In John chapter 14, we're going
to read the first 14 verses of this great chapter. It's well
known by many. It's used often and a lot of
times at funerals and such like, but it has a wider reference
than that. John 14, 1 through 14. Let not your heart be troubled. Watch every word here. He says,
Ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are
many mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again and receive you unto Myself, that
where I am ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and
the way ye know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord,
we know not whither thou goest, how can we know the way? Jesus
said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man
comes to the Father but by me. If ye had known me, ye should
have known my Father also. From henceforth ye know him,
and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord,
show us the Father, and it will satisfy us. Jesus said unto him,
Have I been so long time with you, and yet thou hast not known
me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen
the Father, and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? Believe thou not that I am in
the Father, and the Father in me? And the words that I speak
unto you I speak not of myself, but the Father that dwelleth
in me, he doeth the works. Believe me, that I am in the
Father, and the Father in me, or else believe me for the very
work's sake. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
he that believeth on me, the works that I do, shall he do
also, and greater than these shall he do, because I go to
my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in
my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in
the Son. If ye shall ask anything in my
name, I will do it. Now, this point before we really
start. There are two things to watch
for in our study this morning and in the upper room discourses
of our Lord. Number one, the Lord definitely
establishes them in the idea that He is very God, that He
is equal with the Father, that he that has seen Him has seen
the Father. And number two, He comforts them
by telling them that though He goes away, He will not leave
them orphans or comfortless. He will send a paraclete unto
them. Now with that in mind, In chapter
13, in our last study last week, there are three things that stand
out there and that are prominent to the time and the things about
to unfold which would culminate in the death of Christ on the
cross yonder in Jerusalem. And they are, number one, the
Lord washing the feet of the disciples. By that, teaching
them humility. A servant He became unto them,
that they ought to serve one another. The second thing that
we run across there, The Lord exposed Judas as the betrayer
of the Son of God, gave him a sop, identified him, exposed him,
the devil entered into him, and he went out. Now the third thing,
that we have there in the 13th chapter from last week, is the
prediction of Peter's three-fold denial of the Lord and Savior
in chapter 13, verse 38. That that very night, before
the cock crew signaling the morning light, The rooster would be a
sign of Peter's denial, and it came to pass exactly as he said. And it stabbed Peter in the heart
and the conscience like he had never suffered before. So now
let's come to the 14th chapter of our Lord's Discourse in the
Upper Room. Let's use John 14 and 1 as a
focal point. It says, let not your hearts
be troubled. And that's an appropriate thing
to say to the apostles and disciples at that particular time. Their
hearts already were troubled and already were disturbed. As we read in John 16 and 6,
the Lord said unto them, Because I said these things unto you,
sorrow hath filled your heart. John 16 and verse 22, And you
now have sorrow. Sorrow, because the Lord would
soon go away. Now the sorrow in verse 1 has
one major source and two lesser sources that we want to look
at. The two lesser sources are the
treason and defection of Judas Iscariot. And the second is the
prediction of the denial of the Lord by Simon Peter, one of the
outstanding and leading apostle. Now the main source of their
sorrow, however, and of their anxiety, and of their fear, were
all of those sayings of Jesus that He had made unto them. That He would be leaving them
soon. That soon He would go away. That soon He no longer would
be with them. And this troubled them. And we
look at the word Trouble there in John 14 and verse 1, Tarasso
used 17 times all together in the New Testament. And the word
means to stir, it can mean to agitate. In fact, it is used
in John 5 verse 4 and verse 7 of the stirring of the water of
the pool of Bethesda. It is even used of the soul of
the Lord Jesus Christ in John 11, 33 and 12 and 27. My soul is exceedingly troubled. Now me thinks that they are right
who think that part of their being troubled had to do with
them seeing, as J.B. Lightfoot put it, their disappointment
at seeing their Jewish messianic expectations fading away. that this they saw fading away
by the sayings of Jesus and by His action. There was the hope,
there was the expectation, particularly in the Jew, that the Messiah
would come, would deliver them from their Roman oppressors,
and establish a mighty temporal kingdom with Israel, blessed
nation, at the head. John Brown wondered, wondered
if perhaps these men expected to be high officials or have
a high rank in that coming kingdom of the Lord. We see that even
as late as Acts 1 and verse 6, after the resurrection of the
Lord, some 40 days after the resurrection of the Lord, this
question is again put to our Lord. Lord, will you at this
time restore again the kingdom unto Israel? They held this hope
out unto the very end. But alas, it didn't happen. The Lord was put to death on
the cross in Jerusalem. Then he arose from the dead.
And when he did, their hope was kindled in them again in Acts
1.6, and then it was dashed again as the Lord ascended in glory
up into heaven. Now while the Lord had many times
spoken of his suffering, of his death, and of his misery to come,
the disciples did not fully grasp the meaning of the words of our
Lord. They seem not to be able to reconcile
his being the Messiah with his dying and awful death like a
criminal upon the cross. It mystified them to hear the
Lord speak of His, quote, going away, unquote. And if we flip
back to John chapter 13 and verse 33, I'll read it. Little children,
yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek Me, and as
I said unto the Jews, whither I go, You cannot come, so now
I say unto you." Well, as usual, Peter is the first to respond
to something that he doesn't understand, or something that
he disagrees with, or something done or said by the Lord. And we see here, there is an
exchange between the Lord and the Apostle, in chapter 13, verse
36 through verse 38. And Peter asks in verse 36, where
are you going? This is voiced by Peter, but
it is likely the question asked in the name of all, being in
all of their mind. Where do you mean you're going
somewhere where I cannot follow? And did perhaps Peter and the
others think that he spoke only of a territorial leaving? Of leaving out of Jerusalem. The Lord does not answer Peter
plainly, but tells him, where I go, you cannot follow me now,
Howbeit, later you will follow Me." Then in verse 37, Peter
pursues it further. He won't let it die. Saying,
why can I not follow you? I will lay down my very life
for your sake. And in verse 38, this is when
the Lord tells Simon Peter, so you would lay down your life
for my sake, I tell you before the morning and before the rooster
crows, you shall deny me three times." Now, John does not tell
us this, but Matthew chapter 26 and verse 35 does. It vows that Peter, that he would
die before he would deny the Lord His Messiah and glory. And Peter would be greatly humbled
in all of this. He would deny the Lord and he
would learn a very powerful lesson, which is, none are as strong
as they think themselves to be in the things of God and in the
Lord. Then consider the case of doubting
Thomas in John 14 and verse 5, who seems to flatly contradict
the Lord's words. And in verse 4, you know the
place and the way where I go. And in verse 5, we know not where
you're going. How is it that we can know the
way? The Lord responds here with one
of the better known verses anywhere in the Bible or the New Testament,
I am the way, I am the truth, I am the light. Now this infectious
disease that is in the upper room seems to be spreading because
when we look at verse 8, Philip speaks his mind on a matter saying,
Lord, show us the Father and it will suffice us. It will contend
us. It will satisfy us. Now are these words of Philip
a prelude to a great theological declaration from Christ? Let us consider Philip's words
and seek, if we can, to get inside of his mind. What moves him to
ask? And what is this disciple asking
of our Lord? Now we note in verses 1 through
7, the Lord makes three mentions of my father. My father and his relation. They're in verse 2, they're in
verse 7. Notice the Father in verse 6. These words are in Philip's mind. The Father, my Father. And since Jesus speaks to them
of going away, and that to the Father, Philip asks, show us
the Father, and it will content or satisfy us. Now what did Philip
desired? Or what did he expect or ask? Did he expect to see a glorious,
theanthropic manifestation as was there on Mount Sinai? Or
as was there on the Mount of Transfiguration? Or as seen in
the tabernacle when God put His presence in a cloud over them? or the glory seen by Jacob and
Elijah? Or does He desire an immediate
and clear sight of the Father in the fullness of His glory
and majesty? If so, then He should know, no
mortal man upon the earth shall see God in His glory and live. Gil thought that Philip was speaking
for all of them in that room, that he asked for a corporal
side of God after the fashion of the great displays that God
had made of old, which he says would content them. That is,
it would make up for the Lord going away and leaving them. Now the Lord gives Philip a rather
sharp rebuke. in the ninth verse, that having
been so long with the Lord, having heard all of his mighty words,
and seen all of his great works, seen his character, heard his
prayers, and seen his power over all being, after all of that
time and being privileged in all of that. Philip was one of
the first ones that Christ had called in John 1 and verse 43. He'd been with the Lord as long
as any of the other And Methinks that the Lord has in his question
unto Philip the aspect, have you not seen in me the divine
perfection? How can you ask? Show us the
Father. And in verse 9, the last part
through verse 11, The Lord declares Himself unequivocally to be one
and to be equal with the Father. So much so that He says to them,
Whosoever has seen Me has seen the Father. What's more, in verse
10, I am in the Father and the Father is in Me. These were the
very words of God, His works, the very works of God that were
done in and through Him. Consider the words of Jesus to
some Jews in John chapter 10 and verse 30, much along the
line. that he's telling these apostles, I and my Father are
one. We have to get a hold of that.
I and my Father are one. The Jews understood what he said,
they understood what he meant, because they took up stones against
Jesus, because they considered that a blasphemous statement
and claim. claiming equality with God, a
man walking upon the face of the earth. When the Lord Jesus
asked them, for what cause do you stone me? In verse 32, they
answered, In John 10 and verse 33, not for a good work, we stone
thee, because thou, being a mere man, only a man, make yourself
equal with God. even giving out that you are
God, making blasphemous claims that you are one with the Father. You can see it again, chapter
5 of the same Gospel of John, when the Lord claimed an equality
and an absolute equalness with the Father. And that upon two
accounts. We read in John 5.18, the Jews
sought to kill him. And there were two
things that drove them. Number one, he, so they charged,
had violated and desecrated the Sabbath day by healing the man
with the infirmity at the pool of Bethesda. And secondly, they
would stone him for making himself equal with God, for saying that
he is one with the Father. Now let's go back to John 14,
verse 9 through 11. It is of the utmost importance
that these early disciples, the government of the church soon
to be in their hand, utmost importance it is that they be thoroughly
grounded in the doctrine of the deity of Jesus Christ, the Son
of God. For it is the foundational, fundamental
principle of all Christianity. There is no salvation if Christ
is not very God. We must deny the name Christian
to any who deny that Jesus is true God, and anyone who calls
Jesus a liar or an imposter. For he clearly, clearly on several
occasions claimed oneness and unity with the Father. I and
my Father are one. He that has seen me has seen
the Father. The Father is in me and I in
him. The Father dwells in me. I came
down from heaven. to do the will of my Father.
He came from God and would go to God. All of these are statements
made by the Lord. And in John 5, he again claims
an absolute equality with God on many levels. For example, in verse 17, His
works were the works of the Father. He was doing the works of the
Father. The works the Father had ordained
and had sent Him down to do. Verse 19, again. Verse 21, the Father raises the
dead, so does the Son. The Father raises up the dead,
so does the Son. Verse 22, the Father had put
all judgment into the hands of the Son. Verse 23, again in John
5, the Son is due equal honor with the Father. Verse 24, there
is everlasting life in the words of the Son. He is able to speak
words of everlasting life. Verse 26, as the Father in Himself
has life, So has He given to the Son to have life in Himself. Now back to John 14, and some
words directed to the apostles in verse 12 through verse 14,
especially in verse 12. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
he that believeth on me, the works that I do, he shall also,
and greater works than these shall he do, because I go to
my Father. Now these seem to flow naturally
out of verse 10 and verse 11, that the Father did great works
through the Son. They could believe on Him for
the work's sake. Verse 12, having mentioned, as
John Gill wrote, His miracles as proof of His deity. He encourages His apostles. that after he was gone away,
they would be able to do the same works and even in a greater
length of time and a broader area. Methinks they greatly err
who say that the promise belonged to every Christian and to the
churches down through all of the ages. That is, that the power
of working miracles, signs and wonders and that what it constitutes
what some people refer to today as the full gospel. And even some fancy themselves
exercising what they fondly call the apostolic faith, with all
the gifts of the Spirit in operation, including healing, casting out
demons, and such like. And when their great works and
their great miracles turn out to be nothing more than obvious
duds. Then they say, it is because
of the lack of faith on your part or on the part of the one
that needs the help of God. They would heal, but let us remember
that the Lord and the apostles healed without any cooperation
from the object of the healing whatsoever. Especially, is that
true, in the raising of the dead? How can one that is dead cooperate
in His resurrection? Pardon me for saying it here
right out loud, but there is no comparison between the so-called
miracle of these modern-day Charltons and the Apostles of Christ and
of Christ Himself. But they were to carry forth
the work of God, including great signs and wonders. That is, Jesus was approved of
God among the Jew by signs and miracles and wonders, Acts 2,
22 and 23. Even so, these miracles and wonders
were the credentials of their apostleship. We read about it
in Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 4. These were the credentials
that they indeed were. the apostles of the Lord, just
as God endowed Moses, then Elijah, and Elisha, with the power to
work miracles in order to confirm that they had come from God,
so the Lord would endure His apostle with special and extraordinary
ability to work great things. among the people. He had done
so before in John 10 and verse 1. He called unto him the twelve,
he gave them power over unclean spirits to cast them out and
to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease." Before
he sent them out, he endued them with that power. You read it
again in Mark 3.13. Mark mentions it also in 6 and
7. And he would renew the grant
after he was gone away to the Father, and after the Spirit
of God had been poured out upon them. And we should not forget
that in the Lord's great prayer in John chapter 17, one part
of His prayer is devoted specifically and particularly to those apostles
and disciples that were with him in the upper room of that
day and that time. And this part of the prayer covers
verses 6 through verse 19. There he describes, as in verse
6, the men which you gave me out of the world. They were given
to Him in the election of grace before the world, but also given
to Him out of the world, not merely given Him by creation,
but by election and by salvation. And look what He says in John
17 and verse 9, I pray for them. just as Jesus loved His own in
John 13 and 1, so He prayed for His own in the great prayer. Now, me thinks that too few Christian
professors have a proper view or proper appreciation of the
Christian apostolate as it's set out for us in the New Testament. These are very important. to and a very great influence
on the early Christian church and upon us for the writings
we have from them in the New Testament. Abraham Kuyper, a
book that I have, has quite a bit of writing on the apostolate. He said this, quote, the apostles
were ambassadors extraordinary. different from the prophets,
different from the present ministers of the word, and they occupied
a unique position in the church." Now there are no apostles today. Need I repeat it? There are no
apostles today of this caliber. For I agree with Gil, this office
is ceased. For he could only be an apostle
who was chosen and who was taught by the Lord. One qualification
was that they had accompanied with the Lord from the baptism
of John until the time that he was taken up, Acts 1, 21 and
22. One who had been an eyewitness
of the resurrected Lord. I Corinthians chapter 9 and verse
1. Who, in reality, would expect
great things from these men in the upper room? These dull-of-hearing,
confused doubters, deniers, who seem to be completely off-focus. when it comes to what the Lord
is teaching, who have misunderstood, even up to this time, many things
that Jesus has said. I tell you frankly, they do not
seem ready to receive their diploma, to graduate from the school of
Christ. They seem to deserve low marks
for what they have advanced to and for their soundness. Not
ready. yet to become prime time players,
if I may use the expression, and yet in a time, a short time,
the mantle of Christ would fall down upon them and lead them
and teach them, and they would teach the churches, and what
would make them confident ministers of Christ? How would they become
so? One of the most significant matters
considered to the discourses in the upper room from our Lord
was the promise of a special helper who would help them. If
you're in John 14, let me read verse 16 through verse 18. The
Lord tells them this, 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 sees Him not, neither knoweth Him, But ye know Him, for He
dwelleth in you and shall be with you. I will not leave you
comfortless. I will come unto you. No question, the Lord is speaking
of the Holy Spirit, which when He ascended, He would receive
from the Father and shed forth upon them on the day of Pentecost,
which He merited for them by His death and resurrection and
exaltation. Notice in John 14, 16, the term,
another, comforter, in the King James,
or a paraclete, as it is. There are several ways that you
may see this particular word translated. You might see it
paraclete, you might see it comforter, advocate, counselor, all of these
translations. The word is parakletos and is
five times in the New Testament. Five times and all of them from
the pen of John. It's the same word that is translated
advocate in 1 John 2 and verse 1. We have an advocate. One meaning of the prefix Para,
P-A-R-A, is one who is near or one who comes or one who stands
by the side of. A good definition of the word
would be One called or one sent, one called to be beside or with
another. You find it of old terminology
in courts of law. When someone of good character
would stand with another, before the bench. Therefore Jesus had
been their advocate up until this time. Now he speaks of another
parakletos, the word another allos. seems to be one that is
numerically different, but one of the same sort nonetheless. Numerically different, but of
the same sort. This is used dozens of times
in the New Testament. And the Lord tells them in John
16 and verse 18, I will not leave you comfortless. King James has
in the margin, I will not leave you orphans. I will come unto
you, that is, in the person of the Holy Spirit, the third person
in the divine Godhead, who is not just some mystical influence,
but the same one who brooded on the waters in Genesis chapter
1, the same who conceived The humanity of Christ in the womb
of Mary. The same one who has inspired
our sacred and holy scripture. The Lord uses the masculine here,
He. in referring to this promised
one to come. And in verse 26 of chapter 14,
the Lord clearly identifies the coming one, the Comforter, the
Holy Ghost, or the Holy Spirit. And note the times in which the
Lord uses the expression, the Spirit of Truth. John 14, 17, the spirit of truth
which the world cannot receive. 15 and 26, the spirit of truth
which proceeds from the Father, He shall testify of me. John 16 and 13, when He, the
spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth. Now this spirit of truth which
Jesus plainly identified as the Holy Spirit would be absolutely
indispensable for their ministry. For through Him would they receive
the things of God and be able to give them unto the people. Yet He would abide with them
all to the end or all of the age, literally. John 14, 26,
teach them all things and bring all things to their remembrance
whatsoever Christ had testified unto them. John 15 and verse
26, He would guide them into all truth and He would show them
things that were to come. And he would, in John 16 and
4, glorify Christ and receive things from Him to show unto
the apostle. But in John 16 and verse 12,
I have yet many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear
them now. And the Spirit of truth would
enlighten them, confirm these truths to their heart and soul
and mind. And listen to John 16 and verse
32 and verse 33. Behold, the hour come, yea, now
is, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own house, and
shall leave me alone. And yet I am not alone, because
the Father is with me. These things I have spoken unto
you, that ye might Have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation. Be of good cheer. I have overcome
the world. Then we have to cut it short,
but then follows that great prayer of our Lord. in John chapter
17. Closing the session in the upper
room. And then he goes forth to the
agony of the garden. And God willing, that's our study
next Lord's Day morning. Christ in the garden. The agony
of Christ in the garden. Even as he sweats, as it were,
drops of blood and says, my soul, is exceedingly heavy. That will be our next study.
But you see, now the Lord confirms them in these two things. He
is God. He is equal with God. He is one with the Father in
nature. And the Holy Spirit would come
and take up the work in them. Great, great discourse from our
Lord. Very helpful to them after the
Spirit came and then they remembered the things spoken by the Lord.