Latest / Teachings On This Day On FerventWord / On Jun 07, 2020: John 14:22-31 How Jesus Reveals Himself
Transcript
- You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2020. Well, as Jesus has been talking to his disciples here in John chapter 14, just a couple verses before the passage we read, Jesus told his disciples, "...a little bit longer, and you will not see me anymore." The world will not see me anymore, actually, is what he says, but you will see me. And he's preparing them for his departure. He's preparing them for the crucifixion. But then even beyond that, he's preparing them for his ascension into heaven and how they will continue on in life apart from him. And so he says, the world will not see me, but you will see me. And it stirs up a question within Judas. Not Judas Iscariot, a different disciple also named Judas Iscariot. He's a little bit confused. He says, Lord, how will you manifest yourself or reveal yourself to us and not to the world? How is it going to be possible that we'll be able to see you, but the world won't be able to see you? And so Jesus is going to answer that question in this passage. It gives us the title of the message, How Jesus Reveals Himself. It's a good thing for us to consider this morning, to understand how the Lord reveals himself, that we might see him even if the world doesn't see him. Even if others around us don't really see the Lord or know the Lord, there is the opportunity to see the Lord, to have a relationship with him, and he gives us some clues on how that works as we work our way through the passage. Four ways we'll see this morning how the Lord reveals himself. We're going to start out in verse 23 and 24 for point number one, and that is that Jesus reveals himself by his word. One of the ways that Jesus reveals himself to his followers is through the scriptures. Jesus says in verse 23, if anyone loves me, he will keep my word and my father will love him and we will come to him and make our home with him. And so Jesus here answers Judas's question. How is it that we'll see you, but the world won't see you? And Jesus says, well, because you love me. And because you love me, you're going to hold on to the word of God. And you can think about the Word of God and understand the reading of the Scriptures is one of the ways that God reveals Himself to us and the Lord brings Himself to life in our minds and in our hearts. It gives us a relationship with the Lord. We learn about the Lord. But really the most important aspect of the Scriptures that Jesus is highlighting here is the obedience to the Word. So it's not just the reading, it's not just the knowing, it's not just the memorizing, but then taking that and allowing it to make a change in our life, to make a big impact in the way that we live. Jesus says, if anyone loves me, he will keep my word. And in the keeping of the word, there is a revelation of the Lord to us. There's a unique thing that God does in that as we obey him, We get to know him. As we obey him, there's supernatural revelation upon our hearts. Now again, this passage is all intertwined. And so just a couple of verses before in John chapter 14, verse 21, Jesus made this statement. He says, he who has my commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my father. And I will love him and manifest myself to him. And so you can see this clear connection, this clear relationship that the Lord is building here. If you love the Lord, then you will obey him. And there's something that happens when you obey him, that he reveals himself to you in a fresh way, in a unique way that can't be experienced apart from from loving him and obeying him. And that's one way Jesus says, you will see me, you will get to know me, you will have an experience with me, even though the world does not. Because you love Jesus, which means you obey Jesus, which means, well, you are enjoying life with Jesus. Still there in verse 23, Jesus says, my father will love him and we will come to him and make our home with him. There's going to be this residence that the Lord has within you, the Father and the Son. You're going to have a relationship with the Lord through obedience that can't happen any other way. And so as you love him and seek to obey him, Jesus promises to reveal himself, to draw near, to take up residence within your heart. Pastor Warren Wiersbe puts it this way. As the believer yields to the Father, loves the Word, prays and obeys, there is a deeper relationship with the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Salvation means we're going to heaven. But submission means that heaven comes to us. There is a way that the Lord is bringing heaven to you right now. Not the final realization of all the promises, but the reality of the Lord in your life. There's a real presence of God with you and internally within you as you obey the Lord. And so Jesus reveals himself here. by his word. The world doesn't see Jesus because they don't love him and they don't obey him. But you can see Jesus if you will love him and obey him. You know, it's great this morning to be back in church together, right? We're glad for the fellowship. We're glad to be able to be here present together. And we do, you know, look at and understand that church is an important part of our lives and our spiritual walk. At the same time, I would like to just share with you that this season of not being able to gather together, I think this has been really good for a lot of us. It's been really good for, you know, the growth that the Lord has wanted to stir up, but also perhaps for some, it's really good for an awakening and awareness of the reality that your spiritual life is not really based on your own relationship with God, but based upon the gathering together of the people. And I want to encourage you to think about that. I want to encourage you to consider as we walk through these revelations of the Lord that he has shared here in John chapter 14, I would ask you to consider, how's your spiritual life been over the past several months? As our, you know, gathering togethers have changed, if your spiritual life has come to a halt, if your growth has come to a halt, then I would suggest you were out of balance in your spiritual life. That you can, on your own, this loving the Lord and obeying His word is not dependent upon the gathering together. Not minimizing our gathering together, it's important. But at the same time, you can have a thriving spiritual walk and growth with God Whether or not we are able to meet, whether or not we are confined to a bed or, you know, gathered together or out on the mission field somewhere all alone, you can have a life connected to God where you see Jesus because you, you, Love him and obey him. And he takes up residence within you. I think for some of us, it's kind of like this past season has been taking the training wheels off of your spiritual walk. And let's see how you did. Are you able to carry on, to grow, and to thrive in your life? If your spiritual life, your spiritual walk, your spiritual growth has slowed to a crawl because church couldn't meet, I would encourage you to reconsider your approach to your relationship with God. There's so much more than the gathering. The gathering is important and such a blessing and valuable, but there's also so much more to what God wants to do in your life. Well, moving on to verses 25 and 26, we get the second way that Jesus reveals himself, and that is by the Holy Spirit. Jesus reveals himself by the Holy Spirit. In verse 25, he says, As Jesus prepares his disciples for the change ahead, he says, I'm not going to be here forever. But I'm also not going to leave you alone. I'm going to send a helper. I've shared these things while I'm present with you, but pretty soon I'm not going to be present with you. Now that was to the disciples then. For us today, he's not physically present here with us. He is present with us, but we don't see him. We don't have his physical presence in that way. And so right here, as he says in verse 26, but the helper, the Holy Spirit, I'm going to send him to you. This is a hope and a truth, a promise that we can grasp hold of. You won't have me, Jesus says, but you will have, in a couple of chapters, in chapter 16, Jesus says, He says, it's to your advantage that I go away. Because when I go, I'm going to send the Holy Spirit. And this promise of the Holy Spirit is an important one to grasp hold of and understand. It's something that is established for every believer. Every believer has the Holy Spirit. Ephesians chapter 1, there the Apostle Paul tells us, When you trusted in Christ, after you heard the word of truth or the gospel of your salvation, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. There's an automatic connection. When you believe in Jesus, you're born again, and you are sealed with the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit is the proof that you are born again. The Holy Spirit is the guarantee and the promise of eternity that God has given to you. And the Lord also makes sure it's clear, pointing it out the other way. In Romans chapter 8, verse 9, he says, if anyone does not have the Spirit, then he does not belong to the Lord. So if you have believed in Jesus, you have the Spirit. And if you don't have the Spirit, you don't belong to the Lord. Either way, it's very clear. This is something that is given to every believer. You have the Holy Spirit. And it's one of the ways that the Lord reveals himself to us by the working of the Holy Spirit, by the ministry of the Holy Spirit, by the revelation that's given to us internally as the Spirit ministers to our hearts. Jesus says in verse 26 here, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. The Holy Spirit is going to help you see Jesus by teaching you and by reminding you of what the Lord has said. Now again, Jesus elaborates on this further in John chapter 16. And there he says, the Holy Spirit will guide you into all truth. And so you are going to have, as one who loves the Lord and believes in him, the working of the Holy Spirit in your life, teaching you, guiding you, reminding you. You're going to have a fresh sight, a fresh vision of Jesus continually as the Holy Spirit is working in your life. Pastor Thomas Constable puts it this way. The Holy Spirit is the true teacher of every Christian, and human teachers serve a secondary role. The role of the scriptures in the process is fundamental since they contain all that Jesus taught and approved. Again, a similar thought here. The Holy Spirit is your primary teacher. Your primary teacher is not your pastor. Your primary teacher is the Holy Spirit. You have your own connection to God through the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit is seeking to lead you, to teach you, to grow you, and develop you in your relationship, in your understanding, in your walk with the Lord. And so Jesus reveals himself by his word. He reveals himself by the Holy Spirit, and now, verse 27 and 28, he reveals himself by his peace. Verse 27, Jesus says, "'Peace 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.'" Jesus says, as he continues answering the question, how will you manifest yourself to us and not to the world? Jesus says, there's a difference between the peace that the world can give and the peace that I give. The peace that's in the world, it doesn't last and it's not sufficient. But the peace that I give, the peace that you will have because of me will be substantially different. He says, you're going to see me in a way that the world doesn't. Because I give you a peace that the world does not understand. That word peace, it's the word shalom, which means so much more than just, you know, peace, be quiet, you know, that kind of thing. It speaks of a wholeness. It speaks of a health and security. It's a powerful peace that the Lord gives to us. Much more than, and he's also not saying, by the way, that we won't have trouble, but really he's saying even in the midst of trouble, we'll be able to have peace because our peace doesn't come from the absence of trouble, but it comes from the substance of who it is that we trust. And Pastor Thomas Constable puts it this way, the peace Jesus spoke of is a settled confidence that comes from knowing that one is right with God. As the believer focuses on this reality, he or she can experience supernatural peace in the midst of trouble and fear, just as Jesus did. And so he gives us this peace. Now, one thing I think is interesting here in verse 27 that we need to understand about this peace is he says at the end of the verse, let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. The peace that Jesus gives is not a peace that overrides your choice. It's a peace that combines with your faith. That as you trust him, then you don't let your heart be troubled. As you trust him and rest in him, then you have this peace. But it doesn't take away your choice. It doesn't take away your need to believe. Your heart still can be troubled, even though Jesus provides this peace. We have to trust the Lord and settle into his will for us to enjoy this peace, to have this peace. But as we do, there's a revelation of Jesus. There's a way that Jesus reveals himself and speaks to us and ministers to us in powerful ways. Jesus reveals himself by his peace. He says, look, I'm going away to my father. And if you love me, then you would rejoice. You're sad right now when I said I'm going away. But if you love me, again, remember that love desires what is best for someone. Jesus says, the best place for me is right next to the Father. And that's where I'm going. So rejoice with me. That's where I'm headed. Now, he has to go through the cross and there's going to be some suffering there. But he's preparing for that return to glory. And so he says, look, you can have peace even though I'm leaving, even though I'm about to suffer greatly because I know where I'm going. I know where I'm going to be sitting. I know the glory that awaits. And in the same way, we can have peace because we know where we're going. We know what the Lord has set before us and we know the glory that awaits. And thinking about the peace of the Lord, I liked this quote from commentator F.B. Meyer. Seems appropriate for the days that we're in. He says, And there is alarm and fear all around us. And yet for us, for those who see Jesus, there can be this peace. There can be this settled heart, this security here. This rejoicing even in the midst of difficulty as we face it. Well, the final way that Jesus reveals himself as given by this portion is found in verses 29 through 31. And that is that Jesus reveals himself by fulfilled prophecy. Notice what he says in verse 29. And now I have told you before it comes that when it does come to pass, you may believe. Jesus says, I told you beforehand so that when it happens, then you will believe. I told you I'm going away. I told you there's going to be a betrayer. I told you we saw this a little bit on Wednesday as well. I told you all of these things in advance. I prophesied to you so that when it comes to pass, then you'll be bolstered in your faith. You'll be strengthened to believe because you see what I said unfold before you. And so this is one of the things that the Lord does in giving of prophecy, in speaking to us prophetically. And we can look at the prophecies of Scripture and see those unfold. But then also there's prophecies that the Lord gives to us directly. either by a word of prophecy and the Lord using someone else to be empowered by the Spirit to share with us something, or even things that God does internally upon our hearts. As we have believed in the Lord for something that He has impressed upon us and then seen the fulfillment of that, He reveals Himself to us in ways as a result of that, as we believe in Him and believe His Word and see those things fulfilled. Pastor Charles Spurgeon puts it this way, We get to see a fresh perspective of Jesus, a fresh vision of Jesus. as we trust him in the things that he said and watch them be fulfilled before our very eyes. And Jesus goes on to let them know. He says, look, I'm not going to be walking amongst you much longer in verse 30, talking about the cross. And it's going to look like the enemy wins. It's going to look like Satan is victorious. But he's not. Continue to trust in me. I've told you all these things in advance. So that even though you see these things come to pass, you'll know, I'm still on the throne. I still reign on high. My death is proof of my obedience and love for the Father. It's not a demonstration of the victory of the enemy. Jesus reveals himself by fulfilled faith. And so this morning, we can be reminded and encouraged. Jesus wants to reveal himself to you. He wants to speak to you. He wants to show himself to you. He wants to develop you in your understanding of him. And he gives us very clear ways that we can walk forward. Even if the world around us doesn't see him, you can see him by his word. Not just reading it, that's important. Not just studying it, that's important. But by obeying his word. Take the word of God and look for ways, seek him and ask him for ways to take those things that you're reading and then put them into practice and live them out in your life and you will see Jesus in fresh and powerful ways. Jesus reveals himself by the Holy Spirit. Invite the Lord. We're commanded and encouraged to be filled with the Spirit continually. And so ask the Lord to fill you. Invite the Lord to pour out His Holy Spirit upon you. Learn to recognize the leading of and the impressing upon your heart that the Holy Spirit does in order to lead you forward, to guide you, and to teach you the things that are true. Jesus reveals Himself by His peace. Look for this peace. Don't be settled with a false peace, a fake peace, a temporary peace, but learn to rest and trust in the will of God and find the peace that passes all understanding that he gives. And you will have a fresh vision, a fresh perspective on who Jesus is that the world around you cannot have. And finally, Jesus reveals himself by fulfilled prophecy. Now, I would encourage you as you look at these things that the best approach to these things is the combination of all of the above. And I've seen in my time walking with the Lord, those who really just focus on the word and that's all they know. They don't really have the working of the Holy Spirit in their lives. They're not relying upon the Holy Spirit. They're not being led by the Spirit. They don't have peace, but they can quote the scripture like nobody else, right? And that's great. But the combination of these things is really the most powerful way to understand the Lord and to know him. Yes, read his word. Yes, study his word. But don't forget and don't neglect the working of the Holy Spirit in your life. Invite the Holy Spirit to work and to lead and to guide. You know, sometimes people get caught up in prophecy and excited about prophecy and that's all they know. It's all they fill their time with. And then they neglect the obedience to the basic commands of the scripture. And so there's, you know, deliberate and issues of sin in their life, but they can, you know, foretell the future and interpret scripture, you know, in a way that's astounding. But they don't really have that fresh vision of Jesus because they don't have the rest of these pieces in their life. And so as you look at these things, I would encourage you, put them all together. Know the Lord, love him, obey him, invite the Holy Spirit to work in your life and to lead you. Trust in him for peace and invite him to give you the peace that passes all understanding. And look at his word. Look at those answered prayers and those promises that he's given that you might be reminded that he is real, that he's alive, and that he's with you right now. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the great reminder that you desire to show yourself to us. And Lord, even though it's kind of a mystery that others around us have the same opportunity but don't see you, I pray, God, that you would help us to not make that mistake. But Lord, that we would seek you, that we would love you, that we would pursue you. And Lord, may each and every one of us have a fresh revelation of you this week, today, as we walk with you. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.