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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
I suppose that many of you know this chapter by heart. I notice that, in all old Christians’ Bibles, this leaf is well worn, — sometimes worn out. We have here our Lord’s homely talk to his disciples; it is full of sublimity, yet it is blessedly simple. There is a sort of unveiling of himself in this chapter. It is not so much like a public discourse as a private conversation and this tends to make the Saviour’s speech appear the more condescending, and yet also the more sublime.
Joh_14:1. Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
There is no cure for heart-trouble but heart-trust. “Ye believe in God,” —you do trust in Divine Providence, now trust in the Saviour’s great atonement. You have come close to God already, come closer still to the Incarnate God, the Lord Jesus Christ; hear him say to you, “Ye believe in God, believe also in me.” Your faith already deals with some things; now let it deal with more things. Your past troubles have been endured by faith; now endure the present in the same way.
Joh_14:2. In my Father’s house are many mansions:
You are at home in Christ even now if you are a believer in him. Wherever you are, you are your Heavenly Father’s own child; and you have realized the truth of what David wrote in the twenty-third Psalm, “I will dwelt in the house of the Lord for ever.” Usually, when we are singing that sweetly-solemn hymn, beginning — “For ever with the Lord,” we are thinking about heaven. That is quite right; but “for ever” means now as well as the future, it covers time here as well as eternity in glory. We are with the Lord even now; whether we are down here or up there.
Joh_14:2. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
So that, when you go from this earth, you need not fear that you will be launched into space, or that you will have to plunge into the great unknown,
Joh_14:3. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
“I will come to you by my Spirit. I will come to you by-and-by, if my Father shall purpose it, in the hour of death; or if not, I will come in person at my second advent; but, in any case, I will be sure to come. My dear children, I am going away, but it is only for a little while. I am coming again, so be not troubled as though you had said ‘Good-bye’ to me forever. ‘I will come again,’ and when I do come, I shall never go from you again.”
Joh_14:4. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.
Yes, we do know where Christ has gone, and we also know the way.
Joh_14:5. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?
I like to hear Thomas talk, even though his is a very unwise speech; I wonder when you and I ever made wise ones. We never do unless we borrow them, for all that comes of us naturally is childish and foolish, “for we know in part, and we prophesy in part.” When the child becomes a man, he will put away childish things; but meanwhile our speech betrayeth us. We seldom speak even of any of the great mysteries of the gospel without uttering some words of our own which show that we have understood them yet. I think the Lord likes us to display our ignorance, first that we may know it, and then that he may remove it.
Joh_14:6. Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Christ has gone to the Father’s upper house to make it ready for all the redeemed family. We could never have entered there if he had not gone in first; and even now, there is no coming to the Father in faith or in prayer except by Christ, we must not even dream of communion with God except through our Lord Jesus Christ. Luther used to say — and to say very wisely, too, — “ I will have nothing to do with an absolute God; I must come to God by Christ Jesus.” “No man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
Joh_14:7. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.
All of the Father that we can know is visible in Christ, “for in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” And if we truly know Christ, we also know the Father. Christ always seems to be knowable, for he brings himself down to such a nearness to us that it seems easy to know him. Well, then, knowing Christ, we also know the Father, and have seen him.
Joh_14:8. Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
Thomas spoke just now like a babe in grace, now here is Philip talking like another baby; yet how bold his speech is! “Lord, shew us the Father.” Why, no man can see the Father’s face, and live! Yet here is a child of God apparently forgetful of that fact.
Joh_14:9. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
Is not this a homely talk between the Master and his disciples? Said I not rightly that Christ here seems to unveil and unbosom himself? He lets these children of his talk away much at their ease; and I think we ought to be at ease when we are talking with Christ. Some like a very stately service in their worship, something very grand, that makes ordinary worshippers stand afar off. Let them enjoy it if they can; but as for us, we prefer something which permits us to come very near to our Lord.
Joh_14:10. Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me?
Yes, Lord, we do believe that; thine eternal and inseparable union with the Father is a doctrine about which we have no question whatsoever.
Joh_14:10. The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself, but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.
Notice, dear friends, that even the Lord Jesus Christ did not profess to teach doctrines out of his own mind. He says, “The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself.” Now, if it is so with the Master, how much more ought it to be so with the servants! But have you not noticed how it is with the great men of the pulpit in these days? It is, “What I have thought out, I make known to you.” It is, “What has come to me by the spirit of the age, the culture of the period, I tell you.” God save us from this kind of talk! It is no business of mine, I know, ever to come to you merely with a message of my own; for if the Lord Jesus Christ did not do so, what a feel his servant must be if he pretends to do it! No; if it is not revealed in this Book, neither shall it be taught by us, nor ought it to be received by you. So Jesus says to his disciples, “The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself.” He glories in his union with the Father, and in the fact that he does not come as an independent teacher of thoughts of his own inventing, but he tells out to us what is in his Father;s heart.
Joh_14:11-12. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
We cannot do Christ’s redeeming work; it would be blasphemy to suppose that we could, for he said of it, “It is finished.” But we can do the kind of work that Christ did in instructing men, and in being the means of blessing men. Many of the apostles brought to a knowledge of the truth more souls than their Lord did by his personal ministry. He was pleased, after the outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, to bring great multitudes to the faith by some of his servants, while he himself preached, comparatively speaking, to but few, only journeying up and down that little land of Palestine, and scarcely traversing all of it. And if we will but trust him, and seek to imitate his wondrous life, we also shall do the works that he did, and do them on an even larger scale, and do them with even greater results.
Joh_14:13-14. 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 any thing in my name, I will do it.
Observe the breadth of prayer: “If ye shall ask any thing.” Yet observe also the limit of prayer: “If ye shall ask any thing in my name.” There are some things which we should not ask in Christ’s name, as we have no promise about them, or because we have indications that they would be contrary to God’s usual method of procedure. We must not ask, in the name of Christ, for what would be absurd or outrageous for us to expect God to grant, neither dare we use that sacred name in pleading for things which would only be for the satisfaction of our own will. We must let the will of God rise above all; but, subject to that will, we may ask anything in Christ’s name, and he will do it.
Joh_14:15. If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Obedience is the truest proof of love. Some, out of supposed love to Christ, have attempted or committed acts of fanaticism; they have been enthusiastic, and, in many cases, doubtless, very sincere; but they have also been very unwise. Here is the best thing that you can do out of love for Christ: “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”
Joh_14:16. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; —
“One who will not need to die, and so to be separated from you; but who, once coming to you, shall tarry with you throughout the ages;” —
Joh_14:17. 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.
Do you not notice how this verse contradicts the current thought of the period about “the spirit of the age” being so much in advance of the Spirit of all past ages? Listen again to these words of our Lord: “The Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive.” The world is always receiving one form of falsehood or another; tossed to and fro, and never abiding long in one stay, it cries, “This is the truth,” or “That is the truth,” or “Now we have it; this is the truth.” But Christ says, “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.”
Joh_14:18. I will not leave you comfortless:
Or, “orphans,” for that is the meaning of the original: “I will not leave you orphans.”
Joh_14:18-20. I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
This is all very simple; the words are nearly all words of one syllable, yet there are depths here in which a leviathan might plunge, and lose himself.
Joh_14:21-23. 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.
Only holy men can see the holy Christ, and it is only as we walk in obedience to him that we can have the Son of God walking with us, and the Father and the Son dwelling with us.
Joh_14:24. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.
Notice that important truth again, and observe what weight and what stress Christ lays upon it.
Joh_14:25-26. These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
Brethren, ought we not to do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, since the Father himself does everything in that name? Even concerning the sending of the Comforter, Christ says, “whom the Father will send in my name.” Then, he would certainly have the Father and the children acting upon the same principles; the Father glorifying Christ by sending the Spirit in his name, and ourselves glorifying Christ by presenting our prayers and praises in that one adorable name.
Joh_14:27. Peace I leave with you, —
“I told you not to let your heart be troubled; now I go further, and I leave you this precious legacy of peace: ‘ Peace I leave with you,’ “ —
Joh_14:27. My peace I give unto you: —
“My own deep peace, which even my sufferings and death cannot disturb:” —
Joh_14:27-29. Not as the world giveth, give 1 unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe.
Oh, what numbers of things which Christ foretold have come to pass already! Have you, dear friends, believed all the more because of them? How many answers to prayer, how many deliverances out of trouble, how many helps in the time of need, have you had! Surely, when all this has come to pass, you ought to believe.
Joh_14:30-31. Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do, Arise, let us go hence.
So the Saviour went forth to his passion and his death, that all might know the supremacy of his love to the Father and his love to his people. And so let us, in our measure, be ever ready to say, Arise, let us go hence, service or to suffering, since our Saviour leads the way.
Joh_14:1. Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
Here is a troubled company of disciples, very much cast down, so their Divine Master, full of infinite tenderness, talks to them in this gentle manner, “Let not your heart be troubled.” He does not like to see them troubled; and when they are, he is troubled also. Our Lord here prescribes faith as the only remedy for heart trouble. If you, poor troubled soul, can believe, you will leave off fretting. Twice our Lord uses the word “believe.” He seems to say to his disciples, “Take another dose of faith; it will take away from you this faintness of heart from which you are suffering: ‘Ye believe in God, believe also in me.’” And then he seeks to make them forget their heart trouble by talking most sweetly to them about his Father, and his Father’s dwelling-place. It is a great thing to divert the mind, when it is troubled, from that which bores into it, and threatens to destroy it.
Joh_14:2. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you.
“You have all my heart, so I have no secrets from you. ‘If it were not so, I would have told you;’ even in going away from you, I am going away for your good.”
Joh_14:2. I go to prepare a place for you.
Joh_14:3. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself;
“I will not send an angel to fetch you, but I will myself come for you. If you die, I will come for you in that way; but if you live on until my Second Advent, ‘I will come again, and receive you unto myself.’”
Joh_14:3. That where I am, there ye may be also.
“So do not be troubled because I am going away from you. I am going first in order that you may follow afterwards, I am going as the Pioneer into that blessed state where you shall dwell with me for ever; so do not be troubled at my departure.” How tenderly and lovingly this is all put!
Joh_14:4. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.
“I am not going to take a leap into the dark; you know where I am going, and you also know the road along which I am going.” Ah! but sometimes sorrow forgets what it knows, and thus creates a cloud of unnecessary ignorance which darkens and increases the sorrow.
Joh_14:5. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?
It was a pity that Thomas had such a thought as this in his mind, but as it was there, it is a great mercy that he told his Lord of it. Sometimes to put your trouble down in black and white is a quick way to get rid of it; but to bring it to your Lord in prayer is a still better plan.
Joh_14:6. Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
How impossible it is fully to describe our Lord in human language! He is going away, yet he is himself the way; and he is himself the beginning and the end, he is everything to his people: “the way, the truth, and the life.” We are obliged to have mixed metaphors when we talk of Christ, for he is the mixture of everything that is delightful and precious. All over glorious is our Lord; there is no way of setting him forth to the full in our poor halting speech.
Joh_14:7. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from, henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.
It cheers the children of God to talk to them about their Father, and about their Father’s house, so that is what the Elder Brother did in his great kindness to his disciples, he talked to them about their Father and his heaven.
Joh_14:8-10. Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.
Christ and the Father are indissolubly one. Even when he was here in his humiliation, he was not separated from his Father, except in that dread hour when he was bearing his people’s sins upon the cross. Now he is visibly one with his Father on the throne of glory.
Joh_14:11-12. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also;
“I am going away from you; but be not dismayed, for I shall not take away my power from you; that will still remain with you.”
Joh_14:12. And greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
“My very absence will let loose a greater power than you could have experienced while I was here You will need more power when I am gone from you, and you shall have more. Therefore, ‘let not your heart be troubled.’ Besides, you will be able still to pray, and prayer will bring you greater blessings than any that I ever gave you.”
Joh_14:13-14. 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 any thing in my name, I will do it.
Every word in this address of Christ was full of comfort to his disciples.
Joh_14:15-16. If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;-
There was the One who would enable the disciples to meet every trial, —that other Comforter. “Intimate Knowledge of the Holy Spirit.” whom Christ promised to them. Their trouble was that their Lord was going away from them; that other Comforter made amends for that, and he will make amends to you, believer, for every form of trial to which you may be exposed. Is it bodily weakness? Is it the infirmity of old age? Is it depression of spirit? Is it losses and crosses at home? Is it crooked things that cannot be made straight? Well Christ’s promise still stands good, “I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;” —
Joh_14:17. Even the Spirit of truth: whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him;-
“You are on familiar terms with him, you are intimate with him, you know him;” —
Joh_14:17-20. For he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
These are the three wonderful mysteries of the union between God, and Christ, and his people: “I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.”
Joh_14:21-22. 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?
“Peradventure, if thou didst manifest thyself to the world, the world would bow down before thee, and worship thee.” But Christ’s plan was to manifest himself to the inner circle of his own chosen ones.
Joh_14:23-27. 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. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me. These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you.
He had given them peace while he was with them. His divine presence had been their continual comfort; but now, although he was going away from them, he would leave his peace behind him as the most precious legacy that he could bequeath to them: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you.”
Joh_14:27-28. Not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice,-
“ I know that you do love me; but if you really acted as if you loved me, you would rejoice,” —
Joh_14:28. Because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.
The Lord Jesus, though equal with the Father, had voluntarily laid aside his glory and taken the form and place of a man, making himself of no reputation, so his disciples ought to have rejoiced that he was going back to his primitive glory.
Joh_14:29-30. And now I have told you, before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe. Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.
Still Christ would have enough to do to meet that arch-enemy, and to endure all that would come upon him during that dread encounter.
Joh_14:31. But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence.
Let us read that well-known and most blessed chapter, John 14, which so clearly shows our Saviour’s tender consideration for the comfort of his people, lest the great grief excited in them by his impending death should altogether break their hearts.
Joh_14:1. Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
I think our Saviour meant to say, and really did say. “If ye believe in God, ye are believing in me; and if ye believe in me, ye are believing in God; for there is such a perfect unity between us that you need not, when I die make any distinction between me and God, but still believe in me as ye believe in the Father.”
Joh_14:2. In my Father’s house are many mansion: if it were not so, I would have told you.
“Wicked men will shut you out of my Father’s house below: the temple at Jerusalem, though being still used for Jewish worship after all its ritual and ceremonialism have been abolished, will cease to be my Father’s house to you; but there is a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens, and there is room for all of you there. When this country gets to be a desert to you, remember that there is the home country, the blessed glory land, on the other side of the river, and the Father’s house there with its many mansions.”
Joh_14:2-3. I ye 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, there ye may be also.
Jesus often keeps this promise in many senses. By his gracious spirit, he has come again, by his divine presence in the means of grace, he often comes again. By-and-by, if we die, he will come again to meet us; and if we do not die, then will the promise be fulfilled to the greatest possible extent, for Jesus will come again, and receive in his own proper person those who are alive and remain unto his coming. Anyhow, “I will come again, and receive you unto myself,” remains one of the sweetest promises that was ever given to believers by the Lord Jesus Christ. He did not say, “I will receive you to heaven;” he promised something far better than that: “I will receive you unto myself.” Oh, what bliss it will be to get to Christ, to be with him for ever and ever!
Joh_14:4. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.
“At least, I have taught it to you; I have explained it to you; I have told you that I am the goal of your way, and the way to your goal; that I am the end, and also the way to that end.”
Joh_14:5. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?
Oh, how much ignorance there may be where there ought to be much knowledge. It is not always the man who lives in the sunlight who sees the most. Thomas had been one of the twelve apostles for years, he had during all that time had Christ for his Teacher, yet he had learned very little. With such poor teachers as we are, it is no wonder if our hearers and scholars learn but little from us, yet they ought to learn much from Christ, although I think that we learn nothing even from Jesus Christ himself except under the teaching of the Holy Spirit.
Joh_14:6. Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
“I am going to the Father, — that is where I am going, Thomas, and you can only come to the Father by me; do you not know that?”
Joh_14:7. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also:
For Christ is the express image of his Father’s person, so that you always see the Father when you see the Son.
Joh_14:7. And from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.
Thomas had made an advance in heavenly knowledge; he had taken a higher degree in divinity now that the Master had taught him so much upon this most important point: “from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.”
Joh_14:8. Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
It was not merely one of Christ’s scholars, you see, who was so dull of comprehension, here is another of the dunces, Philip.
Joh_14:9. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet had thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
He who really knows Christ, and understands Christ’s character, understands, so far as it can be understood by man, the character of God. We know more of God from the life of Christ than we can learn from any other source.
Joh_14:10-12. Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? 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 works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
The Lord Jesus Christ, after he had gone back to heaven gave to his servants the power to do these “greater works” — the Holy spirit resting upon them, — in the gathering in of the nations unto their Lord. Whereas Christ kept to one little country, he sent his first disciples, and he sends us still to preach the gospel to every creature in the whole world, and he clothes his servants with all needful authority and power to do the work he has committed to their charge.
Joh_14:13-14. 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 any thing in my name, I will do it.
There is the only limit to true believing prayer. There are some things which we could not ask in Christ’s name; that is, using his authority in asking for them. There are some wishes and whims that we may cherish, not that we think we may pray about; but we have not Christ’s name or authority to warrant us in expecting that we shall realize them, and therefore we cannot ask for them in his name. To say, “For Christ’s sake,” is one thing; but to say, “I ask this in Christ’s name,” is quite another matter. He never authorized you to make use of his name about everything. There are only certain things about which you can pray in his name, such as are the express subject of a divine promise, and when you pray for one of those things, you shall prove Christ’s words to be true, “If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it.”
Joh_14:15-16. If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter,
The Paraclete, the Succored, the Helper. The word “Comforter” has lost its old meaning; you get it in certain old writings, when you read of such-and-such a man that he gave to someone else succor and comfort. There is more here than merely giving us consolation. It means Helper: “He shall give you another Helper.” Advocatus is the Latin, and that too is the correct word: “He shall give you another advocate,” —
Joh_14:16-17. That he may abide with you for ever;Eeven 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.
Worldly men are not cognizant of the existence of the Holy Spirit. They do not believe in him; they say that there may or may not be such a Divine Being in the world as the Holy Spirit, but they have never come across his path. This then is one of the tests of true believers, the twice-born, they have received a new nature which enables them to recognize the existence of the Spirit of God and to feel the influence of his work: “Ye know him: for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.”
Joh_14:18-19. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me:
“Your spiritual sight, which discerns the presence with you of the Holy Spirit, will show my continued existence when I am gone away from you.”
Joh_14:19-20. Because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I am in my father, and ye in me, and I in you.
This is something more for us to know. To know that Christ is in the Father, is of a thing; but it is still more for us to understand the next mystic unity, “ye in me, and I in you.” Oh, wondrous combination of the Father and the Son, and of Immanuel, God with us, and ourselves!
Joh_14:21-22. He that hath my commandment, 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?
Large-hearted Judas, very different from Judas Iscariot! He wants Christ to manifest himself to all the world; he seems to have been a man of very broad views. He does not comprehend discriminating love and electing grace; he wants all the privileges of the children of God to be the privileges of the King’s enemies, but that cannot be.
Joh_14:23. 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.
Christ is sure to manifest himself to those who love him, but how can he manifest himself to those who love him not? They cannot see him; they would not appreciate him if they could see him, they have no spiritual taste with which to enjoy him.
Joh_14:24-26. He that loveth me not keepeth not my saying: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me. These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
Do we sufficiently look to the Holy Spirit for divine teaching? We read our Bibles, I trust, with diligence, and also any explanatory books by which we may better understand our Bibles, but do we look up to the Holy Spirit, and ask him distinctly and immediately to teach us what is the meaning of Christ’s words, and to bring them to our remembrance? I wish we did this more than we do.
Joh_14:27. Peace I leave with you,
“That is my legacy to you.”
Joh_14:27. My peace I give unto you: —
My own deep calm of spirit, which is not ruffled or broken though the contradiction of sinners continually annoys me: “My peace I give unto you.” Christ puts his hand into his heart, and takes out of that priceless casket the choicest jewel it contains, — his own peace, and he says, “Wear that on your finger, the seal and token of my love.” “My peace I give unto you:” —
Joh_14:27. Not as the world giveth, give I unto you.
“With an expectation of getting a reward for it; neither do I give it to take it back again; nor do I give it in mere presence; I give it in reality, sincerely, disinterestedly, as your freehold possession for ever.”
Joh_14:27-28. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.
Christ as man had condescended to become less than the Father; he had taken upon himself the form of a servant, but now he was going back to take his own natural dignity again. We ought to rejoice in his gain. Though you may think it a loss not to have his corporeal presence, yet would you like to call him away from yonder harps that ring out his praises, and the perfect love of the Father with whom he reigns supreme? Oh, no, blessed Master, stay where thou art!
Joh_14:29-31. And now I how told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe. Hereafter I will not talk much with you; for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. But that the world may know that I love the Father and as the Father gave are commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence.
Joh_14:1. Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
You will be troubled; that cannot be helped. But let not your heart be troubled. You are like a ship, and all the water in the sea cannot hurt a ship, if it is kept outside of her. Let not your heart be troubled. How are you to prevent it? Faith is the remedy. Ye believe already; believe more. “Ye believe in God; believe also in me.” “You have a trust in the infinite power of God; believe in me as the incarnation of his infinite love.”
Joh_14:2. 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.
There is no room for you on earth; there will be in heaven. If troubles should so multiply that it seems impossible to live in them, you shall be carried away where you shall live above them “In my Father’s house are many mansions.” You may depend upon the love of Christ beloved, for if there were anything dark, mysterious, distressing, which would lead you to despair, he would not have kept it back. He treats you frankly. “If it were not so I would have told you. I go, and you are sorry that I go. It is the source of your sorrow. But I go to prepare place for you.”
Joh_14:3. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
Oh! this is ground for sweet comfort, and it ought to yield it to us tonight. He has gone, but he will come again; he has not left us for ever. Space divides us for awhile; but, skipping over the mountains like a roe and a young hart, he will come again, even to this poor world, and to us, his waiting church, he will come again. Therefore, have patience. Let not your heart be troubled. Jesus Christ will come very soon.
Joh_14:4. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.
Ye know where Christ is gone. Ye know how to get at him. The throne on which he sits is the throne of grace. He is gone to the Father, and your prayers will find the Father. You know the way. Then frequent it; and though as yet in your bodies you cannot reach to him, yet in spirit you can. “Whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.”
Joh_14:5. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?
Which was a contradiction of his Master, which Thomas ought not to have uttered. He should have put it much rather in the form of a question for explanation, than of such a fiat denial. His Master said, “Whither I go ye know.” He said, “We know not whither thou goest.” But we must take care that we do not contradict Christ. Our unbelief would be shamed out of us, if we were to look at it and examine it. I am persuaded that your faith will be justified the more you examine it, till you will discover that faith in God is nothing, after all, but sanctified common sense. So unbelief will appear to be more shameful the more you examine it, till you discover at length that it is nothing but garish folly. An outrage upon the first principles of wisdom is distrust of God.
Joh_14:6-7. Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.
This, then, is the main point of knowledge with us, to know Christ. All the studies in the world are vain, compared with the study of Christ crucified. This is the most excellent of all the sciences. He that knoweth Christ knoweth the way, the truth, the life, yea, and God himself.
Joh_14:8-9. Philip saith unto him, Lord shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
The best view of God we can ever have is Christ in the person of his Son. There is more seen of God than in all nature; aye and in all history added to nature. God hath given us a full-length portrait of himself in Jesus; while in all his works, we have no more then a mere miniature of him. Oh! that we knew Christ more; then should we know the Father.
Joh_14:10-12. Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? 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 works’ sake. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
Oh! what strength there is in faith. These are the same people who are not to be troubled. They are to rise so much above trouble of heart, that they are to become performers of works like to Christ. Yea, and since Christ has gone, and he has endowed us with the Holy Spirit, we are to do yet greater works than he did. Oh! to know the possibilities of our nature; to know what God can do by us. What appears to us as we are, as unable to be done, we may be enabled to do through the spirit of God which is in Christ Jesus.
Joh_14:13-14. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
It does not mean that every prayer will be answered. The power to ask a thing in Christ’s name is not given to everybody. It is not merely to say at the end of your prayer, “for Christ’s sake.” It is another thing; it is to be able to feel that, as Christ stood in your place, so you dare stand in Christ’s place; and what you have asked, you have asked in his name, feeling that what you have asked is such that Christ would have asked it. Now, when you can feel that, and can feel that Christ puts his seal on what you have asked, then, you ask in his name. A person cannot always speak in the name of another; cannot do it at all unless he has received an authorization so to do. Then he stands as that person’s deputy; stands in his place; speaks in his name. I am sure that nine out of ten of the prayers of Christians are not offered in the name of Christ, and could not be. It would be a sin against Christ for such prayers to be supposed to be the prayers of Christ. But when we talk of the Spirit of God, and we dare ask in the name and use the seal of Christ to set his signature at the bottom of our petition, then, brethren, depend upon it Christ will do it.
Joh_14:15. If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Oh! some of us would have liked him to have said, “If ye love me, give all your money; go into a convent. If ye love me, perform some wonderful action. Go into the streets and preach; where you would be hooted. Go to some foreign country and get yourself made a martyr of.” No, no; “If ye love me, keep my commandments. Stop at home near your father and mother. If ye love me, love my disciples. Let love rule you. And in that place in life in which I have set you, try to honour my name by exhibiting my character. If ye love me, keep my commandments.”
Joh_14:16-19. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 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. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.
“Yet a little while and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me.” Now, when the world does not see him, we still see him. He is present to our faith, though passing from our sight. “Because I live, ye shall live also.” Is he a dead Christ? Then he has a dead people for his church. He is a living Saviour: he has a living people; and they shall no more die than he shall die; “for he, being raised from the dead, dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.” “Because I live, ye shall live also.”
Joh_14:20. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in You.
What a wonderful union this is — Christ in the Father; the saints in Christ, and Christ in the saints. These be riddles which are not meant for the children of this world; but they who are the children of God shall understand them, shall live upon them.
Joh_14:21. He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me:
Not he that preaches about them, talks much about them; boasts about a higher life and all sorts of things; but “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.”
Joh_14:21-22. And he that loveth me shall be loved by 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?
If thou dost manifest thyself to us, who are only a few poor fishermen, thou does not extend thy kingdom so; but if thou wouldest manifest thyself to the world in all thy glory, surely they would be surprised and overwhelmed, and thy kingdom would thus come. But that is not Christ’s way. His manifestations are for his own: not for glitter, but for edification. He comes to bless them; not that he may be ostentatious among men.
Joh_14:23. 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.
Oh! what an honoured man that — for the Father and the Son to be his guests, to make an abode in his heart.
Joh_14:24-28. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings; and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me. These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.
Christ had stooped to take a lower place for our sakes.
Joh_14:29-31. And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe. Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. But that the world may know that I love the Father: and as the Father gave me commandment, even so do, Arise, let us go hence.