November 28, 2025 • 49 mins
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On July 14, 2025, Pastor John MacArthur laid down his earthly tent and crossed into glory, his faith now made sight in the presence of the risen Christ. After walking through a season of affliction since early 2023, God, in sovereign love and perfect wisdom, declared, “Well done,” and called His servant home.
For fifty-six faithful years, John stood behind the sacred desk at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California. He didn't chase trends or peddle gimmicks. He opened the Word—and kept it open. Line by line, verse by verse, he proclaimed the truth without compromise. And under that uncompromising truth, the church flourished. Thousands were equipped. Missionaries were sent. Men were raised to rightly divide the Word.
From the beginning, his sermons reached beyond the sanctuary—first for homebound saints, then across the airwaves. Grace to You was born, and soon, the Gospel thundered through speakers on every continent. English and Spanish. Free and accessible. Day and night. The sun never sets on the reach of John’s preaching.
And as hearts were stirred to give, the John MacArthur Charitable Trust was formed in 2017—fueling the ministry, expanding the vision, ensuring that the light kept shining.
All of this—every soul touched, every message proclaimed—is a testament not to man's brilliance, but to God's providence. John once said he never plotted this path. He went deep in the Word and let God handle the width. “Faithfulness,” he said, “is its own reward.”
Only heaven will reveal the full harvest—the lives transformed, the churches strengthened, the generations inspired—through the steadfast labor of this servant of God.
Each month, Elder Tolliver offers a spiritually encouraging book to help you in your walk with Christ for any size donation. Please go to biblicaltalks.com website to take advantage of this opportunity.
Have a blessed day, and thanks for listening! Visit my website to learn more at https://www.biblicaltalks.com
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:19):
Welcome to Biblical Talks.
Sermon of the Week.
On July 14, 2025, pastor JohnMacArthur laid down his earthly
tent and crossed into glory.
His faith made now sight in thepresence of the risen Savior.
(00:40):
In the presence of the risenSavior, after walking through a
season of affliction Since early2023.
God and his sovereign love andperfect wisdom Declared Well
done and called his servant home.
(01:01):
For 56 faithful years, johnstood behind the sacred desk at
Grace Community Church inSouthern Valley, california.
He didn't chase trends orpeddle gimmicks.
John MacArthur opened up theword and kept it open.
Line by line, verse by verse.
(01:22):
He proclaimed the truth withoutcompromise and under that
uncompromising truth, the churchflourished, thousands was
equipped, missionaries were sent, man was raised up to rightly
divide the word.
From the beginning, his sermonreached beyond the sanctuary,
(01:43):
first for homebound saints.
Then sermon reached beyond thesanctuary, first for homebound
saints.
Then, across the airwaves,grace to you was born.
And soon the gospel thunderedthrough the speaker on every
continent, english and Spanish,free and acceptable, day and
(02:07):
night.
The sun never set on the reachof John preaching and as heart
was stirred to give, the JohnMcCarthy Cherry Boat Trust was
formed in 2017.
Viewing the ministry, expandingthe vision and ensuring that
the light keeps shining.
All of this, every soul touch,every message proclaimed, is a
(02:34):
testimony not to man'sbrilliance but to God's
providence.
John once said he never plottedhis path.
He went deep in the word andlet God handle the wealth.
Faithfulness, he said, is hisown reward.
Only heaven will reveal thefull harvest.
The life transformed, thechurch strengthened, the
(02:57):
generation expired through thesteadfast labor of this servant
of God.
This gentleman caught the lastmessage to the church, called
the unfailing promises of God.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
It's been since July that I've preached here on a
Sunday.
That wouldn't have been mychoice, but I think, as Grace
just sung, sometimes our trialsare blessings in disguise and
God has purposes that we wouldnever have been able to fulfill
if we weren't put into some kindof stress.
(03:37):
I can tell you I've had threeheart surgeries and a surgery on
my lungs in those last fewmonths and I'm still here.
So I'm thankful to the Lord forthat and I have so much to be
(04:01):
thankful for.
In fact, when people ask me howI feel, I say I'm thankful, I'm
just thankful.
I see the good and gracious andkind and providential hand of
God.
In every vicissitude in my life, every hard experience, every
challenge, whatever thatchallenge may be, I see the good
(04:22):
hand of divine providenceoperate trials.
So I genuinely and truly amgrateful, and I can be grateful
because I know the outcome ofeverything.
The outcome of everything is tothe glory of God and the
benefit of his children, right,and the benefit of his children,
(04:42):
right.
So I want to make sure that Iallow my own heart to rejoice in
the fact that God will perfectme and will bring glory to
himself through my trials,probably more than any other way
.
And one thing that I have foundis that my thanksgiving has
(05:03):
increased because it's in thetrials, when you're face-to-face
with things that could easilyoverpower you and you have no
particular control over them atall, that you find your faith is
tested, and out of that testinghas come an immense amount of
(05:25):
gratitude to the Lord.
He has revealed himself in allthese issues, all these trials,
in so many ways that I can'teven begin to count.
And I think, when you're in asituation like this, and I think
(05:47):
when you're in a situation likethis, for a true believer,
thankfulness should be the firstreaction, because the Lord is
doing his work on the one hand,and, on the second hand, you're
getting close to heaven and werejoice in that reality.
In Colossians 3, if you want tolook at it for a moment,
Colossians 3, 15, just areminder let the peace of Christ
(06:12):
rule in your hearts, to which,indeed, you were called in one
body.
And here's a very brief commandBe thankful, be thankful, be
thankful.
Down in verse 17, it sayswhatever you do in word or deed,
(06:32):
do all in the name of the LordJesus, giving thanks through him
to God, the Father.
That's a New Testamentcounterpart to say Psalm 103, 2,
which says bless the Lord, o mysoul, and forget none of his
(06:53):
benefits.
So, as I was thinking about howwe might be thankful together
tonight, I wanted to find alocation in the scripture where
we could pull together someamazing realities for which we
must be thankful.
And that drew me to John 13,the gospel of John in chapter 13
(07:18):
.
And I want to do a kind of aand I want to do a kind of a
flyover of John 13 through 16,with some landings along the way
.
Now, when you come to John 13,just a little bit of background.
This is the upper room.
(07:40):
This is the night of the LastSupper.
This is Jesus with the 12.
This is the unmasking of Judas.
This is the bewilderment, thechaos, the confusion, the
discouragement, the fear, thedoubts, the brokenhearted
(08:03):
response of the apostles tothings going in a direction they
never ever expected.
Rather than Jesus setting up akingdom, he keeps talking about
dying.
In fact, he even is explicitabout the fact that he will be
(08:25):
killed.
In the 12th chapter of John, inverse 23, jesus said the hour
has come for the Son of man tobe glorified.
Well, that sounds good.
Maybe this is the coming of thekingdom.
But then, immediately he saysin verse 24, truly, truly, I say
(08:46):
to you, unless a grain of wheatfalls into the earth and dies,
it remains alone, but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
In that same chapter, in verse30, jesus answered and said this
(09:06):
voice has not come for my sake,but for your sakes.
That's an angelic voice, verse31,.
Now judgment is upon this world.
Now the ruler of this worldwill be cast out.
Now the ruler of this worldwill be cast out and I, if I am
lifted up from the earth, willdraw all men to myself.
(09:30):
But he was saying this toindicate the kind of death by
which he was to die.
They all knew what that wascrucifixion someone being lifted
up.
The crowd then answered him wehave heard out of the law that
Christ is to remain forever.
(09:53):
And how can you say the Son ofman must be lifted up or
crucified?
Who is this Son of man?
This was not only the crowdsthat were shocked about him
(10:15):
claiming to be Messiah andclaiming to be crucified in the
purposes of God.
Rather than establish thekingdom, he was going to die,
and this was critical.
Not only did this startle andshock the crowds, whatever level
of indifference or meager faiththey had expressed, but it
(10:38):
literally jolted the disciplesto the bone.
Jolted the disciples to thebone.
And their attitude is describedas we come into chapters 13 to
16.
It's described, for example, inchapter 14, verse 1.
Stop letting your heart betroubled.
Strong language they weretroubled in heart.
(11:04):
Down in verse 5, what do youexpect?
Thomas said to him Lord, we donot know where you are going.
How do we know the way?
Verse 27, at the end of theverse do not let your heart be
(11:27):
troubled, nor let it be afraid.
Over in chapter 16, in verse 6,because I have said these things
to you, sorrow has filled yourheart.
Verse 24, until now, you haveasked for nothing in my name.
Ask and you will receive, sothat your joy may be made full.
(11:48):
They had no joy.
They were devastated.
And how did Jesus meet thatdevastation?
They had long expected Christto set up his throne, fulfill
the Mosaic and Davidic covenantand all the new covenant
(12:08):
promises that had come to theprophets, establish his kingdom,
destroy his enemies, reign overthe earth in righteousness and
truth, but instead of that, heannounces he's going to die.
This shatters their hopes.
So how does our Lord respond?
Our Lord confronts theirtroubled hearts by giving them
(12:34):
promises, promises that extendto all believers.
Each one of these promises is aspiritual treasure to comfort
and encourage all who followChrist.
I just want to point thesepromises out to you because
(12:54):
they're yours as well, as theywere the apostles.
That night, go back to chapter13.
That night, go back to chapter13.
And I'm going to give you 10promises that our Lord gives
here to his own.
Chapter 13, verse 1,.
Before the feast of Passover,jesus, knowing that his hour had
(13:15):
come, that's, his hour of death, and that he would depart out
of the world to the Father, andthat he would depart out of the
world to the Father, havingloved his own who are in the
world, he loved them to the end.
A departure like this could leadto the question do you love me
(13:38):
If you leave me, do you love me?
That would be true in anyrelationship, wouldn't it?
If you're leaving me, do youlove me?
That would be true in anyrelationship, wouldn't it?
If you're leaving me, do youlove me?
The first thing we know here isthat he loves them and he loves
them to the end.
It's an agapao verb, which isthe strongest kind of relational
(13:58):
love.
And to the end, as eyes tell us.
It means to the end ofeverything, to whatever end you
want to take it, to the end oftime, to the end of history.
It also can mean to the maximumcapacity of God to love.
He loves them completely.
He loves them totally.
(14:19):
This is no indication that helacks love.
Over in verse 34 of chapter 13,it says A new commandment I
give you that you love oneanother, even as I have loved
(14:41):
you, that you also love oneanother.
How had he loved them?
Well, they were going to findout how he loved them.
Look at chapter 15, verses 12and 13.
This is my commandment that youlove one another just as I have
loved you.
Greater love has no one thanthis.
(15:03):
That one laid down his life forhis friends.
He loved them.
He loved them to the end oftime, he loved them to the max
of his capacity and he lovedthem to death.
And they were, at thisparticular time, not
(15:26):
particularly deserving of thatlove, were they?
They had been arguing a lotabout which of them would be the
greatest in the kingdom whenJesus wanted them to pray for
him in the garden before histemptation they had fallen
asleep on several occasions andwere useless to him in
participating in prayer,debating about who of them was
(15:48):
the most important.
Broken hearted over theshattering of their own plans,
they were about as ugly asdisciples could get as ugly as
disciples could get, but thathad no effect on the fact that
Jesus loved them to the max, tothe end, to death.
(16:14):
This is the first promise thatthe Lord gives to all who follow
him.
I love you to death and then Ilove you to life, to the end, to
the end of everything, to themax of my capacity, and it can't
be a greater love than to beinnocent and give your life for
(16:36):
the guilty.
So the first promise that theLord gives these brokenhearted
(17:08):
disciples is and it extends toall who will belong to him the
promise that he loves them witha sacrificial love that will
never end.
The second promise he givesthem is in chapter 14 and verse
(17:30):
1.
This is the goal of that love.
Do not let your heart betroubled.
Believe in God.
Believe also in me.
This is a claim to equalitywith God.
Obviously you believe in God.
Believe also in me.
This is a claim to equalitywith God.
Obviously you believe in God asGod, believe in me also as God.
(17:51):
And then this amazing promise inmy father's house are many
dwelling places, literally rooms.
If it were not so, I would havetold you.
But I go to prepare a place foryou.
If I go and prepare a place foryou, I will come again and
(18:11):
receive you to myself.
That where I am there, you maybe also.
He loves his own all the wayinto heaven.
Stop, literally stop lettingyour hearts be troubled.
I love you and I'll love youall the way to heaven.
(18:32):
You trust God, trust me equallyIn my Father's house.
What's that?
That's heaven.
Sometimes I think we think ofheaven as a palace in a
neighborhood.
No, it's just a massive palace.
We're all in the Father's house.
(18:56):
When the scripture talks aboutheaven, it calls it a country
because of its vastness.
It calls it a city because ofits massive population.
It calls it a kingdom becauseof its order and dominion.
It calls it a paradise becauseof its beauty.
This is the heaven the Lord hasbuilt for us.
(19:21):
A glimpse of that heaven,heaven, I can't resist.
Turn to Revelation 21.
I have to be careful becauseI'm a little short of preaching
experience over the last fourmonths so I might get carried
away.
Revelation 21, 16.
(19:42):
In case you think heaven is astate of mind, this will help
you.
Verse 10, revelation 21.
A vision to John he carried meaway in the spirit to a great
and high mountain showed me theholy city, jerusalem, coming
down out of heaven, from God.
(20:04):
This is heaven's capital city,having the glory of God in her.
Her brilliance was like a verycostly stone, as a stone of
crystal clear jasper, like adiamond.
It had a great and high wallwith 12 gates and at the gates
12 angels and names were writtenon them which are the names of
the 12 tribes of the sons ofIsrael.
(20:25):
There were three gates on theeast, three gates on the north,
three gates on the south, threegates on the west, and the wall
of the city had 12 foundationstones and on them were the 12
names of the 12 apostles of theLamb.
The one who spoke with me had agold measuring rod to measure
the city and its gates and itswall.
(20:46):
The city is laid out as asquare and its length is as
great as its width, and hemeasured the city with a rod
1,500 miles length and width andheight.
That's a cube.
(21:11):
It's not a state of mind, it's aplace.
The New Testament says ourSavior is there.
Our name is there.
Our life is there.
Our affections are to be there.
Our treasure is there.
Our hearts should be there.
Our life is there.
Our affections are to be there.
Our treasure is there.
Our hearts should be there.
Our citizenship is there.
Our inheritance is there,waiting for us.
(21:36):
And the key to heaven verse 3,heaven is where.
I am there, you may be also.
So what is the Lord saying?
He is giving to his disciplesthe promise of eternal
fellowship with him In theheaven of heavens.
(21:56):
That would do something foryour disappointment, wouldn't it
it should?
That would do something foryour disappointment, wouldn't it
it should.
If you're a believer in theLord Jesus Christ, you are loved
with an eternal love and you'regoing to be loved all the way
into heaven, where you will beloved forever in the Father's
(22:21):
house.
The third promise that Jesusgives is the promise of
spiritual influence.
Spiritual influence For that welook at chapter 14, verse 11.
This whole section 13 to 16, isall in the upper room and Jesus
is making these promises.
Where he's hitting thehighlights Verse 11 of chapter
(22:44):
14.
Believe me that I am in theFather and the Father is in me.
Otherwise, believe because ofthe works themselves.
Truly, truly, I say to you, hewho believes in me, the works
that I do, he will do also, andgreater works than these he will
(23:05):
do because I go to the Father.
This has been confusing to somepeople who ask how could
anybody do greater works thanour Lord did when he banished
illness from the land of Israel?
How could anybody do that?
How could anybody do that?
Well, they couldn't do miraclesthat were more powerful.
(23:33):
They couldn't do miracles thatwere more supernatural.
It's not talking about thecharacter or nature of the
miracles, it's talking about thevolume.
It's talking about the volumeBecause I go to the Father.
(23:54):
Greater amounts of spiritualworks you will do.
You know that might seemstrange, but think about it this
way Jesus, at his ascension,met in the upper room with 120
(24:15):
disciples 120.
One chapter later, after thepreaching of Peter, one sermon,
there were 3,000 people added tothe church and baptized.
Immediately.
This prophecy was fulfilled.
If you look in Acts, chapter 4,you begin to see the pattern in
(24:36):
this marvelous book.
The Acts of the Apostles.
They were speaking to thepeople, Verse 1, priests and
captain of the temple guard andSadducees came upon them.
These are the apostles beinggreatly disturbed because they
were teaching the people andproclaiming in Jesus, the
resurrection from the dead.
They laid hands on them, putthem in jail until the next day,
(24:58):
for it was already evening.
But many of those who had heardthe message believed, and the
number of the men came to beabout 5,000, in addition to the
3,000.
That's a whole lot more than120 in the upper room.
What happened?
(25:19):
He said because I go to myFather, happen.
He said because I go to myFather, the works, the
supernatural works, will be evengreater and over.
(25:39):
In chapter 5, verse 12, at thehands of the apostles.
Many signs and wonders were now.
All of them were doing it,multiplying the work of Jesus by
the dozen.
They were all in one accord inSolomon's portico, None of us
dared to associate with him.
However, the people held themin high esteem and the more, all
the more believers in the Lord.
Multitudes of men and womenwere constantly added to their
(26:00):
number, to such an extent thatthey even carried the sick out
into the streets, laid them oncots and pallets, so that when
Peter came by, at least hisshadow might fall on any one of
them, and the people from thecities in the vicinity of
Jerusalem were coming together,bringing people who were sick or
afflicted with unclean spirits.
(26:21):
They were all being healed.
Greater works in extent.
This even extends to us,ephesians 3.20.
Now, unto him, who is able todo exceeding abundantly?
Above all, you can ask or thinkaccording to the power that
(26:41):
works in us.
Ask or think according to thepower that works in us.
We have amazing influence inthe world.
I think the best little versethat conveys that, at least in
(27:03):
my mind, is in 2 Corinthians 2.
You'll recognize it.
Thanks be to God.
Verse 14, who always triumph inChrist.
We live triumphant lives inChrist and manifest through us
the sweet aroma of the knowledgeof him in every place, for we
(27:25):
are a fragrance of Christ to God, among those who are being
saved and among those who areperishing.
To the one an aroma of death todeath, to the other an aroma of
life to life.
Who is adequate for thesethings, whose life can matter so
much that, wherever you go, youare a fragrance of Christ?
(27:49):
Don't be discouraged becauseI'm going, because I go to my
Father.
Influence of heaven will extendthrough the apostles and
through believers to follow evendown to this day.
We are the force that the Lorduses to bring about the greatest
(28:13):
miracle regeneration, and itrequires the gospel.
How will they believe if theyhaven't heard?
How will they hear without apreacher?
The fourth promise our Lordmakes love, heaven and spiritual
influence.
The fourth promise is provision, provision In chapter.
(28:42):
There's really two places.
Chapter 14, you call me, I'msorry, that's chapter 13.
Chapter 14, I'm sorry, that'schapter 13.
Chapter 14, I'm jumping aroundhere.
Chapter 14, verse 13 whateveryou ask in my name, that will I
do so that the Father may beglorified in the Son.
If you ask me anything in myname, I will do it.
(29:03):
That's a blank check, rightwith one provision that you ask
in his name.
Whatever you you ask, and herepeats it over in chapter 16
toward the end of his teachingthat night in the upper room,
verse 23 of chapter 16, in thatday you will not question me
(29:26):
about anything.
Truly, truly, I say to you notquestion me about anything.
Truly, truly, I say to you ifyou ask the Father for anything
in my name, he will give it toyou.
Until now, you have asked fornothing in my name.
Ask and you will receive, sothat your joy may be made full.
This is an incredible promise.
Anything, anything, anything inmy name.
(29:48):
What does in my name mean?
Well, sometimes we pray our ownrequests, obviously, and then
say, for Jesus' sake, amen.
We throw that in as if thatnecessarily applies.
To pray in his name is to prayconsistent with kingdom purposes
.
Is to pray consistent withkingdom purposes, to pray on the
(30:16):
basis of understanding hisdivine nature, in other words,
something that would beconsistent with his purpose,
consistent with his nature and,thirdly, contribute to his glory
.
In other words, your prayer isthis is to fulfill the purpose
(30:38):
for which Christ ordainedministry.
This is consistent with hisdivine nature and perfections
and it is for his glory.
If those three things are true,you have heaven's response.
(30:58):
You will receive what you ask.
Philippians 4.19 says and myGod will supply all your need
according to his riches in gloryin Christ Jesus, and that means
he doesn't give a skimpy amountbut a lavish amount.
You have everything you needthat is consistent with the
(31:23):
purpose, the nature and the willof Christ.
So if you're praying in hiswill, the floodgates of heaven
open to you.
Number five this is really themost important thing in one
sense is the promise of the HolySpirit.
(31:43):
Go over to chapter 14 and verse16.
I will ask the Father and he'llgive you helper and he may be
with you forever.
That is the Spirit of truthwhom the world cannot receive
because it does not see him orknow him.
(32:04):
But you know him because heabides with you and will be in
you.
Literally, I will send the HolySpirit to dwell within you, the
supernatural divine comforterthat's the word parakletos in
Greek to come alongside, to helpand notice.
(32:26):
He says another comforter,another parakletos.
That's very important becausethe word another is there are
two words in Greek.
One is heteros, another of adifferent kind.
This is alos, another of thesame kind.
That's why the Holy Spirit iscalled the Spirit of Christ,
(32:49):
because he is a member of theTrinity.
So what do you get?
Because I'm going to my Father,I'm going to send the Holy
Spirit.
He will abide with you foreverand he will be in you.
Acts 1.8 says after you havereceived the Holy Spirit, his
(33:09):
power will come upon you andyou'll be my witnesses across
the earth.
This is the gift that makes allother promises possible.
All other promises possible Inverse 17, the spirit of truth
(33:39):
whom the world cannot receive.
We have a supernaturalindwelling member of the Trinity
.
The world knows nothing aboutthat.
He is with us, he is in us, andverse 18 even ties it to Christ
(34:05):
himself.
I will not leave you as orphans, I will come.
Leave you as orphans, I willcome to you.
He comes in the form of theHoly Spirit, who is the Spirit
of Christ himself In chapter 16,look at verse 8.
(34:25):
When he comes, the helper ismentioned in verse 7, the Holy
Spirit.
If I go, he says I'll send himto you.
When I go, I'm going to sendhim.
When he comes, he will convictthe world concerning sin and
righteousness and judgment.
Concerning sin because they donot believe in me, and
(34:47):
concerning because I go to theFather and you no longer see me.
And concerning judgment,because the ruler of this world
has been judged.
This is an amazing promise.
Not only am I going to send theHoly Spirit to dwell in you we
have the record of that in Acts,chapter 2.
And every subsequent believeris the temple of the Holy Spirit
(35:10):
, but the Holy Spirit comes towork on the very people that we
are commissioned to reach.
He comes to convict the worldconcerning the sin of not
believing in Christ, concerninga faulty view of righteousness
(35:37):
and concerning judgment.
So the power of this sending ofthe Holy Spirit is on both
sides of the divine commission.
He lives in us and he convictsthe world and he convicts the
world.
He promises to love us forever,to take us to heaven, to make
(35:57):
our lives high impact.
He promises to supplyeverything we ask him for that's
consistent with his will, andto give us the Holy Spirit and
send the Holy Spirit to work onthe hearts of non-believers that
we endeavor to reach.
There's a sixth promise in thisupper room discourse and it is
(36:24):
also in chapter 14 and 16.
Chapter 14, verse 17.
Speaking of the helper, of theHoly Spirit, in verse 16,
chapter 14, verse 17.
Speaking of the helper, theHoly Spirit, in verse 16, I just
read this he is called theSpirit of Truth.
The Spirit of Truth.
The sixth promise is the promiseof truth, down to verse 26.
(36:47):
The helper, the Holy Spirit,whom the Father will send in my
name.
He will teach you all thingsand bring to your remembrance
all that I said to you.
This is the promise given tothe apostles that when they went
to writing the scripture, theywould be guided by the Holy
Spirit and because that was truefor them, we have received an
(37:15):
inerrant Bible.
We have the truth In chapter 16and verse 13,.
Again, when he, the spirit oftruth, comes, he will guide you
into all the truth.
He will not speak on his owninitiative, but whatever he
hears, he will speak and he willdisclose to you what is to come
.
He will glorify me, for he willtake of mine and disclose it to
(37:38):
you.
The Holy Spirit is the agentthat reveals scripture and
reveals in the true God andChrist as well.
The fruit of that is aninerrant scripture.
(37:59):
Men were moved by the Spirit ofGod to write the Word of God.
This is biblical revelation.
So these promises are massivelysignificant, but maybe none
more so than right at the middleof this, the Holy Spirit and
(38:23):
the Word.
But there's more the promise ofpeace, the promise of peace, the
promise of peace 1427.
Just to touch that verse PeaceI leave with you.
My peace I give to you.
(38:45):
Not as the world gives, notbased on circumstances, not as
the world gives do I give to you?
Not as the world gives, notbased on circumstances.
Not as the world gives do Igive to you.
Do not let your heart betroubled, nor let it be fearful.
And then in the final statement, chapter 16, verse 33.
(39:09):
These things I have spoken toyou, all of them really, in this
upper room discourse so that inme you may have peace In the
world.
You have tribulation, but takecourage.
I've overcome the world.
(39:34):
This is not only objected peacewith God, because we're no
longer at war with him.
We are now his children.
But this is subjective peace,the peace that passes
understanding, the peace thattranquilizes your heart in the
midst of this severest trial.
(39:55):
Number eight the promise offruit.
Chapter 15.
The Lord is talking about fruitin verse 5.
I am the vine, you are thebranches, he who abides in me
(40:21):
and I in him.
He bears much fruit, for apartfrom me you can do nothing.
Just to remind you, biblicalfruit is attitude, fruit of the
Spirit, love, joy, peace,gentleness, goodness, faith,
meekness, self-control andaction or behavior, the fruit of
(40:44):
giving, the fruit ofrighteousness, many kinds of
behavioral fruit.
So he says I promise, in givingyou the word and the spirit,
that you will produce fruit.
Verse 8, my father is glorifiedby this, that you bear much
(41:06):
fruit and so prove to be mydisciples.
There's a little shift innumber nine.
Going back to that same chapter, verse 18, chapter 15.
This is a promise.
(41:26):
If the world hates you, youknow that it has hated me for it
hated you let's say this is thepromise of refining.
Refining, if you're of theworld, the world will love its
own.
But because you're not of theworld, but I chose you out of
the world, because of this, theworld hates you.
(41:48):
Remember the word that I saidto you a slave is not greater
than his master.
If they persecuted me, theywill also persecute you.
If they kept my word, they willkeep yours also.
But all these things they shalldo to you for my name's sake,
(42:09):
because they do not know the onewho sent me".
This is refining.
Count it all joy when you fallinto various trials, because
they have a perfecting work.
You're not greater than yourmaster.
He was persecuted, you will bemaster.
(42:29):
He was persecuted, you will bepersecuted.
He was hated, you will be hated.
Some of you will even die.
Verse 25, jesus says they hatedme without a cause.
This is part of your spiritualdevelopment and something to be
thankful for because it yieldsthe fruit of righteousness.
(42:53):
And then a final promise thatsums it up, back in chapter 15,
verse 10, if you keep mycommandments, you will abide in
my love, just as I have kept myFather's commandments and abide
in His love.
These things I have spoken toyou so that my joy may be in you
(43:20):
and your joy may be made full.
Number 10, the promise of joy.
The promise of joy.
The promise of joy that eventakes us into chapter 16.
This is kind of the last onewe'll look at here, chapter 16,
(43:43):
verse 20.
Truly, truly, I say unto youyou will weep and lament, You'll
suffer and the world willrejoice.
You will grieve, but your griefwill be turned into joy.
(44:05):
Whenever a woman is in labor,she has pain because her hour
has come.
When she gives birth to thechild, she no longer remembers
the anguish because of the joythat a child has been born into
the world.
Therefore, you too have griefnow, but I will see you again
and your heart will rejoice andno one will take your joy from
you.
Everlasting joy.
(44:32):
When you think about what to bethankful for, think about the
promises of Christ, astonishingpromises.
All of them are the property,the privilege and the promise of
true believers.
This is why, no matter howchallenging life is, we must be
(45:03):
thankful.
Summing it up back toColossians 2.
Listen to this.
That their hearts verse 2, maybe encouraged, having been knit
(45:24):
together in love and attainingto all the wealth that comes
from a full assurance ofunderstanding, resulting in a
true knowledge of God'smysteries.
That is Christ himself, in whomare hidden all the treasures of
(45:44):
wisdom and knowledge.
These things are ours becauseChrist is ours.
In him are hidden all thetreasures of wisdom and
knowledge.
Everything comes to us in him.
(46:05):
Having Christ is having allthese promises to encourage us.
Let's bow in prayer.
Father, you know that we coulddig deeply into each of these,
(46:28):
but sometimes just the sweepingelements of divine grace granted
to unworthy sinners is morepowerful than any one single
(46:51):
grace.
For all these gifts, all thesepromises, we thank you, and
they're not something that wewill receive other than heaven.
They are something we havereceived.
It's all ours already.
The only thing awaiting us isthat final heaven of heavens,
(47:15):
but life for us in Christ andwith Christ in us is certainly a
heaven on earth.
We thank you for the love thatgranted us such great and
precious promises.
We offer you our thanks inChrist's name, amen.
Speaker 3 (47:39):
Hello, my name is Michelle Tolliver and Biblical
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Thank you for listening toBiblical Talks.
Welcome to Biblical Talks.
Sermon of the Week.
On July 14, 2025, pastor JohnMacArthur laid down his earthly
tent and crossed into glory.
His faith made now sight in thepresence of the risen Savior.
(00:40):
In the presence of the risenSavior, after walking through a
season of affliction Since early2023.
God and his sovereign love andperfect wisdom Declared Well
done and called his servant home.
(01:01):
For 56 faithful years, johnstood behind the sacred desk at
Grace Community Church inSouthern Valley, california.
He didn't chase trends orpeddle gimmicks.
John MacArthur opened up theword and kept it open.
Line by line, verse by verse.
(01:22):
He proclaimed the truth withoutcompromise and under that
uncompromising truth, the churchflourished, thousands was
equipped, missionaries were sent, man was raised up to rightly
divide the word.
From the beginning, his sermonreached beyond the sanctuary,
(01:43):
first for homebound saints.
Then sermon reached beyond thesanctuary, first for homebound
saints.
Then, across the airwaves,grace to you was born.
And soon the gospel thunderedthrough the speaker on every
continent, english and Spanish,free and acceptable, day and
(02:07):
night.
The sun never set on the reachof John preaching and as heart
was stirred to give, the JohnMcCarthy Cherry Boat Trust was
formed in 2017.
Viewing the ministry, expandingthe vision and ensuring that
the light keeps shining.
All of this, every soul touch,every message proclaimed, is a
(02:34):
testimony not to man'sbrilliance but to God's
providence.
John once said he never plottedhis path.
He went deep in the word andlet God handle the wealth.
Faithfulness, he said, is hisown reward.
Only heaven will reveal thefull harvest.
The life transformed, thechurch strengthened, the
(02:57):
generation expired through thesteadfast labor of this servant
of God.
This gentleman caught the lastmessage to the church, called
the unfailing promises of God.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
It's been since July that I've preached here on a
Sunday.
That wouldn't have been mychoice, but I think, as Grace
just sung, sometimes our trialsare blessings in disguise and
God has purposes that we wouldnever have been able to fulfill
if we weren't put into some kindof stress.
(03:37):
I can tell you I've had threeheart surgeries and a surgery on
my lungs in those last fewmonths and I'm still here.
So I'm thankful to the Lord forthat and I have so much to be
(04:01):
thankful for.
In fact, when people ask me howI feel, I say I'm thankful, I'm
just thankful.
I see the good and gracious andkind and providential hand of
God.
In every vicissitude in my life, every hard experience, every
challenge, whatever thatchallenge may be, I see the good
(04:22):
hand of divine providenceoperate trials.
So I genuinely and truly amgrateful, and I can be grateful
because I know the outcome ofeverything.
The outcome of everything is tothe glory of God and the
benefit of his children, right,and the benefit of his children,
(04:42):
right.
So I want to make sure that Iallow my own heart to rejoice in
the fact that God will perfectme and will bring glory to
himself through my trials,probably more than any other way
.
And one thing that I have foundis that my thanksgiving has
(05:03):
increased because it's in thetrials, when you're face-to-face
with things that could easilyoverpower you and you have no
particular control over them atall, that you find your faith is
tested, and out of that testinghas come an immense amount of
(05:25):
gratitude to the Lord.
He has revealed himself in allthese issues, all these trials,
in so many ways that I can'teven begin to count.
And I think, when you're in asituation like this, and I think
(05:47):
when you're in a situation likethis, for a true believer,
thankfulness should be the firstreaction, because the Lord is
doing his work on the one hand,and, on the second hand, you're
getting close to heaven and werejoice in that reality.
In Colossians 3, if you want tolook at it for a moment,
Colossians 3, 15, just areminder let the peace of Christ
(06:12):
rule in your hearts, to which,indeed, you were called in one
body.
And here's a very brief commandBe thankful, be thankful, be
thankful.
Down in verse 17, it sayswhatever you do in word or deed,
(06:32):
do all in the name of the LordJesus, giving thanks through him
to God, the Father.
That's a New Testamentcounterpart to say Psalm 103, 2,
which says bless the Lord, o mysoul, and forget none of his
(06:53):
benefits.
So, as I was thinking about howwe might be thankful together
tonight, I wanted to find alocation in the scripture where
we could pull together someamazing realities for which we
must be thankful.
And that drew me to John 13,the gospel of John in chapter 13
(07:18):
.
And I want to do a kind of aand I want to do a kind of a
flyover of John 13 through 16,with some landings along the way
.
Now, when you come to John 13,just a little bit of background.
This is the upper room.
(07:40):
This is the night of the LastSupper.
This is Jesus with the 12.
This is the unmasking of Judas.
This is the bewilderment, thechaos, the confusion, the
discouragement, the fear, thedoubts, the brokenhearted
(08:03):
response of the apostles tothings going in a direction they
never ever expected.
Rather than Jesus setting up akingdom, he keeps talking about
dying.
In fact, he even is explicitabout the fact that he will be
(08:25):
killed.
In the 12th chapter of John, inverse 23, jesus said the hour
has come for the Son of man tobe glorified.
Well, that sounds good.
Maybe this is the coming of thekingdom.
But then, immediately he saysin verse 24, truly, truly, I say
(08:46):
to you, unless a grain of wheatfalls into the earth and dies,
it remains alone, but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
In that same chapter, in verse30, jesus answered and said this
(09:06):
voice has not come for my sake,but for your sakes.
That's an angelic voice, verse31,.
Now judgment is upon this world.
Now the ruler of this worldwill be cast out.
Now the ruler of this worldwill be cast out and I, if I am
lifted up from the earth, willdraw all men to myself.
(09:30):
But he was saying this toindicate the kind of death by
which he was to die.
They all knew what that wascrucifixion someone being lifted
up.
The crowd then answered him wehave heard out of the law that
Christ is to remain forever.
(09:53):
And how can you say the Son ofman must be lifted up or
crucified?
Who is this Son of man?
This was not only the crowdsthat were shocked about him
(10:15):
claiming to be Messiah andclaiming to be crucified in the
purposes of God.
Rather than establish thekingdom, he was going to die,
and this was critical.
Not only did this startle andshock the crowds, whatever level
of indifference or meager faiththey had expressed, but it
(10:38):
literally jolted the disciplesto the bone.
Jolted the disciples to thebone.
And their attitude is describedas we come into chapters 13 to
16.
It's described, for example, inchapter 14, verse 1.
Stop letting your heart betroubled.
Strong language they weretroubled in heart.
(11:04):
Down in verse 5, what do youexpect?
Thomas said to him Lord, we donot know where you are going.
How do we know the way?
Verse 27, at the end of theverse do not let your heart be
(11:27):
troubled, nor let it be afraid.
Over in chapter 16, in verse 6,because I have said these things
to you, sorrow has filled yourheart.
Verse 24, until now, you haveasked for nothing in my name.
Ask and you will receive, sothat your joy may be made full.
(11:48):
They had no joy.
They were devastated.
And how did Jesus meet thatdevastation?
They had long expected Christto set up his throne, fulfill
the Mosaic and Davidic covenantand all the new covenant
(12:08):
promises that had come to theprophets, establish his kingdom,
destroy his enemies, reign overthe earth in righteousness and
truth, but instead of that, heannounces he's going to die.
This shatters their hopes.
So how does our Lord respond?
Our Lord confronts theirtroubled hearts by giving them
(12:34):
promises, promises that extendto all believers.
Each one of these promises is aspiritual treasure to comfort
and encourage all who followChrist.
I just want to point thesepromises out to you because
(12:54):
they're yours as well, as theywere the apostles.
That night, go back to chapter13.
That night, go back to chapter13.
And I'm going to give you 10promises that our Lord gives
here to his own.
Chapter 13, verse 1,.
Before the feast of Passover,jesus, knowing that his hour had
(13:15):
come, that's, his hour of death, and that he would depart out
of the world to the Father, andthat he would depart out of the
world to the Father, havingloved his own who are in the
world, he loved them to the end.
A departure like this could leadto the question do you love me
(13:38):
If you leave me, do you love me?
That would be true in anyrelationship, wouldn't it?
If you're leaving me, do youlove me?
That would be true in anyrelationship, wouldn't it?
If you're leaving me, do youlove me?
The first thing we know here isthat he loves them and he loves
them to the end.
It's an agapao verb, which isthe strongest kind of relational
(13:58):
love.
And to the end, as eyes tell us.
It means to the end ofeverything, to whatever end you
want to take it, to the end oftime, to the end of history.
It also can mean to the maximumcapacity of God to love.
He loves them completely.
He loves them totally.
(14:19):
This is no indication that helacks love.
Over in verse 34 of chapter 13,it says A new commandment I
give you that you love oneanother, even as I have loved
(14:41):
you, that you also love oneanother.
How had he loved them?
Well, they were going to findout how he loved them.
Look at chapter 15, verses 12and 13.
This is my commandment that youlove one another just as I have
loved you.
Greater love has no one thanthis.
(15:03):
That one laid down his life forhis friends.
He loved them.
He loved them to the end oftime, he loved them to the max
of his capacity and he lovedthem to death.
And they were, at thisparticular time, not
(15:26):
particularly deserving of thatlove, were they?
They had been arguing a lotabout which of them would be the
greatest in the kingdom whenJesus wanted them to pray for
him in the garden before histemptation they had fallen
asleep on several occasions andwere useless to him in
participating in prayer,debating about who of them was
(15:48):
the most important.
Broken hearted over theshattering of their own plans,
they were about as ugly asdisciples could get as ugly as
disciples could get, but thathad no effect on the fact that
Jesus loved them to the max, tothe end, to death.
(16:14):
This is the first promise thatthe Lord gives to all who follow
him.
I love you to death and then Ilove you to life, to the end, to
the end of everything, to themax of my capacity, and it can't
be a greater love than to beinnocent and give your life for
(16:36):
the guilty.
So the first promise that theLord gives these brokenhearted
(17:08):
disciples is and it extends toall who will belong to him the
promise that he loves them witha sacrificial love that will
never end.
The second promise he givesthem is in chapter 14 and verse
(17:30):
1.
This is the goal of that love.
Do not let your heart betroubled.
Believe in God.
Believe also in me.
This is a claim to equalitywith God.
Obviously you believe in God.
Believe also in me.
This is a claim to equalitywith God.
Obviously you believe in God asGod, believe in me also as God.
(17:51):
And then this amazing promise inmy father's house are many
dwelling places, literally rooms.
If it were not so, I would havetold you.
But I go to prepare a place foryou.
If I go and prepare a place foryou, I will come again and
(18:11):
receive you to myself.
That where I am there, you maybe also.
He loves his own all the wayinto heaven.
Stop, literally stop lettingyour hearts be troubled.
I love you and I'll love youall the way to heaven.
(18:32):
You trust God, trust me equallyIn my Father's house.
What's that?
That's heaven.
Sometimes I think we think ofheaven as a palace in a
neighborhood.
No, it's just a massive palace.
We're all in the Father's house.
(18:56):
When the scripture talks aboutheaven, it calls it a country
because of its vastness.
It calls it a city because ofits massive population.
It calls it a kingdom becauseof its order and dominion.
It calls it a paradise becauseof its beauty.
This is the heaven the Lord hasbuilt for us.
(19:21):
A glimpse of that heaven,heaven, I can't resist.
Turn to Revelation 21.
I have to be careful becauseI'm a little short of preaching
experience over the last fourmonths so I might get carried
away.
Revelation 21, 16.
(19:42):
In case you think heaven is astate of mind, this will help
you.
Verse 10, revelation 21.
A vision to John he carried meaway in the spirit to a great
and high mountain showed me theholy city, jerusalem, coming
down out of heaven, from God.
(20:04):
This is heaven's capital city,having the glory of God in her.
Her brilliance was like a verycostly stone, as a stone of
crystal clear jasper, like adiamond.
It had a great and high wallwith 12 gates and at the gates
12 angels and names were writtenon them which are the names of
the 12 tribes of the sons ofIsrael.
(20:25):
There were three gates on theeast, three gates on the north,
three gates on the south, threegates on the west, and the wall
of the city had 12 foundationstones and on them were the 12
names of the 12 apostles of theLamb.
The one who spoke with me had agold measuring rod to measure
the city and its gates and itswall.
(20:46):
The city is laid out as asquare and its length is as
great as its width, and hemeasured the city with a rod
1,500 miles length and width andheight.
That's a cube.
(21:11):
It's not a state of mind, it's aplace.
The New Testament says ourSavior is there.
Our name is there.
Our life is there.
Our affections are to be there.
Our treasure is there.
Our hearts should be there.
Our life is there.
Our affections are to be there.
Our treasure is there.
Our hearts should be there.
Our citizenship is there.
Our inheritance is there,waiting for us.
(21:36):
And the key to heaven verse 3,heaven is where.
I am there, you may be also.
So what is the Lord saying?
He is giving to his disciplesthe promise of eternal
fellowship with him In theheaven of heavens.
(21:56):
That would do something foryour disappointment, wouldn't it
it should?
That would do something foryour disappointment, wouldn't it
it should.
If you're a believer in theLord Jesus Christ, you are loved
with an eternal love and you'regoing to be loved all the way
into heaven, where you will beloved forever in the Father's
(22:21):
house.
The third promise that Jesusgives is the promise of
spiritual influence.
Spiritual influence For that welook at chapter 14, verse 11.
This whole section 13 to 16, isall in the upper room and Jesus
is making these promises.
Where he's hitting thehighlights Verse 11 of chapter
(22:44):
14.
Believe me that I am in theFather and the Father is in me.
Otherwise, believe because ofthe works themselves.
Truly, truly, I say to you, hewho believes in me, the works
that I do, he will do also, andgreater works than these he will
(23:05):
do because I go to the Father.
This has been confusing to somepeople who ask how could
anybody do greater works thanour Lord did when he banished
illness from the land of Israel?
How could anybody do that?
How could anybody do that?
Well, they couldn't do miraclesthat were more powerful.
(23:33):
They couldn't do miracles thatwere more supernatural.
It's not talking about thecharacter or nature of the
miracles, it's talking about thevolume.
It's talking about the volumeBecause I go to the Father.
(23:54):
Greater amounts of spiritualworks you will do.
You know that might seemstrange, but think about it this
way Jesus, at his ascension,met in the upper room with 120
(24:15):
disciples 120.
One chapter later, after thepreaching of Peter, one sermon,
there were 3,000 people added tothe church and baptized.
Immediately.
This prophecy was fulfilled.
If you look in Acts, chapter 4,you begin to see the pattern in
(24:36):
this marvelous book.
The Acts of the Apostles.
They were speaking to thepeople, Verse 1, priests and
captain of the temple guard andSadducees came upon them.
These are the apostles beinggreatly disturbed because they
were teaching the people andproclaiming in Jesus, the
resurrection from the dead.
They laid hands on them, putthem in jail until the next day,
(24:58):
for it was already evening.
But many of those who had heardthe message believed, and the
number of the men came to beabout 5,000, in addition to the
3,000.
That's a whole lot more than120 in the upper room.
What happened?
(25:19):
He said because I go to myFather, happen.
He said because I go to myFather, the works, the
supernatural works, will be evengreater and over.
(25:39):
In chapter 5, verse 12, at thehands of the apostles.
Many signs and wonders were now.
All of them were doing it,multiplying the work of Jesus by
the dozen.
They were all in one accord inSolomon's portico, None of us
dared to associate with him.
However, the people held themin high esteem and the more, all
the more believers in the Lord.
Multitudes of men and womenwere constantly added to their
(26:00):
number, to such an extent thatthey even carried the sick out
into the streets, laid them oncots and pallets, so that when
Peter came by, at least hisshadow might fall on any one of
them, and the people from thecities in the vicinity of
Jerusalem were coming together,bringing people who were sick or
afflicted with unclean spirits.
(26:21):
They were all being healed.
Greater works in extent.
This even extends to us,ephesians 3.20.
Now, unto him, who is able todo exceeding abundantly?
Above all, you can ask or thinkaccording to the power that
(26:41):
works in us.
Ask or think according to thepower that works in us.
We have amazing influence inthe world.
I think the best little versethat conveys that, at least in
(27:03):
my mind, is in 2 Corinthians 2.
You'll recognize it.
Thanks be to God.
Verse 14, who always triumph inChrist.
We live triumphant lives inChrist and manifest through us
the sweet aroma of the knowledgeof him in every place, for we
(27:25):
are a fragrance of Christ to God, among those who are being
saved and among those who areperishing.
To the one an aroma of death todeath, to the other an aroma of
life to life.
Who is adequate for thesethings, whose life can matter so
much that, wherever you go, youare a fragrance of Christ?
(27:49):
Don't be discouraged becauseI'm going, because I go to my
Father.
Influence of heaven will extendthrough the apostles and
through believers to follow evendown to this day.
We are the force that the Lorduses to bring about the greatest
(28:13):
miracle regeneration, and itrequires the gospel.
How will they believe if theyhaven't heard?
How will they hear without apreacher?
The fourth promise our Lordmakes love, heaven and spiritual
influence.
The fourth promise is provision, provision In chapter.
(28:42):
There's really two places.
Chapter 14, you call me, I'msorry, that's chapter 13.
Chapter 14, I'm sorry, that'schapter 13.
Chapter 14, I'm jumping aroundhere.
Chapter 14, verse 13 whateveryou ask in my name, that will I
do so that the Father may beglorified in the Son.
If you ask me anything in myname, I will do it.
(29:03):
That's a blank check, rightwith one provision that you ask
in his name.
Whatever you you ask, and herepeats it over in chapter 16
toward the end of his teachingthat night in the upper room,
verse 23 of chapter 16, in thatday you will not question me
(29:26):
about anything.
Truly, truly, I say to you notquestion me about anything.
Truly, truly, I say to you ifyou ask the Father for anything
in my name, he will give it toyou.
Until now, you have asked fornothing in my name.
Ask and you will receive, sothat your joy may be made full.
This is an incredible promise.
Anything, anything, anything inmy name.
(29:48):
What does in my name mean?
Well, sometimes we pray our ownrequests, obviously, and then
say, for Jesus' sake, amen.
We throw that in as if thatnecessarily applies.
To pray in his name is to prayconsistent with kingdom purposes
.
Is to pray consistent withkingdom purposes, to pray on the
(30:16):
basis of understanding hisdivine nature, in other words,
something that would beconsistent with his purpose,
consistent with his nature and,thirdly, contribute to his glory
.
In other words, your prayer isthis is to fulfill the purpose
(30:38):
for which Christ ordainedministry.
This is consistent with hisdivine nature and perfections
and it is for his glory.
If those three things are true,you have heaven's response.
(30:58):
You will receive what you ask.
Philippians 4.19 says and myGod will supply all your need
according to his riches in gloryin Christ Jesus, and that means
he doesn't give a skimpy amountbut a lavish amount.
You have everything you needthat is consistent with the
(31:23):
purpose, the nature and the willof Christ.
So if you're praying in hiswill, the floodgates of heaven
open to you.
Number five this is really themost important thing in one
sense is the promise of the HolySpirit.
(31:43):
Go over to chapter 14 and verse16.
I will ask the Father and he'llgive you helper and he may be
with you forever.
That is the Spirit of truthwhom the world cannot receive
because it does not see him orknow him.
(32:04):
But you know him because heabides with you and will be in
you.
Literally, I will send the HolySpirit to dwell within you, the
supernatural divine comforterthat's the word parakletos in
Greek to come alongside, to helpand notice.
(32:26):
He says another comforter,another parakletos.
That's very important becausethe word another is there are
two words in Greek.
One is heteros, another of adifferent kind.
This is alos, another of thesame kind.
That's why the Holy Spirit iscalled the Spirit of Christ,
(32:49):
because he is a member of theTrinity.
So what do you get?
Because I'm going to my Father,I'm going to send the Holy
Spirit.
He will abide with you foreverand he will be in you.
Acts 1.8 says after you havereceived the Holy Spirit, his
(33:09):
power will come upon you andyou'll be my witnesses across
the earth.
This is the gift that makes allother promises possible.
All other promises possible Inverse 17, the spirit of truth
(33:39):
whom the world cannot receive.
We have a supernaturalindwelling member of the Trinity
.
The world knows nothing aboutthat.
He is with us, he is in us, andverse 18 even ties it to Christ
(34:05):
himself.
I will not leave you as orphans, I will come.
Leave you as orphans, I willcome to you.
He comes in the form of theHoly Spirit, who is the Spirit
of Christ himself In chapter 16,look at verse 8.
(34:25):
When he comes, the helper ismentioned in verse 7, the Holy
Spirit.
If I go, he says I'll send himto you.
When I go, I'm going to sendhim.
When he comes, he will convictthe world concerning sin and
righteousness and judgment.
Concerning sin because they donot believe in me, and
(34:47):
concerning because I go to theFather and you no longer see me.
And concerning judgment,because the ruler of this world
has been judged.
This is an amazing promise.
Not only am I going to send theHoly Spirit to dwell in you we
have the record of that in Acts,chapter 2.
And every subsequent believeris the temple of the Holy Spirit
(35:10):
, but the Holy Spirit comes towork on the very people that we
are commissioned to reach.
He comes to convict the worldconcerning the sin of not
believing in Christ, concerninga faulty view of righteousness
(35:37):
and concerning judgment.
So the power of this sending ofthe Holy Spirit is on both
sides of the divine commission.
He lives in us and he convictsthe world and he convicts the
world.
He promises to love us forever,to take us to heaven, to make
(35:57):
our lives high impact.
He promises to supplyeverything we ask him for that's
consistent with his will, andto give us the Holy Spirit and
send the Holy Spirit to work onthe hearts of non-believers that
we endeavor to reach.
There's a sixth promise in thisupper room discourse and it is
(36:24):
also in chapter 14 and 16.
Chapter 14, verse 17.
Speaking of the helper, of theHoly Spirit, in verse 16,
chapter 14, verse 17.
Speaking of the helper, theHoly Spirit, in verse 16, I just
read this he is called theSpirit of Truth.
The Spirit of Truth.
The sixth promise is the promiseof truth, down to verse 26.
(36:47):
The helper, the Holy Spirit,whom the Father will send in my
name.
He will teach you all thingsand bring to your remembrance
all that I said to you.
This is the promise given tothe apostles that when they went
to writing the scripture, theywould be guided by the Holy
Spirit and because that was truefor them, we have received an
(37:15):
inerrant Bible.
We have the truth In chapter 16and verse 13,.
Again, when he, the spirit oftruth, comes, he will guide you
into all the truth.
He will not speak on his owninitiative, but whatever he
hears, he will speak and he willdisclose to you what is to come
.
He will glorify me, for he willtake of mine and disclose it to
(37:38):
you.
The Holy Spirit is the agentthat reveals scripture and
reveals in the true God andChrist as well.
The fruit of that is aninerrant scripture.
(37:59):
Men were moved by the Spirit ofGod to write the Word of God.
This is biblical revelation.
So these promises are massivelysignificant, but maybe none
more so than right at the middleof this, the Holy Spirit and
(38:23):
the Word.
But there's more the promise ofpeace, the promise of peace, the
promise of peace 1427.
Just to touch that verse PeaceI leave with you.
My peace I give to you.
(38:45):
Not as the world gives, notbased on circumstances, not as
the world gives do I give to you?
Not as the world gives, notbased on circumstances.
Not as the world gives do Igive to you.
Do not let your heart betroubled, nor let it be fearful.
And then in the final statement, chapter 16, verse 33.
(39:09):
These things I have spoken toyou, all of them really, in this
upper room discourse so that inme you may have peace In the
world.
You have tribulation, but takecourage.
I've overcome the world.
(39:34):
This is not only objected peacewith God, because we're no
longer at war with him.
We are now his children.
But this is subjective peace,the peace that passes
understanding, the peace thattranquilizes your heart in the
midst of this severest trial.
(39:55):
Number eight the promise offruit.
Chapter 15.
The Lord is talking about fruitin verse 5.
I am the vine, you are thebranches, he who abides in me
(40:21):
and I in him.
He bears much fruit, for apartfrom me you can do nothing.
Just to remind you, biblicalfruit is attitude, fruit of the
Spirit, love, joy, peace,gentleness, goodness, faith,
meekness, self-control andaction or behavior, the fruit of
(40:44):
giving, the fruit ofrighteousness, many kinds of
behavioral fruit.
So he says I promise, in givingyou the word and the spirit,
that you will produce fruit.
Verse 8, my father is glorifiedby this, that you bear much
(41:06):
fruit and so prove to be mydisciples.
There's a little shift innumber nine.
Going back to that same chapter, verse 18, chapter 15.
This is a promise.
(41:26):
If the world hates you, youknow that it has hated me for it
hated you let's say this is thepromise of refining.
Refining, if you're of theworld, the world will love its
own.
But because you're not of theworld, but I chose you out of
the world, because of this, theworld hates you.
(41:48):
Remember the word that I saidto you a slave is not greater
than his master.
If they persecuted me, theywill also persecute you.
If they kept my word, they willkeep yours also.
But all these things they shalldo to you for my name's sake,
(42:09):
because they do not know the onewho sent me".
This is refining.
Count it all joy when you fallinto various trials, because
they have a perfecting work.
You're not greater than yourmaster.
He was persecuted, you will bemaster.
(42:29):
He was persecuted, you will bepersecuted.
He was hated, you will be hated.
Some of you will even die.
Verse 25, jesus says they hatedme without a cause.
This is part of your spiritualdevelopment and something to be
thankful for because it yieldsthe fruit of righteousness.
(42:53):
And then a final promise thatsums it up, back in chapter 15,
verse 10, if you keep mycommandments, you will abide in
my love, just as I have kept myFather's commandments and abide
in His love.
These things I have spoken toyou so that my joy may be in you
(43:20):
and your joy may be made full.
Number 10, the promise of joy.
The promise of joy.
The promise of joy that eventakes us into chapter 16.
This is kind of the last onewe'll look at here, chapter 16,
(43:43):
verse 20.
Truly, truly, I say unto youyou will weep and lament, You'll
suffer and the world willrejoice.
You will grieve, but your griefwill be turned into joy.
(44:05):
Whenever a woman is in labor,she has pain because her hour
has come.
When she gives birth to thechild, she no longer remembers
the anguish because of the joythat a child has been born into
the world.
Therefore, you too have griefnow, but I will see you again
and your heart will rejoice andno one will take your joy from
you.
Everlasting joy.
(44:32):
When you think about what to bethankful for, think about the
promises of Christ, astonishingpromises.
All of them are the property,the privilege and the promise of
true believers.
This is why, no matter howchallenging life is, we must be
(45:03):
thankful.
Summing it up back toColossians 2.
Listen to this.
That their hearts verse 2, maybe encouraged, having been knit
(45:24):
together in love and attainingto all the wealth that comes
from a full assurance ofunderstanding, resulting in a
true knowledge of God'smysteries.
That is Christ himself, in whomare hidden all the treasures of
(45:44):
wisdom and knowledge.
These things are ours becauseChrist is ours.
In him are hidden all thetreasures of wisdom and
knowledge.
Everything comes to us in him.
(46:05):
Having Christ is having allthese promises to encourage us.
Let's bow in prayer.
Father, you know that we coulddig deeply into each of these,
(46:28):
but sometimes just the sweepingelements of divine grace granted
to unworthy sinners is morepowerful than any one single
(46:51):
grace.
For all these gifts, all thesepromises, we thank you, and
they're not something that wewill receive other than heaven.
They are something we havereceived.
It's all ours already.
The only thing awaiting us isthat final heaven of heavens,
(47:15):
but life for us in Christ andwith Christ in us is certainly a
heaven on earth.
We thank you for the love thatgranted us such great and
precious promises.
We offer you our thanks inChrist's name, amen.
Speaker 3 (47:39):
Hello, my name is Michelle Tolliver and Biblical
Talk's book offer for the monthof November is Fox's Book of
Martyrs by John Fox.
In 1563, john Fox published anaccount of the life of Christian
martyrs, beginning with Stephen, the first to die for the cause
of Christ, and ending with themost recent martyrs of his day,
protestants killed during BloodyMary's reign.
(48:00):
He knew that dangers lay inforgetting the martyrs and being
insensitive to their struggles.
They faced torture and death intheir fight of faith, willing
to stand for their beliefs andthe Word of God regardless of
the price.
The faithfulness of suchhistorical figures as John
Wycliffe, john Huss, martinLuther, william Tyndale and so
(48:21):
many others has given our richChristian heritage.
Their courage and dedicationinspire us to live for Christ
today.
Their courage and dedicationinspire us to live for Christ
today.
A good Christian is bound torelinquish not only goods and
children, but life itself forthe glory of his Redeemer.
Therefore, I am resolved tosacrifice everything in this
transitioning world for the sakeof salvation in a world that
(48:45):
will last to eternity.
For any amount of donation toBiblical Talks, we will send you
this book.
Please go to BiblicalTalkscomand click the Donate here tab.
Thank you for listening toBiblical Talks.
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