1 Let not your heart
be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 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. 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. 4 And whither I go
ye know, and the way ye know. 5 Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we
know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? 6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh
unto the Father, but by me. 7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my
Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. 8 Philip saith unto him, Lord,
shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. 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? 10 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. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the
Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake. 12 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. 13 And whatsoever ye
shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the
Son. 14 If ye shall ask
any thing in my name, I will do it. (John 14:1-14)
The unsurpassed placidity of the heart of Christ is so well demonstrated in His
counsel to us, moments before His passion, to not let OUR hearts be troubled.
What magnanimity is demonstrated in a heart that cares for our peace at a time
when the scurrilous clouds of pain and death hang, as the Sword of Damocles,
over His virtuous head but with a greater certainty of fulfillment. In fact,
the Lord has only sought to lift our hearts and spirits in these last days of
His Passion and Death. Should He not occupy His mind with the thoughts of a
brutally unfair trial that looms ahead….the humiliation and suffering….the
horrible death of the Cross? Yet, instead, His heart is possessed by an undying
Love for His own whose fragile existence will be so rocked by the coming
events. This is the perfect Man and the Perfect God.
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, was a stellar cadet in his early years
at the US Military Academy at West Point. He later became Superintendent of the
Academy and made many improvements to the program there that prevail until
today. Months before his death, MacArthur delivered his Farewell Address to the
Corps of Cadets at West Point on 12 May 1962. The General concluded his remarks
with: “Today marks my final roll call with you. But I want you to know that
when I cross the river, my last conscious thoughts will be of the Corps, and
the Corps, and the Corps.” Those were memorable lines with which to
conclude a remarkable and fascinating military career. But look at the
concluding words of Christ, and His Love demonstrated in them, on the eve of an
ordeal of which great men of history could never have contemplated without an
overarching obsession. Truly, He loved us until the end.
1 Let not your heart
be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In the concluding verse of the last chapter, Jesus has told
Peter that he will deny Him thrice before the cock crows. Now, He continues
with the loving counsel to us-ward that we not allow our hearts to be troubled
on account of events about to unfold. These words offer comfort to Peter, but
not to him alone for the pronoun ‘YE’ is plural and signifies its meaning to
each of us. There are considerations that transcend pain, suffering and death.
The kind of love that filled the heart of our Lord, and by adoption, our own
hearts, is that which transcends death. Truth, Light, Life, Love – all
transcend death for their quality is not of the temporary expanse of this
earthly life, but comes from the Eternity of Heaven. It is not possible to have
a firm faith in God the Father without a corresponding faith in God the Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ.
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. As a good Hebrew Son upon
betrothal to His future Bride, He will go and prepare a place of lodging for
Himself and His Bride under the supervision of His Father. Of course, the
provision is made by the Father as well in that He has many mansions that will
afford residence for the fullness of the Wedding Feast. When preparation are
complete, whether morning, noon, or late night, the Son will come for His Bride
– the Church. He prepares a place for us in two ways at least: by dying on the
Cross at Calvary thus purchasing our redemption so that we would be made worthy
through that sacrifice; and, secondly, by ascending to the right hand of the
Father to make timely intercession for His Elect.
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. Noah found the only place of
security was in the Ark of God when God said unto Noah, And the LORD
said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen
righteous before me in this generation. (Gen 7:1) You will note that God did not
tell Noah to GO into the Ark, but COME into the Ark, because the place of
security is always the place of God’s Presence. Our hope would not be full
without the sure knowledge that we would be called to be with Christ at His
Coming. We shall live by the Rovers of Waters and eat of the fruit of the Tree
of Life, and every provision made for our souls in an Eternity with Christ. We
shall not hang our harps in despondency upon the willows of Babylon, but sing
our songs to Zion in the New Jerusalem prepared by our Lord. (Psalm
137:3-4)
4 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. Do we KNOW the WAY? If not, we
are about to be told. Oftentimes, we know more than we realize. The possession
of knowledge itself is not always a guarantee of wisdom, but knowing the means
of employing the knowledge that we have is the key to Wisdom. All of the
disciples KNEW Christ, but did they truly know His full Person and nature? As
we read the Gospels, does the beauty and nature of Christ burst upon our hearts
with the warm love of KNOWING Him? Or do we simply read dead words. If the Words
of Scripture are not accented with Love and Life, they remain dead to the
marginal believer.
5 Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we
know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? If Christ says we KNOW the Way,
do we believe Him? Apparently, Thomas had yet to learn that the Words of Christ
were Truth only. It is, by the way, perfectly normal that we should at times
question our faith and seek further assurance from Christ in study and in
prayer. So we mustn’t judge Thomas more harshly than we judge ourselves. Even
when we began our Bible study with a complete trust in the Word, our studies
should lead us to question and seek fuller Light.
6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto
the Father, but by me.
There is no Life apart from that offered in Christ. Have you believed that
there is no life apart from that granted in Christ – that He is the Creator of
life itself? All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing
made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
(John 1:3-4)
Have you believed that He is the Way (DOOR to the Sheepfold) and that there is
no other entry but by Him? If so, you will know that He is the WAY! Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the
sheep. (John 10:7) Have you believed His message?
Have you known Him to be the Truth personified? But ye have not so
learned Christ; If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by
him, as the truth is in Jesus: (Eph 4:20-21) You may know all of the above
facts intellectually, but if they have not come to be the Crown Jewel of your
heart, they are dead facts to you.
7 If ye had known
me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and
have seen him.
The faith of Abraham was a great faith. It looked forward in promise and hope
to the coming of Christ. In that faith, Abraham KNEW God the Father. Without
that nature of Christ, made visible to us in His Incarnation, we could not know
the mercy, truth, and grace of God the Father. Christ is, as we would have said
in the Tennessee vernacular, “the spitting image of His Father!” In a note I
earlier shared on the Trinity, Dr. Nathan Wood (The Secret of the Universe)
illustrates its nature in terms of directions (dimensions) in space. Without
three directions (dimensions) there is no space. All three dimensions are
required to establish space. He further disannuls the claim, by some, of the
impracticability of Three Persons in one Godhead when they offer the formula,
1+1+1=3. They claim that this would cause God to be three gods. But Dr. Wood
gives the formula another way, 1x1x1=1 in which the very nature of each
component part of the Trinity equals the whole and each member totally pervades
the nature of each OTHER member.
8 Philip saith unto him, Lord,
shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Light itself resides in God –
the Father, the son, & the Holy Ghost. Light itself is not visible to the
human eye. It can pass through a dark vacuum and never be seen by us, yet it is
there. In order for us to know light, it must impact a material object. That
material object of god the Father is Jesus Christ. He came in a physical body
so that we may, by knowing and seeing Him, know the Father and see the Father.
Philip desired some partial revelation of the Father by Christ not knowing that
all that Christ was pictured the Father in full detail.
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? Jesus exercises a patience dictated by love when answering
Philip. Philip was one of the first disciples to be called (John
1:43) yet he had
not learned fully in his heart that Christ was a full revelation of the Father.
After the Crucifixion and Resurrection of the Lord, we hear no more of these
doubtful questions, for the Holy Ghost will bring all things to remembrance of
those things written of Christ in the Scriptures.
10 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. If we look closely, we may read a stinging rebuke to our
own living testimony. All that Christ did and said was so much perfectly
representative of the Father that it would be nigh on to impossible to miss.
When men look at our actions and words, do they see the Father with whom we,
too, are supposed to be One?
11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or
else believe me for the very works' sake. If you do not believe the very
Words of Christ, than, at least, believe Him by His actions and life. Can
humankind raise another from the sleep of death as Christ raised Lazarus? Can
humankind restore vision to eyes that have been dark from birth, or restore a
leper, or heal the lame? Can humankind walk on water? Did Christ these things?
12 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. Please
do not misunderstand these words to mean that believers can entertain with
their works, or perform wonders for profit. If our minds are conformed to the
Mind of God, we shall do the works of God without fanfare and solely to His
Glory. Our works, therefore, will never be showy or prideful, but will reflect
the perfect will of God. The Lord Jesus Christ was confined to a body while in
this life. The physical limitations prevented Him from doing that which He
could accomplish on our behalf when He was at the right hand of the Father. The
Holy Ghost, our Comforter, is an omnipresent agency whereby all things may be
accomplished at all places, and at all times, according to the Father’s will.
13 And whatsoever ye
shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the
Son.
This does not have the meaning that many modern professors force upon it. As
commissioned agents of the Lord Jesus Christ, we do have the authority to act
in His name just as a commissioned officer of the military has the authority to
act in the name of the President; but we do not have license to act outside the
purpose, will, and intent of the authority in whose name we act. Those things
that we ask in the Name of Christ will never be things that are contrary to His
will to grant. The Father is glorified when the Redeemed of Christ ask only
those things which it is the Father’s good pleasure to grant.
14 If ye shall ask any thing in my
name, I will do it.
The charismatics have falsely insisted that we can demand things of God and
that He must grant them or break His promise. Do you agree with this deceptive
claim? Suppose we ask and God does not grant? Why has our prayer failed? There
are two primary reasons given in Scripture, all relating to the Sovereign Will
of God:
1. Ye ask, and receive not, because
ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. (James
4:3)
2. If I regard iniquity in my heart,
the Lord will not hear me.
(Psalm 66:18)
Where
may we find the perfect solution to the dilemma we may face in the above? Why
not resort to the very counsel of Christ given in Matthew 6 - Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy
kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this
day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the
kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. (Matt
6:9-13) What
untoward request does this prayer make? Not one! It opens with an honorific to
God. It is a ‘communion’ prayer because it begins with “OUR”. It prays for our
daily bread which it is the Lord’s will to grant always. It evokes the will of
God on our lives on earth as well as it is done in heaven. It begs forgiveness
for transgressions, which are many, and perseverance against the temptations of
the world. It ends with a further acknowledgement of God, His Kingdom, His Power,
and His Glory (not ours). AMEN. There is not a single selfish request in this
prayer, and it only asks that the will of God be done – not MY will, but THINE!
Have your prayers been like unto this model of all prayers?
