15 If
ye love me, keep my commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and he
shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 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. 18 I will not leave you comfortless: I
will come to you. 19 Yet a little while, and the world
seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. 20 At that day ye shall know that I am
in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. 21 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. 22 Judas
saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself
unto us, and not unto the world? 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. 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. 25 These
things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. 26 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. 27 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. 28 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. 29 And now I have told you before it
come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe. 30 Hereafter I will not talk much with
you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. 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. (John 14:15-31)
There is a
pervasive sorrow attending the observance of Holy Week, but the overriding characteristic
is that of unmitigated Love. The stripes of Christ were painful, the crown of
thorns excruciating, the nails of the Cross and His suspension there were of
greater suffering than we can comprehend, the humiliation of hanging naked for
all to see of One whose virtue knew only modesty was near to unbearable even
for the Son of God – but bear the shame of the cross He did! Every indignity
would pass when He surrendered His valiant Spirit with the Eternity-altering
words: “It is finished!” But there was something else
that did not pass with those words or with the bursting of the Most Noble Heart
that ever beat – that ‘something else’ was the pure and unadulterated
LOVE of Christ for His own. The Love of Christ is the one possession we
can have that survives death and the grave. Is it possible that we may be
separated from that Love? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or
peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day
long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these
things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am
persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor
powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor
any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is
in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans
8:35-39) So we learn that the kind of Love that Christ imparts will
truly transcend death. It is stronger by far!
15 If ye love me, keep my commandments. The
vows offered by the woman from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer of the Church of
England expresses, symbolically, that same love and obedience we should bear
for our Savior as the Bride of Christ: Wilt thou obey him, and serve him, love,
honour, and keep him in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all other, keep
thee only unto him? Perfect obedience in heart, mind and action cannot
exist apart from Love. The son or daughter who best obeys and honors their
parent is the same who loves most. Love is the ingredient that evokes the
strong desire to please through obedience, and not to bring dishonor and shame
upon the object of our love through disobedience. Those Commandments God gave,
written by His very Finger, on Tables of Stone proved beyond man’s capability
to obey. But those laws, written in the soft sinews of our heart, are enforced
and sustained by love. If we have the love of Christ abiding in our hearts, we
shall not sin against God. Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon
the table of thine heart. (Prov 7:3) Obedience is the currency of love.
16 And
I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may
abide with you for ever. Christ is our strength and our
Comfort. But there is another Comforter of which He speaks which shall come
into our hearts and always point to Christ and constantly remind us of Him.
That Comforter is the Holy Ghost! There are some strange new phenomena these
days among churches that proclaim themselves to be Holy Spirit churches. If you
hear that claim, you can be certain that such churches are definitely NOT Holy
Spirit churches for the Holy Ghost will not speak of Himself, but point always
to Christ. (John 14:27)
neither
knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
Truly, the world’s media, the world’s politicians, the world’s churches, the
world’s educators - none of the world – can receive the Spirit of Truth. They
will mount the rooftops to believe a lie when they could remain upon the ground
and believe the Truth. A wolf does not know the meaning of love or kindness for
sheep – that is the nature of the beast. The world is populated by wolves. They
hunger only for the flesh of the lambs of God, and cannot receive the truth of
their own depravity. If we possess the nature of lambs and not wolves, then we
will know the Good Shepherd and be known of Him. It is not enough to know His
name only, or His historical remains. We must know that Heart that is so
possessed of Love that it was willing to give the last measure of devotion for
us. 18 I will not leave you comfortless: I
will come to you. Christ will come to us and
abide with us through the agency of the Holy Ghost. Remember the formula we
gave of the Trinity? 1x1x1=1 or, 1(God the Father) times 1(God the Son) times 1
(the Holy Ghost) = 1 (the Godhead). Each member is part of the other and of the
same will and purpose.
19 Yet
a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live,
ye shall live also. After the death of Christ, no
unbeliever was privileged to see Him – only to those of faith did He appear in
His resurrection body. Christ makes reference as well to the privilege of
resurrection to life of those who believe and love Him.
20 At
that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. The
coals of a fireplace abide in the flames of fire, but the flames of fire as
well abide in the coals. Can the fire be separated from the coals, or the
red-hot coals separated from the fire? If we abide in Christ, and Christ abides
in the Father, do we not, as well, abide in the Father and the Son? Christ
abides in the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit abides in the Father, and all
alike abide together. Do we not, consequently, abide in the Trinity of God if
we abide in Christ? We cannot be One with Christ and remain apart from the other
members of the Trinity.
21 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. There
is some implication here involving the Love of God which should be disturbing
to the ‘Brotherhood of Man’ crowd. The only brother I know on earth is my
brother in Christ. If a man is not in Christ, he cannot be my brother. God
loves His sons and daughters, but not all on earth belong to that family. There
are, in summary, only two families on earth – those belonging to God the
Father, and those belonging to the Prince of Darkness.
22 Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot,
Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? In
His generosity, the Holy Ghost draws a line of difference between the
treasonous Judas and this disciple. Judas wonders how it is possible that
Christ may appear unto them and not be seen by the world. It is so apparent to
the believer today. There are many who profess the name of Christ (Christian)
but know or see no evidence at all of His love and grandeur, His Lordship or
Sovereignty, in their lives. I know with certainty that Christ is by my side
even as I write. What man of the lost world has the slightest idea of this
truth? In our Anglican worship, we place Christ at the center of our worship
knowing that “where two or three are gathered together in my name,
there I am in the midst of them.” Our pulpits are moved to the
Gospel-side of the Lord’s Table, and the Lord’s Table occupies the central
point of our worship for it is representative of the place of God. This is
contrary to most churches that place man at the center of worship.
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. Again
we see the promise of cohabitation with Christ together with the Father if we
hide His Words in our hearts. Christ never enters our hearts as a guest only,
but He comes to ABIDE there – to live there forever. Does this not give a great
measure of joy to your heart?
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. Christ
came not to judge but to save. Those who may even feign a love of Christ cannot
bear up under the test of true obedience. They do not love the Word, and they
do not love its Author. If one does not love Christ, how can he love another as
Christ commands? Such a one is lost by his own hand and according to the
judgment of God.
25 These
things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.
Christ could not reveal all things to His disciples for they were incapable of
bearing it. Even after informing them of events soon to transpire regarding His
crucifixion, death, and resurrection they could not grasp. But He informs them
of mysteries now which shall become plain to their understanding later. He does
the same to us. A person being confirmed does not comprehend the same mysteries
of God and His Word that a seasoned Christian of mature years.
26 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.
Please remember that the Holy Spirit does NOT come in His own name, but the
name of Christ. His whole purpose is not to cause us to speak in gibberish, or
to role in the isles of the church, but to teach all things, and bring to our
remembrance, all things spoken by the Christ in His Word. There are churches
today, mostly charismatic, in which the name of Christ is seldom mentioned, the
crowd preferring instead to presumably worship the Holy Ghost. Those who do so
have not heard the reminders of the Holy Ghost and His continual pointing to
Christ our Lord. How shall the Holy Ghost bring to our ‘remembrance’ the Words
of Christ which we have not even read?
27 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. The
New Testament is a living will to us. It expresses the will of God for our
lives, and the last will and testament of Christ for His people. He did not
leave us a new car, a palatial and earthly estate, but He left us peace of
mind, and peace of heart born out of the redemption He bought and paid for with
His blood on the cross. Such peace is not subject to environmental factors, but
to a rest of the heart that cannot be purchased with money.
28 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. Do we mourn at the passing of a
loved one in Christ? If so, why? Do we truly believe that to be absent in the
body is to be present with God? It is more likely that we do not mourn the
present abode of the dead in Christ, but we mourn our pitiful plight without their
comforting counsel and fellowship. The tears are shed for us and not them. If
we love Christ, we will understand that He died for us out of Love, and that He
shall return again to take us to be with Him forever. The disciples did not yet
understand this, but would soon understand under the teaching of the Holy
Ghost.
29 And
now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye
might believe. There
is much of prophecy that may escape our understanding today, but as it comes to
pass, we may wonder why we did not see it before. Christ has told the disciples
much that they did not presently understand, but as the events of Holy Week and
Easter unfold, their understanding will be drawn to light. There is much that
we study in scripture that escapes our present understanding, but as we read
and study more and more, God will illumine the beauty of His Word to our
understanding. Have you experienced this?
30 Hereafter
I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath
nothing in me. During His ministry, Christ has
taught and preached tirelessly for long hours of every day and night, but now
comes the great and terminal conflict of the ages. He has taught all that they
are able to bear for the time being. Events are closing rapidly on the event
that will shatter the Dark Powers of Hell, and split the dimension of Time, and
interrupt Eternity in a moment. The victory has been won from before the
foundation of the world, but the victory must be consummated by the King of
Kings and Lord of Lords. The legions and lancers of the enemy of every man’s
soul was drawing near in time and distance to the great contest – even at the
Garden’s gate. But there was nothing in Christ which could, or would, respond to
the temptations of that evil Malefactor. The Devil’s price of thirty pieces of
silver had been paid into the hand of his choice traitor. The dye was cast.
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. These words of Christ are intended to
inform us that He goes by His own will and that of the Father, and not that of
compulsion, to the cross. It is the ultimate evidence of His love for the
father, but also for us. This last command to arise is possibly given in the
Upper room for those present to depart for Gethsemane – the final Garden of
Prayer of our Beloved Lord. Because we are Christ’s, we, too, must come to our
own Gethsemane’s. There are sacrifices and disappointments which attend the
Christian walk, and we must be reminded of the great Psalmists words: “…..weeping
may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” (Psalms 30:5)
The crucifixion and subsequent resurrection of Christ proved the Psalmist’s
words.
Have you faced
your Gethsemanes?
If not, perhaps
you have not attended to counsel of Christ.
