Well, let us turn once again
to the Word of God in this chapter that we read, John chapter 14,
and drawing your attention for a while to the words that we
find at verse 21 through 23. John 14 and verses 21 through
23. He that hath my commandments,
and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me. And he that loveth
me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will
manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot,
Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and
not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto
him, If a man love me, he will keep my words. and my Father
will love him and we will come unto him and make our abode with
him. I want to say something really
with regards to what Christ speaks of here as the manifestation
of himself there at the end of verse 21. He says, I will love
him and will manifest myself to him. And then in verse 22
Judas says, not Judas Iscariot, the other Judas, Lord how is
it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us and not unto the world? Where there is real Christianity
of course there is that manifestation of the Lord Jesus Christ in the
soul of that individual. The revelation of Jesus Christ
the opening words that we have there in the book of the Revelation.
It was the revelation of Jesus Christ that God showed unto his
servant John. In a sense, of course, we have
to recognize that it is not only the revelation that belongs to
Jesus Christ, but it is actually the revealing of Jesus Christ
that is being spoken of, and of course in that opening chapter
of the Revelation, that's where it all begins, where John sees
that remarkable sight of the glorified Christ, the manifestation
of Christ to him, and then those things that the Lord goes on
Himself to reveal unto John. Thinking then for a while this
morning of the manifestation of Christ. And I want to observe
some four things really. First of all, this manifestation
is personal. Secondly, it's spiritual. Thirdly,
it's scriptural. And then, fourthly, we'll see,
I trust that it is also practical. There are practical implications
where Christ is revealed. It will be evident in obedience
to his commandments. First of all, it surely is a personal revelation
that the Lord is speaking of. When Judas responds here in the
22nd verse, it appears that he is thinking of some sort of bodily
manifestation after the resurrection. And we know that the Lord Jesus
Christ after the resurrection did reveal himself personally
to the disciples. They saw him risen again to life. They were to be witnesses of
that blessed truth. He says here at verse 19, Yet
a little while, and the world seeth me no more. But ye see
me, because I live, ye shall live also." Of course, when He
is present in the flesh before His crucifixion, before His death,
He is seen of many, He is seen of the multitudes. Even those
unbelieving Jews, they see Him, besides also those who were His
true disciples. But after, after the resurrection,
those of the world did not see Him. but he showed himself quite
clearly to his disciples. We see that later in this Gospel,
as in all the Gospels really. Look at the language that we
have there in chapter 20 at verse 19, the day of the resurrection. The same day at evening, being
the first day of the week, when the doors were shut, where the
disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus
and stood in the midst, and said unto them, Please be unto you.
And when he had so said, he showed unto them his hands and his sides.
Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord." They
saw Him, physically. When He had so said he speaks
unto them these words of peace verse 21 peace be unto you as
my father hath sent me even so send I you when he had so said
he breathed on them and said unto them receive ye the Holy
Ghost and then a week later after eight days we are told in verse
26 how his disciples again were within and this time Thomas who
was absent the previous occasion is present with them and how
the Lord speaks to Thomas he had doubted the testament of
the others when they had spoken how they had seen the Lord and
now the Lord speaks to Thomas so personally reach hither thy
finger and behold my hands and reach hither thy hand and thrust
it into my side and be not faithless but believing And then again
when we come to chapter 21, after these things Jesus showed himself
again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. Many, many times
then the Lord is seen here to be showing himself, and we're
told, aren't we, in the opening chapter of the Acts of the Apostles,
how he showed himself alive to his disciples by many infallible
being seen of him, it says, 40 days, over a period of 40 days
then many times he would show himself unto them and it was
very much a personal experience, it belonged to them as we said,
not to others and it was a physical appearance and we see it in the
language that's spoken by Peter in Acts chapter 10 and there
at verse 14 Him God raised up the third day
and showed Him openly not to all the people but unto witnesses
chosen before of God even to us who did eat and drink with
Him after He rose from the dead and so the manifestation that
the Lord gives to His disciples it's a personal experience and
it's also physical they actually see the Lord and we're told aren't
we about later he will show himself even to Paul who was not one
of his disciples there in Acts chapter 9 on the road to Damascus
as he arrives at the very gates of the city the Lord appears
to Paul, who was then Saul. And then of course, as we've
already said, right at the end of Scripture, when John is the
sole surviving of the apostles, the Lord shows himself to him
there on the Isle of Patmos. There are then these various
individuals, and we have that great list that is spoken of
at the beginning of 1 Corinthians 15 where Paul makes mention of
a great multitude of his disciples who actually saw him after the
resurrection from the dead. He was seen of Cephas he says,
then of the twelve After that he was seen of above five hundred
brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain unto this
present, but some are fallen asleep. After that he was seen
of James, then of all the apostles. Last of all he was seen of me
also, as of one born out of due time." There are these manifestations,
these revelations of the resurrected Christ into a great number of
his disciples and they are witnesses to his resurrection and so we
can say in the first place that it was a personal manifestation
but what the Lord is really speaking of here is surely a spiritual
manifestation because in this chapter And then in chapters
15 and 16 he is speaking principally of the coming of the Holy Ghost. He's speaking of the ministry
that the Spirit Himself will be exercising. Here in verse 21, when he says,
I will manifest myself to him, it is in terms of that gracious
work of the Spirit previously. He says at verse 16, I will pray
the Father, He shall give you another Comforter, that He may
abide with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the
world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth
Him, but ye know Him. For He dwelleth with you, and
shall be in you. Oh the Lord is clearly mindful
here principally of that gracious ministry that comes by the Holy
Ghost, chapter 16. And verse 7, nevertheless, he
says, I tell you the truth, it is expedient for you that I go
away, for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto
you. But if I depart, I will send Him unto you. And when the Spirit comes, What
will He do? He will reveal to them the things
of the Lord Jesus Christ. As He says there at verse 14
in that 16th chapter, He shall glorify Me, for He shall receive
of Mine and shall show it unto you. This is the the principle
way whereby the Lord is going to manifest himself into his
disciples. Yes, there will be those who
see him with their natural eye, risen again from the dead, but
there will also be something more than that. When the Spirit
comes, there will be a spiritual revealing of the Saviour. So it is personal, and it's physical,
but it's really spiritual, and as it is spiritual, so we see
in the third place, here in the text, that it is also a scriptural
manifestation. Look at the language that the
Lord is using. The beginning of that 21st verse,
"...he that hath my commandment," He says, "...and keepeth him,
he it is that loveth me." and he that loveth me shall be loved
of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself
to him." There is a connection between what he says at the beginning
of the verse and what we have at the end of the verse, the
commandments. Of course always when it comes
to the things of God we must look to the testimony of Holy
Scripture, to the Law. And to the testaments, if they
speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light
in them. God reveals himself by his words. All scripture is given by inspiration
of God and is profitable. All we have to come to the word
of God if we will find any true prophet. And it's interesting,
it's not just the matter of the commandments. This is what the
Lord is speaking of here in verse 21. He says, My commandments. But look at other words that
He also uses here in the context. In verse 23. If a man love Me, He says, he
will keep My words. He speaks of My commandments,
He speaks also of My words. And then verse 24, He that loveth
Me not keepeth not My sayings. So it's commandments, it's words,
it's sayings, it's the whole of the ministry really of the
Lord Jesus. Is He not Himself that One who
is spoken of in the opening chapter as the Word of God? He is the
Word of God incarnate. And it is by and through his
words that we have this revelation of God to us. This is how he
comes to manifest himself to his people. He tells the Jews
to search the Scriptures. In them ye think that ye have
eternal life, he says, but these are they that testify of me. We have the Word of God here
in Scripture, But all the Word of God is ever bearing its testimony
to Him who is spoken of as the Word, the Word made flesh that
dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory, says
John, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of
grace and of truth. But do we have to remember the
The necessity, of course, of what we've already made some
reference to, and that's the fact that this revelation, this
manifestation, is a spiritual manifestation. And don't we need
the Holy Spirit himself to be our teacher and our instructor
and to interpret the Word of God to us? It's not just a matter
of us reading the word of God but it's the Spirit himself bringing
that word and making application to our souls, opening it not
only to our mind but also to our hearts. Where Christ is truly
manifested there is ever that blessed ministry of the Spirit
and Paul as you, I'm sure, are well aware, makes that so clear
in what he says there in that second chapter of 1 Corinthians. There at verse 10. God hath revealed
them unto us, he says, by His Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth
all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth
the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him?
even so the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God."
And then he goes on later, "...the natural man receiveth not the
things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto
him, neither can he know them because they are spiritually
discerned." So what can we know of the Word of God except we
have that gracious ministry of the Spirit to enlighten our poor
minds. Where are we by nature? We're
those who are dead in trespasses and sins, in that state of alienation,
ignorant, in our wicked works, and we need the Spirit to come
and to open the Word to us, and to cause us to see something
of ourselves in the light of the Word of God. James We're
familiar with how John speaks here in the opening chapter of
God's Word as a glass, a looking glass, a mirror. And we see ourselves,
and he speaks of the man who seeing himself goes his way and
forgets what manner of man he is. But where the Spirit of the
Lord is, when God brings His Word to us, then we see where
we are and what we are. We see something of our ignorance. because we are those who are
dead in trespasses and in sins but thank God the Spirit though
He might do that remarkable work in us and the Lord goes on, doesn't
He, to speak of that work in that 16th chapter now the Comforter
will come the Lord must go away, that 7th verse was already referred
to it, it is expedient It is necessary that Christ complete
His work, rise from the dead, ascend on high, shed abroad the
Holy Ghost. If I depart, I will send Him
unto you, and when He is come, He will reprove the world of
sin, of righteousness and of judgment. Of sin, because they
believe not on me. Of righteousness, because I go
to my Father and you see me no more. Of judgment, because the
Prince of this world is judged. Oh, He convinces us of what we
are, unbelievers. He convinces us of that awful
sin that continually besets us, that occurs it, unbelief. But not only that, He convinces
us that He has accomplished His great work. He has wrought a
righteousness, finished the transgression, made an end of sin, made reconciliation
for iniquity, and brought in everlasting righteousness. He convinces of righteousness,
He says, because I go to my Father. Oh, the Father has raised Him
from the dead, received Him into heaven. He's declared to be the
Son of God, with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by
the resurrection from the dead, and then of judgment. He convinces
of judgment, the Prince of this world is judged. Oh, thank God,
Satan is a defeated foe. But this is all the ministry
of the Spirit when He opens to us the word of truth and causes
us to see ourselves. He interprets God's Word to us. But he also reveals Christ. For that's his blessed ministry.
He takes of the things of Christ and makes those blessed truths
concerning the Saviour a blessed reality in the soul of the sinner. How Paul speaks of the eyes of
your understanding being enlightened. the renewing of your minds. These
are the sort of expressions we find in the epistles. The Son
of Man hath given us an understanding. This is what He does. This is
the gracious work of the Spirit, not to speak of Himself, but
to take of the things of Christ and reveal them, not only to
open the understanding, not only to enlighten the mind, but also
to work effectually in the soul that great work of faith faith
of the operation of God so that the sinner is brought to trust
in the Christ that is revealed to him here in Holy Scripture
and we make the will willing well that's the promise is it
not of the new covenant my people shall be willing in the day of
thy power. Oh, where the Spirit of the Lord
is, there is liberty. Oh, if the Son makes you free,
you're free indeed. By nature, of course, our will's
in bondage. We know that the very notion
of free will is nothing more than that, a vain notion of men. Our will is governed by what
we are, and we're dead in trespasses and sins. But where the Spirit
of the Lord is, when He comes to open the understanding, when
He comes to warm the cold heart, how He works might to them, and
affection. But it's all rooted in the words. As the Lord says here, He speaks
of my commandments, But He not only speaks of His commandments,
He speaks also of my words, and then again He speaks of my sayings. And all of it, all of it is the
Word of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is there in all the Scriptures.
But it's not only that we are brought to receive the Word,
and to trust in the Christ who is set before us in the Word,
But here is the blessed reality that we come to know the Lord
Himself. God Himself comes and dwells
in the hearts of His people. He that hath my commandments
and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me, and he that loveth
me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him and manifest
myself to him, He says. And again at verse 23, If a man
love me, he will keep my words, and my Father will love him,
and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. It's
not just the receiving of the Word, it's the receiving of God
in all the glorious fullness of who He is. Receiving the Father,
receiving the Son, and all that by that gracious ministry of
the Holy Spirit. Surely it's the revealing of
God in all the fullness of his triune being. This is the blessing then that
the Lord is setting forth. But this manifestation of Christ
is not only spiritual and scriptural but it's also practical. It's practical. We can think
in terms of doctrine, of experience, and of practice. Remember how
dear old Sidney Norton used to sometimes speak of D.E.P. I think
when he was at Oxford for a while he actually published a magazine. Remember Jim North had a number
of copies of that old magazine that was published all those
years ago and he bore the title D.E.P. Doctrine, Experience,
Practice. And here we have these three
necessary truths when we come to any proper understanding of
the Word of God, when we come to any proper understanding of
the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. What do we
have here? We have doctrine, in verse 20. He says, at that day when the
comfort of the Spirit has come, at that day you shall know that
I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you." What is he
speaking of here? Isn't this doctrine, isn't this
the great doctrine of eternal union? Oh, there is a blessed
union, of course, in all the fullness of the doctrine of the
Trinity, because God is not three gods, He is one God. Here, O
Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord, and He subsists in three
persons, but He is one. And at that day you shall know
that I am in my Father, He says. But He goes on, and ye in me,
and I in you. There is a union also between
God and His people, and it is an eternal union. as that the
Father chosen us in Him, says the Apostle, there in Ephesians
1, before the foundation of the world. So there is doctrine,
union. And then, here at the end of
verse 21, there is experience. He that loveth me shall be loved
of my Father, he says, and I will love him and will manifest myself
to him. What is he speaking of? It's
the experience of communion. What is it to know union with
the Lord Jesus Christ if we know nothing of communion? Communion
with Him, fellowship with Him. That manifestation of love towards
Him as He has manifested His love towards us. He that loveth
Me, is there shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him,
and will manifest Myself to him." Or to feel something of His gracious
presence in our souls. Isn't that what we desire, that
the Lord would make Himself so real to us? But where there is
the doctrine of union, and the experience of communion, there
will also be that that is practical. And we have that at the beginning
of this 21st verse. He that hath my commandments
and keepeth them, he says, it is that loveth me. Or there is also to be obedience. There is also to be obedience.
Why do we love Him? We love Him because He first
loved us. And what does the Lord say, if
you love Me, keep My commandments? For where there is anything of
the revelation of Christ to us, if we know anything of what it
is for the Lord to come to manifest Himself, there will be that desire
to walk in obedience to all His commandments. That's what He is saying, He
that has my commandments and keep us there. But we say, we fail so miserably,
we don't keep them. Instead of keeping them, we break
them. We're still transgressors. We have an old nature, don't
we? And we feel it. And Paul thankfully also felt
it and wrote of it there in the 7th of Romans what does he say
the good that I would I do not the evil that I would not that
I do all the keeping you see is far from perfect when I would
do good Paul says evil is present with me he feels it we can never
attain that state of perfection, perfect obedience here but there is an obedience and
I want to mention three aspects of that obedience it's not perfect
obedience that's what we would desire that we might never again
commit any sin but there is an obedience first of all what we
might a passive obedience in Revelation chapter 3 we have
that letter to the church at Philadelphia remember how the
Lord there is addressing letters to the seven churches in Asia
Minor and amongst them that at Philadelphia and he says there
in chapter 3 and verse 10 Thou hast kept the word of my patience
Thou hast kept the word I was kept the word of my patience
or my endurance. What does it indicate? It indicates
that there is a willing submission to the sovereign providences
of God. There's a bowing down before
the authority of God's words. But not only submitting to the
word of truth but also submitting to the will of God. as it is
manifested in our lives. All our lives, of course, are
in God's hands. Nothing happens outside of His
sovereign good pleasure and will. But here, the Lord commends that
church that has kept the Word of my patience, of my endurance. All we're to receive with meekness,
James says. With meekness the engrafted words
that's able to save our soul. We have to be meek, we have to
be humble before the Word of God and we have to be humble
and submissive to the will of God. and that is an obedience
but it's a passive obedience but there's not only a passive
obedience where there's this very practical
manifestation of the Lord to us there's also of course an
active obedience there is something pleasing to the child of God
about God's commandments. The believer delights in the
commandments of God. Doesn't John say that? 1 John
5 and verse 3, His commandments are not grievous. The Lord's
commandments are not grievous. And as Christians we acknowledge
that. We want to do what He commands. It's not that we find the commandment
an offence to us. The offence is ourselves. The
offence is the fact that we have a fallen nature that kicks against
the commandment. Look at the spirit of David in
the 119th Psalm. Verse 97, Oh, how love I thy
law, he says. Oh, how love I thy law. It is my meditation all the day. Do we love, really love the law
of God and want to meditate? Of course, in a sense, we're
not to limit that word law there in the psalm to the commandments.
It's all the word of God. But remember how Malachi says
of the Jews, you have not kept my ways but have been partial
in my law. He's speaking as God's mouthpiece.
And the sin of those Jews that the Prophet Malachi is addressing
is that they were partial. They would embrace some aspects
of God's Word, but not all of God's Word. And we're not to
be partial, we're not to simply embrace the promises. We love
the promises. And the Bible's full of them,
exceeding, great and precious promises. But we're also to be those who
would embrace the precepts. Oh yes, there's comfort to be
found when God comes and speaks gracious words of promise. When
he utters his faithful fear not. We love those. But let us not
be partial. We're to meditate in all God's
words. We're to take those holy precepts
as well as those many promises. The believer takes pleasure then
in the promise because it's God's promise but he also takes pleasure
in the precept because it's Christ's precept. Remember the Lord Himself, we
have that word in the Psalm, Psalm 40 and verse 8, I delight
to do thy will, O my God, yea, thy Lord is within my heart.
Now that's the language of David, that's the language of the Psalmist.
And he's sincere when he utters those words. But we know that
ultimately that verse in the Psalm belongs to the Saviour,
it's a Messianic Psalm. because those words are taken
by the Apostle there in Hebrews chapter 10 at verse 5 following,
and clearly he applies them to Christ. I delight to do thy will,
O my God, yea, thy law is within my heart. But is it not a fact
that that is also true of the child of God? The promise of
the new covenant is that God will write his law upon the hearts
of his people. 2nd Corinthians chapter 3. We
there see law and gospel contrasted. The law written on tables of
stone. But in the gospel, what does
God do? He comes and he writes his word on fleshy tables of
the hearts. And so, whilst the language of
the Psalmist belongs to Christ primarily, it also belongs to
those who are in Christ by faith. I delight to do thy will, O my
God. Yea, thy law is within my heart. Or can we not say then that if
God's law is in our hearts, it's an affair of the heart? We love
His law. His commandments are not grievous. Paul then can say, I consent
unto the law that it is good. I delight in the Lord of God
after the inward man. All this manifestation of Christ,
you see, it has practical implications. There will be obedience to his
commandments. Not a perfect obedience, there'll
be that passive obedience that we spoke of, that spirit of meekness,
bowing down before him in his words and in His ways, there'll
be that active obedience, we will take pleasure in all His
words, all His commandments, and then finally there'll be
that persevering, that persevering obedience. It's by continuous
obedience that we enjoy real communion with the Lord. What does He say here? at the
end of verse 20 ye in me and I in you and then he continues
he that hath my commandments and keepeth him he it is that
loveth me and he that loveth me shall be loved of my father
and I will love him and will manifest myself to him there's
union, there's communion and there's that blessed obedience
and so it continues It's not just the beginning of the Christian
life, it's the continuation, it's the perseverance in all
the ways of God. He that endureth unto the end,
the same shall be saved. Who are we those friends who
do endure? We persevere in the way of the
Lord's commandments. We want to conform more and more
to the image of His dear Son. We have a new nature. That's
a great word, isn't it, that we have in John's first general
epistle, there in chapter 3 at verse 9. Whosoever is born of
God, he says, doth not commit sin. For his seed remaineth in him,
and he cannot sin because he is born of God. In this, the
children of God are manifest. Maybe we sometimes stumble at
that word. I've said that the obedience
that the child of God renders is not a perfect obedience. That
is so evident in what the apostles say, especially Paul. And yet
we have that word in John. What are we to make of those
words? Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin, because
his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin, because he is
born of God. John is clearly speaking there
of the new nature, that seed that's in him. That's the divine
nature. Believers are partakers of the
divine nature. The divine nature could never
sin. That's the consequence of the
new birth. There's a new nature. There's a new man. If any man's
in Christ, he's a new creation, a new creature. But we still
have an old nature. And there's the conflict, you
see, between the old man and the new man. And that's very
much what the apostle is speaking of there in that 7th of Romans. consenting unto the law that
it is God's, delighting in the law of God after the inward man,
or the conflict with that old nature. But that perseverance,
that perseverance in all the ways of God, that desire to carry
on, to press forward to the prize of that high calling of God in
the Lord Jesus, and continually desiring that there might be
more and more of the manifestation of Christ how can we endure,
how can we persevere except the Lord is pleased to come and appear
for us and reveal himself to us and manifest himself and he
promises that he promises that look at what he says here in
the text he that hath my commandments and keepeth them It is He that
loveth me, and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father,
and I will love him and will manifest myself to him. Jesus
saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt
manifest thyself unto us and not unto the world? All this
is a revelation, you see, that's not unto the world. And the Lord
answers, If a man love me, he will keep my words and my father
will love him and we will come unto him and make our abode with
him or we want the Lord then to come and make his abode or
the continuation you see the continuation of the Lord with
his people that he might not leave us nor forsake us that
we might know and feel something of his gracious presence his
gracious help we will on occasions offend Him. He'll hide His face
for a little season. But how we long that He'll come
and come again and manifest Himself more and more and discover something
fresh of the wonder of His grace and His mercy and His love. Oh, the Lord then be pleased
to bless His Word to us and manifest Himself to each one of us. The Lord bless His own Word. Let us conclude our worship this
morning as we sing the hymn 300 sorry 251 251 and the tune is
University 253 when Jesus with his mighty love visits my troubled
breast my doubts subside my fears removed and I am completely I love the Lord with mind and
heart, His people and His ways, Envy and pride and lust depart,
And all His works I praise. The Hymn 251, Tune 253