Living Successfully

Introduction: As we come to the fifteenth chapter of the book of John in our “Messages from John’s Gospel” series I remembered my first little book called Abiding Power based upon John 15. My son, Dennis, found a copy in my library (its’ the only copy left). The book is based upon a series of five sermons all centered upon John 15. and published in 1976. Upon reading the little book I was pleasantly surprised at the depth of theology, and the writing. I should not have been for the Gospel hasn’t changed and I guess I only imagine that I have. I’m not going to repeat the messages in Abiding Power because we always can see God’s word from different perspectives. But let’s look at the teaching of Jesus concerning successful living.

John 15:1 - 17 (NKJV) ¹“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. ²Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He ^takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. ³You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. ⁴Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. ⁵“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. ⁶If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. ⁷If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you^ will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. ⁸By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. ⁹“As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. ¹⁰If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. ¹¹“These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. ¹²This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. ¹³Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. ¹⁴You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. ¹⁵No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. ¹⁶You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. ¹⁷These things I command you, that you love one another.

1. Israel the Historical Vine

The metaphor of the vine is one that is used by God as a designation of the nation of Israel but strangely enough always in a negative way.

Jeremiah 2:21 (NKJV) ²¹ Yet I had planted you a noble vine, a seed of highest quality. How then have you turned before Me Into the degenerate plant of an alien vine?

Hosea 10:1 (NKJV) ¹ Israel empties his vine; He brings forth fruit for himself. According to the multitude of his fruit He has increased the altars; According to the bounty of his land They have embellished his sacred pillars.

Ezekiel 19:10 - 14 (NKJV) ¹⁰ ‘Your mother was like a vine in your ^bloodline, Planted by the waters, Fruitful and full of branches Because of many waters. ¹¹ She had strong branches for scepters of rulers. She towered in stature above the thick branches, And was seen in her height amid the dense foliage. ¹² But she was plucked up in fury, She was cast down to the ground, And the east wind dried her fruit. Her strong branches were broken and withered; The fire consumed them. ¹³ And now she is planted in the wilderness, In a dry and thirsty land. ¹⁴ Fire has come out from a rod of her branches And devoured her fruit, So that she has no strong branch—a scepter for ruling.’” This is a lamentation, and has become a lamentation.

ILL: Your blood line will not save you – it doesn’t matter what line you come from – you cannot depend upon the success of your fathers – You have to stand on your own!

Jesus is the true vine!

2. The way you become a useless branch

1. You can refuse Jesus Christ and the way of salvation

John 14:6 (NKJV) ⁶Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

2. You can render Him a lip service unsupported by a change

Romans 10:5 - 17 (NKJV) ⁵For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, “The man who does those things shall live by them.”^{ 6}But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’”^ (that is, to bring Christ down from above) ⁷or, “‘Who will descend into the abyss?’”^ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). ⁸But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”^ (that is, the word of faith which we preach): ⁹that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. ¹¹For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”^{ 12}For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. ¹³For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”^{ 14}How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? ¹⁵And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who ^preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!”^{ 16}But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?”^{ 17}So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

3. A vine that does not produce fruit is of no value

Ezekiel 15:1 - 5 (NKJV) ¹Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: ²“Son of man, how is the wood of the vine better than any other wood, the vine branch which is among the trees of the forest? ³Is wood taken from it to make any object? Or can men make a peg from it to hang any vessel on? ⁴Instead, it is thrown into the fire for fuel; the fire devours both ends of it, and its middle is burned. Is it useful for any work? ⁵Indeed, when it was whole, no object could be made from it. How much less will it be useful for any work when the fire has devoured it, and it is burned?

3. The only way you can produce fruit is by abiding!

1. You become like those you associate with

• Who are you intimate with? You will receive their spirit

ILL: Sampson and Delilah – Delilah was a prostitute – Sampson sold the anointing

2. How do you associate with Jesus?

2 Corinthians 3:12 - 18 (NKJV) ¹²Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech— ¹³unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away. ¹⁴But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. ¹⁵But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. ¹⁶Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. ¹⁷Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. ¹⁸But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

• Stay in the Word

Psalms 119:9 - 16 (KJV) ⁹ Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. ¹⁰ With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. ¹¹ Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. ¹² Blessed art thou, O LORD: teach me thy statutes. ¹³ With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth. ¹⁴ I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches. ¹⁵ I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways. ¹⁶ I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.

• Pray

John 14:12 - 14 (NKJV) ¹²“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. ¹³And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴If you ^ask anything in My name, I will do it.

4. Abiding is voluntary – pruning is a work He does!

ILL: I do not like to prune a plant. We have some roses and a long stem will shoot up with gorgeous leaves but it will never produce a rose because it is a sucker. It will suck the life out of the plant and cause it to produce small inferior roses. Grape vines have to be cut back. Vineyards will not allow grapes to form on a vine until it is a least 3 years old. In December or January the vine has to be cut back – new grapes will not come unless this is done.

Galatians 5:19 - 26 (NKJV) ¹⁹Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: ^adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, ²⁰idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, ²¹envy, ^murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. ²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. ²⁴And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. ²⁶Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

ILL: The natural things have to be cut off in order for the Spiritual fruit to grow!

ILL: Every work you do that is not for His kingdom will fail

1 Corinthians 3:9 - 15 (NKJV) ⁹For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. ¹⁰According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. ¹¹For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹²Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, ¹³each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. ¹⁴If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. ¹⁵If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

V. The signs of a successful life in Christ

John 15:11 - 17 (NKJV) ¹¹“These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. ¹²This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. ¹³Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. ¹⁴You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. ¹⁵No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. ¹⁶You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. ¹⁷These things I command you, that you love one another.

1. Joy!

“The Christian is the laughing cavalier of Christ”¹

There is no more harmful thing than the American legalism that had women wearing black and having a long sad face. What makes you think that people can go to a show or sporting event and be happy but they must not smile of laugh in church?

1 Barclay, William The Daily Study Bible,(Gospel of John Vol 2) p.206

Study in Haggai II

C. Paul Willis

Introduction:

In the last study we learned that the people (about 50,000) had returned and been given permission to rebuild the Temple but they had become discouraged and the foundations of the Temple remained empty. God told the ruler and priest through Haggai that the reason the people had not prospered is because they had neglected God. They began to respond to the message and God began to pour out blessings.

Haggai 2:1 - 9 (NKJV) ¹In the seventh month, on the twenty-first of the month, the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, saying: ²“Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, saying: ³‘Who is left among you who saw this ^temple in its former glory? And how do you see it now? In comparison with it, is this not in your eyes as nothing? ⁴Yet now be strong, Zerubbabel,’ says the Lord; ‘and be strong, Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; and be strong, all you people of the land,’ says the Lord, ‘and work; for I am with you,’ says the Lord of hosts. ⁵‘According to the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, so My Spirit remains among you; do not fear!’ ⁶“For thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; ⁷and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the ^Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the Lord of hosts. ⁸‘The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,’ says the Lord of hosts. ⁹‘The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘And in this place I will give peace,’ says the Lord of hosts.”

1. Words of Encouragement

1. God’s covenant still stands

Even though the times have been hard God is still in covenant: the seventh month, on the twenty-first of the month would have been the feast of Tabernacles – what a time to remind them that God was still in covenant? Many of the people remembered the early temple and the day in which it was burned – interesting fact that Titus of Rome burned the temple in 70AD on the same day in the same month!

2. The Temple was modest in comparison to Solomon’s Temple

³‘Who is left among you who saw this ^temple in its former glory? And how do you see it now? In comparison with it, is this not in your eyes as nothing?

3. Don’t let what you see defeat you!

⁴Yet now be strong, Zerubbabel,’ says the Lord; ‘and be strong, Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; and be strong, all you people of the land,’ says the Lord, ‘and work; for I am with you,’ says the Lord of hosts.

2 Corinthians 5:6 - 7 (NKJV) ⁶So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. ⁷For we walk by faith, not by sight.

D. “Be Strong”

Joshua 1:1 - 9 (NKJV) ¹After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying: ²“Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them—the children of Israel. ³Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses. ⁴From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory. ⁵No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. ⁶Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. ⁷Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. ⁸This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. ⁹Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Ephesians 6:10 - 20 (NKJV) ¹⁰Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. ¹¹Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. ¹²For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of ^the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. ¹³Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. ¹⁴Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; ¹⁶above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. ¹⁷And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; ¹⁸praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— ¹⁹and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

(Key to prosperity and to endurance in the faith)

2. Move to Messianic Message

⁶“For thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; ⁷and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the ^Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the Lord of hosts. ⁸‘The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,’ says the Lord of hosts. ⁹‘The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘And in this place I will give peace,’ says the Lord of hosts

Hebrews 12:25 - 29 (NKJV) ²⁵See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, ²⁶whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I ^shake not only the earth, but also heaven.”^{ 27}Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. ²⁸Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we ^may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. ²⁹For our God is a consuming fire.

1. I will “Sake the nations” He did - right after Haggai with the fall of the Medo/Persian Empire, the rise and fall of the Greek Empire and the rise of the Roman Empire. But Haggai is referring to the shaking that will occur just prior to the coming of Jesus Christ.

2. “They will come to the Lord”

3. The “Desire of All Nations” will come – the Second coming of Jesus

4. The Glory of “the latter temple” (The second temple received more glory with the coming of Jesus than when the Ark or the cloud of glory had come! The millennium temple prophesied by Ezekiel would physically be more glorious!

5. The wealth of the world and heaven belongs to God so He can use what ever He wants to use to build His temple and His Church!

6. A thousand years of peace will come

Conclusion: And it will happen! Why? The God who is a “consuming fire” said so!

Stop Being Troubled

John 14:1 - 31 (NKJV) ¹“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. ²In 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. ³And 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. ⁴And where I go you know, and the way you know.” ⁵Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” ⁶Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. ⁷“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” ⁸Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” ⁹Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰Do 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. ¹¹Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves. ¹²“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. ¹³And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴If you ^ask anything in My name, I will do it. ¹⁵“If you love Me, ^keep My commandments. ¹⁶And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— ¹⁷the 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. ¹⁸I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. ¹⁹“A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. ²⁰At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. ²¹He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” ²²Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?” ²³Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. ²⁴He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me. ²⁵“These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. ²⁶But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. ²⁷Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. ²⁸You have heard Me say to you, ‘I am going away and coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you would rejoice because ^I said, ‘I am going to the Father,’ for My Father is greater than I. ²⁹“And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe. ³⁰I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me. ³¹But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do. Arise, let us go from here.

Introduction:

They are a group of frightened, confused, distraught men who have at last become aware that their beloved Teacher and friend is going to die in the most gruesome way possible. Their hopes of a restored Israel were being smashed and the Sanhedrin had become their enemy. They were to be left alone, helpless and subject to the cruel opposition of those in authority. How could they even hope to survive? How could they do what He had commanded them to do?

1. The Command

John 14: ¹“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.

A. Worry over physical things

Luke 12:22 - 32 (NKJV) ²²Then He said to His disciples, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. ²³Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. ²⁴Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? ²⁵And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? ²⁶If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest? ²⁷Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ²⁸If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith? ²⁹“And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. ³⁰For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. ³¹But seek ^the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. ³²“Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

• Worry over physical things will keep you from giving

• Worry over physical things will keep farmers from planting seed

• Worry over physical things will keep people from investing

ILL; Worry is what drives the stock market down!

B. Anxiety about life

Philippians 4:4 - 8 (NKJV) ⁴Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! ⁵Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. ⁶Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; ⁷and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. ⁸Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

• Change the way you are thinking

• Turn anxiety into prayer

• Turn anxious thoughts into positive thoughts

C. Believe in – Trust Jesus

• He is the revelation

• He is the revealer

• He is the revealed

• Those who do not trust in Jesus trust in a non God!

II. The Magnitude of the Father’s House

John 14:2 - 4 (NKJV) ²In 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. ³And 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. ⁴And where I go you know, and the way you know.”

• There is room for you in the Father’s house

• There is provision for every need in the Father’s house

• Even if you die you have an eternal home in the Father’s house

• There is a prepared place for a prepared people

3. Jesus is coming back

Matthew 24:32 - 51 (NKJV) ³²“Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. ³³So you also, when you see all these things, know that ^it is near—at the doors! ³⁴Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. ³⁵Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. ³⁶“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of ^heaven, but My Father only. ³⁷But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. ³⁸For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, ³⁹and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. ⁴⁰Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. ⁴¹Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. ⁴²Watch therefore, for you do not know what ^hour your Lord is coming. ⁴³But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. ⁴⁴Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. ⁴⁵“Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? ⁴⁶Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. ⁴⁷Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods. ⁴⁸But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying ^his coming,’ ⁴⁹and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, ⁵⁰the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, ⁵¹and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

1. I believe it will be just as Jesus Said

   • There will be signs – and the re gathering of Israel is the major one

   • No one knows when it will happen

   • The will be a catching up

1 Thessalonians 4:13 - 18 (NKJV) ¹³But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. ¹⁴For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.^{ 15}For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. ¹⁶For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. ¹⁸Therefore comfort one another with these words.

B. Therefore I will not be anxious about my death - I will be resurrected!

C. Therefore I will not be anxious about my life – I will be “caught up!” The Christian cannot loose either way!

IV. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit

John 14:12 - 18 (NKJV) ¹²“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. ¹³And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴If you ^ask anything in My name, I will do it. ¹⁵“If you love Me, ^keep My commandments. ¹⁶And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— ¹⁷the 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. ¹⁸I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.

1. The Holy Spirit brings us to Christ

1 Corinthians 2:6 - 16 (NKJV) ⁶However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. ⁷But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, ⁸which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. ⁹But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”^{ 10}But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. ¹¹For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. ¹²Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. ¹³These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the ^Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. ¹⁴But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. ¹⁵But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. ¹⁶For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?”^ But we have the mind of Christ.

B. The Holy Spirit seals us to Christ

2 Corinthians 1:20 - 22 (NKJV) ²⁰For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us. ²¹Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, ²²who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

C. The Holy Spirit gives us peace in a troubled world

Romans 15:13 (NKJV) ¹³Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Conclusion:

John 14:25 - 27 (NKJV) ²⁵“These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. ²⁶But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. ²⁷Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

If I listened to the national news –Global warming is either going to cause us all to fry like a egg in a pan or freeze us in a gigantic ice age. Iran has nuclear missiles it is going to release in order to bring about Armageddon. Dirty bombs are going to fall into the hands of terrorists from Pakistan. Major shopping malls are expected to be the target of terrorists this Christmas shopping center. Terrorists are slipping in through our borders and are planning a major attack bigger than 9/11. My grand children are not safe in school for some crazy may start shooting up the place. The police are looking for someone who is breaking into the homes of elderly people killing old men (I am 75 my next birthday) and raping grandmothers (my wife is a grandmother)! If I did not know Jesus I would be terrified! Do you know Him? Are you walking will Him? Put your hands in the hands of the man from Galilee and you can stop being troubled.