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good morning everyone we can all take our seats we'll begin a couple of announcements before we start this morning we're going to be celebrating the Lord's Supper this evening prepared for that at 5:00 p.m. Wednesday night bible study will happen as usual at 7:30 and then you may have noticed on your Pew there's a couple of brochures that have been passed around so there's a couple per per Pew not enough for every person in the building but probably for every family these two brochures the first one ask fgbc anything so this is on free Grace Baptist Church website free grace.com but there's going to be videos produced to to answer these questions that come up uh for the sake of our church and for people all over the world that happen to have those questions and tune in so that's the one thing the other thing is the confessing the faith conference which we announced last week already coming up on April 26th and 27th it says right on the front of this for sure register now and I would encourage you to do that if you haven't already um at last last count I think yesterday when I checked with whim there about 119 people registered for the entire conference some more that have registered that can't come to the Friday evening meal by the way this conference is being put on by our church organized by our church but entirely free so signing up just means you're saying I'm going to be there so we can make arrangements for the numbers but there's no cost involved even for the for the meal that's being provided it's a time of Fellowship a time of learning good theology we are bringing in two special speakers again you can see that in the brochure you can go to the website and read about uh men coming from the states to teach and there are people already registered from all across western Canada even a couple of the of the states and there are some of course that will not be able to attend but are registered to watch it online virtually as well so we trust that this is going to be a tremendous blessing not only to our own church and to the churches in our fellowship but to to many others those are the announcements if you would open your Bibles to Isaiah 11 for our call to worship Isaiah 11 you'll read from verse 1 through verse 10 there shall come forth a rod from the stem of Jesse and a branch shall grow out of his roots the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him the spirit of wisdom and understanding the spirit of counsel and might the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord his Delight is in the fear of the Lord and he shall not judge by the sight of his eyes nor decide by the hearing of his ears but with righteousness he shall judge the poor and decide with equity for the meek of the earth he shall strike the Earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked righteousness shall be the belt of his loins and faithfulness the belt of his waste the wolf also shall dwell with the lamb the leopard shall lie down with the young goat the calf and the Young Lion and the fatling together and a little child shall lead them the cow and the bear shall graze their young ones shall lie down together and the lion shall eat straw like the ox the nursing child shall play by the cobra as whole and the wean child should put his hand in the Viper's Den they shall not hurt nor destroy in all my Holy Mountain for the Earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea and in that day there shall be a root of Jesse who shall stand as a banner to the people for the Gentiles shall seek him and his resting place shall be glorious amen for our first hymn this morning please turn in your him to 212 212 Come Thou Almighty King let us stand together as we [Music] singy to us to PR father glorious for all Victorious [Music] and mighty scatter Mighty our def our [Music] souls holy th in this thy now [Music] ruing eternal graes [Music] his mesty may we in glory and [Music] to you may be seated as we turn turn to the Lord in prayer our gracious Heavenly Father we thank you for this glorious day we thank you that on the Lord's day we can come apart from the world we can come into your house to meet with your people and to worship our great God as a congregation we thank you that throughout the week we have opportunity to worship you on our own we have opportunity to read the scriptures and to commune with you but on the Lord's day in this special way you have ordained that we come together and that we as a congregation lift up our voices to heaven to Worship the Great king of heaven we thank you that you are present in our midst and we pray oh God that you would do a good work in this place this day we pray that as the word is sung and as the word is prayed and as the word is preached it would enter our hearts and bring forth fruit in our lives use it for good oh God in those who are your Saints and in those who have not you embrace the truth and those that you have yet to call out of Darkness into Marvelous Light Lord I pray for the children and the youth young people in this church that are under the sound of the Gospel today I pray oh God that you would use it for good and that you would cause them to see that Christ is altogether lovely Chief among 10,000 and that they would know the Forgiveness of sins and be found in you Lord we pray for the older people in our church and pray for those as well that are not able to be with us this day perhaps are tuning in we pray oh God that you would encourage your people this congregation this day bless Pastor Butler as he comes anoint him to preach the word without holding back any of the whole counsel of God we pray oh father that you would anoint his lips and anoint our ears and our hearts to hear Lord we do pray that you would do the same for churches throughout this city today where the gospel is preached we pray oh God that you would use that preaching to bring forth Souls from dark into Marvelous Light and across this nation of ours we pray oh God for the the sister churches our church plants and those that we are in close connection with we pray that you would encourage them this day bless the church in Suri bless the congregation up in Armstrong the Brethren that gathered this morning in dren I pray oh father that you would encourage all of those congregations and and others we think of the conference that's coming up we thank you for this opportunity that you have afforded us to bring together a group of people of like mind to have fellowship and to be encouraged in the faith and to to honor you through these means Lord we pray that it would be the start of a very good thing that we pray oh God that you would do us much good in this congregation because of it because of it thank you for this opportunity Lord to show Hospitality this opportunity to meet others of like faith and we pray oh God that it would bring forth much fruit in the future future as well I pray Lord for Dr renahan that you would bless him as he comes and as he preaches for Dr barcelos as he teaches as well encourage these Brethren with what they see Happening Here in Canada may they go back with a good report to their congregations and may they continue to uphold us in prayer and we them Lord we pray for the work in Kenya today we pray for pastor ogallo and his fellow ministers there in the congregation do them good this day oh God we thank you that uh Pastor Butler and Nathan and and Carla and Rebecca will be able to go to Kenya very shortly and and see them I pray oh God that you would bless that trip and that you would cause them to be in encouragement and may their hearts be encouraged what they see with what they see you doing in that nation of Kenya and from there to that part of Africa do them good I pray oh God we pray Lord for our Brethren that are being persecuted this day many facing tremendous opposition in various parts of the world where either the government authorities or the religious leaders false religions are persecuting your people be gracious to your Saints oh God and for those that are in prison this day would you encourage them would you encourage them with the example of the Apostles in the scriptures and of mar the martyrs of the early church may they know that you you ordain all things and that you are working all things for their good as well as for the good of your church Lord Lord be with us this day we pray we ask again that you would work in the hearts of our children Lord even the babes that are currently in the womb I pray oh father that you would ordain them to life and they would come forth not only to Natural life but in due time that they would be born again by the Holy Spirit we ask these things for your honor and glory in Jesus name amen for our next hymn we'll sing Psalm 46 Psalm 46 in your Trinity Salter Himel selection C 46 c as in Charlie and please stand [Music] again us he will the for God is Che and Earth found sh angry will and against the our Mighty is forever bless with living is into all the of host is our father [Music] high is oural God his brings his for to brings to every still he is all the Earth the Lord of is our father [Music] High [Applause] our for our morning scripture reading in the New Testament if you take your Bibles we are in Matthew chapter 20 we will pick up where we left off last week so that so that's in verse 17 of Matthew 20 Matthew 20:1 17 now Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the TW disciples aside on the road and said to them behold we are going up to Jerusalem and the son of man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes and they will condemn him to death and deliver him to the Gentiles to Mock and to Scourge and to crucify and the third day will rise again then the mother of zebedee's sons came to him with her with her sons kneeling down and asking something from him and he said to her what do you wish she said to him grant that these two sons of mine may sit one on your right hand and the other on your left in your kingdom but Jesus answered and said you do not know what you ask are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink and be baptized with the baptism that I am B baptized with they said to him we are able so he said to them you will indeed drink my cup and be baptized with the bapt baptism that I am baptized with but to sit on my right hand and on my left is not mine to give but it is for those for whom it is prepared by my father and when the 10 heard of it they were greatly displeased with the two brothers but Jesus called them to himself and said you know that the rulers of the Gentiles Lord it over over them and those who are great exercise authority over them yet it shall not be so among you but whoever desires to become great among you let him be your servant and whoever desires to be first among you let him be your slave just as the son of man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many now as they went out of Jericho a great multitude followed him and behold two blind men sitting by the road when they heard that Jesus was passing by cried out saying have mercy on us oh Lord son of David then the multitude warned them that they should be quiet but they cried out all the more saying have mercy on us oh Lord son of David so Jesus Stood Still and called them and said what do you want me to do for you they said to him Lord that our eyes may be opened so Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes and immediately their eyes received fight and they followed him amen let's pray gracious Father in heaven we thank you for the compassion that our Lord demonstrated over and over and over again in his ministry on Earth and we thank you especially for the greatest compassion that has ever been shown in history when he went to the Cross to die for needy Sinners that could do nothing themselves to reconcile themselves to God thank you for what Christ has done thank you for what he continues to do from his throne on high and we pray oh God that you would be honored and glorified this day in our midst we ask this in Jesus name amen for our final hymn we'll turn to 219 in the Himel 219 and again we'll Stand Together As we sing Oh worship the king wor King glor great sing his and his the anent of his spend and with prise his s his is his and dark is his on the wings of the stor Earth [Music] might byang Dee and it has like the sh the hiss from the to the [Music] and children we trust Lord you to your merci to the end our maker Defender Redeemer and me while Angels be to with true shall to your praise well before we turn to our study in the Gospel of John I just want to mention something we've been praying for for the last several months uh Man by the name of John terpstra passed into the presence of his Lord last night and he was attended by his family and by our dear brother Daniel slute W so I thought it would be fitting for us to pray and and bless God for his kindness and the life of John his reception of John and also for those he's left behind so let us pray our gracious God and our Holy Father we know that you are most high you are glorious that you are wondrous that you have purposed to save a great multitude that no man can number we know as well that this brother was yours and we know that his suffering his pain his Sorrows have now ceased as he's passed into the presence of his gracious Lord and savior and we rejoice in this God we give all praise and glory to you we ask that you would bless his family those loved ones that he's left behind we pray that those who are in Christ would grieve but not as the world uh Grieves knowing that he is in a better place those who are unsaved in his family may we or we pray that they would seek after his Lord and his Savior and that they would know the Lord Jesus Christ by grace through faith in him Lord thank you that though we do die physically we die well and we P pass into the presence of that one who lived for us who died for us and who was raised again for us and we thank you so very much for what we have in the gospel of our salvation and we pray in jesus' name amen will you can turn in your Bibles to The Gospel according to John as we continue our Exposition in this fourth gospel our Focus this morning will be verses 7 to 11 but I want to read verses 1 to 11 John 14 beginning in verse one let not your heart be troubled you 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 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 to myself that where I am there you may be also and where I go you know and the way you know Thomas said to him Lord we do not know where you are going and how can we know the way Jesus said to him I am the way the truth and the life no one comes to the father except through me if you had known me you would have known my father also and from now on you know him and have seen him Philip said to him Lord show us the father and it is sufficient for us Jesus said to him have I been with you so long and yet you have not known me Phillip he who has seen me has seen the father so how can you say show us the father do you not believe that I am in the father and the father in me the words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own authority but the father who dwells in me does the works believe me that I am in the father and the father in me or else believe me for the sake of the works themselves amen well let us pray our gracious God we thank you for the written word we know it's given by inspiration of God that it's profitable for Doctrine for reproof for correction and for instruction in righteousness and as we look at this passage today may we see the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ the expressed image of the the invisible God the the the the blessed savior of Sinners and may it be the case that our hearts would be drawn out in worship and in praise and adoration we ask that you would guide us now by the holy spirit that you would illumin our minds and hearts to receive these things and for any and all who've come here this morning that are dead in their trespasses and sins we don't appeal to them to exercise their free will but we appeal to the god of free Grace and power and majesty and we ask that you would exercise that that power and making men willing to come to the Lord Jesus Christ forgive us for all sin and all unrighteousness and we pray in Jesus name amen we find ourselves in what has been called the upper discourse our Lord Jesus Christ is about to die This Is The Day Before Good Friday and so he takes this opportunity to encourage his disciples to comfort his disciples and as well to instruct his disciples because they're going to go out and make disciples of all the nations baptize those disciples made and then teach those disciples to observe all that the Lord had commanded in fact if you drop down for just a moment in verse 12 you'll notice most assuredly I say to you he who believes in me the works that I do he will do also and Greater Works than these he will do because I go to my father and whatever you ask in my name that I will do that the father may be glorified in the son if you ask anything in my name I will do it so the foundation of a statement like that specifically the mission of the Apostles is grounded in the mission of the son and so we see that Revelation here specifically in verses 1 to1 it's about who Jesus is specifically related to the father so I want to look first at the identity of the son in verse 7 and then secondly the unity he has with the father in verses 8- 11 but note first in terms of the identity so this is connected we stopped last week at verse 6 verse 6 I am the way the truth and the life no one comes to the father except through me we've had a week off but Jesus didn't take a week off he continued to speak he continued to exhort he he continued to instruct he continued to teach them and so in verse 7 he says if you had known me you would have known my father also and from now on you know him and have seen him so again that's something that speaks concerning his identity his identification who he is I think verse six tells us what he does I am the way the truth and the life no one comes to the father except through me he does what he does by virtue of the fact he is who he is in other words if he's not the Divine son if he is not one with the father if he is not the Glorious Lord Of Glory then he's not able to do what he says he's able to do in verse 6 now up to this point we have lots of Prior Revelation concerning the identity of the son we have the prologue chapter 1 verse 1 to verse 18 in the beginning was the word the word was with God and the Word was God verse 14 the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth we have Verse 18 in the prologue no one has seen God at any time but the only begotten son who is in the bosom of the of the father has declared him and then from the prologue we move into the public Ministry chapter 1: 19 all the way to chap 12 at verse 50 and a recurring emphasis in that section is on who Jesus is he in stresses his ident identity he is the one sent by the father he maintains this special relation to the father and so all throughout the public Ministry we see his emphasis on his identification such that at various times the unbelieving Jews they pick up stones to throw at him in chapter five and chapter 8 chapter 10 why because they understood the claim that he was making they understood that he being a man made himself equal to God and then in the passion narrative so beginning in Chapter 13 verse1 and continuing to chapter 20 and verse 31 we see a similar emphasis again the one who says I am the way the truth and the life no one comes to the father except through me must be one who's able to deliver the goods if he is not who he says he is then he can't do what he says he does in verse six so it's absolutely crucial that we get what's going on in verses 7 to 11 so the previous Revelation concerning the son now here notice specifically in verse 7 he speaks of the knowledge of the son the knowledge that others have of him notice in verse 7 if you had known me you would have known my father also and from now on you know him and have seen him so what is Jesus saying there he is saying the knowledge of the son is the knowledge of the father Brethren that's not a statement any other person could ever make we can tell people about the father we can instruct people from the word of God but it's not the case that if you've seen me you've seen the father but that is precisely what our Lord Jesus Christ is saying the mission of Christ was the revelation of the father that last bit in John 1:18 no one has seen uh God at any time but the only begotten son who is in the bosom of the father what has he done he has deed declared him now there is in this statement uh and he's going to stress this in a moment Unity between the father and the son there's also distinction between the father and the son the father is not the Son and the son is not the father they are distinguished by what we call Eternal relations of origin the father is unbegotten the son is begotten by the father and the spirit proceeds from the father and the son I'm going to tell you at the outset we're going to do a bit of theology this morning because we need to get what's going on here specifically in John's go gospel with reference to the father and the son so notice in that first place if you had known me you would have known my father also and then he says and from now on you know him and have seen him sirel makes the good observation the revelation of God's law at Sinai basically pulled Israel out of polytheism to serve the one and true Living God but the Revelation in the gospel makes clear the Holy Trinity not that the trinity is absent in the Old Testament but the Trinity is in blazing glory in the pages of the New Testament one of the best proofs of the Trinity is the mission of the Son and the mission of the spirit it shows us the relationship between the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit and so with reference to this we realize that in the gospel when we look at Jesus we are looking at the father and so when he says from now on you know him and have seen him interpreters kind of bat that phrase around from now on I think it's easiest to understand it related to the Incarnation from now on in the coming of the word made flesh from now on in the life and the death and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus from now on in the Fulfillment of the Covenant Promises of God which are yay and amen in him from now on the way of approach to the father is through the son so functionally verse six I am the way the truth and the life no one comes to the father except through me and then in terms of his nature or identification or who he is he says that I am the revelation of the father himself now we move on to his emphasis on the unity with his father in verses 8 to 11 we saw a bit of confusion in verse 5 with to Thomas Thomas said to him Lord we we do not know where you are going and how can we know the way well well after a bomb like verse 7 you'd kind of expect a bit of confusion as well I mean listen to what Jesus says in verse 7 if you had known me you would have known my father also again no one can say that the the the way that Jesus can say that we can tell you about we can point you to we can open the scriptures but we cannot say if you've seen me you've seen the father Jesus does this and on the heels of that we have a request by the disciple in verse 8 Phillip now Phillip was the man who led Nathaniel to the Lord Jesus Christ in John 1 veres 43 to 46 Nathaniel was given Revelation by the go uh by God to make that declaration truly you are the Son of God so again the the disciples weren't completely foreign or oblivious to these things they saw these things they they understood in so far as it went but still they're walking around with a man a man who breathed a man who had hair a man who had feet a man who got weary a man who drank water a man who ate food a man who sorrowed a man who would suffer a man who would bleed a man who would die so we can grant them or indulge them a bit for their for their ignorance at certain points in the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ so to uh Philip here asks the question in verse 8 and it sets the stage for the answer in verses 8 to uh uh 9 to 11 so Philip said to him Lord show us the father and it is sufficient for us now notice that Philip's not asking only for himself show us and it's sufficient for us so in a sense Philip is functioning as the spokesman of the others other words Lord we we really kind of don't understand what you're saying we're not really picking up what you're putting down and I actually think that behind this is Exodus 33 that scene where Moses says to God most high Show Me Your Glory so on the one hand it's a declaration of confusion but on the other hand it's a declaration of what should be uppermost in the hearts of All Creatures not just Believers but all men everywhere Show Me Your Glory in other words the creature should want to see the Creator the creature should want to commune with the Creator the creature should want and desire to know him why because we're Made In His Image why because he's good why because he's kind why because he gives us food he gives us water he gives us houses he gives us the sun he gives us the waves he bedex this created order with all kinds of Splendor and when we see that it should lead us to want him I mean in the grand scheme of things what's better the gift that you receive under the tree or The Giver of the gift GI the gift is simply a token of the love of the giver when your husband hand you flowers on Valentine's Day it's not the flowers that's the Terminus it's your husband it's how wonderful he is how attractive he is how handsome he is you see it's not necessarily the gift that we end with but the gift leads us to The Giver so on the one hand it's a statement concerning their conf uh confusion but on the other hand it is what we should be asking now we don't ask that because we sin we don't ask that because in Adam all die we don't ask that because in that connection to Adam we turn the back to God rather than bow to God we don't even like to retain the knowledge of God and our thoughts according to Paul in Romans chapter 1 but by virtue of our creation under the Creator we should long to see him we should long to to know him we should long to benefit even more so by the smiling face that he has for his creatures so confusion but as well a great expression of what ought to be in the hearts of men Lord show us the father and it is sufficient for us now that brings us to the revelation of the father in verses 9 to1 11 just want to remind you of a statement I read at the outset of our study here in the upper room discourse uh Sinclair Ferguson made the observation concerning chapters 13 to 16 what we call the upper room discourse he says I've often reflected on the rather obvious thought that when his disciples were about to have the world collapse in on them and they were this isn't you know some meeting where Jesus imparts a few nuggets of wisdom to them they go out and you know sell a few shares or you know make a few Investments and then they live on Easy Street for the rest of their lives study what happened to the early Apostles study what happened to Peter when they wanted to crucify him and he said I'm not worthy to be crucified like my Lord so they crucified him upside down John the Apostle ends up on the island of Patmos for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus do you realize he ended up on that rock which is essentially a prison what that he ended up there after they had tried to boil him to death I always thought you know that the boiling to death would pretty much seal the deal didn't know you could survive that but he did and so he ends up on this rock out in the middle of nowhere for the word of God and the testimony of our Lord Jesus Christ when you look at these Apostles the world is going to collapse in on them and I think that that helps us to appreciate the way or the direction that Jesus goes and sheds some light on Ferguson's observation I've often reflected on the rather obvious thought that when his disciples were about to have the world collapse in on them our Lord spent so much time in the upper room speaking to them about the mystery of the Trinity now when you hear that word mystery don't think secret think impenetrable when you hear the word mystery don't think oh that's just for a handful of doctors and reverends in the life of the church no think that God the infinite cannot be fully explored by man the finite mystery is one of the glories of our religion because if we could figure out our God completely we would be as God God is comprehensible only to himself now he makes known through 31 plus thousand propositions in the Bible what we are and can believe about him but in terms of the divine nature in terms of the Divine Essence in terms of the triun uh triun of persons in that Divine Essence Revelation informs us but it doesn't exhaust the theme so back to Ferguson he says if anything could underline the necessity of trinitarianism for practical Christianity that must surely be it the world's about to collapse and the nuggets of wisdom aren't you know get strapped load up some canned hams in the pantry because things are going to get tough no the way that he equips them is by revealing his glory the way he equips them is by showing who he is the way he equips them and us today is by the beauty and Splendor of his person and then that brings us to his reproof and then revelation of the father notice in verse 9 the reproof here isn't screaming at them he doesn't pick up a phone and Chuck it at them no but he makes this statement in verse n have have I been with you so long and yet you have not known me Philip now we won't blame the apostles for not having the prologue they didn't but they had the public Ministry they had his declaration they had verse six they had all those things that he had been informing them of so so essentially it's I I've been with you this long I I've been telling you these things so long and and and you still don't understand it you see that along the way you know among the among the disciples now I don't think that's for us to pile on the disciples I I think it in a kind of weird indirect way way should encourage us right we don't come out of the womb of regeneration you know at John Calvin we don't come out of the womb of regeneration and Apostle Paul we don't come out of the womb of regeneration already a PhD in Bible and theology we we we grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ 2 Peter 3:18 we we move forward we try to listen we try to pay attention we read our Bibles we we read our confession we read good books so he's not piling on them but again I think he's underscoring the point they didn't understand not because he hadn't told them he had told them repeatedly he had told them to the point that when the unbelieving Jews were around they would pick up stones to throw at him for blasphemy in light of Leviticus 24:14 so now notice in terms of the revelation of the father this we'll spend the rest of the time he does three things here first he highlights the nature of the sun secondly he highlights the words of the Sun and then thirdly he highlights The Works of the Sun and again this validates or this demonstrates or confirms his claim to being the only begotten son of the Father the one who has the same nature it validates that that later nyine formulation God of God light of light very God of very God be begotten not made one in substance with the father one that is Con uh consubstantial with him so notice first with reference to the nature of the sun you see that in 9B and 10A as I said we're going to do a bit of theology here there's not going to be a quiz afterwards I'm going to use a Greek word in a moment just kind of preparing everybody you know give your thigh a bit of a squeeze to make sure you're awake so that you know it's your fault not my fault if you don't get it just just kidding so we're going to move slowly because I want you to understand this so nature of the Sun in 9B and 10 a and he does two things here if you're taking notes we're really getting over in the margin now there is the revelation of the father in the son and then the relation of the father to the son the revelation of the father in The Son verse 9B he who has seen me has seen the father and then the relation of the father to the son in 10A do you not believe that I am in the father and the father in me again brethren we can't say that we can say that the Holy Spirit dwells in us with absolute positive biblical propriety but the Holy Spirit dwells in Us by virtue of Grace by virtue of adoption by virtue of our having been justified by faith he does indwell Us by Nature we don't have the same substance we don't have the same Essence so for the Lord Jesus to say the father is in me and I am in the father that is a claim much more powerful than for us to say I've got the Holy Spirit dwelling in my heart but first notice the revelation of the father in verse 9B he who has seen me has seen the father you can't say that and I can't say that I I know that's the case please don't look at me to see the father please look at Romans look at John look at Jesus look at I mean John's gospel look in the Bible well they'll see our our our great works yeah and give glory to God not our great faces not our shining example not our virtuous life for the Lord Jesus to say in verse 9B he who has seen me has seen the father so how can you say show us the father that is a Monumental claim the apostles picked that up in later New Testament documents and they tell us amazing things like this the son is the in image of the invisible God Colossians 1:15 the Apostle says he Christ is the image of the invisible God the firstborn over all creation Now firstborn doesn't mean there that he was the first created being firstborn is a term of preeminence a term of priority time a term of majesty so he is the first born in Colossians 2:9 we learn that the son is the one in whom dwells all the fullness of the godhead bodily for in him dwells all the fullness of the godhead bodily what are the Apostles doing what's Paul doing here he's commenting on verses like this he who has seen me has seen the father so how can you say show us the father see the world's religions don't offer that Christianity alone has that Christianity alone is the religion of I am the way the truth and life no one comes to the father except through me why because the me there has the nature of the father because the me there has identification with the father because the me there is God the son as well in the book of Hebrews the son is the brightness of the father's glory and the express image of his person Hebrews 1:3 who being the brightness of his glory and the expressed image of his person again we're created in the image of God Brethren but we're not The Express image of his person we do not possess Divinity we do not have a divine nature we do not have the Divine Essence there is something fundamentally different between God the Creator and Man the creature it's the distance between infinity and infinitude it's the distance between you know not just a chain of being God's not just the best version of us God's not the Holy One of Us God is separate God is in a different order God is not like us we're created in His image but we're not the expressed image of his person I've already alluded to the nyine Creed the joh is God of God light of light very God of very God begotten not made Brethren you've probably heard maybe from the Jehovah's Witnesses at your door some other cultists some other or unorthodox Heretics well you know the doctrine of the Trinity it was conceived at Nia no it was not conceived at NAA it was recognized defined described and delineated at NAA in the beginning was the word and the word was with God the Word was God NAA comes along and says okay how do we protect that statement from all the Heretics they come up with not come up with but they use the language God of God light of light very God a very God begotten not made one in being with the father through whom all things were made there is something categorically different about the word he is is God who assumed our Humanity so that he could live for us he could die for us and he could be raised again for us but he never Alters he never changes there's never been a diminishment in terms of his divinity or his consubstantiality with the father and so the Lord Jesus makes this powerful statement to the to the reprove of the disciples he has seen me has seen the father so how can you say show us the father now then he goes on to the relation of the father to the son notice in verse 10 a do you not believe that I am in the father and the father in me just to rehearse once again the spirit indwells the people of God I'm not minimizing that I'm not diminishing that I'm not suggesting it isn't true the spirit indwells Us by a gracious gift of God the father and the son the spirit proceeds from the father and the son and the spirit takes up residence if we can use that language in the sinner's heart when he believes the gospel and when that happens we have the indwelling of the spirit but again it's not by virtue of our our same Essence it's not by virtue of our Divinity it's not by virtue of the fact that we have brought him into Humanity but rather it's based on the grace of adoption but that's not what's happening here in verse 10A do you not believe and I love his language what's he suggesting you should believe this well you know the Trinity it's really just sort of out there it's not really essential to my Christian faith it is the Christian faith it's absolutely positively 100% essential Jesus assumes that you're going to believe it Jesus will later command that you believe it so this idea that well it's just for the theologians just for athanasius just for austa just for those you know guys that are coming to speak at the conference it's for you and me Brethren if we don't know our God if we don't know our blessed savior how do we sing Psalm 46 without that knowledge of the Triune God how do we get through the troubles and the collapses in this present evil age without the knowledge of our blessed god without knowing Father Son and Holy Spirit without knowing the infinite without knowing the Creator without knowing the Redeemer you think that nuggets to a successful life is going to help you pass through the valley of the shadow of death what's going to help you pass through that well the fact that Christ my shepherd is there with me guiding me through it but the knowledge of our my blessed God after this sermon or after this discourse we have What's called the high Priestly prayer in John 17:3 Jesus says something and again assumes something there that seems to have been lost on the church in our generation he says this is eternal life that they may have plenty of nuggets on how to wage their best life now know this is eternal life that they may Know Thee the only true God in Jesus Christ whom thou has sent if I could be so bold nothing else really matters I mean yeah you should learn how to cook you should learn a good skill good trade make money love a woman love a man raise children all that those are valuable things but when it comes to that high Priestly prayer that they may Know Thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou Hast sent and again what creature what what man that isn't the God man could say that he's a compound object of knowledge with the father so notice our text specifically again we're going to do a little bit of theology here the Greek word is called paracesis paracesis again no quiz no exam no verbal at the door do you not believe that I am in the father and the father in me paresa simply means Mutual indwelling Mutual indwelling it means what the text says don't you believe that the father is in me and I am in the father Mutual indwelling it's pretty easy concept well what does it yield or what is the profit what is the practical application well it serves two purposes one it protects the unity of the Divine Essence but it also highlights distinction among the persons remember when we're dealing with God there's a Oneness and a threeness the Oneness is his essence or his substance who he is and then there is the threeness again who he is but at the level of personhood Father Son and Holy Spirit our confession sets it up this way it says in this Divine and infinite being there are three subsisten or persons the Father the word or Son and the Holy Spirit of one substance power and Eternity each having the whole Divine Essence yet the essence undivided it's not like the Divine Essence is there and the father accesses 33 and 13% the sun accesses 33 and a 3% and the spirit accesses no no no no that's not the doctrine of the Trinity he is one simple being who subsists eternally as three persons the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit you say well you know that's a bit tough for me to wrap around remember the word mystery remember the chasm that there is between the finite and the infinite remember the difference between creature and Creator yeah it's a mystery we don't have that same being we don't have that kind of an Essence we're not simple we're not pure act we're not God so we would expect I think that God would be different than us see the problem in theology Lies when we try to make God just like ourselves we reason from the family and we believe then that the father is you know the Father the Son is the mother and the spirit is the children that's heresy brethren that's bad stuff very very very very bad stuff don't don't do that okay no bu them ju just don't do that we cannot argue from the creature to the Creator without sacrificing the Creator it is to bring God down isn't it better to look at scripture and to try by God's grace and spirit to be built up a bit to maybe go wow I guess I'm not as smart as I once thought I was I guess I got a lot of study to do I yes I got better get busy with those 31,000 plus propositions in scripture and start reading the The Works of the Lord are great they are studied by all who Delight in them Psalm 112 So the word in Greek is paresis the idea is mutual indwelling the particular definition that Müller gives it is this it refers primarily to the co-inherence of the persons of the trinity in the Divine Essence and in each other in such a way that each person is fully possessed of the entire Divine Essence again it protects consubstantiality of the persons and the distinction of the persons Steven dubie makes the observation one of the entailments of the father son and spirit having one and the same Divine Essence is their Mutual indwelling other words it provides the basis upon which Jesus can say if you've seen me you've seen the father and why he can say the father is in me and I am in the father we've got to get Beyond creaturely analogies in verse 10 a and reckon with the theology that is in there as well Emory or again duie says the mutual indwelling is an implication of the essential Unity they each have the Divine Essence yet not three Essences so it necessarily follows the father's in the Son and the son is in the father again maintaining distinction among the two persons Emory says the mutual indwelling of the Divine person shows their personal distinction in in the most profound Unity so again later theology reflected upon propositions in the scripture and later theology got a lot right but they didn't invent the doctrine they didn't develop the truth they didn't write John 14:10 they rather understood the implications of John 14:10 and then they wrote their commentary and theology in light of that standing in awe at the glory of the one who says the father's in me and I am in the father well he does that by virtue of their essential Unity now to bring this a bit more practical I've never thought Gil would be the Practical in this particular lineup but little bit more so than dubie or Emory at this point he says phrases this father in me and the and I in the father he says phrases which are expresses expressive of the sameness of nature in the father and the son of the son's perfect equality with with the father that's what he's doing why can he say he does verse 6 why can he say he who he is in verse 7even it's by virtue of his identity as the only begotten son of the father who has the Divine Essence just like the father yet not two Essences just like the spirit yet not three Essences in this Divine and infinite being there are three persons that's the mystery of the trinity the glory of our religion the truth we die for that's what he's saying here so back to Gil of the son's perfect equality with the father since the son is as much in the father as the father is in the son and also of the personal distinction there is between them for nothing with propriety can be said to be in itself remember I mentioned this when we looked at John 1:1 in the beginning was the word the word was with God and the Word was God always in trinitarian the theology you're fighting two fronts you're fighting what is called we'll just summarize those two fronts one is aryanism which is basically uh basic uh subjugating the Lord Jesus to the father he's not fully God he's not Divine he's not like the father there's not a consubstantiality between the two then there's something called sabellianism or modalism which gets rid of the distinctions of the persons isn't that interesting John 1:1 in the beginning was the word the word was with God distinction and the Word was God Unity identity sameness of essence so that's what 10A is doing in this particular section of Holy Scripture so then Gil goes on to say the father must be distinct from the son who is in him and the son must be distinct from the father in whom he is the Father and Son though of one and the same nature cannot be one and the the same person so at the level of essence or substance or God there is one the level of person there's three Father Son and Holy Spirit and this incidentally is how you sort of combat the Jehovah's Witness and say well that's a contradiction you can't have one and three at the same time sure you can if one is in one sense and three is in another sense you can't have one in one sense and three in the same sense I have one apple and three you you can't do that but one in one sense and three in another sense now here specifically in verse 10 a we see the the the the mutual indwelling this paresis with reference to father and the son but the Lord Jesus does not leave the spirit out in the upper room discourse notice in John 14 at verse 16 I will pray the father and he will give you another helper I don't want to get all weird here but there's two words in Greek that mean another you've heard one of them we call it hetero oox you've got Orthodox that means true you've got unorthodox that means wrong or bad heterodox is just kind of out there weird it hasn't become fully bad but it's on its fast track to being that it's something other than docks then there's another word for another that means of the same kind which word do you think Jesus uses when he refers to the spirit the other kind or the same kind so notice in John 14 specifically at verse 16 I will pray the father and he will give you another helper comforter Advocate paraclet that he may abide with you forever the spirit of Truth whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him but you know him for he dwells with you and will be in you and again not to diminish the dwelling of the spirit and the people of God but it's by the grace of adoption it's salvation through faith in Jesus that's the means by which the spirit is in the father and in the son because of the one Essence and then notice in verses 25 and 26 but this happened uh that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law they hated me Without a Cause but when the helper comes now notice whom I shall send to you from the Father the spirit of Truth who proceeds from the father this is why we speak of the relation of the spirit to the father and the son father's unbegotten the son is begotten and the spirit proceeds from the father and the son again not an ien formulation built on thin air but what the scripture teaches and if the scripture teaches it it must be believed it must be preached it must be died for and you will bear witness because you have been with me from the beginning notice in 1520 I'm sorry uh 164 to7 well 5 to 7 but now I go away to him who sent me and none of you asks me where are you going but because I have said these things to you sorrow has filled your heart nevertheless I tell you the truth it is to your advantage that I go away for if I do not go away the helper will not come to you but if I depart I will send him to you and when he has come he will convict the world of sin and of right of righteousness and of judgment so we see not just the father and the son it's not a you know just a duality it's a trinity of persons in the godhead it's a trinity of person in the essence the one Divine Essence so that's what Jesus is saying he gives that Revelation in verse 9B he who has seen me has seen the father and then he follows up by the relation that he Bears to the father in verse 10 do you not believe that I am in the father and the father in me now he now moves on to two further confirmations of this again Brethren he's not standing there saying you know I'm the best Cowboy there's ever been I wrote this big bull one time nobody else could do it that's not the nature of his claim he's not saying I was such a wonderful Air Force combat pilot I I flew f-16s I I flew the B2 bomber we went on but he's not making that sort of a claim he's making the claim to be of the same nature as God the father so again if we think about ourselves and you know are slow to get things at times and we sort of put ourselves in the disciple shoes we we might just be scratching our heads going what's he saying this is huge he is saying that if you've seen me you've seen the father and the way that he proves that is by saying I'm in the father and the father is in me well Jesus knows that they're going to have these sorts of struggles as they're trying to receive these things and their created Minds so he gives them two proofs two further confirmations two further demonstrations his words and his works that's what we see in the remaining section In this passage so Tena do you not believe that I am in the father and the father in me I'm going to Pony up two evidences right here and I want you to follow that that's the Jim Butler loose translation but that's what he's doing I've made this incredible assertion that I have the same nature as the father but this incredible assertion that I have the same nature as the father isn't done in a vacuum I didn't just sort of pull this out of the sky I didn't just say I wrot the biggest bull there ever was I I actually did to use the analogy his words and his Works look at the words of the son in 10B the words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own own authority now Brethren be careful of an Aryan or a sabellian not sabellian so much mistake of saying well he's like an instrument or a conduit Pastor Butler you're preaching the word right now that's that's sort of an instrument that's not the context Brethren the context is his nature with the Father the father doesn't speak the word through the son as an instrument or conduit the father speaks through the son as having the same nature as the son such that the word that comes from God comes from the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit the one true and living God look at the testimony of others relative to this statement look at chapter 4 I've already mentioned 118 but look at chapter 4 specifically at verse 29 you've got the testimony of others along the way in John's gospel who saw this the Divine authority of his words theine Divine Authority behind his words notice in John 4 specifically at verse 28 and the woman left uh uh the woman then left her water pot went her way into the City and said to the man come see a man who told me all things that I ever did could this be the Christ why did she say that because he told her all things that she ever did who does that God look at six 68 668 the departure of the wouldbe disciples the part-time followers then Jesus says in verse 67 do you also want to go away but Simon Peter answered him Lord to whom shall we go you have the words of eternal life now whatever Peter meant there specifically I think what John intends us to understand is that Jesus speaks not just like a preacher speaking the words of eternal life but in that sort of context of Matthew remember the summation of The Sermon on the Mount what do the people do after Jesus finished teaching yeah that was good yeah I'd come back provided I didn't have a hang nail or something you know really debilitating to keep me out of church yeah they they marveled they were amazed why because he spoke as one having Authority not not like their scribes whatever good the scribes may have done and I know we demonized them they were the worst people in the world there was probably a scribe at one point or other got something right but they marveled because he spoke not as the scribes but as one having Authority and then notice in 746 7:46 this this is his enemies these are his haters do your haters and enemies describe you this way you ever gotten a note like this on Twitter you know I despise your guts but this much I'll admit verse 46 the officers answered no no man ever spoke like this man no one lots of rabbis lots of tradition lots of teaching Moses in our history Jeremiah in our history Isaiah in our history Elijah in our history but but no man ever spoke like this one but what about the son look at 7:16 Jesus answered them and said my Doctrine is not mine but his who sent me and again not a difference not separation but by virtue of the unity of the essence by virtue of the fact that the father has the Divine Essence the son has the Divine Essence the spirit has the Divine Essence yet not three Essences one Essence three persons notice in 8:26 826 I have many things to say and to judge concerning you but he who sent me is true and I speak to the world those things which I heard from him and when it says that again it's spoken in the manner of men do do you think the father and the son had you know Sunday School in heaven son I want you to sit down at my feet and I want to teach you that he's using language that you and I can understand that we can process he doesn't launch into a theological Treatise here well by virtue of the one Essence and by virtue of the fact that I'm one of those persons the father is and the he doesn't do that he he uses common parlament to to tell us about the authority of his word and then notice as well in verse 47 he who is of God hears God's words therefore you do not hear because you are not of God well what words is he talking about he's talking about his words that are God's words as Thomas says the father therefore who speaks in me is in me seral of Alexandria says you should realize that when you hear my words you hear the words of the father so he sets forth this idea of paresis he doesn't use that Greek term but that's his meaning Mutual indwelling I am in the Father the father is in me well we can see that we can confirm that we can validate that based on the words that I speak but then he continues in John 14 to highlight his works not just his words but his Works notice again in verse 10 he makes this declaration after the words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own but then notice this declaration of Mutual indwelling but the father who dwells in me does the works huh what's he doing he's confirming what he said in verse 7 he's confirming what he said in verse 9 he's confirming that he has the same nature as the father you see that or validate it by his words you see that or you validate it by his works and that's what he's saying again it's not instrumentality or conduit he just picks Jesus because Jesus is a great fellow so I'm going to go ahead and do these Works through him no it's because Jesus has the Divine Essence now in the gospel you have seven signs the water and the wine the healing of the official Sun the healing at the pool the feeding of the 5000 The Walking On The Water the healing of the blind man and the resurrection of Lazarus you have the testimony of of the son concerning his Works turn back to John 5 John 5 after the healing at the pool verse 16 they want to kill him they want to persecute him because he had done these things on the Sabbath so what does Jesus do in verse 17 He makes himself equal with the father they were right to understand him that way he says my father has been working until now and and I have been working therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill him not again I'm not saying it's okay that they wanted to kill him but they understood the nature of his claim see there's many today that don't understand understand that we call them Jehovah's Witnesses those are Aryans there's others out there but they're kind of sometimes in the professing church and we need to be careful of that aryanism and sabellianism hasn't died or haven't died so we've got verse 5:17 notice in verse 5:19 then Jesus answered and said to them most ass surely I say to you the son can do nothing of himself but what he sees the father do for whatever the son whatever he does the son also does in like manner again the point there is the stress the emphasis upon the same Essence as duie says the son does not do certain Works after the father has done other works rather the persons affect the same work by their one operation that's his point that's what he's saying that's where he now turns in finally the confirmation of this mutual indwelling and the exhortation to contemplate The Works notice verse 10 I do not speak on my own but the father who dwells in me does the works now notice in verse 11 this is a confirmation of what he has said believe me that I'm in the father and the father in me believe it CU I said it believe it because I've shown it believe it because I've said it you see it's his nature one with the father at the level of essence or substance but as well it's the words and the works that confirm it and and notice what he says there in verse 11 you can take this or leave it as you will because all that's important is a happy life here and now you know as long as you feel good about yourself you get up in the morning you do good be kind be courteous he's not Bonnie Henry he's the Lord Jesus believe me he says in other words I am the way the truth and the life no one comes to the father except through me it's not a throwaway idea that Jesus is the mediator that's again some and substance stuff of our religion you need to believe this you need to believe that the son is in the father and the father is in the son whether you understand paresis Mutual indwelling or all those things that I said you need to get this that Jesus is both Son of God and God the son and that's the confirmation that he gives of this and then he ends on if not then look at the works you say well other men did works in the history of redemption that were absolutely amazing pul has a great response to that I'm going to end here and then we'll have a couple of thoughts and then close he said Elijah raised the shit's dead child to Life by prayer to God that he would do it and the apostles bid the lame man arise and walk in the name of the Lord Jes Jesus Christ Christ's Doctrine terminated in himself he called men to believe in him he wrought Miracles by his own power and by a virtue proceeding out of and from himself through by or though by the power of his father also because he and his father were one in essence that's what Jesus is talking about here it's not some functional subordination it's not some messed up Trinity arianism we are witnessing what the later divines at NAA would describe as God of God light of light very God of very God one and being with the father through whom all things were made and through whom there is salvation our brother this morning was teaching on the doctrine of justification by faith and I think we forget again again this isn't I know Latin but I've seen it in enough books pronobis pronobis it's a little phrase that means for us there's a for usess about this idea of the Trinity a for usess about the idea that Jesus is God of God light of light very God of very God begotten not made because after it stresses his consubstantiality with the father after it stresses the fact that he made all things it then says who for us men and for our Salvation came down from heaven he took upon himself our Humanity he lived the life that we were supposed to do exact entire perpetual and personal obedience to the law of God in every one of its jots and titles and because we couldn't do that he did it and then he goes to the Cross why to satisfy Divine Justice to pay the penalty for our sin to take upon himself that bruising that crushing that decimation that should be ours because of our violation of God's holy law so Brethren let the the the idea of the Trinity and and the Glorious person of the Lord Jesus Christ always be mingled with that pronobis with that for usess about the work of the Redeemer on our behalf that this God would go to these lengths to save us Brethren that is amazing grace and it certainly is a Sweet Sound and it ought to be the one that evokes the people of God to praise to glorify to honor and to adore him and if you're not the people of God it should can cause you to flee to him he's the way the truth the life no one comes to the father except through him that stresses exclusivity to be sure all other religions are false but it highlights accessibility we can get to the father by virtue of his son and what the Bible tells us is to believe on him and we will be saved so never forget the for usess about what Jesus Christ has done and who Jesus Christ is well let us pray our gracious God and Holy Father we thank you for your word we thank you for this upper room and what Jesus teaches here concerning our our Triune God and help us to stand in awe help us to reflect upon these things and help us to give all praise and glory and worship unto you and Lord bless the proclamation of your gospel here and elsewhere we pray that it would run swiftly and be glorified that you would save from every tribe and tongue and people and nation and that a multitude would come to the father through the son in the power of the Holy Spirit singing the Praises of God most high and we ask through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen well we'll stand and we'll sing a closing doxology and ascription of praise and glory to our Triune god father Son and Holy Spirit 568 in the hym book we'll stand as we sing [Music] together bless Praise Him All Creatures pra him praise father son [Music] andly Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all amen Lord thank you for this thank you for the Lord's House and the Lord's day and the Lord's people and for the Blessed Joy it is for us to gather together to sing your Praises we pray that you would go with us now that we would know your peace your nearness your your protection over us and help us God to be faithful in this present evil age to shine as lights and to hold forth your word of Truth truth and we pray through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen will please be seated for a brief time of meditation