And we turn to the Gospel of John. John chapter 14, and we'll begin reading from verse 15 through to verse 24. John chapter 14, and I'll read the scriptures in your hearing from verse 15. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. and I'll ask the Father and he'll give you another helper to be with you forever. 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 will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world will see me no more. But you will see me, because I live, you also will live. In that day, you will know that I am in the Father, and you in me, and I in you. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves me, And he who loves me will be beloved 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 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. We are back in our study through the Gospel of John, and this morning we'll be centering our focus on verse 18 through to verse 24. And in this section that we'll be dealing with this morning, I've entitled it, Truths to Build Your Life Upon. truths to build your life upon. Now these truths are a lifeline to those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is these reminders or these truths that helps us not only to have boldness and confidence in what we've come to believe, but also to soldier on in this life. Now we live in a world where many people have sayings or little bits of wisdom or sayings that sort of seem to guide their lives. For some it may be words of a song, and each time they listen to those words of a song, somehow it gives them some sense of strength or new vigor. As it could be a poster, or a poem, or a particular verse in the Bible. And one of the things that I find interesting, especially if it's a minibus, you know, these small public transport buses, And one of the things that is common among them is where they like to put a vest and say, this minibus or this car is protected by the blood of Jesus. Now for them, somehow that is a phrase for them to move on. Or somehow giving them a sense of assurance or security. But you and I, we know Jesus didn't die for buses. He died for human beings. Now, there's one minibus that I was following behind and there were some words written on it and I was busy trying to read the words behind the bus and what the words were is that, don't follow me too closely, I can stop any time. By the time I was finishing, he lived true to his writings, he stopped. And I had to swerve and follow. But the point I'm making is that as you go through life, Christians or non-Christians, there are some phrases or bits of wisdom that you sort of stick in your wall or that just somewhere stuck in your house or in your life that sort of give you some sense of purpose or drive. And for the portion of the scriptures we've read, for us as Christians, but also for anyone in this world, If there is anything that you need to build your life upon, it's the truths of these nuggets that we find in this portion of Scriptures. And it's these words that the Lord Jesus Christ continues to address to His disciples as He was bidding farewell to them. The Puritan Thomas Watson. describes all the promises of Christ as the water of life to renew fainting spirits. He says, and he goes on to say that as in the ark manna was laid up, so promises are laid up in the ark of the scriptures. So as we study and come to know Christ's promises, and feed on them. Our hearts feed on this manna for faith and therefore we are sustained, renewed, strengthened and comforted from all our fears. And we see something of that. It's like the Lord Jesus Christ has in his farewell address to his disciples It is full of promises, truths to build our lives upon. In chapter 14, Jesus had promised that he's going to his father and he's going to build a mansion, as it were, for his disciples. He promised that he will return for them. And he also promised that he will give them another helper, another like him, the Holy Spirit. And he could sense the despair in the disciples, that even as he was saying that the time has come for me to go to my father, there was this sense of despair, there was this sense of disappointment, and now he continues to pour his heart and to open up his life to them and he brings out these truths that they could build their lives upon. And John 14 verse 18 to 24 is loaded with these precious promises. And together these promises, they address the concern of the disciples, they address the concerns of God's children throughout the world in different ages. And these promises that the Lord Jesus Christ gives are sealed by Christ's ability to fulfill them. And in verse 19, which is the anchor verse there, he says, because I live. Jesus assures us, He assures His disciples, He assures us, you also will live. Because I live, you also will live. So let's open up that section and draw some lessons for ourselves this morning. The first truth on which we should build our lives upon, especially God's people, is that Jesus will never abandon his own. Jesus will never abandon his own. Verse 18, I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you. I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you." And he gives a solution. He promises them that, yes, for now your hearts are in despair. There are a lot of questions that are running through your mind. You don't know what will become of you tomorrow. But be assured of this. I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you." And as the Lord Jesus Christ prepares to depart, he leaves this truth with his disciples. And as he does so, he uses the pitch of the language of an orphan. He summons a word that not only summarizes what they were thinking, but gives them assurances. He says, I will not leave you as orphans. In the time of the Lord Jesus Christ, just as in our day today, orphans perhaps are the most destitute class of people for lack of words to describe. Because the group of individuals where there's no love and care for the family, the safety net that the family through the parents or the guardians provide is not there. And this is why Orphans would solicit, as it were, they would draw sympathy from individuals because it's just the thought that they are by themselves in this world full of tomas and in this world full of trouble. It's this language or this picture that helps us to see. the situation in which those individuals who call, or people who call as orphans are in. And here the Lord Jesus Christ, He's saying to His disciples, I will not leave you like that. I will not leave you to fend for yourselves. I will not leave you to navigate through the complications of life by yourselves. I will come to you. The disappointment of His disciples can be best summarized or summed up in the words that are found in Luke chapter 24 and verse 20 and 21. In Luke 24, verse 20, 21, you recall the two disciples that were on the road. And they were talking amongst themselves, and this is what they said as they were thinking of the Lord Jesus Christ. They were saying, we had hoped that He was the one to redeem Israel. That was how we can sum up what the disciples were going through. They had so much hope in the Lord Jesus Christ, as it were. And they said they had hoped that He was the one to redeem Israel. And the Lord Jesus Christ knew what the disciples were thinking. The Lord Jesus Christ knew what the state of their hearts were. And He gives them this assurance, I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you. And He gives them this assurance to strengthen them that the coming hours you will not be alone. The dark hours that are ahead of you, you will not be alone. And He promises them and He gives them this truth that should be an anchor in any situation as they navigate through this life. And here was a promise more tangible and direct to address their immediate concerns. I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you. I will come to you. And most of us as God's children, we find it hard to believe those truths. We find it hard to build our lives upon those truths. Because we live in a world where people have promised to do things for us and have not. We've got friends that have promised to be by our side, to be with us through the valleys of life. We've had relatives that have made promises that when you are done with your studies, I will connect you, you'll get a job. And because of that, we bring this mindset even when we are thinking of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We tend to think that this is just one of those words that He uttered and is not able to fulfill them. We bring this mindset. in our relationship with him, thinking that he's gone and he's forgotten about us. But I want to bring this truth once again to bear upon our hearts this morning. This is a truth that we can build our life upon as God's children. He will not leave us as orphans. Even if while in this world we may lose our parents and feel a sense of loss because of the safety net that they provided is no more. There's one present who says, I will not leave you. I will be there with you. I will come to you. I will be with you. I will be there to see, to eat that you do not navigate through this life alone. And it is this promise that we can rely upon and trust Him to fulfill what He has said. means at a practical level, is that the Lord Jesus Christ is saying when life is hard, I will strengthen you. In those moments when your heart swells with joy, I will celebrate with you. In those moments when you suffer loss, I will be there to catch your tears and to help you back. And what's the proof of this that Christ is able to do this is that He loves us. And He's proved His love for us by giving His life for your sins. He came into this world. lived a perfect life and died for you. And while He hung on the cross, He had you in mind, that you not feel abandoned, that you not feel unloved, that you not feel uncared for. He's proven His love for you. See Him on the cross, crying to His Father, my God, My God, why have you forsaken me? The love that he has for you is amazing. It's much less. And one who's given so much to prove to you that he loves you, He will not walk away from you. He will not leave you when life is hard. And this is a truth you can build your life upon as God's child. It was spoken by He who knows all things. He who came for that purpose to atone for your sins and through His death to pour His Father's love on you. And remember this in those moments when you feel that no one cares, no one understands. There's one who cares, who understands, and He gave His life for you. But the second truth we see that we can build our lives upon is that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is where our hope is anchored. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is where our hope is anchored. Verse 19 and verse 20. Yet a little while, and the world will see me no more. But you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day, you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. He's not just, the Lord Jesus Christ has not just assured them that you neither leave you nor forsake you. Here we see that the second truth where we can build our lives upon is that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is where our hope is anchored. Jesus Christ promised his disciples that he will appear to them after the resurrection. And he gives them this promise that the world will not see me, but you will see me. And the Lord Jesus Christ is pointing to the fact that soon he will be crucified, but on the third day, he will be raised from the dead. And the question that Theologians and commentators who debate about is, what does John 14 verse 19 and 20 means? What is it referring to? Some scholars have debated this. And it is interesting, the conclusions that they make. some argue that the Lord Jesus Christ is referring to His second coming. And they base their argument that because this section, John 14, in verse 3, it begins with the promise of Jesus that He's going to return at the end of the age. Now that argument is true in one sense when you look at the context. Yes, there's a sense in which Jesus Christ is saying to his disciples, I will return to you at the end of the age. But is that what John had in mind? The other view sees the promise as referring to the marking rather referring to the coming of the Holy Spirit at the day of Pentecost. Since the immediate surrounding, this speaks about Jesus Christ sending another helper. When you read verse 16 and 17, he actually says, I will ask the Father and He will give you another helper to be with you forever, the Spirit of truth. Now again, both of these events are occasioned with Jesus' death on the cross and then His resurrection. But when you look at what John is saying and you follow through his argument, Yes, John has in mind the coming of the Holy Spirit. John has in mind the second coming of Christ. But the immediate reference here is to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. When you look at the Scriptures, after His death, He was raised from the dead and He appeared to His disciples. There is no account in the Scriptures that gives an indication that He appeared to the Pharisees or to those who crucified Him. But we see that all the accounts that are referred to after the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ He appeared to the disciples. And this is why John, as he records for us, he says in verse 19, yet a little while, and the world do not see me. In those moments when Jesus was crucified and was buried for three days, the world did not see him. And then he goes on to say, but you will see me. And you'll recall when he was raised from the dead, he appeared to his disciples. Even ate fish to show that it's him. Even asked Peter, rather Thomas, to put his hands in the marks of the nails. He appeared to his disciples. And this is what John had in mind. Rather, this is what Jesus had in mind as recorded by John. Yet a little while, and the world will not see me no more. But you will see me. And then Jesus goes on to say, because I live, you also will live. And the Lord Jesus Christ is saying, when I hang on the cross and I'm buried on the third day, I will be raised from the dead. And this is what I've been telling you all this while. But in that moment, when you see me, You will come to know that I am in the Father and the Father is in me and therefore you are in me and you are also in the Father. At this point the disciples had believed what the Lord Jesus Christ had been saying to some extent. They had their own view of the Messiah. They had been walking with the Lord Jesus Christ. But after the resurrection, you see this all change that come upon the disciples. The disciples were timid, hiding from the soldiers. They were now bold, proclaiming the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And you see that in the acts of the apostles. When Peter preaches on the Dale of Pentacles, 3,000 get saved. There was this boldness that came because they had witnessed the risen Savior and they had seen that everything He said was true. And they went about proclaiming the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. What brought about this change? The risen Savior. The risen Savior. That's why John says, yet a little while, and the world will not see me no more, but you will see me. And the way that John uses there, you will see me, it's basically saying you will perceive and understand. that I am who I've said I am. You will perceive and understand with knowledge. And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. The resurrected Jesus brought about the change. Because now they are witnesses. They could do no other but testify to that which they had experienced, which they had perceived, which they had come to understand. And they saw that truly He is the Son of God. He was sent by the Father. The Father is in Him, and He is in the Father, and He is in us, and we are in Him. And therefore, the only thing we could do is to proclaim this resurrected Jesus. That's the hope they had. And the guarantee that Jesus gives them is that because I live, you will also live. It is only when you come to know the resurrected Jesus and experience His grace in your life, that you can say with confidence that you have hope in this world. It is only when you come with the eyes of faith and hear the Son of God hanging on the tree and you bow in repentance and belief in this God, that God raised his son from the dead, and you experience the resurrected Jesus, his grace, his love, that you can navigate and go through this road with hope that what you've come to believe is true. Because he lives, you will also live. When he died, he did not remain in the grave. He was raised as he had promised he would be raised. And that is what makes the difference. The resurrection is the doctrine on which the Christian faith stands or falls. That's why I've noticed nowadays on social media, particularly from the Muslims, that trying to disprove that the resurrection did not happen. In fact, I was listening to one who was saying that actually Allah made them to think that Jesus had died. And he connects his reasoning that in the garden of Gethsemane, the Lord Jesus Christ was pleading with the father that he should not die. In fact, the father heard him and therefore Christ did not die. Allah, the Almighty made him to appear like he was crucified. The question then. So what was the point of having guards to guard the tomb if it was just an appearance or an illusion? What is it that brought about change in these timid disciples to be able to look at the authorities and say, you tell us. Should we fear you or God? And I always encourage people that take time to investigate the resurrection accounts of the Lord Jesus Christ. Read for yourselves. Ask yourself questions. Examine it for yourself. Look at the evidence. Study it. Bring whatever questions you have, let the scriptures answer you. Ask yourself the question, why would these witnesses testify to something that did not happen? Why would they give their lives for a lie? What else could explain the radical change in the disciples? Or where is the body of Jesus that was under God by the authorities? Ask yourself these questions. Or ask yourself this question, why is it that anyone who dies, immediately with time we begin to refer to them as the late so-and-so? When Michael Jackson died, even to this day is referred to as the late Michael Jackson, the late Nelson Mandela. Why is it that Jesus who died 2,000 years ago, no one, not even the devil, refers to Him as the late Jesus Christ? Ask yourself these questions. And examine the accounts of the Scriptures. For us who are Christians, when we read those accounts, The resurrection of Christ is the stamp of authenticity of everything Jesus said He was and is able to do. He said He would die on the cross, and He died. He said He would be raised on the third day, and He was raised. And when He says He's coming again, we know He's coming again. Take everything the Bible says about Christ and you'll see that he's done everything the Bible prophesied, everything he says he's able to do. The thing that remains is his second coming. When you wrap up history, and bring to account and call to account every human being. And my question to you this morning is where is your hope in this world of toys and snares? Where is your hope? Your health will soon fail you. At some point, your credentials will not be needed. Where is your hope? If you are a Christian, Have you become convinced of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ? Because this is where our hope is anchored. And this is an anchor in hard times. When we think of those that have gone before us, as we stand at their graveyards. We can still say with pain that our hope is anchored in the resurrection of Christ. Because He lives, they will live because they believed in Him. But also this should give us this agency to preach the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ which the world is desperately in need of. has a trust in all kinds of things that keep on failing them. There's one thing that will never fail them, one truth, Jesus Christ. He came, died, and was raised, and that is our hope. The third truth, to build our lives upon is this, Christ commands. Christ commands is the key to knowing Him and to enjoying Him. Christ commands is the key to knowing Him and enjoying Him. Or to put it In another way, obedience to the commands of the Lord Jesus Christ is the key to knowing Him more and to enjoying Him. That's what we see in verse 21 through to verse 24. 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 as Cain, would say to him, Lord, how is it that you 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." Obedience to the commands or obedience to the words of Christ is the key to knowing Him more and to enjoy Him. Or to use the words of the hymn writer, it's trust and obey. For there is no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey. The Lord Jesus Christ shows His disciples That with these amazing promises and privileges comes responsibility. And the responsibility is to trust and obey. That's the only way you're going to know more about Jesus. That's the only way you're going to love Him more, or rather to enjoy Him more. And that's why the Lord Jesus Christ here is saying, whoever has my commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him. The way to enjoy Christ, the way to know more about Him is through obedience to what He has said. Trusting Him, obeying Him, following Him and doing everything He wants us to do. And in His farewell speech, this is the second time the Lord Jesus Christ is talking about keeping my commandments. He did that in verse 15 and he's saying it here again. And the point is that this intimate relationship with Christ is inseparable from obedience to him. If you claim you love him, you'll be glad to do that which requires of you. Obedience to Christ is ultimately obedience to His Father. An obedient life pleases our heavenly Father. And Jesus maintains that one who truly loves Him will keep His commandments. And how this applies to us today is that the Lord Jesus Christ is saying that you will not know more of Him, you will not enjoy Him if you are not obedient to what He has said. And if you want to know him in an increasing way, in an increasing knowledge, obedience to his word. And this is why Judas asks, but how is it, Lord, you don't want to manifest yourself to the world? Because as far as Judas is concerned, surely the way to show that Jesus is great and powerful is by manifesting himself, not to just his disciples, but the entire world. So that when they see his amazing works, when they see him raised from the dead, or when they see him breaking the bones of death, opening the grave as it were, the world would be stunned and amazed. But Jesus is saying, I will manifest myself to him who keeps my commandments and he's doing them. He will know more of me. He will come to see that everything I've said in my word is true. And therefore, there will be this increasing knowledge of me in that person who is keeping my words and living in obedience to my words and trusting my words. And if you are a Christian, are you living in obedience to Christ? Do you delight in having fellowship with Him through His Word? The only way to enjoy this relationship that you've come to experience in Christ, His obedience to His Word, trusting His Word and taking Him upon His Word. If you're a new believer or young in faith, this shows you the importance of reading the Scriptures. It's not those outward acts that will draw you to Christ and amazes you. It's a deeper growing relationship with Him through His words. Remember many saw the miracles He performed. How the lame were made to walk, the blind were made to see, but those did not melt their hearts. does not make them come running to the Lord Jesus Christ in faith and repentance. They were just amazed and they looked for more and more outward signs of the Lord Jesus Christ. When you see the disciples experiencing the resurrected Christ, everything about them changed. And by the power of the Holy Spirit in them, as they pondered upon the words he had said, and God the Holy Spirit bringing those words to remembrance, there was this growing knowledge of Jesus Christ. And obedience and trust was the result. trust and obey. For there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. And the heart of this assurance is what Jesus says, because I live, you also will live. Do you live your Christian life as if though Jesus is not alive? Are you living your Christian life as if Jesus is still in the grave? Or are you one who's living their lives, their Christian life, in full assurance of the fact that he's alive and he's interceding for me and the time is coming? when you come for me. This is what brings hope in this world. This is what gives assurance to move on even when you feel that everything around you is caving. This is what strengthens you. And these are the truths that you must build your life upon. And these truths are not isolated. They can be looked at as a chain. So you can't take one and leave out the other. You must take all the truths, the chain that Christ gives, and you find this strength and assurance to soldier on. But also you must read the Bible. Take the Bible as a living book in which God communes with you. You hear his voice, you hear him speaking to you on the pages of his holy word, and you manifest his grace more and more to you as you read his words. Or to use this picture, if you've taken time to watch clips at the United Nations, whenever there are meetings, you'll see that everyone on those meetings listens to the speaker through the earphones or some listening device. That allows them to hear the speech translated into their language that they're able to understand. Think of the Holy Spirit as God's translator given to us to help us remember what Christ taught, to help us hear God in our language, speaking to us through the pages of the Scriptures. And He makes His Word come alive in our hearing. And as He does that, God the Holy Spirit helps us to know that We save a risen Savior. And if you are here this morning and you do not know Christ, the words of the Lord Jesus Christ is that he who does not keep my words does not love me. It doesn't matter how much you may claim to love the Lord Jesus Christ. If there's no obedience to what He has said, you do not love Him. And your indifference to what Christ has said, it's because of the absence of love for Him in your heart. You love sin more than you love Christ. You treasure sin more than you love Christ. And you have this superficial love for Christ and you cannot deceive Him. He knows those who love Him. He knows those who keep Him because He is in the Father. The Father is in Him and those who love Him are in Him and in the Father. And therefore, as we come to the end, I plead with you that if your life is not built on this truth, you come to Christ today. Because these truths are only for those who have come to know Him through faith and in salvation. Those are the ones whom Christ assures with these truths, and those are the ones who can sing with the hymn writer, I save a risen Saviour. He's in the world today. I know that He is living, whatever men may say. I see his hands of mercy. I hear his voice of cheer. And just the time I need him, he's always near. He lives. He lives. Christ Jesus lives today. He walks with me and talks with me along life's narrow way. He lives. He lives. Salvation to impart. And you want to know how I know that he lives. He lives within my heart. Is this true of you? This can be true of you today. Come to Christ today. Amen.