain and show us the pain that He endured on our behalf. To show us His nail-pierced hands and say, because I also suffered pain, your pain will come to an end. There is a period, a final Consummation destined for our pain and suffering because of Christ. He is now seated in glory. His work has been accomplished. There was not a drop of pain more that he had to endure. There was not a moment more on the cross that he had to endure to ensure that our pain would come to an end. He has accomplished His work and dear Christian, the pain, the sorrow, the loneliness that you now feel will soon come to its glorious end. It will come to an end because there is rest prepared for you. There is glory prepared for you. There is life prepared for you. There is the presence of Christ prepared for you. He also knew that this would be difficult. Christ knew that this time of separation would be difficult. He even told us that it would be a time where the world would hate us, where the enemy would seek to destroy us, where tribulation and sorrow and grief would accompany us day by day. He told us these things in John chapter 16, even in the next verses in John 17, 14, and 15. He says these things, and it is for this reason that He, while He was preparing to go to the cross, as He is facing His final hours. Dear Christians, see the heart of Christ towards you. In His final hours on earth, about to suffer the loss of His communion with the Father, to endure the eternal wrath of God, to die for His people. What was He thinking about? What was he concerned about in these final moments on earth? To ensure that there was comfort left behind for his people who had to endure such sorrow by being separated from him. That is the heart of Christ towards you, and it has not wavered one single moment as he is in heaven. He has not died down. The flame still burns bright, and as the day approaches, it even burns brighter. Dear Christian, there is hope. He has comforted us. He says in John 14, 27 to 29, peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. You have heard that I said to you, I'm going away and I will come to you. If you love me, you would rejoice that I'm going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. And I have told you now before it happens so that when it happens, you may believe. He, in his final hours on this earth, is saying, this is about to happen. You're about to be accompanied with much sorrow and grief as a woman in travail of birth. But don't lose heart. I will come to you. The Father is for you. The Holy Spirit is coming to comfort you. There is peace that I leave with you. His words are recorded, dear Christian, so that you would find comfort, so that you would read these words and have peace, because Christ himself has prayed these things for you. Christ himself believes. and is confident that his Father will keep you. Christ himself is assured that the Father will respond to his petitions. Christ himself is assured that your eternal salvation will come to consummation. He says, In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world." Dear Christian, his exit from the world is not a sign of defeat. It's not a sign of him washing his hands of his work and saying, that's all I could do. But him having said, it is finished, the work has been done, the enemy has been crushed, sin has been paid, death has been defeated, life is now given to my people. Peace, rest, comfort, comfort, comfort to those who are weary, says the Lord. He has overcome the world. Why is he seated in heaven now? because that is his throne room, and the earth now is his footstool. He has overcome it. He has conquered, and we are united to him and seated with him in heavenly places. We are comforted, as it says in verse 13, but now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world. Before I leave, a few moments more, I speak these things so that my disciples might hear it, so that John might record it for my dear people who would believe because of their word. that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. Dear Christian, how should you feel? How should you respond to this text? By being comforted, by finding hope, by finding comfort and joy in that Christ is for you. Christ loves you. Christ has gone now to make preparations for you. Christ now is preparing the way Though we often find ourselves in the pit of despair, Christ, before he left, has tied a rope of comfort to the mighty oak of God's promises and salvation and thrown it down into the pit so that you can climb out. Though we are locked in the cage of doubting castle, he has placed in our bosom the key of promise so that it can unlock all of its doors. Though the time of separation is also a time of loss, suffering, and tribulation, it is a time where the joy and peace of Christ may indeed reign in our hearts through faith. Though the waves of tribulation crash upon the surface and may sometimes dash us against the rocks a thousand times, beneath the storm, the depths of Christ's love holds us down anchored to his promise. to His faithfulness and to the eternal life that He has received to give to us. Christ Himself, dear Christian, is longing for this time of separation to come to an end. Do you know that? You are struggling. You are being dashed against the rocks. You are lonely. You are afraid. You may be losing, but Christ Himself prays that this would soon come to an end. that His final child would be saved, that His people would be kept to an end. We have emphasized in this text so far that He is praying that we would be kept and that is that we would be protected, cared for. But He is praying that we would be kept to a specific destination. He is keeping us for a purpose. He is keeping us so that He might carry us in His bosom to His presence. Let not your heart be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. For I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you may be also. A little while, and you shall see me no more. And again, a little while, and you shall see me again. Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful. but your sorrow will turn to joy. When the woman is about to give birth, she has sorrow, because her hour has come. But when she gives birth to the child, she remembers no more the anguish, for joy that a child has been born into the world. Now therefore you also have tribulation, but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and no man shall take that joy from you. Dear Christian, this is what Christ has prepared for those who love Him. Even in this very prayer He says, Father, I desire, I long that they also, whom You have given Me, may be with Me where I am. I'm going now to be with the Father, and I long that they would be with Me, that they might see their Mediator, their Friend, exalted in glory. They might see the lover of their souls to be the one who is exalted over all. Because you loved me before the foundation of the world. Find hope, dear Christian. Christ has comfort for you in this life. There is genuine hope to be found in the midst of the sorrows of this life. There is genuine joy to be experienced, though it is often simply a foretaste, a foretaste that is often blurred, that is often lost for a time, that is also accompanied by many trials and sorrows. But though the tears that often fill our eyes may blur our vision of glory here and can cloud the hope that is real, One day those tears will be wiped away and as the vision becomes clear, we will see that it is the face of Christ before us. And as he himself drying our tears and saying the pain, the loss, the suffering has now come to an end. The sorrow now can be over. The child has come into the world. The joy has now swallowed up sorrow. Life has now swallowed up death. Beauty has now consumed the ashes. The morning of joy has overtaken the dark night of weeping. That is what is in store for us. And here we see that Christ is praying, dear Christian, that we would be kept for it. There is nothing that can keep us from it now. Yes, sorrow will still accompany us. Pain will still be our lot in this life, but our portion is in the Lord. Our inheritance is awaiting us. The weight of glory that will make us forget all of these sorrows is being heaped up in heaven for us. The place of rest where we can lay our weary heads from a battle well fought is now being prepared. The table is being set for us to enter into the presence of our Savior. Dear Christian, this is your hope. Dear Christian, this is the comfort that this text would provide for you today. This is the comfort that Christ would have to accompany you all the days of your life. Sorrow is real. Pain is real. Loss hurts. Grief overwhelms. But dear Christian, it will soon come to an end. It will soon come to an end because Christ is in heaven. Though that means this earth is filled with sorrow, because Christ is in heaven, we, too, will one day be there with Him. He has accomplished the work necessary. He has made the way. He has opened the gates. And as we walk through the gates, all of heaven, the angels of heaven, the son himself will rejoice to see that his child has come. And he will pick up his weary lambs, and he will carry them in his bosom. And he will love them, and he will comfort them, and he will say, it's over now. The pain is gone. The tears are now wiped away. Death no longer has any way it can hurt you. There's no more pain, no more temptation, no more attacks. The enemy can't touch you here. The sorrows of a fallen world can't touch you here. Be at rest, dear child. Be at rest, because I have overcome the world, and I have prepared eternal life and glory in my presence for you all the days of your life. Enter now into the rest. Enter into the peace. Enter into the comfort that you tasted on earth, but now experience it in full. Let us pray and give glory to Christ. Oh Lord, thank you for the comfort that there is in Christ. Oh Lord, be with my dear Christians who are beset with so many trials and problems and sicknesses and the things that accompany life in a fallen world, life this side of glory. But oh Lord, thank you that Christ is seated in heaven, that he is seated in heaven and that means that he has overcome, that his work is done, that there's nothing left to be done except for us to inherit the glory he is preparing for us. Oh Lord, thank you. Comfort your dear people. And may you equip us for the next trial that comes our way to be filled with hope and comfort for your glory, for the unity of your people, and for the advancement of your kingdom. In Christ's name, amen.