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John chapter 16 as we come to 
the conclusion of the Upper Room Discourse. Remember, another 
name is the farewell discourse. And of course, Jesus often sets 
before them the fact that he is departing. So I would suggest 
that the last portion, verses 25 to 33, is the conclusion proper 
of this discourse. We'll just take up verses 25 
to 28 this morning, and then God willing, look at the latter 
part in a couple of weeks. So I'll read verses 25 to 33, 
and then our focus will be verses 25 to 28. These things I have 
spoken to you in figurative language, but the time is coming when I 
will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I will 
tell you plainly about the Father. In that day you will ask in my 
name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father 
for you, for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved 
me and have believed that I came forth from God. I came forth 
from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave 
the world and go to the Father." His disciples said to him, "'See, 
now you are speaking plainly and using no figure of speech. 
Now we are sure that you know all things and have no need that 
anyone should question you. By this we believe that you came 
forth from God.'" Jesus answered them, do you now believe indeed 
the hour is coming? Yes, has now come that you will 
be scattered each to his own and will leave me alone. And 
yet I am not alone because the father is with me. These things 
I have spoken to you that in me, you may have peace in the 
world. You will have tribulation, but 
be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our Father 
in heaven, thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you 
for the glorious truth that we find here in the upper room concerning 
you, concerning your Son, concerning the Holy Spirit. We ask that 
you would guide us now by that Spirit and instruct us and encourage 
us and build us up in our most holy faith. We have that wonderful 
example in Matthew's gospel where Jesus calls upon the weary and 
the heavy laden sinner to come to him and he will give them 
rest. And we pray that would occur today for any and all here 
dead in their trespasses and sins, we pray that you would 
awaken them as well for your people, God, as we come in weary, 
as we come in burden, we ask that your spirit would minister 
to us that again, we'd see the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ 
and all that he has accomplished on our behalf in his life, death, 
and resurrection. Forgive us now for all sin, for 
all that remaining corruption. Cleanse us in the blood of the 
Lamb and guide us into all truth. And we pray through Christ the 
Lord. Amen. Well, as I said, this has the 
nature of a farewell discourse. And of course, Jesus has reminded 
his disciples on many occasions in this upper room that he is 
going to depart. In fact, if you look back in 
the context to chapter 16, at verse 16, a little while, and 
you will see me. And again, a little while, and 
you will see me. you will see me because I go 
to the, I'm sorry, a little while and you will not see me. And 
again, a little while and you will see me because I go to the 
father. So that refers to his death and then his resurrection. 
And then again, his ascension on high. So this is a recurring 
theme. And certainly he takes that up 
here in verses 25. to 28. I would suggest that we 
look at this section under these three heads. First, the manner 
of His instruction, verse 25. I think it connects us with the 
context and, again, shines the light upon the Holy Spirit. Secondly, 
we'll look at the access to the Father in verses 26 and 27. And 
then, thirdly, the mission of the Son in verse 28. But with 
reference to verse 25, note his manner of instruction when he 
says, these things I have spoken to you in figurative language. 
That word figurative literally means a brief communication containing 
truth designed for initiates, veiled saying, figure of speech 
in which especially lofty ideas are concealed. So when he says, 
I have spoken to you in figurative language, he doesn't mean everything. 
He doesn't mean every jot and tittle of everything that ever 
came out of his mouth. But I think it's those things 
that we see in the upper room that they're still struggling 
with in terms of a complete appropriation of that truth. Remember in John 
14, Jesus speaks about going to the father and preparing mansions 
and coming back and receiving them unto himself. Well, of course, 
they ask a question about that. As well, Jesus has been speaking 
about His relation to the Father and about the procession of the 
Spirit from the Father and the Son. He's been talking about 
His death and His resurrection and His ascension on high. It's 
kind of like those instances where Jesus says in Matthew 16 
and 17 and 20, we must go to Jerusalem and there I must be 
tried and put to death and raised again. Well, they obviously understood 
what it meant to go to Jerusalem. They didn't get the significance 
at this point concerning his death and his resurrection. And so that's what he is saying 
to them in verse 25. These things I have spoken to 
you in figurative language. These things touching on the 
doctrine of the Trinity. These things touching specifically 
with reference to his passion. Now, of course, the Bible taught 
this in the Old Testament. There is the prophecies. Jesus 
says to the religious leaders in John 5, 49, that Moses wrote 
about me, but the disciples up to this point were still struggling 
with some of these lofty concepts. In fact, look at verse 12 in 
chapter 16, and Jesus acknowledges this. I still have many things 
to say to you, but you cannot bear them now." So Jesus is not 
saying that everything he says is a mystery to them or veiled, 
but rather those things that they're still struggling with. 
And he understands that, he identifies that, and he speaks specifically 
concerning their need. Now, note what he goes on to 
say, but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you 
in figurative language, but I will tell you plainly about the Father. I think the time is coming refers 
to what he's already said in verse 16, this little while. 
What John has spoken comprehensively of is as the hour. The time is 
coming. upon His death, upon His resurrection, 
upon His ascension to the right hand of God Most High. In fact, 
look to the Gospel of Luke in Luke chapter 24, a post-resurrection 
appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ to disciples, and we notice 
that they get it, they track, they understand. So on the way 
to the cross, there's still an obscurity. There's still this 
veiledness to what Jesus has been teaching. But once he goes 
into the grave, once he's raised again the third day, and especially 
once he's enthroned at the right hand of the Father and he sends 
the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, all these things become crystal 
clear to the disciples. Notice in 24 at verse 25, then 
he said to them, oh foolish ones and slow of heart to believe 
and all the prophets have spoken. So again, Christ knows that the 
prophet spoke concerning his life, death, and resurrection. 
But Christ also understands it's not just the nature of his disciples, 
it's not the sin of his disciples, rather it is the timing at play 
here. It's the giving of the Spirit 
that is emphasized, I think, in our passage in John 16. But 
notice in verse 26, "...ought not the Christ to have suffered 
these things, and to enter into His glory? And beginning at Moses 
and all the prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures 
the things concerning Himself." And then in verse 44, then he 
said to them, these are the words which I spoke to you while I 
was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which 
were written in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms 
concerning me. And he opened their understanding 
that they might comprehend the scriptures. So it wasn't that 
the data wasn't available. It wasn't that the data was so 
super mysterious that nobody could have ever cracked that 
code. The emphasis lies upon the giving of the Spirit after 
the resurrection, to be sure, but most pertinently with reference 
to the day of Pentecost. One commentator says, according 
to the rest of the farewell discourse, the hour is the new order of 
Christian existence under the ministerial office of the paraclete, 
who will guide the Christian in all truth. That's been the 
recurring emphasis of our Lord in John 14 to 16. He is telling 
them, I'm going away, but I'm not leaving you as an orphan. 
I'm going to send another comforter and he is going to teach you 
the things concerning me. He is going to guide you into 
all truth concerning me. He is going to empower you and 
enable you to take this gospel message to the uttermost parts 
of the earth. We turn to the book of Acts after 
we see Jesus breathe on them in John 20 in terms of reception 
of the spirit, we turn to Acts 2 and the spirit comes as a mighty 
rushing wind. I think what Jesus is highlighting 
once again in this farewell discourse is the nature of our triune God. The Father sent the Son to save 
His people from their sins. He does so through death, resurrection, 
and ascension. From that place of exaltation, 
He sends the Spirit to empower and enable His church, to comfort 
and assist them, and to be the means by which that gospel is 
extended to the uttermost parts of the earth. Jesus is speaking 
concerning those glorious truths reflective of our blessed God. Now, notice he goes on to speak 
of access to the Father in verses 26 and 27. He speaks of prayer 
to the Father, again, something he has spoken of a lot in the 
upper room, and then the promise concerning the Father. Note the 
reference to prayer, verse 26a, in that day you will ask in my 
name. I think he's using prayer as 
sort of a foil to speak in terms of all access to God in this 
new covenant setting. And note that the emphasis is 
upon the mediatorial office of Jesus. In that day, you will 
ask, in my name. He's already instructed them. 
Notice back in verses 23 and 24. And in that day, you will 
ask me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, 
whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you. Until 
now, you have asked nothing in my name. Ask and you will receive, 
that your joy may be full. The emphasis falls upon the in 
my name-ness of what Christ is speaking. He's speaking in terms 
of the Trinitarian God, we come to the Father through the Son 
and the Spirit. Again, not that the Trinitarian God is absent 
from the Old Testament, but in the mission of the Son and in 
the mission of the Spirit, it is as it were, the light has 
been flipped on upon that room that was dimly lit, and now we 
see it in its full glory. We see the blessedness of our 
triune God and the way that sinners come to the Father, the way that 
the believer comes to the Father is through the Son. It's similar 
to what he says in John 4, 24 about worship. And those who 
worship must worship in spirit and truth. As I said last week, 
he's not talking about heart and head. He's talking about 
second, third person of the Trinity. We come to the Father, through 
the Son, in the spirit, and this is the emphasis of our Lord. 
It is most glorious because, as I said, he wants the disciples 
to be helped. He wants them to be encouraged. 
He wants them to leave the upper room and the empty tomb and to 
go into the world and make disciples of all the nations. What's going 
to empower them for that task? The knowledge of God, the understanding 
of who He is, the reality of what He's accomplished, the blessedness 
of who He is. That's what Jesus leaves as his 
parting gift to the disciples in the upper room in order to 
enable them to go forth and to do the task that he has called 
them to. So notice, in that day, you will ask, speaking specifically 
of prayer, but access to the Father. In that day, you will 
ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray 
the Father for you. Brethren, he's not saying he's 
not going to be their mediator, because he's just indicated that 
you're going to ask the Father in my name. The Lord is not saying 
that he's not going to intercede for us, because Romans 8 and 
Hebrews 7 tells us that he always lives to make intercession for 
us. The Lord is saying that they 
will have direct access to the Father through the Son, the in 
my name, in the Spirit. And I think what he's as well 
saying is the benevolence—no, that's not the best word, that's 
more general—the graciousness, the effusion of grace, to use 
an older word, the magnificence of grace, is that the Father's 
ear is toward you. That's the point. As Kim mentioned, 
that I mentioned last week, these, whatever you ask in my name, 
it's not a meal ticket. It's not a summer house up north. It's not a trip to Florida. It's 
God, more God, more power from God, more presence of the Spirit, 
more aid to go and to glorify our blessed Savior. So what Jesus 
is highlighting here is that in this new covenant era, based 
on the reality of his life, death, and resurrection, It's the case 
that you have access to the very throne of grace. Ask the Father 
in my name. Gil says, but to declare, when 
he says what he says here, he says, I do not say to you that 
I shall pray the Father for you. Gil says, but to declare the 
disposition and readiness of his Father to hear them and grant 
unto them whatsoever they should ask of him in his name. It underscores 
the relation that the believer has to the father through the 
son. It underscores the relation that 
the father has to the believer through the son. And Jesus goes 
on to speak concerning that. Notice in verse 27. For the Father 
himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed 
that I came forth from God." It's a great statement, isn't 
it? It's not the first one in the 
upper room. Look at 1421. He who 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. And then in verse 23, 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. So Jesus is 
simply stating, restating what he has been saying, but specifically 
focusing in on our relationship to the Father. Based on what 
Christ has accomplished, he has brought us into this place of 
favor. And what a place of favor it is. For the Father himself 
loves you. It's not because we're lovely. 
It's not because we're deserving. It's not because we've done well 
and so therefore we're rewarded. The Father loves us because of 
Jesus. And the love of the Father is 
unchanging. I don't know that we reckon with 
that as we ought, the unchanging character of God's love. I don't 
think we know that experientially in our lives, right? We're brought 
up by parents and we think that if we don't do what they say, 
they're gonna love us a little less. But if we really go up 
and above the call of duty, they're gonna love us even more. And 
you know what? That might actually happen. Because 
man fluctuates. Man is changeable. Man is mutable. Man ebbs and flows. And man has 
a wretched heart. And he might look at his son 
or his daughter that way. I never did. Just for my kids 
that are here, just know that that never happened. But not 
God. We speak of the impassibility 
of God. He doesn't move from one emotional 
state to another. It's a subset of immutability. 
God does not change. God cannot change. People say, 
well, that's not right. That doesn't mean. God can't 
change in his love for us. If God could love us more, then 
he didn't love us as best as he could have. If God could love 
us less, the implications are terrible. Just be assured that 
he would, because we certainly merit as little possible love 
as anybody could ever garner. The father loves you, he says 
to the disciples. Again, brethren, step into the 
original context. We like to pull passages out 
of the scripture and say, what does this mean for me right now? 
These apostles are gonna see their Lord brutalized on the 
cross. These apostles are gonna see 
him placed into the ground or into the tomb. These apostles 
are then going to see Him again. And these apostles are going 
to hear the command, go therefore and make disciples of all the 
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the 
Son and of the Holy Spirit. With that promise, and lo, I 
am with you always, even to the end of the age. So notice how 
Jesus is leading them along in the upper room to encourage them, 
to help them, to sustain them, and to empower them for that 
particular task. And the main emphasis of this 
teaching is on God. We just don't operate that way. 
If you were going to go out to the mission field, we'd make 
sure that you learned about all the cultural things that go on 
in that society. And that's not wrong. We'd make 
sure you had a pocket full of money that is useful in that 
society. We'd make sure you had someplace 
to lay your head in that society. You'd wanna make sure that you 
were safe and protected in that society. Again, not bad things, 
but what Jesus does is take them to school and the subject matter 
is theology proper. Behold your God, disciples. Behold 
your God, apostles. This provides the impetus for 
you to go therefore and to make disciples. It is most glorious. So all that to say, heavy emphases 
on the person or rather the being of God is a most essential thing 
in the hands of our Lord. So back to verse 27, for the 
Father himself loves you, Notice there's a condition here, because 
you have loved me and have believed that I came forth from God. Now, 
we don't satisfy that condition. It's not that, you know, one 
day I woke up and wow, now I love God and I believe on the Lord 
Jesus Christ. No, we love Him because He first 
loved us, 1 John chapter 4, or chapter 5, chapter 5, 4, it's 
4, 419, I think. I could look at my notes. That's 
probably the smarter thing to do here. 1 John 4, 10, and then 
verse 19. He loves us because we love Jesus 
and because we believe on Jesus. But again, that because there 
is not conditioned on our part. We've arrived, we've gotten the 
data, we've made good decisions, and now we're gonna love God 
and believe on Jesus. No, we don't make good decisions. 
Our hearts are darkened. We're dead in our trespasses 
and sins. For us to love the Father, we must, by grace, be 
awakened. We must be regenerated. We must 
be born again, according to the teaching of John chapter three. 
He's not saying that this is your reward for having stumbled 
upon this act of loving God. He's stating the truth based 
on the relationship to our Lord Jesus by grace through faith. 
So back to the text, for the Father himself loves you because 
you have loved me and have believed that I came forth from God. I 
would suggest that that object of faith, Christ, The verb tenses 
are the same, so you can't really figure it out that way, but theology 
in general teaches us we're born again. The reflex to that is 
the graces of faith and repentance, where we lay hold of Christ and 
all of his gospel benefits. And then that first expression 
of genuine faith is love to God. It's love to Christ. So the love 
of the disciples is a fruit and evidence of the faith of the 
disciples. And that love of the disciples 
is the chief expression of that faith. Listen to Machen on Galatians 
5. Love, according to the New Testament, is not the means of 
salvation, but it is the finest fruit of it. A man is saved by 
faith, not by love, but he is saved by faith in order that 
he may love. That's the order that you find 
in the scripture. So again, Jesus is not saying, 
you know, because you stumbled on this love of God and because 
you stumbled on by free will this faith in me, guess what? Ding, ding, ding, the Father 
loves you. That's not the point. The point is by God's grace, 
you've been brought into this place of redemption. The power 
of regeneration, justification by faith alone, and the finest 
expression of that justification by faith alone is love to God. Gil says, faith in Christ and 
love to Him go together. Where the one is, there is the 
other. Faith works by love. They are both the gifts of God's 
grace and the fruits and effects of His everlasting love. And 
those who are possessed of them may be firmly persuaded of their 
interest therein. So what Jesus is doing is He 
is commending them or commending to them their status. their position, their place, 
their favor in the sight of God Almighty. And I would suggest 
there's an implication here that sort of jumps out, or we can 
pull it out. There's no universal fatherhood 
of God in a redemptive sense. Creationally, the apostle at 
Acts 17 at the Areopagus gives a reference to God as Father 
in a created way. But this idea that everybody's 
going to go to heaven, everybody knows the father, everybody is 
loved by the father with a redemptive love, no, that's for those whom 
he chose before the foundation of the world. Not for anything 
good in them, not because he looked down the tunnel of time 
and said, you know, that guy's gonna make good decisions, so 
I'm gonna set my love and affection upon him. No, it's sovereign. It's according to his good pleasure. 
And it's by His grace, for His glory, and through the blood 
and righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is why sinners 
need to hear the gospel. We don't just simply go out and 
say, guess what? God loves you, and He has a wonderful 
plan for your life. That's not... As far as we know, 
true. It could be if we happen to find 
somebody that has an E on their forehead, but we don't know that. And when you trace the apostolic 
preaching of the gospel in the book of Acts, they don't ever 
say God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. In fact, 
love doesn't ever come up in the book of Acts. Now that doesn't 
mean therefore God hates everything. Do you love apples? Yeah. Well, 
why do you hate oranges? No, that's just weird. But in the apostolic preaching 
of the cross, it was the apostolic preaching of the cross. What's 
the gospel? Is it my experience? Is it my 
feelings? Is it my emotions? No, it's the 
message of Christ and him crucified and resurrected. The apostles 
preached that and then called upon sinners to believe it, to 
repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the 
remission of sins. They don't go out there and say, 
well, you know, God already loves you. You just have to activate 
it to another level. Or you just have to, you have 
to comply or do this. And we preach the glory of the 
gospel for the salvation of sinners and leave the results to God 
most high. Well, that brings us then to 
verse 28. And Jesus speaks concerning his mission. but he speaks beyond 
just the temporal mission. Remember, we've been looking 
at the upper room and we're trying to define some Trinitarian discourse. Jesus actually speaks of the 
eternal procession from the father and the temporal mission in what 
we call the incarnation. Thomas says, the son proceeds 
or comes from the father in two ways. One is eternal, the other 
temporal. He refers to the eternal procession 
when he says, I came forth from the father, eternally begotten 
from him. And note verse 28. It's this 
robust, powerful, simply structured, articulate expression of Christian 
doctrine. It's almost like, and I don't 
know this because I'm not in the mind of the Spirit or in 
the mind of the Lord Jesus, It's almost like this is the crescendo 
upon which the farewell discourse ends, not suggesting that it 
doesn't continue to verse 33. But if there's one thing Jesus 
wants you to get, Disciples, if there's one thing you need 
to keep in your hearts and in your minds, it's this reality. He's already commended faith 
in him. Notice in verse 27, for the father 
himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed 
that I came forth from God. You have believed that I came 
forth from God. And so now he articulates this. 
Notice in verse 28, I came forth from the father and have come 
into the world. Again, I leave the world and 
go to the father. So why does he keep emphasizing 
this? Why does he keep reiterating his status as the sent one from 
the Father who is the sender? Why does he keep reiterating 
the fact that he's going to send the Spirit upon his ascension 
on high? Well, I would suggest it's to 
remind his disciples concerning that relation between the Father 
and the Son. I mean, if they're already struggling, 
they're already kind of limping along until the cross, until 
the day of Pentecost. When the day of Pentecost comes 
and the Spirit flips the light on, everything's going to make 
beautiful sense. It's like Paul on the road to 
Damascus. He knew his Old Testament. He just didn't have that necessary 
ingredient. the fulfillment of the New Testament 
in our Lord Jesus. So when the Lord Jesus comes 
to him on the road to Damascus and hands him that interpretative 
key, everything makes sense to the Apostle Paul. Well, the disciples 
are going to go through that same thing. As well, the confirmation 
of His ability to declare the Father. Remember the prologue 
starts off, 118. No one has seen God at any time, 
but the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, 
has declared Him. And then we noted in chapter 
16, what's the purpose of the Holy Spirit? To declare Jesus. The Spirit takes the things that 
are Jesus, who takes the things that are the fathers, and they 
declare each other the one living and true God who exists eternally 
as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Spirit's function, according 
to John 16, is to glorify Jesus. There's no competition. There's 
no gradation, there's no, you know, fighting or racing for 
who's top dog with reference to the God world. No. One living 
and true God. In this divine and infinite being, 
there are three subsistences. The Father, the Word, or Son, 
and the Holy Spirit. Each having the whole essence, 
yet the essence undivided. We've got to get away from this 
idea that there are three separate beings in the sense of three 
separate centers of consciousness, or three wills, or three substances. That's not biblical Christianity 
or orthodox Trinitarianism. As well, it is to encourage the 
disciples concerning his departure. And I would suggest at least 
the last bit there in verse 28 sets the stage for what he says 
in verse 33. I leave the world and go to the 
Father. Look at verse 33. These things 
I have spoken to you, that in me you may have peace. In the 
world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have 
overcome the world." Don't we need that great big dose of verse 
33 like every day? We're gonna look at suffering 
again. I'm sorry, this guy's got a one-note theme. No, we've 
seen it in John 15, 18 to John 16, 4. We're gonna see it in 
Philippians chapter one tonight. Paul makes a remarkable statement 
there. We know Paul's circumstances, he's in prison. He says to the 
Philippians that it has been granted to you. graciously given 
to you, not only to believe in Christ, but to also suffer. Now, that sentence is tough, 
not grammatically, not syntactically, but practically. You mean to 
tell me that that one word, graciously given, not only modifies faith 
or governs faith, which we all agree because we're Calvinists, 
God gives the grace of faith so that we can believe. I shouldn't 
say that in a cheeky way, that's true. But he's graciously given 
us suffering. That's where I suggest the challenge 
in that verse lie. That's a tough one to get your 
mind wrapped around. It's almost like the psalmist 
in Psalm 119. Before I was afflicted, I went 
astray. It was good for me that I was 
afflicted. That's a tough concept. A verse 
33 mindset in the upper room is very helpful. Jesus says, 
in this world, you will have tribulation. He's not painting 
the world with rose-colored glasses. Oh, now you know me. So once 
you leave here, it's gonna be health, wealth, and prosperity 
everywhere you go. You're gonna have new cars, you're gonna have 
new boats, you're gonna have great this, you're gonna have great 
that. Jesus isn't Benny Hinn, and Benny Hinn isn't Jesus. in 
case anybody needed that clarification. So I think that what Jesus does 
in verse 28 is he makes three statements. First, he speaks 
of what we've seen and we'll rehearse this briefly. We won't 
spend a lot of time in it, but he rehearses or declares what 
we call the eternal generation of the son. I came forth from 
the father. He then speaks of the incarnation 
of the son when he says, and have come into the world. And 
then the ascension of the son, when he says, again, I leave 
the world and go to the father. That's why I suggest it's kind 
of like a doctrinal creed stuck right there in a real practical 
section as he's bringing the sermon or the discourse to a 
conclusion. He wants them to get this. He wants them to understand this 
because it teaches us great theology. So note first this doctrine of 
eternal generation of the son. I came forth from the father. We've seen this already. You 
can turn back to John one, John chapter one. We have that prologue, 
that theological expression of who God is in Himself. Beginning 
in verse 1, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was 
with God, and the Word was God. Then note verse 14, and the Word 
became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, 
the glory as of, note, the only begotten of the Father, full 
of grace and truth. Verse 18, no one has seen God 
at any time. The only begotten Son who is 
in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. We saw it in 
John 3, 16. John 3, 16, for God so loved 
the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes 
in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. And then 
again in verse 18, he who believes in Him is not condemned, but 
he who does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed 
in the name of the only begotten Son. The only begotten Son. He's not the Son of the Father 
by creation. He is not the Son of the Father 
by adoption. He is the Son of the Father by 
eternal generation. There are other passages, not 
just these words, only begotten, referred to Christ. You see it 
in Psalm 2, see it in Proverbs 8, you see it as well in Acts 
13, Hebrews 1, 1 John 4. This speaks of what we call in 
theology, eternal relations of origin. Our confession of faith 
distinguishes the persons, or makes distinctions among the 
persons, through these relations of origin. The Father is unbegotten, 
the Son is begotten by the Father, and the Spirit proceeds from 
the Father and the Son. So it's not enough for us to 
maintain that God is one. We need to maintain that God 
is three. Not in the same sense. One in 
essence or substance, three in subsistence or person. We cannot 
collapse the distinction of the persons and think that we're 
doing good theology. It's just not good. It's heresy. Bad stuff. Bad, bad, bad. Don't 
do that. So there is distinction among 
the persons and that distinction is seen in those relations of 
origin. The father is unbegotten, the 
son is begotten by the father, and the spirit proceeds from 
the father and the son. There are various images and 
metaphors concerning this word, this second person of the Trinity. Just consider a few of them. 
The word is the brightness of the father's glory and the express 
image of his person. Sometimes my people say, oh, 
your son looks like you. Okay, there's a resemblance there. 
That's not what the apostle's saying. He's saying what Jesus 
says in John 14, when the disciples say, show us the father, Jesus 
says, if you've seen me, you've seen the father. It's not just 
a bit of a family resemblance. It is very, very clear. The word, 
excuse me, the brightness of the Father's glory and the express 
image of his person. The word is the image of the 
invisible God, Colossians 115. Again, not image the way we are. 
by creation. The image, the way the only begotten 
Son is, as each having the divine essence. The Word is the power 
of God and the wisdom of God, 1 Corinthians 1.24. The Word's 
goings forth are from of old, from everlasting, or from the 
ancient of days, Micah 5.2. The Nicene Creed gets it right 
when it says this, begotten of the Father before all worlds, 
God of God, light of light, very God of very God, begotten not 
made, being of one substance with the Father. The eternal 
generation of the son contains an analogy so that we can understand. We know what generation means 
when your wife has a baby. You have a baby, the baby comes 
out and the baby looks like you, resembles you. Generation. So there's something analogous 
in the relation between the father and his son that we can sink 
our spiritual teeth in. But you can't forget that eternal. 
That eternal is absolutely crucial because it's not like a woman 
going into labor and having a baby. I'm talking again in terms of 
the second person of the triune God. It's eternal generation. There's never been a time when 
the son was not. There's never been a time when 
there wasn't a relation between the Father and the Son. There's 
never been a time when there wasn't a relation. And time doesn't 
even apply. No time in eternity. It's not 
like, you know, eternity past and there's eternity present 
and eternity future. That's a concept foreign to eternity. But you get the point. the eternal 
generation of the Son. At the same time, highlights 
that he is from the Father eternally, but as well, he is one in essence 
with the Father. So there's no gradation. He's 
not a littler God. He's not a little G God. He's 
not working on his lessons to become sort of like the Father. 
No, in this divine and infinite being, there are three subsistences 
or persons, the Father, the Word or Son, and the Holy Spirit, 
each having the whole divine essence, and yet the essence 
undivided. You say, well, I don't really 
understand that. But does the Bible teach it? The Bible does teach it. The 
hardness to understand is because we're finite and God is infinite. As we talk about in the theology 
class on Saturday mornings, if we could figure out everything 
there was to figure out about God, we'd solve that puzzle and 
we'd move on. We'd get a bigger Rubik's Cube. 
We'd go after a new venture. We will never figure out God. 
But we have 31,000 propositions in the Bible and some good heavy 
lifting that the church has done in terms of creeds and confessions 
that help us to understand what is revealed. This eternal generation 
of the son is mysterious because it's not something that we have 
the categories for. We're not infinite, we're not 
eternal. Gregory made the observation, 
the beginning of God must be honored by silence. It is a great 
thing for you to learn that he was begotten, but the manner 
of his generation, well, how does this happen? Right? Does 
the Bible teach it? Yes. That's what Gregory said. 
Well, how does it happen? Oh, good. This theologian from 
ancient years is going to solve the riddle. Here's how he solves 
the riddle. But the manner of his generation, 
we will not admit that even angels can conceive, much less you. 
Shall I tell you how it was? It was in a manner known to the 
father who begat and to the son who was begotten. Anything more 
than this is hidden by a cloud and escapes your dim sight. He's right. That the scripture 
teaches the distinction between the persons we confess. We worship, we praise, we honor, 
we adore. We preach against the heretics 
that would maintain otherwise. But for the finite to get into 
the infinite and be able to describe in detail or to the satisfaction 
of man, it's just not something we can do. Our confession says 
that his essence is known only to himself. Our confession says 
that he's incomprehensible. Again, that doesn't mean we can't 
know anything about God. It means we can't know everything 
about God. And I would suggest that's one of the things that 
keeps us humble. It should. Keeps us low. It should. And keeps us worshipful. It should. Now, he moves from 
eternal generation to what we're more familiar with in the incarnation. Already read John 1 14, the word 
became flesh and dwelt among us. So notice what he says in 
verse 28, I came forth from the father and have come into the 
world. The son assumed our humanity 
without any compromise to his divinity. This is something being 
taught today, and I want you to be on the alert for it. Well, 
you know, Jesus, when he was a man on earth, didn't really 
have that God ability. As a brother said, when he does 
things pertaining to God, we don't forget man. When he does 
things pertaining to man, we don't forget God. One person, 
two natures. The word became flesh and dwelt 
among us. So the son assumed our humanity 
without any compromise to his divinity. Listen to Gil. This 
does not suppose any local motion. Notice in verse 28, I came forth 
from the father and have come into the world. We sing songs 
like that. He left his father's throne, 
which I don't think there's necessarily anything wrong with singing that 
as long as we understand what we're not saying. It doesn't 
mean there's some division in the person. You know, the divine 
part's up here, and the human part's by the Sea of Galilee. 
Now, the glory of the person of Christ is that the one standing 
by the Sea of Galilee is the divine Word who assumed our humanity, 
who can walk by a fig tree and curse it such that it will never, 
ever again grow figs. who is such that when he's awoken 
from a nap by his scared disciples, he can speak to the wind and 
he can speak to the waves and they will be calm. That's the 
glory of the Savior. It's not that the divine is up 
there and the human is down here. It's the one person of Christ 
who has our humanity. Gil says, this does not suppose 
any local motion or change of place, but only intends an assumption 
of the human nature. It's the good language to the 
assumption of the taking unto himself, the human nature into 
unity with his divine person who fills heaven and earth with 
his presence, nor any separation from his father with whom he 
was and in whose bosom he lay when he was made flesh and dwelt 
among men, nor any absence from heaven for he was there when 
on earth. The body didn't contain the divinity. It didn't locally compromise 
that. Jesus took our humanity, the 
divine word, without ever ceasing to be the divine word. Paul says 
it this way in 2 Corinthians 8, you know the grace of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, Yet, for your sakes, 
he became poor. He doesn't become poor by giving 
up the riches. The riches stay, but he becomes 
poor by assuming our humanity so that you, through his poverty, 
life, death, resurrection, can be rich. What good would it be 
if our Savior came, and I'm sort of paraphrasing Dolezal here, 
and he left his riches behind? We want our victor. We want our 
champion. We want him to come with all 
those riches. So he assumes to himself our 
humanity. In the language of 2 Corinthians 
8, 9, it is through the assumption of our humanity he becomes poor, 
but not by getting rid of his divinity. Cyril said, he came 
forth a man of a woman, not casting aside his being as God and the 
fact of his having been begotten of God the Father. Even in the 
assumption of flesh, he remained what he was. I guess the onus 
here or the emphasis here is, brethren, this is what we think 
about in terms of incarnation, or what we should think about 
in terms of incarnation. This becomes a busy time in the 
year. It becomes a very others-oriented 
time of the year, which is actually really good. We should be more 
others-oriented a lot. But if we're gonna think through 
the incarnation, we need to think through it the way that Jesus 
teaches us. He came forth eternally, begotten from the Father. He 
comes into the world, not by leaving beside or behind him 
that divinity, but taking to himself our humanity. And then 
he lives for us. Then he dies for us. Then he's 
raised for us. In other words, think through 
the person of Christ along with the work of Christ. Yes, we love 
his life, we love his death, we love his resurrection, but 
think about the person doing that. I mean, if the king of, 
I don't wanna say any country, because I don't respect any of 
them, but if somebody that was really noble and had high position 
came and swept your garage, you'd think, wow, My garage is swept, 
probably, but the onus would be on that king swept my garage. Kind of doubly makes it good, 
doesn't it? Not just that it's swept, but 
that a king actually came and swept it. So I think that it's 
good for us and we should capitalize on the work of Jesus, what he 
does, what he did, what he presently does in terms of interceding 
for his elect, being an advocate with the father, even Jesus Christ 
the righteous. But let's think about his person. 
In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and 
the word was God. And that word that was God became 
flesh. Why? And I've seen Creed answers 
that as well. For us men and for our salvation, 
he came down from heaven. Blessed be the God and Father 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual 
blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. and that Christ who 
took on our humanity to save us from our sins. Watson says, 
he was poor that he might make us rich. He was born of a virgin 
that we might be born of God. He took our flesh that he might 
give us his spirit. He lay in the manger that we 
might lie in paradise. He came down from heaven that 
he might bring us to heaven. And what was all this but love? If our hearts be not rocks, this 
love of Christ should affect us. Behold love that passes knowledge." 
The Lord Jesus Christ is that blessed one in the Song of Solomon. He is altogether lovely. He is 
chief among 10,000. And we see with reference to 
the apostles in the upper room, his emphasis first is on who 
God is. Secondly, he emphasizes God's 
love for them. Brethren, if you haven't thought 
through the unchangeableness of God as it pertains to the 
love of God, that's a very fruitful exercise and endeavor. You're 
not in a relationship where if you don't read your Bible, and 
I think you should, seven times this coming week, God's gonna love me less. We 
act like mercenaries in the service of God. Now again, everything 
in me would love to command you and bind your conscience, read 
your Bible seven times this week. Of course, once per day, you 
get that. Okay, Monday I'm going to blow 
through, you know, seven times. I'll just take a 30-second break. We got to get out of this mindset 
that somehow we're earning more of God's favor. We're earning 
more of God's love. Our confession of faith speaks 
of God as most. You know what most means? He 
can't get better at it because he's already perfect. He can't 
get worse at it because he's already perfect. It's a blessed, 
wonderful truth. It is a glorious reality. God 
is spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his being, 
wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. There's 
no shadow of turning with him. There's no wrinkle on the brow 
of eternity. There's no change in our blessed 
God. And for the Lord Jesus to say, 
the Father loves you, why? Because you love Jesus. Because 
you believed on Jesus. Again, not a condition, but rather 
an effect or consequence of God's grace and his love for us first. But the reality is, is that our 
blessed God is one true and living God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, 
and that one God loves us. In fact, the upper room begins 
on that grand note. Notice in 13.1, now before the 
feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come, 
that he should depart from this world to the Father, having loved 
his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. Brethren, and I'm not saying 
this to justify future sin on your part or mine. I'm not saying 
this so that we have trivial or small views of the heinousness 
of sin. This is prior to Peter's denial. Again, don't say, well, you know, 
Jesus loved him. He went out and denied. So I've 
got a few of those. I've got a few mulligans up my 
sleeve. I can go out and do these. No, don't reason that way. What 
shall we say? Shall we continue in sin that 
grace may abound? May it never be. Gospel logic does not think 
that way. I'm going to go out and sin because 
God loves to forgive sin. I love to sin. He loves to forgive. 
It's a wonderful arrangement. That's not gospel logic. Gospel 
logic is Christ died for me. He rose again for me. I love 
him. He's altogether lovely and chief 
among 10,000. I want to please him, not because I think I'm 
earning his favor or keeping his favor, but because I want 
to please him. The bride wants to please the 
bridegroom. The bridegroom wants to please 
the bride. It's a beautiful arrangement. So when we see statements like 
this, do not think like a mercenary. If I do this or I don't do that, 
then God's love for me diminishes. And now, if you take that and 
you say, well, I'm going to go out and commit adultery because God's 
love for me isn't going to change. That's not what I mean. Believe 
you me when I say that's not what I mean. What I mean is this 
mindset where we think that based on what we've done or what we 
haven't done, the love-o-meter in God fluctuates. The blessedness 
of divine immutability and impassibility is that God is most loving. And if you're not a believer 
here this morning, I can think of no better thing to say to 
you as to why you should come to Jesus than that love of God. Whatever the problems life has, 
believers aren't rid of problems. 1633, in this world, you will 
have tribulation. But man, tribulation is a whole lot better with the 
love of God. So what would you rather have? 
Tribulation and no God, or tribulation and God who's working through 
it to conform you under the image of His Son? Well, take B. Thank 
you. But it's not just the tribulation 
that I want you to consider as we close now. It's the sin problem. See, God is a holy God. God has 
promised to judge the living and the dead by this man, Jesus, 
whom he's raised from the dead. And so you will stand before 
this Jesus, and you will give an account of deeds done in the 
body, whether good or bad. How that happens, that's probably 
better left with the question of eternal generation. But that 
it happens, the Bible tells us. The only way, the only means, 
the only possibility for escape from the judgment and the wrath 
and the fury of God is to be cleansed in the blood of Jesus 
and clothed in His righteousness. Say, well, how do I get that? 
You believe on the Lord Jesus. You look to him and live. Just 
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the 
Son of Man be lifted up. John 3, 14. We looked at Numbers 
21 on Wednesday night. It wasn't lift that bronze serpent 
up on that pole and the faithful Israelite who was bitten, who 
sucks the venom out of his leg and then pulls himself to that 
pole and kisses it, he'll be the one that's saved. No, it 
was a look and live. It could have been a feeble look 
too. Perhaps you're about to die and expire. You hear Moses 
say, look at this. You look at it, what happened? 
You live. So the faith is not the kind 
that necessarily moves mountains. It could be mustard seed. but 
look to Christ for His blood, His righteousness. The forgiveness 
of sins is what we need, and that righteousness by which we 
can enter in to the presence of God Almighty. Well, let us 
pray. Our Father in heaven, thank you for your word. Thank you 
for the clarity of our Lord's doctrinal statement here at the 
end of the Upper Room Discourse. And Lord God, we stand in awe 
that you are such a God, such a blessed, wonderful God. Father, 
Son, and Spirit, we thank you for the incarnation of our Lord, 
that the word became flesh and dwelt among us, that he took 
to himself our humanity with all those essential properties 
and common infirmities thereof, and yet without sin, that he 
lived a life of perfect righteousness and obedience to your holy law. He died as a sacrifice and a 
substitute on that cross, and he was raised again the third 
day. May it be that sinners all over the earth would by grace 
look unto him and would live. And we pray this in Jesus' name, 
amen. where you can turn.