0:00:00 - 0:00:24 In John 16, the Lord said, I have yet many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them. Now, howbeit when He the spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth for. He shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear that, shall He speak? And he will show you things to come. He 0:00:23 - 0:00:54 shall glorify me for he shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you. We could probably spend a month or more full time talking about these three verses. We don't have that kind of time here. No. So I want to focus some comments on a specific path through this and then we're going to read a lot of 0:00:54 - 0:01:33 scriptures here. What does it mean to glorify God? It means to make His goodness more apparent. Why does the comforter need to receive of mine, the Lords and show it unto you? Because you can't demonstrate something to others through yourself. If you are not already like that yourself, the first step 0:01:32 - 0:02:02 in demonstrating what God is like is to receive what He is like by becoming that way yourself. He shall not speak of himself but whatsoever he shall hear that, shall he speak? And he will show you things to come. So the Lord said many things where he applied the same pattern to himself. So in this relationship 0:02:01 - 0:02:29 , he's saying this is the relationship of the Holy Ghost to me. But in those other scriptures, he's saying this is the relationship of me to the father. So um we'll get to those. But remember that point when we do, I need to address one thing here, which is that when you read in the scriptures about 0:02:28 - 0:02:53 saying or hearing, speaking those words mean a lot more in the ancient languages than they do in English. If I, if I say you heard me, it just means that you perceived a noise, right? That I made. But in scriptural language, if, if we were to uh talk about God's word in hearing it or hearing a demonstration 0:02:52 - 0:03:25 or hearing a trumpet, even, it's not just that you heard a noise, it's that you um also recognized the information it conveyed. So if you just hear a noise, that's not the same as hearing words, right? So if someone's speaking, like I have a daughter who likes to speak quietly quickly and garbled and 0:03:25 - 0:03:43 uh I'll interrupt her and say, I have no idea what you're saying. Turn up the volume and slow down the speed. It's just AAA ritual at this point because it happens pretty much every day and she does. And um you know, she thinks very quickly and that's what's going on there. She's not used to the bandwidth 0:03:42 - 0:04:17 latency of human speech. Um Anyway, so, so to hear words, you actually have to understand the words, right? And then another level of hearing in scriptural parlance is obeying. So it's believing and doing. So, what about speaking? Similarly speaking is not what I'm doing now alone. It's everything you 0:04:17 - 0:04:40 do. And this is the meaning of what would otherwise be a mystery when Jesus said of every idle word shall man be held to account. An idle word isn't just you're off in a corner babbling to yourself. That that's not what he meant. He meant the actions that you do that are not focused on the greatest purpose 0:04:39 - 0:05:02 that you could have. We will be brought into judgment for those. Uh And I'll tell you how that's going to go. You're going to have a clear understanding of the, I should say you'll have an understanding of the value of the good. You could have done freed from the ability to lie to yourself about it as 0:05:02 - 0:05:34 you do now. So Jesus said that he had many things to say to. He was speaking to his apostles at the time, but that they were not prepared to hear them because they could not bear them. So they would have to wait until the spirit of truth came, who would guide them into all truth in the way that spirit 0:05:33 - 0:06:11 of truth would do. It would be by echoing, maybe is the best word to use. Echoing the things that he had, he had learned about Jesus. So this is much more than, um, just sort of parroting, mindlessly parroting things. So if, if I had a set of two walkie talkies and they had a distance of one mile and 0:06:11 - 0:06:31 I placed one of my Children with, I guess I'd need three walkie talkies. If I had one and I gave one each to two of my Children, I placed them one mile apart and my goal was to speak with the most distant child. And I told the middle child, here's what I need you to do everything you hear on this walkie 0:06:30 - 0:07:00 talkie. As soon as I get done speaking, I want you to repeat it verbatim to the other kid. That is not what this is saying. And we're going to get into this. He's saying he's going to receive of his by becoming of his. He's going to learn and live like the Lord. So that those who see that and hear it 0:07:00 - 0:07:29 and experience it, it will be like they're seeing, experiencing and um react uh interacting with the actual Lord. Let's continue John 1526 and 27. But when the comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the father, even the spirit of truth, which proceed from the father. He shall testify of me 0:07:28 - 0:07:57 and ye also shall bear witness because ye have been with me from the beginning, we need to talk about this word, uh, testify and witness and it's, it's one word in Greek. Mhm. Most often with our language limitations, it's that the English sense is so limited compared to the Hebrew or Greek and it's 0:07:57 - 0:08:23 been reduced down and you miss all those meanings and implications. This is one of few opposite relationships where we have multiple English words that um I'm sorry, one English word that has many meanings in the, the, I guess that is the same problem. I don't know what I'm talking about. Sorry. Anyway 0:08:22 - 0:08:48 , um This is a many, many to many. That's correct. So this is a many to many relationship where we have several English words that no, that is the same boy. I'm really botching this. Sorry about that. Yeah. Um the, the word in, in Greek for testify, it means a whole bunch of things. It, it's the same 0:08:48 - 0:09:40 word for my notes here. Oh jeez, where is it? It's a martyr. It's witness. It's provide evidence for, it's testify and demonstrate, it is really important. So demonstrate, testify, witness to provide evidence for all of that martyr. It's the same Greek word. So um when the Lord says that the spirit of 0:09:40 - 0:10:11 truth will testify of him and ye speaking to his apostles shall uh also shall bear witness because you have been with me from the beginning. He's not just saying the spirit of truth. And you will repeat the words that I've said. He's saying, you will demonstrate my example to others as I have demonstrated 0:10:10 - 0:10:43 my father to you. He's very, very plainly saying this in Greek. That's not an oxymoron because we have that phrase uh it's in Greek, but he's plainly saying this. And if you were to read it in the ancient language that we have it written in, in John 1515, he says all things that I have heard of. My father 0:10:43 - 0:11:13 , I have made known unto you again. He's not saying I wrote down every time God, the father spoke to me and I've read that transcript to you. He's saying I have lived here as a mortal person in this world exactly as my father would have if he were here. And why is that important? Because He says you 0:11:12 - 0:11:39 have been with me from the beginning. You have an example. You have three years of evidence of how I am in this environment and you are meant to be the same. And the reason for that is so that as other people see you, they will see me. Remember when he said, if you've seen me, you've seen the father 0:11:39 - 0:12:06 , that's what he was saying. You've been with me this long and you don't understand that. If you've seen me, you've seen the father, he lived his life so he could say that and you need to live your life. So you can say that too. That's what you are called to do as a disciple of Jesus Christ. He said 0:12:05 - 0:12:34 in John 826 I have many things to say and to judge of you. But he that sent me is true. And I speak to the world, those things which I have heard of him in Matthew 13, 16 and 17. He said, blessed are your eyes for, they see and your ears for they hear for verily, I say unto you that many prophets and 0:12:34 - 0:12:55 righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see and have not seen them and to hear those things which you hear and have not heard them. So if those people were righteous, why is it that they could not see those things? Why could they not go direct to God? This lovely phrase? We like to say 0:12:54 - 0:13:18 , you say, well, I'm glad someone's teaching about Jesus, but I'm just going to go direct to God because that's better. It is better. But if you could do that, why haven't you done it already? If that channel has something more to provide you than what you already have, why don't you already have it 0:13:18 - 0:13:51 ? If these men were righteous, why is it that the apostles were able to see and hear what they could not. The answer is because the Lord was there because that's when the Lord came and the Lord was showing them things that no one else could see or here without him being there. That's why. And this is 0:13:51 - 0:14:23 why he said so many things about the importance of noticing when the kingdom of Heaven is nigh or when there is a demonstration of a greater uh quantity for lack of a better word of Christ. She now he said while I am in the world, I am the light of the world. But I have to go back to the father and you 0:14:23 - 0:14:56 will be the light of the world. That's what he said to the apostles. That was their call. And so jumping back to John 1527 and ye also shall bear witness because ye have been with me from the beginning. Now I'm just gonna throw this out here because it's appropriate if the comforter exists, why are these 0:14:55 - 0:15:20 apostles necessary? Because there are qualifications to receive the spirit and even people who are worthy of that. And it's on a gradient. It's not binary, it's not an on and off light switch. It's a, it's a dimmer switch, even people who are worthy of that. So there's some light in there. The dimmer 0:15:19 - 0:15:46 is moving a little, they still have tremendous limitations in what they're willing to receive content. So topics volume price, willing to pay amount of suffering, they're willing to go through the hunger and thirst that they have. For greater truth, someone can be totally reconciled to God as far as 0:15:46 - 0:16:10 they know him and just not be very hungry for more. They can be completely satiated and that's perfectly acceptable. There's no sin in that. So, if there's a tremendous cost to get the next increment of truth, a person who already feels like they're in the rest of the, the Lord is not going to bother 0:16:09 - 0:16:37 . They're just gonna feel great. Just like retired people who are really retired and comfortably retired. They don't work anymore, do they? They don't say well, I've got enough. But yeah, whatever. I'm just gonna keep killing myself at work. Where's the steel mill? I need something to do. So what does 0:16:37 - 0:17:04 it actually mean to be sent by God? Because Jesus said um to his apostles, he said, you also shall bear witness because you have been with me from the beginning. What does it mean to be sent from God? Jesus many times. He described himself as sent from God. And so that must be important to understand 0:17:03 - 0:17:32 . He wouldn't have said it so often in John 842 he said, if God were your father, you would love me for, I proceeded forth and came from God, neither came I of myself, but he sent me. So the, the principle he was, he was teaching here is that our reaction to people who are more like Jesus than we are 0:17:31 - 0:00:00 or in this case, more like the father than they were. It accurately predicts how we feel about Him. This is a shocker for people because they think these things are independent and just because they often are because very few people are actually like Jesus. It doesn't mean that that's the principle. 0:00:00 - 0:18:23 The principle is if God were your father, you would love those who are more like him than you. And if you don't, then the devil is your father. And that's what he told. Those folks in John eight. John 1627 says for the father himself loveth you because ye have loved me and have believed that I came out 0:18:22 - 0:18:46 from God. You see it's the repetition of this theme. And we have this is an if and only if we have it in both directions. If you love God, you love those who are more like him than you. And uh if you do that, sorry, I I this isn't actually the verse that shows the other way. I'm sorry, th those exist 0:18:46 - 0:19:14 . But if you do that, he will love you because you love the ones who are more like Him than you. But this writer is on both of them. You've believed that I came out from God. Uh I proceeded forth and came from God, neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Now, Jesus was born to earth as a baby. And 0:19:14 - 0:19:38 when we think of God sending people, we think of shrink wrapped adults who are like pod people and they suddenly come on the scene like John the Baptist uh baptizing people in the wilderness and no one ever knew about this guy before kind of thing. But people are born, mortal beings are born here and 0:19:38 - 0:20:04 they grow up. And, um, we have many stories of people that knew Jesus growing up who were quite surprised by his mortal ministry. And there are many important things to understand about that. But the point is that he called his process coming from God coming out from God. Now, one of the, the word used 0:20:03 - 0:20:34 in, in the phrase sent from God, it's a Greek word that means not just to send which it's like OK, translation. That's pretty direct. Check out the level of detail in this word. It's to transmit by thrusting in. We don't have a word for that. OK. And you could be thinking of like uh I don't have an old 0:20:33 - 0:21:02 school headphone jack here, but like, you know, transmit by thrusting in to plug in and then you transmit things. But in an ancient sense, I can't think of what this word could mean except in a sexual sense if you get my drift. So um to transmit by thrusting in, this is very interesting and I don't want 0:21:01 - 0:21:28 to get too far off topic. But, and in the Aztec culture is one of many where they did human sacrifices. And it's, it's important to understand they cut people's hearts out while they're still alive and they did it using an implement. It was a flint knife that's important. And on several of the few that 0:21:28 - 0:21:52 survived till today, these, these ceremonial knives, on several of them, the handle is made. It's a man. It's a man who's prostrate. He's kneeling down on all fours and the knife is coming out here. So you can't really see because he's crouched down like he's praying almost, but his head is forward like 0:21:52 - 0:22:21 this. And so his head is facing down the blade and his whole body is oriented towards the knife point. But there's something phallic about that knife. Although you can't see where it's coming from. It, it lines up, OK. There's extreme meaning in that. That was a holdover from a lost filament of truth 0:22:21 - 0:22:54 to cut out a living heart with a stone knife, flint so sharper than a razor. And you make it by hitting it a, an extremely skilled craftsman who does nothing but this for his whole life hits that thing until it's razor sharp and it's a man holding the knife held in the hand of a, of a mortal man. Um 0:22:53 - 0:23:19 This is all very important anyway, uh to, to transmit by thrusting in OK. And then the phrase came from God is another Greek word and it means a lot of things and it's, you'll see this. There are many English words that are, are uh exceedingly common and have several senses. And this makes it kind of 0:23:19 - 0:23:54 difficult to figure out what's going on. But amongst its numerous senses is, it's, it's to come from, to depart, to escape, to get out uh to spread abroad to go. But Jesus is use from this and the phrase came from God. It means to be one who is more like God than you because he was or is with him more 0:23:53 - 0:24:31 than you and follows the example he's shown. So when Jesus said he came from God, he wasn't just saying God sent me here that sent from God is a different phrase. It means to transmit by thrusting in like a knife or like impregnating someone to come from God is a description of what happened before we 0:24:31 - 0:25:15 read in the beginning of John, we read, yeah, she just pulled up. Oops, sorry, autocomplete in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. Could that be any clearer than what we're talking about? Ok. So another phrase that's used 0:25:15 - 0:25:48 in the scriptures, that means the same thing but people don't get it is to be a son of that Greek word is Fios hu I os and it means much more than to be the the son of as we would say, this is my son. It's too, it's to live so that you have a legal claim on everything that is your father's. And you think 0:25:47 - 0:26:09 about this in the sense of being a king, a king inherits his father, a prince. Inherits his father's kingdom by virtue of him being the oldest son and not getting killed by anybody in the process. Before it happens, a son of God inherits the throne of his father through being like him. Because the throne 0:26:08 - 0:26:45 that God sits on, it's a throne of righteousness. His character is, what empowers Him, how he is is what yields everything we know about Him. You can't separate his power from his character. So what does it take to be a son or a daughter of God? You have to be more like him than you are? All right. Now 0:26:45 - 0:27:11 , here's a fun one, John 818. He says I am one that bear witness of myself. So the the Jews were criticizing him because they said uh you're the only one that testifies of what you say. And the law says that every truth has to be established by two or three witnesses. And so he in one part, he pointed 0:27:10 - 0:27:29 out how John had testified of him. But here he says, I am one that bear witness of myself. In other words, there's one and the father that sent me beareth witness of me, which makes two. Now this is super interesting because in another place he says, you can't hear the father because you're not like 0:27:29 - 0:28:02 him. So what good is a witness that can't be seen or heard by those he's testifying to. And this is where we all come in. The father testifies of the truth. But people can't hear his voice because they're not like Him. The sun testifies of truth. But while people are not like Him, they can't hear his 0:28:02 - 0:28:32 voice either. The Holy Ghost testifies of truth. But there is a standard of worthiness to hear the Holy Ghost more than what is given to every man, the measure given to every man. So who does that leave? It leaves the people who are here mortals us. And what is the objective to help people learn enough 0:28:31 - 0:00:00 about God and live that way so that they're worthy of the Holy Ghost? And then once they go through that gate to obliterate the barriers they have and what they're willing to hear from the Holy Ghost or willing to do in response to what they hear. It's quite simple, right? No one lives this way yet. 0:00:00 - 0:29:32 I should say very, very, very few, but it's quite simple. All right. So now, um I'm sorry, I skipped one going back to the whole idea of Son or daughter of God. Here it is in a nutshell. John 829 the Lord says He that sent me is with me. Remember to be sent by God is to transmit by thrusting in the Father 0:29:31 - 0:29:59 hath not left me alone for. I do always those things that please Him. What an interesting idea. You would probably read that and take it to mean that God will be with you. He will come and visit you externally. If you do what pleases him all the time, whether or not that's the case. It is certainly the 0:29:59 - 0:30:26 case that if you do what he would do in your place all the time and that's what it takes to please him, then he is with you because you are like him internally. He is with you or he is in you and you are in him. All of these things seem like cryptic phrases and we fool ourselves into thinking we know 0:30:25 - 0:30:41 what they mean because we've become familiar with them. We just sort of gloss over and say, yeah, well, I've heard that a million times. I know what that means. No, you don't. First off ask yourself how you'd explain it to a seven year old, then ask yourself how you to explain it to a seven year old 0:30:41 - 0:31:06 who'd never heard about God. If you can't do that, then you don't, you don't understand what it means. But beyond that, beyond that, these things are not cryptic statements, they are literal descriptions of the truth. And we've made them more cryptic than they actually are as a protection against having 0:31:05 - 0:31:30 to do what they actually say. And that's been done culturally over time. It's not just any individual that's watching this, who's done that, but we all take part in it. So part of what this knife does is it cuts through all the nonsense and it says, no, no, this is what it really says, that's a sort 0:31:30 - 0:32:05 of truth as well. By the way, in case you didn't make that connection. OK. So he that sent me is with me, what you have in this is a chain. It's a chain along which transmits the word of God. And it comes down like like an irrigation system to get water down to the place where a seed is planted. And 0:32:05 - 0:32:33 all along the way, this is the true vine all along the way. There are branches and the branches get more narrow as you go and the fruits at the end of the line. All right. So when Jesus speaks of bearing witness of himself and the father bearing witness of him, this is a very important pattern, God is 0:32:33 - 0:32:57 impartial. And so if you do the same things, you'll have the same results. What would it mean first off for God to bear witness of you? What would it mean for God to bear witness of you in a narrow sense? Maybe you could think of John, the Baptist saying about Jesus. This is the Son of God. This is the 0:32:57 - 0:33:26 one we've been waiting for. This is the one that I was sent to prepare a people for. And that's true. You, you will have others point to your demonstration of God. And that's very important because in that case, uh for example, no one else had what it took to identify Jesus as the Son of God that was 0:33:26 - 0:33:49 John's mission and he provided a service to all the people who saw the light in John but would not have otherwise seen it in Jesus. And that has to do with the windows of truth or windows of value idea that I've taught you before. You just can't see very much light beyond what you already have. Intermediaries 0:33:48 - 0:34:14 are needed to create the chain that gives you a way to see more light. Um I can't quote it from memory but um in the temple where Jesus was presented as a baby or maybe it was what the angel said to John the Baptist. It was prob uh his father Zachariah to announce the coming birth of John the Baptist 0:34:14 - 0:34:34 . There's a very interesting phrase used describing the mission of Jesus in terms of, of making the light available in the world. And it's a beautiful thing. Uh If I could pause the video, I'd go look it up and, and get it to you. But I can't, I can only stop it. Computers are amazing and also very limited 0:34:34 - 0:35:11 . It's annoying. Um But but there are other more common and maybe more important ways that the father will bear witness of you under these circumstances. So remember the broader definition, martyr, testify, provide evidence for demonstrate, etc how can the father do these things for you? Well, he could 0:35:11 - 0:35:46 cause you to work miracles. He could put you in situations that glorify him that demonstrate the power. He has to provide enduring joy, in spite of unprecedented unimaginable pain and challenge. He could provide unbelievable solutions to problems that were previously regarded as impossible. He could 0:35:45 - 0:36:23 give you wisdom beyond what anyone else has on a topic or in the case of the two people described this way in scripture, Solomon. And of course, Jesus, greater wisdom than anyone has. He can give you the opportunity to show greater love and how would this happen? He would publicly subject you to greater 0:36:22 - 0:36:54 hate and mistreatment than anyone in that local setting or however broad it might be. But, but whoever saw it, it would surpass what they're familiar with. And then as you forgive those people because God has forgiven you, you will show them that that is possible and you will glorify the Father. Now 0:36:53 - 0:37:33 , how do you bear witness of yourself? Well, you can do it quite literally by saying as Jesus did many times, I do everything that the Lord the Father would want me to do. And that's all I do. You could say I do not sin. But in the broader sense of the word to bear witness, you would fully live the example 0:37:33 - 0:38:06 that you've been shown. That's how you witness of yourself, you say, but that's witnessing of God. Yes. But if he is in you and you are in Him, they are the same Jesus said many things about himself and he also never said anything about himself how can this be true? Because everything he said about himself 0:38:05 - 0:38:35 was also true of the father. Do you get it when he brought attention to himself? It was only like lighting a fire to bring heat. He was consuming the thing that was closer his mortal life in order to help them gain access to something greater. If someone was more willing to see an example in a mortal 0:38:35 - 0:39:03 than they were to believe the example in the Father himself, he would use that. That's one of the main reasons that he allowed himself to be nailed to a cross. When people looked at that, they said this man hasn't done anything wrong and yet he's being punished with the greatest punishment I can think 0:39:02 - 0:39:33 of. Did they have any idea of the good he had actually done or the price he had actually paid? No, they were clueless. But it was still demonstrated down on a level that they could perceive. And that's the power of bearing witness of yourself. If you need to do that to help glorify God, then you should 0:39:32 - 0:40:06 . And Jesus showed that there are times when that's exactly what's called for. It also goes to show that anyone who would criticize someone for doing that as an example of something that God would never do or that could never be acceptable to God obviously does not know Him. John 1249 says for I have 0:40:06 - 0:40:32 not spoken of myself, but the Father which sent me. He gave me a commandment, what I should say and what I should speak. There you go. So he says, I bear witness of myself, but I have not spoken of myself. Contradiction. No. And and again, calling back words, I spoke before about this meaning of hearing 0:40:31 - 0:40:57 and speaking and you can lump commandment into that. It doesn't just mean here's a rule that someone wrote down when Jesus says that the father gave him a commandment, what he should say and what he should speak, he is saying that the father taught him enough about himself that he has an idea of what 0:40:57 - 0:41:22 he would do in his place. That is the commandment. That is what he should say and what he should speak, there are a lot of language limits if you think about the time and where the scriptures were spoken. Basically, the audience was a uh a whole lot of uh illiterate peasants. There were exceptions among 0:41:22 - 0:41:48 them. Sure. But that was the general population back then. And so it's really hard to convey rich ideas to in a way that those kinds of people are going to understand. Maybe if you were to speak this today, he'd say something like the father has helped me build a model of what he is like. And that's 0:41:47 - 0:42:14 what I live according to. And if people understand um statistics or machine learning, they would get what that means very clearly. So uh the Lord made very clear that as we demonstrate, him, people will treat us as they would treat him. I alluded to this earlier. But here's some two more verses about 0:42:14 - 0:42:37 it. Jesus said unto them. If God were your father. Oh I already I already said that one. Actually, I'm sorry. Um I think I did. I did. Here's another one, John 1424. He that loveth me. Not keepeth not my sayings and the word which he hear is not mine, but the father's which sent me. There's the opposite 0:42:36 - 0:42:56 . I told you existed there more than just that he that loveth me. Not keepeth not my sayings and the word which you hear is not mine but the fathers which sent me. He's saying if you don't keep what I'm telling you, you're disobeying the father. And this is the same. There are so many examples of things 0:42:56 - 0:43:19 that Jesus said that we put up on a pedestal as we should. But the second half of that is us to rise to that ourselves. Much of what Jesus said, we were meant to be able to say ourselves. He wasn't saying them as the one and only begotten son of the father. He was saying them as a son of God as we are 0:43:18 - 0:43:42 all called to be. And as we grow towards his example, we have to be able to say these things. But what, how would we react to this if someone came along saying these things, we'd write them off as obviously a crazy person. This person obviously isn't from God because what they're saying, oh, we would 0:43:42 - 0:44:11 never say that that's not righteous. It should be the opposite. If someone's not saying this, they are not from God, they can say this and be lying or be mistaken, it's necessary but insufficient. If someone can't say these things, then you should not take them as your teacher because they don't know 0:44:11 - 0:44:44 God more than you do if they did. They wouldn't be afraid to say so because they would know that they have to in order to glorify Him. John 1036 say ye of Him whom the father hath sanctified and sent into the world? Thou blasphemous because I said I am the Son of God again. You read this and you think 0:44:43 - 0:45:10 , well, yeah, because he was Jesus. Of course he said this because he got in trouble. If you don't remember for saying that he was the son of God, which now you understand much more clearly what he meant. And you say, well, of course, it wasn't blasphemy for the Lord to say he was the son of God. But 0:45:10 - 0:45:44 don't you get how this is true of anyone. He has sent anyone he has sent, has a duty to testify of what they're sent to testify of which doesn't just mean say words, it means to be to live. It's not a sin to claim that you are an example of how Jesus is. That, that's what we're commanded to do. It's 0:45:43 - 0:46:22 literally what it means to be a disciple. It's a meaning of the word we talk about apostles. Modern apostles say things like I'm special because I have a permission slip from God. They do not say I am more like God than you. But the definition of the word is one cent, one cent. And so if they have not 0:46:21 - 0:46:58 become more like God, what are they actually offering you? And how can they be apostles to be an apostle? Is to be an example of Christ, not just to talk about what that might be like for someone to be, but to be that way and to invite others to be the same. John 1725 the Lord says, o righteous father 0:46:57 - 0:47:24 , the world hath not known thee but I've known thee. And these have known that thou hast sent me. He's praying for the sake of the apostles. And he says, I've known thee and these apostles, they know that you sent me. That's the whole verse. Why do you think that this credential of them knowing that 0:47:24 - 0:47:50 the Father sent Jesus? Why does that mean anything? Why is Jesus offering this up as a reason for which this is what he's praying for. The Father will now protect, take over this role of protecting the apostles from what is beyond what they can handle. He had that role and he's leaving And so he's asking 0:47:49 - 0:48:20 the father to take care of them after he's gone and he offers up as justification for his request. The fact that they have known that the father sent Jesus. That's not just, oh I believe that this guy Jesus came from the father as we would use those words. It's to recognize and they even said on one 0:48:20 - 0:48:48 . Now, we know that you came, we know of a surety that you came from the Father. They say that in the book of John, why was this such a big deal? What did it consist in? Well, how would you have to treat someone if in order to say that you believed that that the father has sent them or that they came 0:48:48 - 0:49:24 from the father? Those are two different ideas. How would you have to treat them? Did the apostles treat Jesus that way? They certainly didn't at the beginning. So there's a do I have it here? Um When his other disciples were fleeing from him because he was teaching them hard things that were actually 0:49:24 - 0:49:46 demonstrations of greater love because they more fully revealed how the father was and their responsibility to be like that, they fled from him. And he said to his apostles, will you flee from me too? And this is when Peter said, where will we go? You have the words of eternal life. That's an example 0:49:45 - 0:50:23 of how you would treat Jesus. If you really believe that he came from and was sent from the father. So as you respond to the example of Christ by becoming like Christ, you will become agents to help others learn and become more like Jesus and you'll do it primarily through your demonstration. Not just 0:50:23 - 0:51:09 what you say. This is how well there's a scripture for that. Um Sorry, I just lost my place. John 2021 then said Jesus to them again, peace be unto you as my father hath sent me even so send I you, you cannot learn more about how Jesus is without the duty to live that way yourself and that can't happen 0:51:08 - 0:51:38 without the duty to help others perceive receive value and live it themselves. We come to know Jesus through knowing, coming to know people who are more like him than us. In John 1725 we read, oh righteous father, the world hath not known thee but I've known thee. And these have known that thou has sent 0:51:37 - 0:52:03 me just as we read before the world hath not known me. How did they come to know him through knowing people that are more like him? And then they come up to the point where they can see more of him. Now, um There's a very important topic to understand here that we can't go into for now. But any of those 0:52:03 - 0:52:30 who would, who would uh resist this point that I'm making by saying yes, but I do have experiences directly with God. I would just say, how do you know that? And you'd react to this by getting flustered, but just calm down if angels speak by um the Holy ghost and the Holy ghost only testifies of the 0:52:29 - 0:52:59 Son and the Son only testifies of the Father. How could you distinguish between an angel, the holy ghost, the Son and the Father in what you say is God speaking to you. So there is no answer to that because you don't, the, the only way you can differentiate an angel from the, from uh I'll just say someone 0:52:58 - 0:53:23 greater is to be that greater person yourself, to be a greater person yourself. You can only resolve what lies below you in the hierarchy of the kingdom of God. That's a true principle. That's why there are two different devices in the Book of Revelation discussed as a means of revealing things. One 0:53:22 - 0:53:47 is the the sphere on which you stand and the other is a white stone that's given to you. And the one reveals all things below you and the other reveals all things above you. You, you only have resolution on what lies below you. In the Kingdom of God, you can only see just beyond where you stand. And 0:53:46 - 0:54:13 so if you were to stand well, we'll leave it at that. I will teach this more fully later. And with better evidence, I'm just addressing a, a something that someone will be thinking. OK. So, so as we respond by becoming like him, we'll we'll become agents to help others learn and become more like him 0:54:13 - 0:54:41 . And this is how we all come to a unity in Christ. A lot more needs to be said about that, but not today, John 1721 that they all may be one as thou father art in me and I in thee that they also may be one in us that the world may believe that thou has sent me a lot more needs to be said about that 0:54:40 - 0:55:18 . This is how we love others as Jesus loves us and how he loved us. Matthew 1039 says he that find eth his life shall lose it and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it literally to replace everything about you. That is how you define yourself with everything that you learn about Jesus to 0:55:18 - 0:55:52 lose your life for his sake. And what do you find? You don't find your old life again. You find eternal life that is much better. You'll like it a lot more. I promise John 1513, greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends. What is the most valuable gift that the Lord 0:55:52 - 0:56:17 gives us? It's eternal life. How does he do it? I should say the father, what's the most valuable gift the father gives us eternal life? How does he do it? He sends his son to the world to show us what he is like so that we can follow that example that we would not know about in any other way. We could 0:56:17 - 0:56:56 not know about what's the greatest gift that we can give anyone whatever we can that helps them obtain eternal life. How do you do that? You lay down your life and you pick up his and everything you receive from the Lord. You turn around and you give it to as many people as we take it mark 1045. For 0:56:56 - 0:57:24 even the son of man came not to be ministered unto but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many John 15 9 as the father hath loved me. So have I loved you continue ye in my love, John 1510. If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love even as I have kept my father's commandments 0:57:23 - 0:57:47 and abide in his love. Remember what we remember what we said about commandments? Another way you could say this is if you live according to the example that I've given you, I can back up one. Here's a rendition of John 15 just right off the top of my head as the father demonstrated himself to me. So 0:57:47 - 0:58:24 I have demonstrated the father to you continue in demonstrating how we are to others. If you live as I would in your place, you will abide in seeing more of how I would live in your place, even as I live, as the father would in my place. And he shows me more of what he would do in my place. That is not 0:58:23 - 0:58:58 a translation, but I'm trying to make more clear at least one of the key messages of what he was saying there, John 1512, just a few verses later. This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. So I think we can wrap this up be agents of Jesus Christ by learning how he is and living 0:00:00 - 0:00:24 In John 16, the Lord said, I have yet many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them. Now, howbeit when He the spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth for. He shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear that, shall He speak? And he will show you things to come. He 0:00:23 - 0:00:54 shall glorify me for he shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you. We could probably spend a month or more full time talking about these three verses. We don't have that kind of time here. No. So I want to focus some comments on a specific path through this and then we're going to read a lot of 0:00:54 - 0:01:33 scriptures here. What does it mean to glorify God? It means to make His goodness more apparent. Why does the comforter need to receive of mine, the Lords and show it unto you? Because you can't demonstrate something to others through yourself. If you are not already like that yourself, the first step 0:01:32 - 0:02:02 in demonstrating what God is like is to receive what He is like by becoming that way yourself. He shall not speak of himself but whatsoever he shall hear that, shall he speak? And he will show you things to come. So the Lord said many things where he applied the same pattern to himself. So in this relationship 0:02:01 - 0:02:29 , he's saying this is the relationship of the Holy Ghost to me. But in those other scriptures, he's saying this is the relationship of me to the father. So um we'll get to those. But remember that point when we do, I need to address one thing here, which is that when you read in the scriptures about 0:02:28 - 0:02:53 saying or hearing, speaking those words mean a lot more in the ancient languages than they do in English. If I, if I say you heard me, it just means that you perceived a noise, right? That I made. But in scriptural language, if, if we were to uh talk about God's word in hearing it or hearing a demonstration 0:02:52 - 0:03:25 or hearing a trumpet, even, it's not just that you heard a noise, it's that you um also recognized the information it conveyed. So if you just hear a noise, that's not the same as hearing words, right? So if someone's speaking, like I have a daughter who likes to speak quietly quickly and garbled and 0:03:25 - 0:03:43 uh I'll interrupt her and say, I have no idea what you're saying. Turn up the volume and slow down the speed. It's just AAA ritual at this point because it happens pretty much every day and she does. And um you know, she thinks very quickly and that's what's going on there. She's not used to the bandwidth 0:03:42 - 0:04:17 latency of human speech. Um Anyway, so, so to hear words, you actually have to understand the words, right? And then another level of hearing in scriptural parlance is obeying. So it's believing and doing. So, what about speaking? Similarly speaking is not what I'm doing now alone. It's everything you 0:04:17 - 0:04:40 do. And this is the meaning of what would otherwise be a mystery when Jesus said of every idle word shall man be held to account. An idle word isn't just you're off in a corner babbling to yourself. That that's not what he meant. He meant the actions that you do that are not focused on the greatest purpose 0:04:39 - 0:05:02 that you could have. We will be brought into judgment for those. Uh And I'll tell you how that's going to go. You're going to have a clear understanding of the, I should say you'll have an understanding of the value of the good. You could have done freed from the ability to lie to yourself about it as 0:05:02 - 0:05:34 you do now. So Jesus said that he had many things to say to. He was speaking to his apostles at the time, but that they were not prepared to hear them because they could not bear them. So they would have to wait until the spirit of truth came, who would guide them into all truth in the way that spirit 0:05:33 - 0:06:11 of truth would do. It would be by echoing, maybe is the best word to use. Echoing the things that he had, he had learned about Jesus. So this is much more than, um, just sort of parroting, mindlessly parroting things. So if, if I had a set of two walkie talkies and they had a distance of one mile and 0:06:11 - 0:06:31 I placed one of my Children with, I guess I'd need three walkie talkies. If I had one and I gave one each to two of my Children, I placed them one mile apart and my goal was to speak with the most distant child. And I told the middle child, here's what I need you to do everything you hear on this walkie 0:06:30 - 0:07:00 talkie. As soon as I get done speaking, I want you to repeat it verbatim to the other kid. That is not what this is saying. And we're going to get into this. He's saying he's going to receive of his by becoming of his. He's going to learn and live like the Lord. So that those who see that and hear it 0:07:00 - 0:07:29 and experience it, it will be like they're seeing, experiencing and um react uh interacting with the actual Lord. Let's continue John 1526 and 27. But when the comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the father, even the spirit of truth, which proceed from the father. He shall testify of me 0:07:28 - 0:07:57 and ye also shall bear witness because ye have been with me from the beginning, we need to talk about this word, uh, testify and witness and it's, it's one word in Greek. Mhm. Most often with our language limitations, it's that the English sense is so limited compared to the Hebrew or Greek and it's 0:07:57 - 0:08:23 been reduced down and you miss all those meanings and implications. This is one of few opposite relationships where we have multiple English words that um I'm sorry, one English word that has many meanings in the, the, I guess that is the same problem. I don't know what I'm talking about. Sorry. Anyway 0:08:22 - 0:08:48 , um This is a many, many to many. That's correct. So this is a many to many relationship where we have several English words that no, that is the same boy. I'm really botching this. Sorry about that. Yeah. Um the, the word in, in Greek for testify, it means a whole bunch of things. It, it's the same 0:08:48 - 0:09:40 word for my notes here. Oh jeez, where is it? It's a martyr. It's witness. It's provide evidence for, it's testify and demonstrate, it is really important. So demonstrate, testify, witness to provide evidence for all of that martyr. It's the same Greek word. So um when the Lord says that the spirit of 0:09:40 - 0:10:11 truth will testify of him and ye speaking to his apostles shall uh also shall bear witness because you have been with me from the beginning. He's not just saying the spirit of truth. And you will repeat the words that I've said. He's saying, you will demonstrate my example to others as I have demonstrated 0:10:10 - 0:10:43 my father to you. He's very, very plainly saying this in Greek. That's not an oxymoron because we have that phrase uh it's in Greek, but he's plainly saying this. And if you were to read it in the ancient language that we have it written in, in John 1515, he says all things that I have heard of. My father 0:10:43 - 0:11:13 , I have made known unto you again. He's not saying I wrote down every time God, the father spoke to me and I've read that transcript to you. He's saying I have lived here as a mortal person in this world exactly as my father would have if he were here. And why is that important? Because He says you 0:11:12 - 0:11:39 have been with me from the beginning. You have an example. You have three years of evidence of how I am in this environment and you are meant to be the same. And the reason for that is so that as other people see you, they will see me. Remember when he said, if you've seen me, you've seen the father 0:11:39 - 0:12:06 , that's what he was saying. You've been with me this long and you don't understand that. If you've seen me, you've seen the father, he lived his life so he could say that and you need to live your life. So you can say that too. That's what you are called to do as a disciple of Jesus Christ. He said 0:12:05 - 0:12:34 in John 826 I have many things to say and to judge of you. But he that sent me is true. And I speak to the world, those things which I have heard of him in Matthew 13, 16 and 17. He said, blessed are your eyes for, they see and your ears for they hear for verily, I say unto you that many prophets and 0:12:34 - 0:12:55 righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see and have not seen them and to hear those things which you hear and have not heard them. So if those people were righteous, why is it that they could not see those things? Why could they not go direct to God? This lovely phrase? We like to say 0:12:54 - 0:13:18 , you say, well, I'm glad someone's teaching about Jesus, but I'm just going to go direct to God because that's better. It is better. But if you could do that, why haven't you done it already? If that channel has something more to provide you than what you already have, why don't you already have it 0:13:18 - 0:13:51 ? If these men were righteous, why is it that the apostles were able to see and hear what they could not. The answer is because the Lord was there because that's when the Lord came and the Lord was showing them things that no one else could see or here without him being there. That's why. And this is 0:13:51 - 0:14:23 why he said so many things about the importance of noticing when the kingdom of Heaven is nigh or when there is a demonstration of a greater uh quantity for lack of a better word of Christ. She now he said while I am in the world, I am the light of the world. But I have to go back to the father and you 0:14:23 - 0:14:56 will be the light of the world. That's what he said to the apostles. That was their call. And so jumping back to John 1527 and ye also shall bear witness because ye have been with me from the beginning. Now I'm just gonna throw this out here because it's appropriate if the comforter exists, why are these 0:14:55 - 0:15:20 apostles necessary? Because there are qualifications to receive the spirit and even people who are worthy of that. And it's on a gradient. It's not binary, it's not an on and off light switch. It's a, it's a dimmer switch, even people who are worthy of that. So there's some light in there. The dimmer 0:15:19 - 0:15:46 is moving a little, they still have tremendous limitations in what they're willing to receive content. So topics volume price, willing to pay amount of suffering, they're willing to go through the hunger and thirst that they have. For greater truth, someone can be totally reconciled to God as far as 0:15:46 - 0:16:10 they know him and just not be very hungry for more. They can be completely satiated and that's perfectly acceptable. There's no sin in that. So, if there's a tremendous cost to get the next increment of truth, a person who already feels like they're in the rest of the, the Lord is not going to bother 0:16:09 - 0:16:37 . They're just gonna feel great. Just like retired people who are really retired and comfortably retired. They don't work anymore, do they? They don't say well, I've got enough. But yeah, whatever. I'm just gonna keep killing myself at work. Where's the steel mill? I need something to do. So what does 0:16:37 - 0:17:04 it actually mean to be sent by God? Because Jesus said um to his apostles, he said, you also shall bear witness because you have been with me from the beginning. What does it mean to be sent from God? Jesus many times. He described himself as sent from God. And so that must be important to understand 0:17:03 - 0:17:32 . He wouldn't have said it so often in John 842 he said, if God were your father, you would love me for, I proceeded forth and came from God, neither came I of myself, but he sent me. So the, the principle he was, he was teaching here is that our reaction to people who are more like Jesus than we are 0:17:31 - 0:00:00 or in this case, more like the father than they were. It accurately predicts how we feel about Him. This is a shocker for people because they think these things are independent and just because they often are because very few people are actually like Jesus. It doesn't mean that that's the principle. 0:00:00 - 0:18:23 The principle is if God were your father, you would love those who are more like him than you. And if you don't, then the devil is your father. And that's what he told. Those folks in John eight. John 1627 says for the father himself loveth you because ye have loved me and have believed that I came out 0:18:22 - 0:18:46 from God. You see it's the repetition of this theme. And we have this is an if and only if we have it in both directions. If you love God, you love those who are more like him than you. And uh if you do that, sorry, I I this isn't actually the verse that shows the other way. I'm sorry, th those exist 0:18:46 - 0:19:14 . But if you do that, he will love you because you love the ones who are more like Him than you. But this writer is on both of them. You've believed that I came out from God. Uh I proceeded forth and came from God, neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Now, Jesus was born to earth as a baby. And 0:19:14 - 0:19:38 when we think of God sending people, we think of shrink wrapped adults who are like pod people and they suddenly come on the scene like John the Baptist uh baptizing people in the wilderness and no one ever knew about this guy before kind of thing. But people are born, mortal beings are born here and 0:19:38 - 0:20:04 they grow up. And, um, we have many stories of people that knew Jesus growing up who were quite surprised by his mortal ministry. And there are many important things to understand about that. But the point is that he called his process coming from God coming out from God. Now, one of the, the word used 0:20:03 - 0:20:34 in, in the phrase sent from God, it's a Greek word that means not just to send which it's like OK, translation. That's pretty direct. Check out the level of detail in this word. It's to transmit by thrusting in. We don't have a word for that. OK. And you could be thinking of like uh I don't have an old 0:20:33 - 0:21:02 school headphone jack here, but like, you know, transmit by thrusting in to plug in and then you transmit things. But in an ancient sense, I can't think of what this word could mean except in a sexual sense if you get my drift. So um to transmit by thrusting in, this is very interesting and I don't want 0:21:01 - 0:21:28 to get too far off topic. But, and in the Aztec culture is one of many where they did human sacrifices. And it's, it's important to understand they cut people's hearts out while they're still alive and they did it using an implement. It was a flint knife that's important. And on several of the few that 0:21:28 - 0:21:52 survived till today, these, these ceremonial knives, on several of them, the handle is made. It's a man. It's a man who's prostrate. He's kneeling down on all fours and the knife is coming out here. So you can't really see because he's crouched down like he's praying almost, but his head is forward like 0:21:52 - 0:22:21 this. And so his head is facing down the blade and his whole body is oriented towards the knife point. But there's something phallic about that knife. Although you can't see where it's coming from. It, it lines up, OK. There's extreme meaning in that. That was a holdover from a lost filament of truth 0:22:21 - 0:22:54 to cut out a living heart with a stone knife, flint so sharper than a razor. And you make it by hitting it a, an extremely skilled craftsman who does nothing but this for his whole life hits that thing until it's razor sharp and it's a man holding the knife held in the hand of a, of a mortal man. Um 0:22:53 - 0:23:19 This is all very important anyway, uh to, to transmit by thrusting in OK. And then the phrase came from God is another Greek word and it means a lot of things and it's, you'll see this. There are many English words that are, are uh exceedingly common and have several senses. And this makes it kind of 0:23:19 - 0:23:54 difficult to figure out what's going on. But amongst its numerous senses is, it's, it's to come from, to depart, to escape, to get out uh to spread abroad to go. But Jesus is use from this and the phrase came from God. It means to be one who is more like God than you because he was or is with him more 0:23:53 - 0:24:31 than you and follows the example he's shown. So when Jesus said he came from God, he wasn't just saying God sent me here that sent from God is a different phrase. It means to transmit by thrusting in like a knife or like impregnating someone to come from God is a description of what happened before we 0:24:31 - 0:25:15 read in the beginning of John, we read, yeah, she just pulled up. Oops, sorry, autocomplete in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. Could that be any clearer than what we're talking about? Ok. So another phrase that's used 0:25:15 - 0:25:48 in the scriptures, that means the same thing but people don't get it is to be a son of that Greek word is Fios hu I os and it means much more than to be the the son of as we would say, this is my son. It's too, it's to live so that you have a legal claim on everything that is your father's. And you think 0:25:47 - 0:26:09 about this in the sense of being a king, a king inherits his father, a prince. Inherits his father's kingdom by virtue of him being the oldest son and not getting killed by anybody in the process. Before it happens, a son of God inherits the throne of his father through being like him. Because the throne 0:26:08 - 0:26:45 that God sits on, it's a throne of righteousness. His character is, what empowers Him, how he is is what yields everything we know about Him. You can't separate his power from his character. So what does it take to be a son or a daughter of God? You have to be more like him than you are? All right. Now 0:26:45 - 0:27:11 , here's a fun one, John 818. He says I am one that bear witness of myself. So the the Jews were criticizing him because they said uh you're the only one that testifies of what you say. And the law says that every truth has to be established by two or three witnesses. And so he in one part, he pointed 0:27:10 - 0:27:29 out how John had testified of him. But here he says, I am one that bear witness of myself. In other words, there's one and the father that sent me beareth witness of me, which makes two. Now this is super interesting because in another place he says, you can't hear the father because you're not like 0:27:29 - 0:28:02 him. So what good is a witness that can't be seen or heard by those he's testifying to. And this is where we all come in. The father testifies of the truth. But people can't hear his voice because they're not like Him. The sun testifies of truth. But while people are not like Him, they can't hear his 0:28:02 - 0:28:32 voice either. The Holy Ghost testifies of truth. But there is a standard of worthiness to hear the Holy Ghost more than what is given to every man, the measure given to every man. So who does that leave? It leaves the people who are here mortals us. And what is the objective to help people learn enough 0:28:31 - 0:00:00 about God and live that way so that they're worthy of the Holy Ghost? And then once they go through that gate to obliterate the barriers they have and what they're willing to hear from the Holy Ghost or willing to do in response to what they hear. It's quite simple, right? No one lives this way yet. 0:00:00 - 0:29:32 I should say very, very, very few, but it's quite simple. All right. So now, um I'm sorry, I skipped one going back to the whole idea of Son or daughter of God. Here it is in a nutshell. John 829 the Lord says He that sent me is with me. Remember to be sent by God is to transmit by thrusting in the Father 0:29:31 - 0:29:59 hath not left me alone for. I do always those things that please Him. What an interesting idea. You would probably read that and take it to mean that God will be with you. He will come and visit you externally. If you do what pleases him all the time, whether or not that's the case. It is certainly the 0:29:59 - 0:30:26 case that if you do what he would do in your place all the time and that's what it takes to please him, then he is with you because you are like him internally. He is with you or he is in you and you are in him. All of these things seem like cryptic phrases and we fool ourselves into thinking we know 0:30:25 - 0:30:41 what they mean because we've become familiar with them. We just sort of gloss over and say, yeah, well, I've heard that a million times. I know what that means. No, you don't. First off ask yourself how you'd explain it to a seven year old, then ask yourself how you to explain it to a seven year old 0:30:41 - 0:31:06 who'd never heard about God. If you can't do that, then you don't, you don't understand what it means. But beyond that, beyond that, these things are not cryptic statements, they are literal descriptions of the truth. And we've made them more cryptic than they actually are as a protection against having 0:31:05 - 0:31:30 to do what they actually say. And that's been done culturally over time. It's not just any individual that's watching this, who's done that, but we all take part in it. So part of what this knife does is it cuts through all the nonsense and it says, no, no, this is what it really says, that's a sort 0:31:30 - 0:32:05 of truth as well. By the way, in case you didn't make that connection. OK. So he that sent me is with me, what you have in this is a chain. It's a chain along which transmits the word of God. And it comes down like like an irrigation system to get water down to the place where a seed is planted. And 0:32:05 - 0:32:33 all along the way, this is the true vine all along the way. There are branches and the branches get more narrow as you go and the fruits at the end of the line. All right. So when Jesus speaks of bearing witness of himself and the father bearing witness of him, this is a very important pattern, God is 0:32:33 - 0:32:57 impartial. And so if you do the same things, you'll have the same results. What would it mean first off for God to bear witness of you? What would it mean for God to bear witness of you in a narrow sense? Maybe you could think of John, the Baptist saying about Jesus. This is the Son of God. This is the 0:32:57 - 0:33:26 one we've been waiting for. This is the one that I was sent to prepare a people for. And that's true. You, you will have others point to your demonstration of God. And that's very important because in that case, uh for example, no one else had what it took to identify Jesus as the Son of God that was 0:33:26 - 0:33:49 John's mission and he provided a service to all the people who saw the light in John but would not have otherwise seen it in Jesus. And that has to do with the windows of truth or windows of value idea that I've taught you before. You just can't see very much light beyond what you already have. Intermediaries 0:33:48 - 0:34:14 are needed to create the chain that gives you a way to see more light. Um I can't quote it from memory but um in the temple where Jesus was presented as a baby or maybe it was what the angel said to John the Baptist. It was prob uh his father Zachariah to announce the coming birth of John the Baptist 0:34:14 - 0:34:34 . There's a very interesting phrase used describing the mission of Jesus in terms of, of making the light available in the world. And it's a beautiful thing. Uh If I could pause the video, I'd go look it up and, and get it to you. But I can't, I can only stop it. Computers are amazing and also very limited 0:34:34 - 0:35:11 . It's annoying. Um But but there are other more common and maybe more important ways that the father will bear witness of you under these circumstances. So remember the broader definition, martyr, testify, provide evidence for demonstrate, etc how can the father do these things for you? Well, he could 0:35:11 - 0:35:46 cause you to work miracles. He could put you in situations that glorify him that demonstrate the power. He has to provide enduring joy, in spite of unprecedented unimaginable pain and challenge. He could provide unbelievable solutions to problems that were previously regarded as impossible. He could 0:35:45 - 0:36:23 give you wisdom beyond what anyone else has on a topic or in the case of the two people described this way in scripture, Solomon. And of course, Jesus, greater wisdom than anyone has. He can give you the opportunity to show greater love and how would this happen? He would publicly subject you to greater 0:36:22 - 0:36:54 hate and mistreatment than anyone in that local setting or however broad it might be. But, but whoever saw it, it would surpass what they're familiar with. And then as you forgive those people because God has forgiven you, you will show them that that is possible and you will glorify the Father. Now 0:36:53 - 0:37:33 , how do you bear witness of yourself? Well, you can do it quite literally by saying as Jesus did many times, I do everything that the Lord the Father would want me to do. And that's all I do. You could say I do not sin. But in the broader sense of the word to bear witness, you would fully live the example 0:37:33 - 0:38:06 that you've been shown. That's how you witness of yourself, you say, but that's witnessing of God. Yes. But if he is in you and you are in Him, they are the same Jesus said many things about himself and he also never said anything about himself how can this be true? Because everything he said about himself 0:38:05 - 0:38:35 was also true of the father. Do you get it when he brought attention to himself? It was only like lighting a fire to bring heat. He was consuming the thing that was closer his mortal life in order to help them gain access to something greater. If someone was more willing to see an example in a mortal 0:38:35 - 0:39:03 than they were to believe the example in the Father himself, he would use that. That's one of the main reasons that he allowed himself to be nailed to a cross. When people looked at that, they said this man hasn't done anything wrong and yet he's being punished with the greatest punishment I can think 0:39:02 - 0:39:33 of. Did they have any idea of the good he had actually done or the price he had actually paid? No, they were clueless. But it was still demonstrated down on a level that they could perceive. And that's the power of bearing witness of yourself. If you need to do that to help glorify God, then you should 0:39:32 - 0:40:06 . And Jesus showed that there are times when that's exactly what's called for. It also goes to show that anyone who would criticize someone for doing that as an example of something that God would never do or that could never be acceptable to God obviously does not know Him. John 1249 says for I have 0:40:06 - 0:40:32 not spoken of myself, but the Father which sent me. He gave me a commandment, what I should say and what I should speak. There you go. So he says, I bear witness of myself, but I have not spoken of myself. Contradiction. No. And and again, calling back words, I spoke before about this meaning of hearing 0:40:31 - 0:40:57 and speaking and you can lump commandment into that. It doesn't just mean here's a rule that someone wrote down when Jesus says that the father gave him a commandment, what he should say and what he should speak, he is saying that the father taught him enough about himself that he has an idea of what 0:40:57 - 0:41:22 he would do in his place. That is the commandment. That is what he should say and what he should speak, there are a lot of language limits if you think about the time and where the scriptures were spoken. Basically, the audience was a uh a whole lot of uh illiterate peasants. There were exceptions among 0:41:22 - 0:41:48 them. Sure. But that was the general population back then. And so it's really hard to convey rich ideas to in a way that those kinds of people are going to understand. Maybe if you were to speak this today, he'd say something like the father has helped me build a model of what he is like. And that's 0:41:47 - 0:42:14 what I live according to. And if people understand um statistics or machine learning, they would get what that means very clearly. So uh the Lord made very clear that as we demonstrate, him, people will treat us as they would treat him. I alluded to this earlier. But here's some two more verses about 0:42:14 - 0:42:37 it. Jesus said unto them. If God were your father. Oh I already I already said that one. Actually, I'm sorry. Um I think I did. I did. Here's another one, John 1424. He that loveth me. Not keepeth not my sayings and the word which he hear is not mine, but the father's which sent me. There's the opposite 0:42:36 - 0:42:56 . I told you existed there more than just that he that loveth me. Not keepeth not my sayings and the word which you hear is not mine but the fathers which sent me. He's saying if you don't keep what I'm telling you, you're disobeying the father. And this is the same. There are so many examples of things 0:42:56 - 0:43:19 that Jesus said that we put up on a pedestal as we should. But the second half of that is us to rise to that ourselves. Much of what Jesus said, we were meant to be able to say ourselves. He wasn't saying them as the one and only begotten son of the father. He was saying them as a son of God as we are 0:43:18 - 0:43:42 all called to be. And as we grow towards his example, we have to be able to say these things. But what, how would we react to this if someone came along saying these things, we'd write them off as obviously a crazy person. This person obviously isn't from God because what they're saying, oh, we would 0:43:42 - 0:44:11 never say that that's not righteous. It should be the opposite. If someone's not saying this, they are not from God, they can say this and be lying or be mistaken, it's necessary but insufficient. If someone can't say these things, then you should not take them as your teacher because they don't know 0:44:11 - 0:44:44 God more than you do if they did. They wouldn't be afraid to say so because they would know that they have to in order to glorify Him. John 1036 say ye of Him whom the father hath sanctified and sent into the world? Thou blasphemous because I said I am the Son of God again. You read this and you think 0:44:43 - 0:45:10 , well, yeah, because he was Jesus. Of course he said this because he got in trouble. If you don't remember for saying that he was the son of God, which now you understand much more clearly what he meant. And you say, well, of course, it wasn't blasphemy for the Lord to say he was the son of God. But 0:45:10 - 0:45:44 don't you get how this is true of anyone. He has sent anyone he has sent, has a duty to testify of what they're sent to testify of which doesn't just mean say words, it means to be to live. It's not a sin to claim that you are an example of how Jesus is. That, that's what we're commanded to do. It's 0:45:43 - 0:46:22 literally what it means to be a disciple. It's a meaning of the word we talk about apostles. Modern apostles say things like I'm special because I have a permission slip from God. They do not say I am more like God than you. But the definition of the word is one cent, one cent. And so if they have not 0:46:21 - 0:46:58 become more like God, what are they actually offering you? And how can they be apostles to be an apostle? Is to be an example of Christ, not just to talk about what that might be like for someone to be, but to be that way and to invite others to be the same. John 1725 the Lord says, o righteous father 0:46:57 - 0:47:24 , the world hath not known thee but I've known thee. And these have known that thou hast sent me. He's praying for the sake of the apostles. And he says, I've known thee and these apostles, they know that you sent me. That's the whole verse. Why do you think that this credential of them knowing that 0:47:24 - 0:47:50 the Father sent Jesus? Why does that mean anything? Why is Jesus offering this up as a reason for which this is what he's praying for. The Father will now protect, take over this role of protecting the apostles from what is beyond what they can handle. He had that role and he's leaving And so he's asking 0:47:49 - 0:48:20 the father to take care of them after he's gone and he offers up as justification for his request. The fact that they have known that the father sent Jesus. That's not just, oh I believe that this guy Jesus came from the father as we would use those words. It's to recognize and they even said on one 0:48:20 - 0:48:48 . Now, we know that you came, we know of a surety that you came from the Father. They say that in the book of John, why was this such a big deal? What did it consist in? Well, how would you have to treat someone if in order to say that you believed that that the father has sent them or that they came 0:48:48 - 0:49:24 from the father? Those are two different ideas. How would you have to treat them? Did the apostles treat Jesus that way? They certainly didn't at the beginning. So there's a do I have it here? Um When his other disciples were fleeing from him because he was teaching them hard things that were actually 0:49:24 - 0:49:46 demonstrations of greater love because they more fully revealed how the father was and their responsibility to be like that, they fled from him. And he said to his apostles, will you flee from me too? And this is when Peter said, where will we go? You have the words of eternal life. That's an example 0:49:45 - 0:50:23 of how you would treat Jesus. If you really believe that he came from and was sent from the father. So as you respond to the example of Christ by becoming like Christ, you will become agents to help others learn and become more like Jesus and you'll do it primarily through your demonstration. Not just 0:50:23 - 0:51:09 what you say. This is how well there's a scripture for that. Um Sorry, I just lost my place. John 2021 then said Jesus to them again, peace be unto you as my father hath sent me even so send I you, you cannot learn more about how Jesus is without the duty to live that way yourself and that can't happen 0:51:08 - 0:51:38 without the duty to help others perceive receive value and live it themselves. We come to know Jesus through knowing, coming to know people who are more like him than us. In John 1725 we read, oh righteous father, the world hath not known thee but I've known thee. And these have known that thou has sent 0:51:37 - 0:52:03 me just as we read before the world hath not known me. How did they come to know him through knowing people that are more like him? And then they come up to the point where they can see more of him. Now, um There's a very important topic to understand here that we can't go into for now. But any of those 0:52:03 - 0:52:30 who would, who would uh resist this point that I'm making by saying yes, but I do have experiences directly with God. I would just say, how do you know that? And you'd react to this by getting flustered, but just calm down if angels speak by um the Holy ghost and the Holy ghost only testifies of the 0:52:29 - 0:52:59 Son and the Son only testifies of the Father. How could you distinguish between an angel, the holy ghost, the Son and the Father in what you say is God speaking to you. So there is no answer to that because you don't, the, the only way you can differentiate an angel from the, from uh I'll just say someone 0:52:58 - 0:53:23 greater is to be that greater person yourself, to be a greater person yourself. You can only resolve what lies below you in the hierarchy of the kingdom of God. That's a true principle. That's why there are two different devices in the Book of Revelation discussed as a means of revealing things. One 0:53:22 - 0:53:47 is the the sphere on which you stand and the other is a white stone that's given to you. And the one reveals all things below you and the other reveals all things above you. You, you only have resolution on what lies below you. In the Kingdom of God, you can only see just beyond where you stand. And 0:53:46 - 0:54:13 so if you were to stand well, we'll leave it at that. I will teach this more fully later. And with better evidence, I'm just addressing a, a something that someone will be thinking. OK. So, so as we respond by becoming like him, we'll we'll become agents to help others learn and become more like him 0:54:13 - 0:54:41 . And this is how we all come to a unity in Christ. A lot more needs to be said about that, but not today, John 1721 that they all may be one as thou father art in me and I in thee that they also may be one in us that the world may believe that thou has sent me a lot more needs to be said about that 0:54:40 - 0:55:18 . This is how we love others as Jesus loves us and how he loved us. Matthew 1039 says he that find eth his life shall lose it and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it literally to replace everything about you. That is how you define yourself with everything that you learn about Jesus to 0:55:18 - 0:55:52 lose your life for his sake. And what do you find? You don't find your old life again. You find eternal life that is much better. You'll like it a lot more. I promise John 1513, greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends. What is the most valuable gift that the Lord 0:55:52 - 0:56:17 gives us? It's eternal life. How does he do it? I should say the father, what's the most valuable gift the father gives us eternal life? How does he do it? He sends his son to the world to show us what he is like so that we can follow that example that we would not know about in any other way. We could 0:56:17 - 0:56:56 not know about what's the greatest gift that we can give anyone whatever we can that helps them obtain eternal life. How do you do that? You lay down your life and you pick up his and everything you receive from the Lord. You turn around and you give it to as many people as we take it mark 1045. For 0:56:56 - 0:57:24 even the son of man came not to be ministered unto but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many John 15 9 as the father hath loved me. So have I loved you continue ye in my love, John 1510. If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love even as I have kept my father's commandments 0:57:23 - 0:57:47 and abide in his love. Remember what we remember what we said about commandments? Another way you could say this is if you live according to the example that I've given you, I can back up one. Here's a rendition of John 15 just right off the top of my head as the father demonstrated himself to me. So 0:57:47 - 0:58:24 I have demonstrated the father to you continue in demonstrating how we are to others. If you live as I would in your place, you will abide in seeing more of how I would live in your place, even as I live, as the father would in my place. And he shows me more of what he would do in my place. That is not 0:58:23 - 0:58:58 a translation, but I'm trying to make more clear at least one of the key messages of what he was saying there, John 1512, just a few verses later. This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. So I think we can wrap this up be agents of Jesus Christ by learning how he is and living 0:58:58 - 0:58:59 that way.